jose vera

i have a 2005 honda civic. should i put 17" rims if i want to lower it? also 18" rims without lowering?any car experts out there?heres the rims i want to get...http://wheelsnext.com/default.cfm?ac...LOSS%20FINISH)

upallnite

17" and up are only for the BLING factor. It will hinder the performance of the car. Most autoX racers use 16" rims. If you lower it please only lower it a little and use good parts instead of cutting or heating the springs.

royphil345

The goal is to use lower profile and possibly wider tires with larger and possibly wider rims, so the overall diameter of the tire doesn't really change compared to stock. This way your speedometer will still read correctly, tires won't rub anything, etc... Generally, using the largest rims / lowest profile tires will only look good when the car is lowered and will look funny when it's not. You had that kind of backwards...Using really large rims and very low profile tires is great on a show car, but you can really screw up your rims on potholes, bumps, etc... possibly even blow a tire, damage wheel bearings or the suspension. Same for lowering a car... It's better to be a little more conservative and not increase the wheel size too many steps or lower the car too much if it's going to be your daily driver. I would only go a step or two larger than the stock wheels for a daily driver. They would look great without lowering the car as too, although you could still do it... The extremely large wheel / extremely low profile tire, lowered car look was very popular on the street for awhile. If you look around... not so much anymore. It doesn't work out well on the street. Still very popular on show cars...There are web sellers that will tell you how wide a wheel / tire will fit on your car and show you your various combinations of wheel sizes and tire sizes that will keep your tires close to stock diameter overall.Wider wheels / tires look cool, will increase "grab" on dry pavement and will do fine in the rain. Wider is not better for snow if you'll ever be driving in that. If you'll be driving in snow, again I'd be conservative and not move up from the stock width too much. I went for maximum width and I sure am sorry when it snows!!! Even though my tires are decent all-seasons... It's pretty scary.Hope this helps... Good luck!!!

jtrall25

I don't mean to put a damper on your quest to trick out your ride, but if you still have any warranty left onyour car, then putting anything other rims on it other than OME will void your warranties.2ndly is the matter of performance, these vehicles are engineered to perform at optimum road and safety performanace with the wheels that are fitted on the vehicle when it leaves the factory; it's kind of like changing the suspension system or radically increasing the engine HP and torque out-put ( like replacing the 4 clylinder 3200 cc engine with a 289 cu. Inch 6 cycl high compression short block with a 3/4 cam and a super charger)Yes, I know that there are a lot of cars out there with reversed rims, 20" wheels with spinners, and all manner of cool American racing wheels, and other brands as well, but the question is clearance in the wheel wells, turning radius, and tightening up the suspension system. (At speed the civic, because of it's short wheel base does not rock much, like a longer platform car like a neon does, - but - if you do hit a dip in the road at an intersection at about 80 mph +, or have to brake hard, (say at 70 mph+), then even with 17 " rims, and standard profile tires, yuou're going to shed four front tires, and looose control of you're ride, and someone is going to need new underwear before the night is out.I'm no expert on the 2005 Honda's, - I can tell you about American Made Muscle cars, circa 1955 - 1985, but the principles are different on the the smaller foriegn made cars. Before you invest in expensive rims I recommend that you get down to a Honda shop and find a Honda "Geek" Mechanic, or two and ask them about changing rims to lower the ride, (as opposed to hydraulic shocks or something like that). Good luck.

Tina

16, not 17 or 18..

rice_burner503

oooo man, go 15-16. make ur car look clean. keep it simple. stock body with a front lip spoiler. car looks awesome lowered on 15s. if u get it low enough, the wheels tuck in under the fenders well. get stock civic si/integra rims. or get some rims like rota j-mag, slipstreams, circuit 8 or 10, group n, enkei rpf-1 drag dr-20, etc...i believe you won't be able to lower the car much with 17s or bigger.

Griff

depending on the year , i have a 99 civic lowered 2" and 18" rub on the wheel wells, i have 17 " and i dont have a problem. so i would go with 17" if you wanna drop your civic.