Team-BHP > The Indian Car Scene


Reply
  Search this Thread
79,879 views
Old 31st May 2009, 20:47   #76
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 520
Thanked: 609 Times

Our Civic's had a tire upgrade from 195/65/R15 B250 Bridgestones to 205/65/R15 B390 Bridgestones. The car hasn't scraped even once even with 3-4 people on board over those bumps where we used to bottom out earlier - my dad's feeling a LOT more confident about this car over bumps now
reppy is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 10:26   #77
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Bombay
Posts: 1,050
Thanked: 302 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by reppy View Post
Our Civic's had a tire upgrade from 195/65/R15 B250 Bridgestones to 205/65/R15 B390 Bridgestones. The car hasn't scraped even once even with 3-4 people on board over those bumps where we used to bottom out earlier - my dad's feeling a LOT more confident about this car over bumps now
But will this not change the OD? And give incorrect speedo/odo readings? I thought 205/60/R15 is correct upgrade.
sandeep108 is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 10:48   #78
BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 153
Thanked: 152 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by reppy View Post
Our Civic's had a tire upgrade from 195/65/R15 B250 Bridgestones to 205/65/R15 B390 Bridgestones. The car hasn't scraped even once even with 3-4 people on board over those bumps where we used to bottom out earlier - my dad's feeling a LOT more confident about this car over bumps now

How has the ride and handling been after the tyre upgrade compared to earlier? Any change in fuel efficiency? Finally, how much did the tyres cost you?
car.lover is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 12:04   #79
Newbie
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 2
Thanked: 0 Times

By "bottoming out" I would mean the under body hitting the bump. The other day I picked up a friends family (3 adults in the back seat, me driving and my friend on the co-drivers) no luggage, and the car hit a bump so badly I thought I had ripped out an axle.

I will go through the information at the forum, guess a good way to start would be to up size the tires.


Thanks guys for all the inputs.
anindyakdas is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 13:24   #80
Senior - BHPian
 
asr245's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 1,162
Thanked: 389 Times

Pardon my ignorance for the following questions -

Quote:
Originally Posted by reppy View Post
Our Civic's had a tire upgrade from 195/65/R15 B250 Bridgestones to 205/65/R15 B390 Bridgestones. The car hasn't scraped even once even with 3-4 people on board over those bumps where we used to bottom out earlier - my dad's feeling a LOT more confident about this car over bumps now
AFAIK, only the width of the tyre has changed (from 195mm to 205mm). So how should that help in preventing underbody scrapes? More tyre width so less tyre flexing?

Quote:
Originally Posted by sandeep108 View Post
But will this not change the OD? And give incorrect speedo/odo readings? I thought 205/60/R15 is correct upgrade.
As above, no change in wheel diameter & circumference. So why will the speedo/odo be affected?
asr245 is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 13:36   #81
Senior - BHPian
 
m4ugr8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: New Delhi
Posts: 1,291
Thanked: 129 Times

I dont know how many Civic Owners will agree with me or not, But I have been driving my civic for over 11 Months now, 17000 Kms on the ODO And I have never faced a problem with the Ground clearance of the car. I have never managed to scrape the underbelly anywhere, And to my shock, I have crossed big big speedbreakers with full load of 4 people and still it did not touch.

And remember my Car has a Skirting kit all around, but still no issues whatsoever, Maybe its the delhi roads, But I am pretty much happy with the car. Yes the Rear suspension bottoming out is an issue, but then that can be fixed by a stiffer shock, Which will be my next mod for sure.
m4ugr8 is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 16:15   #82
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 520
Thanked: 609 Times

OK - answer to questions:

1. Yes, Speedo readings will change by ~1.8-2% but its a small sacrifice versus the gain
2. Ride and Handling - both have improved. Fuel efficiency is down to 8.5-9 from 9.5-10
3. The tires were priced at 4650 each from auth. retailer
4. Width of tire = more by 10 mm so height of tire is more by 10 x 0.65 = 6.5 mm.

I Chose bridgestones over Michelins and Yoko's because the others were softer and the GC would've reduced (due to a softer sidewall), which would've defeated the purpose of the whole upgrade.

Even my driver's loving the car now - earlier the poor chap used to worry driving over Gurgaon speedbreakers!
reppy is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 16:23   #83
Newbie
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Chennai
Posts: 21
Thanked: 0 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by m4ugr8 View Post
I dont know how many Civic Owners will agree with me or not, But I have been driving my civic for over 11 Months now, 17000 Kms on the ODO And I have never faced a problem with the Ground clearance of the car. I have never managed to scrape the underbelly anywhere, And to my shock, I have crossed big big speedbreakers with full load of 4 people and still it did not touch.

