Wheel Size Considerations

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Jan 6, 2003 | 08:11 AM

2002stockEX

Thread Starter

Joined: Jan 2003

Posts: 5

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From: Sun Prairie, WI, USA

Wheel Size Considerations

As my screename states, my civic is stock. I purchased it new and still have the warranty that i dont want to risk voiding. So i will have to get by on the basics. I want to put some new rims on my car because the 2002's come with the good ol' wheels and caps. My question is how big can i go without messing with the speedo? I know if you go too big then your speedo speed will differ from your actual speed. Can this be fixed if it does happen?

Jan 6, 2003 | 10:07 AM

Kataku2K3

Honda-Tech Member

Joined: Dec 2001

Posts: 5,418

Likes: 5

From: Gresham, Oregon, USA

Re: Wheel Size Considerations (2002stockEX)

You can go with bigger wheels without having a problem... say you have 15" wheels stock with 4 inches of tire surrounding the entire wheel bringing the overall wheel/tire diameter to 23"(these are just some numbers i made up so they're probably close but not perfect) If you wanted to go with an 18" wheel then you would just take 3 inches out of the tire... Now you would have 2.5" of tire surrounding the wheel with an overall diameter of 23"... Hopefully you get the basic point... If you put bigger wheels and tires on with an overall diameter bigger than stock your speed will be less than what you are really going and vise versa... There is really no way of calibrating it... as the diff spins in your tranny the speedo gear spins another gear on the speed sensor... Every one revolution of the VSS creates 4 pulses of 5+volts... You speedometer in your cluster is calibrated for your stock tire diameter so changing that is what messes everything up... I personally hate big wheels on Civic's 15's are perfect... 15" Mugen RnR's for me... hehe I would rather roll on 14's than 16's and 17"+ is just way too big... anyways that's just my opinion... Latez

Jan 7, 2003 | 04:30 PM

ITC Racer

Honda-Tech Member

Joined: Nov 2000

Posts: 478

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From: WI, USA

Re: Wheel Size Considerations (2002stockEX)

Exactly- if you keep the outer diameter of the tire within 0.25 of an inch or so, your speedo will not be affected enough to notice. A good shop like the Tire Rack, will help you with the 'Plus Sizing' senario to keep you rolling in good shape and not mess up your speedo or your gearing.

OBW- if you are interested in Autocrossing or Wheel to Wheel racing, check out the Madison Sports Car Club via the 'Affiliate Clubs' link at http://www.mcscc.org
We have a FREE INDOOR DRIVER'S school the four Fridays in March where we detail how our club operates and how you can get involved. Excellent stuff!!!

Good luck