I have a 2002 EX Coupe, stock tire size is 185/65r15 I believe, but I was wondering what the largest tires I can fit are..

I'm considering installing a set of 205/65R15 or 215/65R15 winter tires, would they fit alright on the OEM rim?

 

Those tires would be way too tall. tire rack has 185/65/15 blizzak snow tires for $82 each. Going with a wider tire in snow is not a good idea. You want a narrower tire so it can cut through and contact the ground below. A wider tire will have more trouble doing this. Wide tires have a wide, short contact patch which is good on pavement while narrower tires have a narrow, but long contact patch.

 

My question mainly is, will 205/60R15 tires fit on the rims and not rub?
I know narrower tires will perform better, but I am looking to buy my tires used off craigslist, and 205 is a much more common size. I cant afford a new set of snow tires.

 

I don't know whether they will rub. However, be very very careful about buying used winter tires. For one thing, unless they are almost brand new, you will miss the most important part of the tire's lifespan. Winter tires grip well when the tread is full, not so well when the tread gets worn. It's even worse with tires like the Blizzak, which has a special multicell compound on the outer half of the usable tread, but not on the inner half which may be all you get when buying used. That's why the Tire Rack recommends replacing winter tires when the tread depth gets down to 6/32".

What's worse, a lot of the time people will misrepresent the tread depth of used tires, especially winter tires. People will claim that a winter tire with 6/32" of tread depth has 80 or 90 percent of the tread depth left, when it's basically ready to be tossed. Most winter tires have a tread depth of 11/32" or 12/32" when new, and again, they won't grip all that well much past 6/32". Make sure any seller gives you an actual measurement of the tread depth, and don't just accept a percentage as accurate.

Incidentally, there are cheaper winter tires than those Blizzaks (which aren't that expensive, but still). The Michelin X-Ice Xi2 has a $70 rebate which brings the price on 185/65-15 at the Tire Rack below $70/tire. And Discount Tire Direct has a couple of Falken winter tires in 185/65-15 at $70-74/tire with free shipping.

Oh, and to answer your question, I would expect 205/65-15 and 215/65-15 to both rub, since they are over 4 and 6 percent larger in diameter than the stock 185/65-15 size.

 

I'll definitely check out Tire Rack, the x-Ice Xi2 are at least $150 in my area. If I do go the used route though, I definitely won't buy a set with less than 75% wear and I'll check the tread depth personally.

I have 205/40-17 with no issues on during the summer. The 205 is tire width, and 40 sidewall height, so how do I determine what width of tires can be mounted to a rim? Will a size be somewhere on the rim itself... total noob question I know..

 

The general objective for street use is to get tires whose outer diameter is as close to stock as possible, and no more than 20-30 mm wider than stock. That way, the speedometer and odometer will remain accurate, and you can avoid rubbing in the wheel wells. You can look up outer diameters using a website with a tire calculator; see links in the FAQ topic stickied at the top of this forum. You can also find recommended tire sizes for your car by shopping for tires on the Tire Rack website.

On your 2002 Civic EX Coupe with 17" wheels, 205/40-17 is a bit too small. You're better off with 205/45-17 or 215/45-17. Here are the outer diameters of these sizes and how they compare with stock, which will show you why:

185/65-15: 24.47" (stock)
205/40-17: 23.46" (-4.1 percent)
205/45-17: 24.26" (-0.8 percent)
215/45-17: 24.62" (+0.6 percent)

Once you have identified the tire size and make/model you want, you can look up "Specs" on the Tire Rack or other websites, and it will show the approved range of wheel widths, which you can use to make sure they fit on the wheels you have, or to shop for wheels in the proper width. For example, the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 in 185/65-15 is approved for rim widths of 5.0-6.5", so they will fit on the stock rims for your car, which are 15x6 (6" wide).

If you are not sure of the width (or diameter) of rims you have, it is sometimes stamped on the back of the wheel. If you need to measure them, remember that the measurement is made at the bead, i.e. the part of the wheel where the inner edge of the tire sits, and NOT at the very outer edge of the wheel. This is illustrated here:

 

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...VIC&vid=006735

205/60-15 is 'Plus-Zero' so you would be fine, but you don't want wider tires in the winter.

Thinner is better in this instance.