A Comprehensive Guide to Buying Wheels and Tires for Your Civic
We know what wheels and tires work best with Civics. This guide will give
you all the information you will need to find the wheels and tires that fit your Civic best. To find
wheels and/or tires for you Civic, just follow these 3 simple steps.
Step 1: Use our
Wheel Configuration Reference
found further down on this page to find what bolt pattern, wheel sizes, and offsets will work with
your Civic. Your new wheels must be the same bolt pattern as your
original factory wheels, but you can choose a different size and
offset.
In general, we DO NOT recommend getting a wheel that is more than 2 inches taller or 1.5 inches
wider than your factory wheel. Now, browse through the
wheels
we offer and select a set that you like and are available in a
configuration that will fit on your Civic.
Step 2: Next, use our calculator below to find out the tire
sizes that fit best on the wheels you selected. Our calculator
outputs a list of tire sizes that are considered to have near
perfect fitment, which means no speedometer inaccuracy, ABS
problems, etc. We don't sell tires, but there are usually quite a few local options
to purchase them. You can even use your current
tires if they match one of the sizes our calculator recommends.
You can find your factory tire diameter, profile, and width
by looking at your owners manual, or by looking at the markings on
the outside of your factory tires (see the
tire
measurment section near the bottom of this page).
Step 3: You should also pick up some
lug
nuts to go with your new wheels. Every wheel on our website
says what type of lug nuts it needs (either "standard" aftermarket
lug nuts or "tuner style" aftermarket lug nuts). All our
aftermarket lug nuts are tapered to ensure the best wheel fitment.
Your factory lug nuts will most likely NOT work with your new
wheels, so it is important that you get some good quality
aftermarket lug nuts! For installation, tighten each lug nut
using a criss-cross pattern, usually to 80 lb-ft of torque each.
Re-tighten each lug nut after about 100 miles of driving.
TIP: With our wheels, it is not necessary for you to purchase
"hubcentric rings." This is because the wheels we sell only accept
tapered aftermarket lug nuts, which will automatically center the
wheel if installed properly.
Lug Nut Thread Reference
Use this reference to figure out what type of lug nut thread to get for your Civic.
|
Vehicle Make Model |
Year Range |
Lug Thread |
Lug Type |
|
Honda Civic |
1988 to 2016 |
12 x 1.5 |
Lug Nut |
|
Honda Civic (Type R) |
2017 to 2021 |
14 x 1.5 |
Lug Nut |
|
Honda Civic (All Except Type R) |
2017 to 2025 |
12 x 1.5 |
Lug Nut |
|
Honda Civic (Type R) |
2023 to 2025 |
14 x 1.5 |
Lug Nut |
Wheel Configuration Reference Use this reference to
determine which wheel sizes and configurations will generally fit
your Civic best. Please note though that this is just a general
reference guide: you should always double-check to make sure the
wheels you are getting will actually fit.
THIS GUIDE IS CONSERVATIVE, ESPECIALLY FOR OFFSETS, SO IT IS VERY POSSIBLE WHEELS
BEYOND THE RECOMMENDED SIZE AND OFFSET WILL WORK JUST FINE.
