Honda Civic Touring 2014 - can use R16 instead of R17

Question

For a Honda Civic Touring 2014, can i use 205/55/R16 instead of 215/45/R17?

If not, what size should i use for 16" tires, as I want to use 16" tires.

Thanks

Answer 1

The overall wheel diameter will not change much, as the other answers have already mentioned.

However there is less tread width with the proposed size and the smaller rim may give rise to brake disc clearance issues, so it's worth checking to see if the existing brake setup will clear the 16" rim.

Answer 2

If you have 17" rims, which you implied, you have to use 17" tires. You could get 16" rims for your 16" tires to fit on, but rims aren't cheap. The way you tell what rim size tires are for is the number after the R like: 215/45/R17.

You can't just put any tire on that will match the rim size. You do have a lot of freedom, but you need to take into account rim width and make sure the tires won't rub against the wheel well when you turn also.

Here's an awesome tire size calculator that could help to demystify what tire numbers actually mean. It is showing that those two tires are very similar, but their rims are different so they are definitely not interchangeable.

Edit:

After researching, this I figured out that your question is probably about swapping your 7Jx17 ET46 stock rim for a different trim Honda Civic's 6.5Jx16 ET48 rim. This question would have a been a thousand times easier if you specified the trim and engine of your car and the car you're taking the rims off, but I made some educated guesses.

Based on that tire size calculator, your new wheels will be almost the exact same diameter and almost the exact same width so they should work without any adjustment or problems. Wheels is the term that includes the rim and tire.

Your new rims will be 1/2" skinnier so the skinnier tires aren't a problem.

With the 1.8 engine, your car trim level is either an EX, EX-L, HF, or LX. The front rotor for all four of those trims is the same (has the same part number). It is roughly 10" in diameter. I would bet that that rotor (and brake combo) can fit inside the 16" rims from a different trim Honda Civic.

Answer 3

You can use any size tire you feel like if they fit on your wheels. If you have 17 in wheels then there is physically no way to fit 16 in tires on them. To use the 16 in tires that you want you would have to buy 16 in wheels to match them.

Beyond that the tire size can be changed around. It may change the way your car feels and rides. Also if the size is chosen poorly it may affect the speedometer. To keep the speedometer curate either the computer needs reprogrammed to work with the new tires or the effective rolling diameter of the tires needs to be the same as factory.