I was looking at 17" rims for my 6th gen civic (1997) and was told the 205/40 tires it came with were too thin, and I don't wanna panic everytime I see a pothole or something so I decided against it, I want a second opinion, are they too thin? Will they rub? I don't think they will.


16" rims come with 205/45, are those pretty good sized? Will I not have to worry about potholes? 16" are a little too small for me, but I might have to do that.. I may race with my car too, occasional drag races on healthy roads obviously, so I'm keeping weight in mind.

Sorry to make my first post so annoying, I'm just careful. I'll be a constructive member soon enough


Oh and if anyone is curious I just got this car, it's a 97 Civic DX Coupe. It's actually been sitting in my driveway for 6 months while I've been driving a '00 Ugly green Ford Focus. I decided wtf am I doing, and sold the focus to make my Civic look bad ***.

 

205/40 is fine for 17. bigger you'll start to rub.

 

Is it too thin? Will it blow easily if I hit a pothole?

 

Probably not, but who seriously goes fast when you've got pot holes in front of you. You're just as likely to bend your rims if you're going fast enough to blow your tire. Slow down and you'll have no problems ( no I'm not putting you down or saying you're a reckless driver ).

 

I think I'll get 16's to be on the safe side, i'll get 17's if i can get them at a good price... Do you know any websites that sell rim and tire packages for good prices? A little cheaper than performanceplustire

 

hey get the 16's no matter what ive got 17's with the 205/40's and its just not a comfortable ride they look sweeter but the ride sucks and you'll never pop a tire on one you'll bend the rim first ive got several "tweaks" in my rims

 

I've had 17's since I've owned the car for 3 years.

On stock suspension you won't even come close to rubbing. I rub once in a while in the front with 2" lowered.

This is my only car and to my main shop at work I have to drive across a 4 mile dirt road, pot holes are all over the place when it hasn't been maintained.

I've hit so many going around 45mph, of course it's not as bad as a pit in a paved road, but I'm still able to feel the hard thud.

My old liquid metal 17's got bent over time and one of the cheapo tires had a blown sidewall(bent rim=air leak, egg in sidewall=no more driving on that)

My current 17" adr's which I've had for over a year now with nitto's feel perfect. Sure the rims get dirty, but the ride is smooth at any speeds.

205/40's are not skinny at all, I think they look perfect on 6th gen coupes. And as long as you don't have cheapo tires and cheapo rims you won't have to worry about blowing a tire or bending a rim.

Just don't intentionally hit a pot hole to test how well it'll hold up lol.

 

What are some of the better name brands for rims?

 

^ lexani lol

 

205/40-17 = sh*tty ride quality, period. This isn't a subjective topic; anyone saying otherwise either has no experience with 3.22" sidewalls or is simply lying. Going from stock wheels and tire sizes to a 3.22" sidewall, you will feel a negative difference in ride quality.

Also, the vast majority of 17's look too big on 6th gen civics. If you're worried about weight, get 15's. If you want wheels that look correctly proportioned on your car, get 16's and 205/45 tires.

If you want the "better" brands, you're looking at RacingHart, Volk, Buddy Club, BBS, Enkei, etc.

If you want the "better" brands that are a little more affordable, look into Rota and Konig.

And inthezoneac, even at stock height, some 17's will rub. Offset, offset, offset, especially given the fact that the OP is worried about potholes, meaning his suspension will be compressing and rebounding quite a bit.