|
Vehicle Make / Model |
Year Range |
Bolt Pattern |
Wheel Size Range |
Wheel Offset Range |
|
Honda Civic |
1988 to 2000 |
4x100 |
(14x5.5) to (17x7.5) |
+35mm to +45mm |
|
Honda Civic (All Except Si) |
2001 to 2005 |
4x100 |
(14x5.5) to (17x7.5) |
+35mm to +45mm |
|
Honda Civic (Si) |
2002 to 2003 |
4x100 |
(15x6) to (17x7.5) |
+35mm to +45mm |
|
Honda Civic (Si) |
2004 to 2005 |
5x114.3 |
(16x6.5) to (18x8) |
+35mm to +45mm |
|
Honda Civic (All Except Si) |
2006 to 2015 |
5x114.3 |
(16x6.5) to (19x8.5) |
+38mm to +48mm |
|
Honda Civic (Si) |
2006 to 2015 |
5x114.3 |
(17x7) to (19x8.5) |
+38mm to +48mm |
|
Honda Civic (All Except Si and Type R) |
2016 to 2021 |
5x114.3 |
(16x7) to (19x8.5) |
+35mm to +48mm |
|
Honda Civic (Type R) |
2017 to 2021 |
5x120 |
(19x8.5) to (20x9.5) |
+45mm to +60mm |
|
Honda Civic (Si) |
2017 to 2020 |
5x114.3 |
(18x8) to (20x9) |
+40mm to +55mm |
|
Honda Civic (All Except Si and Type R) |
2022 to 2025 |
5x114.3 |
(16x7) to (19x8.5) |
+35mm to +48mm |
|
Honda Civic (Si) |
2022 to 2025 |
5x114.3 |
(18x8) to (20x9) |
+40mm to +55mm |
|
Honda Civic (Type R) |
2023 to 2025 |
5x120 |
(18x9) to (20x10) |
+45mm to +60mm |
More Information on Wheels and Tires
Here is a quick overview of how tires are measured:
Sample Tire: 215/45ZR17 89Y
| Spec |
What it Means |
| 215 |
The section width. Also called the "tire
width". This is how wide the tire's contact patch is (in
millimeters) when inflated. |
| 45 |
The aspect ratio. Also called the "tire
profile". This is the ratio between the tire's section height
and section width. Section height is just the height of the
rubber you see around the wheel, multiply it by 2 to get the
total vertical space that the rubber takes up. |
| Z |
The letter Z is present here only if the tire's
true speed rating is in excess of 149 mph. The old way of
measuring tires actually had the tire's speed rating here. Tire
buyers got used to seeing the "ZR" on a tire as meaning "high
performance" and so tire manufacturers have kept it here
eventhough it is not necessary. Note that, just because a Z is
present here, it does not mean that the tire's true speed
rating is a Z - it could be a W or Y, which are both ratings
above 149 mph.
|
| R |
The R stands for Radial, which is how the tire
is constructed. Don't worry about this because almost all tires
are now radial. |
| 17 |
The inside diameter of the tire. Also called
the "tire diameter". Always match this with your wheel
diameter. |
| 89Y |
The "Service Description", which is a load
index number combined with a speed rating. With Civics and
other imports, you usually don't have to concern yourself with
the load index as it is always sufficient for how the tire is
intended to be used. The higher the load index, the more weight
a tire can hold. For example, a load index of 85 means each
tire can hold 1135 lbs and a load index of 91 indicates 1356
lbs per tire.
The speed rating is the tire's maximum recommended speed.
Some common ratings are: H = 130 mph, V = 149 mph, W = 168 mph,
Y = 186 mph, Z = 149+ mph (a Z rating technically means "above
149 mph" but in practice it usually means "somewhere above 186
mph". It is best to consult the tire manufacturer to get the
true maximum recommended speed on Z rated tires.)
|
Note: To convert millimeters to inches, divide by 25.4.
Lastly, here are some other concepts that are important in wheel and tire selection:
| Term |
Definition |
| Wheel Bolt Pattern (PCD) |
Specified by the number of wheel bolts and the
diameter (a.k.a. PCD or Pitch Circle Diameter) of the imaginary
circle made by connecting those wheel bolts. For Civics, if you
have 4 bolts then its 4 x 100mm, 5 bolts is 5 x 114.3mm. These
are standard sizes for all years. |
| Offset |
This is how far the mounting surface of your
wheel is from the "centerline" of the wheel. A more positive
offset will cause your wheel to mount closer to the inside of
your wheel wells. A offset that is too far out of range can
cause rubbing problems, either on the fender (offset too low)
or on the inside of the wheel well (offset too high). |
| Hubcentric / Lugcentric |
To prevent vibrations, a wheel must be centered
when it is installed. These are the two ways to center wheels
when you mount them: Lugcentric uses the lug nuts themselves to
center the wheel, and Hubcentric centers the wheel around the
hub. Since all the wheels we sell only accept aftermarket
"tapered" lug nuts, they are automatically Lugcentric. |
