Will using a 5% larger overall tire size be a problem?

Rusty_

Member
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Just bought a 2015 Civic Coupe. I have a spare set of older properly-sized winter tires for this year (195/65R15) with probably only a winter left in them. So that's fine for this year. But a year from now, the lease on my Mazda CX-3 will be up and we're planning on replacing it with a CX-5 instead.

That means I'll need a new bigger set of winter tires for the CX-5 and I'll have a leftover set of nice Michelins with only about 15,000kms on them. I'd love to be able to use them on my civic next year instead of taking a loss on selling them and having to buy a whole new set for the civic.

Problem is, they're 215/60R16 making them +1.28" diameter or 5% larger than the civic's stock 205/55R16s.

Will I be able to use these 215/60R16s on my civic without any major issues?

I understand it will throw the speedo off by 5%. I can deal with that. But what about wheel well clearance? Will they rub? affect ABS? Traction control?
 
you will need hub centric rings, civic is 64.1 while mazda is 67.1
215 55 16 will fit, width of the tire is the same just the height is .9" taller on your tire. if offset is the same the rears might rub on bumps

I am not saying it will fit, just pointing you in the direction...
 
you will need hub centric rings, civic is 64.1 while mazda is 67.1
215 55 16 will fit, width of the tire is the same just the height is .9" taller on your tire. if offset is the same the rears might rub on bumps

I am not saying it will fit, just pointing you in the direction...

The tires I have and want to use are 215/60 16 tho, not 55. So they’re an extra 1.28” taller than stock. That’s what worries me.

It’s still a year away, and I guess I’ll test them out in the spring when I take the tires off the Mazda. Just trying to think ahead.

Yeah, I got some rings.
 
Speedo will be off by quite a bit. The tpms will also be off to some extent on alerting you to a low air situation. In your model civic it measures things based on revolutions per minute. With the tire being that much larger in diameter, the circumference will be off to travel one revolution versus stock. Think of it this way, you’ll be gaining 3/4” essentially to the top of your current tire to the fender in height. That isn’t going to rub. If you can deal with the speedo etc, run them.
 
Speedo will be off by quite a bit. The tpms will also be off to some extent on alerting you to a low air situation. In your model civic it measures things based on revolutions per minute. With the tire being that much larger in diameter, the circumference will be off to travel one revolution versus stock. Think of it this way, you’ll be gaining 3/4” essentially to the top of your current tire to the fender in height. That isn’t going to rub. If you can deal with the speedo etc, run them.

Do you think the TPMS will err on the side of always going off inappropriately, or on the side of not going off when it should?
 
If I’m thinking properly, it would take longer for them to trigger the warning that you had a low air situation.
 
If I’m thinking properly, it would take longer for them to trigger the warning that you had a low air situation.

I can put up with that. Better than false positives annoying me all the time.

One last question: I agree the 3/4" height shouldn't be a problem. What about the 3/8" increase in width and possible fender rubbing on big bumps on the rear? I'm not actually sure what the offset is on the steel wheels... not sure how I'd measure that, actually. I guess I'd have to test to find out?

Thanks for your help.
 
3/8” wider than stock isn’t going to rub. There are people who run 8.5-9.5”+ wide wheels.
 
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