After doing a lot of research over the last month or so about sizing tires to a stock, non-lifted CR-V, I thought I would get a posting out there to specify a few things that I have had a very hard to time locating. To start with my initial research was to find what tire size I could move up to (thus slightly taller), because to me the stock size just looked a little small for the vehicle (That and I've been an off-roading nut for 25 years). I decided not to put a lift on CR-V for now (maybe later) and couldn't seem to find much helpful and specific information on exactly how varying tire sizes would fit on a stock CR-V. To be fair each brand and model of tire will vary slightly causing one size in a certain brand to possibly fit and the same size in another brand not fit. Even in the same threads over multiple sites, the information varied. One of the biggest problems I had was that few people would post pics to show their stated fit, or would specify if any rubbing occurred during full turns. It seemed when someone did post pics of their tires (even after being asked by multiple responses) I could find very few that would actually say what size they were showing. Typically, it seems anyhow, that most posts I can find stating the tire sizes are those with 2-3 inch lifts and those without lifts would only state a size without pics or post a pic but never respond with the size they were using. It was frustrating. So, hopefully this post may help others who find themselves in the same situation.

As is probably already know, the stock tire for a 2nd gen CR-V is a 205/70R15 which is (26.3" tall x 8.1" wide) and normally in an all-season or highway tire. Mine had older 205/70R15 Brigestone Turanza all-season tires similar in appearance to photo below. To me this just looks a little small.
(photo pulled from internet for stock size appearance)

I wanted a more aggressive tire than a roadway all-season, but one that did well in the snow and wasn't very noisy, so I decided to go with a winter rated All-Terrain.
As such I went with the Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015, LT215/75R15 (27.8" tall x 8.5" wide with stock rims). Pictures of my CR-V below to help compare appearance and sizing differences.



Although the size isn't a lot bigger, but I think it looks considerably better. To me the difference noticeable (at least in person). This size tire does not rub at all in any position, even at full turn.

Another important thing to possibly consider is not only what size will fit on the vehicle but if you want to maintain the full size spare on the rear door, what size will fit without having to modify the plastic body panel the is recessed for the spare. Luckily this diameter tire barely fits without any issue whatsoever. Anything over 27.8"-28" in diameter and you will probably have to do something to the plastic body panel the tire is recessed into (or possibly adapt the tire to sit up higher or out further to get the spare to fit).

Following are closer pics of the wheel well fitment to help see how much room remains with these slightly larger tires.

Front wheel well.

Rear wheel well. The rear is a slightly tighter fit, as may be expected.

With this size tire, full wheel travel is maintained without rubbing or bumping. For comparison in tire sizes you should also be able to fit a 225/70R15 (27.4" tall x 8.9" wide) but you might find a small amount of rubbing at full turn or during upward travel at full turn. Aside from that (if it even occurs) that size should fit just fine, since it is slightly shorter than the ones in the pics, just that they would be about 1/2" wider.

So far I love the Geolandars. They ride very well and road bumps and railroad crossings are much smoother and they grip very well. Haven't tried them in the snow yet but they get very good ratings for that which is partly why I got them. No noticeable road noise yet but they are still new.
Hopefully this may help some others looking for tire sizing on a stock, non-lifted CR-V. Any questions, just ask. I can post any specific pics also if anyone needs.

 

Looks great! Have you checked speedometer variation with a GPS? The math suggests it'll read about 6% below actual vehicle speed. Just curious if that plays out.

 

i havent verified it with gps yet but it should be about 2-3 mph off at 60mph. Not much. Been used to my truck with 35s and gear change to 5:13s that was do far off i didnt pay attention much. Lol

 

Yeah that would create a pretty severe difference! I went from the stock 29" tires on my Grand Cherokee to what comes out to about 31.6" and it's about 5 mph off through the highway speeds. I thought about buying a box to correct it, but...nah. Money better spent towards something that won't leave me stranded trail-side.

 

Nowadays with gps on our phones we can verify speed at a given mph and just visually notate what the dash is reading. no need to spend money !

 

Here's a very useful site for trying to figure out different tire sizes for C RVs or really any car or truck etc. You put your information in such as year make model and it will ask you to choose which Market or country that you're in for your particular vehicle and then it will tell you your size wheel offset Etc from the OEM and then if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page past all the ads and click on the tire wheel size calculator you'll get a page that has a tremendous amount of information that even shows you your brake caliper clearance for different wheel sizes your offsets and how that will affect the clearance of your stock struts and even your Fender lip I think this is a great site for anybody that's thinking about choosing a different wheel and or tire size check it out tell me what you think. There's a few screenshots of what you can expect to see. And here's the website
https://www.wheel-size.com/

After you enter your year make and model you choose the country/market for your car.

Great info in detail. You can change values and it will adjust the graphics details. Use the tables provided in the tore size calculator to help make a decision

Shot of the calculator page. Shows allot of options

 

...very well written! Was just looking at larger wheels for my 03. You answered all my questions!
Running that brand/ model tire on my van ( used for work/ hauling bikes and camping) been extremely happy with them.....looks like i'll throw those on the crv aswell!