Will a 195 width tire fit a 7.5" width wheel? The recommended/ approved wheel width for a 195 tire is between 5.5" to 7.0" on most tire manufacturers. What would be the downside if a 195 were to be fitted on 7.5"? Will the tire dislodge on hard cornering?

 

Simple answer: it'll be fine with a good brand of tire that runs wide (like a Bridgestone RE-11, Toyo, etc)

Complex answer: for what reason are you mounting a 195 on a 7.5" wheel? Is this for an autox application or do you just want the 'stretched' look?

A 205 would be more ideal unless there is something specific about the 195 that you need it to do.

 

It's possible for stress and heat to build up in the sidewall, which can lead to failures like the tire blowing out or popping the bead. Your best bet is to get a rim that's no wider than 15x7, so you won't have to worry about it.

 

Thanks for the inputs. I don't wish to run the 205s due to the extra drag and there might be rubbing issues.

 

If you care about drag why are you using 7.5 wheels why not a 6.5 or something.

 

I am actually trying to get a set of wheels which can get them flushed to the fenders on my 99 Civic hatch. This particular rim I am planning on getting comes in +40 offset only. I was thinking of playing around with the width to achieve the desired look.

 

For a '99 Civic, you can get a 15x7.5 rim and use 205/50-15 tires (which would be a bit too small for street use on a '95 or earlier Civic). But a 15x7 rim will also give you the option to use 195/55-15 if you want to.

 

Wheel spacers?

 

Run 205's. You'll get the look you want.

 

What would be the disadvantage of spacers? Are the stock studs long enough for spacers?

 

For basic 5mm spacers? Yes.

Long studs and some 10mm spaces would work fine too probably. I wouldn't track it though.

 

They may not be. You have to have at least 6.5-7.0 full turns on the lug nuts. If you don't, you have to get extended studs.

Another disadvantage is that, with flat spacers, a lot of people run into problems with vibrations, because they lose the centering function of the hub and rely only on the lug nuts for centering the wheel. You can avoid this problem by getting the kind of spacers that have a replacement hub sticking out from the spacer, such as these.

 

It will be fine but like others pointed out it puts extra stress on the sidewall so just keep na eye on your tires. The one advantage of this is you will get the most footprint out of your little 195 tire. I would say run a little extra psi like 32-35 to make sure your sidewall holds. high psi is better for the sidewall and keeps outer edges from wearing prematurity.

 

Not true. On a normally-inflated tire, the size of the "contact patch", as the area of contact is known in the industry, depends only on the air pressure inside the tire and the weight put on it. If you have a 2640-pound Integra with the tires inflated to 33 pounds per square inch, the area of those four contact patches will total 2640/33 = 80 square inches, regardless of whether the tires are skinny or wide, and regardless of whether or not you use spacers on your car to push the wheels/tires out away from the car.

 

Have you ever worked at a tire shop? If you had you would know what I am talking about. When you mount a smaller width tire on a wider rim it makes the edges of the tire flatten out more. You get slightly more contact on the outer edges. Its simple physics. I am gonna even gonna try to understand that equation you put up. I guarantee the size of you tire will effect the contact area. Now weather this actually gives you more grip is debatable. And honestly why do you even bring on spacers? Come on now...

 

No, but I know plenty of people who work at tire shops who simply don't know what they're talking about. And based on your posts here, apparently you're one of them.

When you mount a tire on a wider rim, it does make the contact patch slightly wider, side to side, but it also becomes slightly narrower, front to back. The Tire Rack even did a test in which they mounted tires of different widths on the same car and measured the size of the contact patch, and found the size was identical. But if you disagree, tell us how you can divide 2640 by 33 and get a number different from 80. (This should be good, folks!) Or, if you'd like to educate yourself instead of demonstrating to us how much you don't understand about tires, you can read this article about the size of the contact patch.

I didn't bring it up. Someone else did.