And remember my Car has a Skirting kit all around, but still no issues whatsoever, Maybe its the delhi roads, But I am pretty much happy with the car. Yes the Rear suspension bottoming out is an issue, but then that can be fixed by a stiffer shock, Which will be my next mod for sure.
I agree. Been driving my Civic for more than a year now, done 17K kms, havent had any major issues with the ground clearance. A slight niggle is when I park in my house. We have a very steep ramp and sometimes, if taken in reverse at a wrong angle, then there is a very faint scrape.

Havent had any issues over speed breakers so far. But I am careful over speed breakers and navigate them properly. I have had the underchassis inspected, and there are absolutely no issues.
vijayrv is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 16:47   #84
BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 84
Thanked: 68 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by reppy View Post
OK - answer to questions:

1. Yes, Speedo readings will change by ~1.8-2% but its a small sacrifice versus the gain
2. Ride and Handling - both have improved. Fuel efficiency is down to 8.5-9 from 9.5-10
3. The tires were priced at 4650 each from auth. retailer
4. Width of tire = more by 10 mm so height of tire is more by 10 x 0.65 = 6.5 mm.

I Chose bridgestones over Michelins and Yoko's because the others were softer and the GC would've reduced (due to a softer sidewall), which would've defeated the purpose of the whole upgrade.

Even my driver's loving the car now - earlier the poor chap used to worry driving over Gurgaon speedbreakers!
Not to mention, but out of 10% fuel efficiency loss, 2% is being compensated by bigger size wheels.

@Reppy: Is there any instance of wheel touching the outer arch when turning the steering fully?
raghavv is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 19:18   #85
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 520
Thanked: 609 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by raghavv View Post
@Reppy: Is there any instance of wheel touching the outer arch when turning the steering fully?
My driver checked this when we did the upgrade - no problem there
reppy is offline  
Old 1st June 2009, 19:27   #86
BHPian
 
equinox22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Chicago/Pune
Posts: 165
Thanked: 6 Times

^^ I agree. I have P215/45R17 tires and there are no issues with touching the arch.
equinox22 is offline  
Old 25th January 2010, 10:01   #87
Senior - BHPian
 
ashthedivx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Delhi
Posts: 1,356
Thanked: 24 Times

Bumping an old thread !!!

This means only resolution is to add a higher profile tyres to civic ?? I heard somewhere that adding spacers will do the job, but somehow ain't spacer's going to spoil suspension too early ??
ashthedivx is offline  
Old 25th January 2010, 13:24   #88
Senior - BHPian
 
ST7677's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,054
Thanked: 73 Times

Yes the best and the easiest option is to change the tyres to 205/65/R15.

I do not understand the drop in FE. There is no reason why such a minor change in tyre size leading to 10% FE drop. Moreover, there are many people who have changed tyres to 205/65/R15, but no one has reported such significant drop in FE.

Reppy you should check for others problems leading to that.
ST7677 is offline  
Old 25th January 2010, 19:09   #89
Senior - BHPian
 
rr_zen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Chennai, India
Posts: 1,798
Thanked: 400 Times

On the contrary, I remember someone in the forum (guess its iTNerd) that reported an increase in the FE after the tyre upgrade. You might want to go through his thread in its entirety.
rr_zen is offline  
Old 25th June 2011, 18:47   #90
Newbie
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 5
Thanked: 4 Times
Re: Issues regarding ground clearance of CIVIC

Quote:
Originally Posted by ashthedivx View Post
Bumping an old thread !!!

This means only resolution is to add a higher profile tires to civic ?? I heard somewhere that adding spacers will do the job, but somehow ain't spacer's going to spoil suspension too early ??
Hi,
I have a Honda City ZX (VTEC). I needed a tire upgrade. I created an excel sheet to determine which tyre works best in terms of ground clearance. You will see the excel sheet attached. It will help anyone determine the increase (or decrease) they would get in case tires are upgraded. In my car's case, there were two upgrade options - 185/60R14 or 195/60R14. The former reduces ground clearance, while the latter increases it (both options are highlighted in girly pink). Simply replace your OEM tire size in the first row, and the upgrade size in subsequent rows to get the difference in ground clearance.

The calculation is simple, as was mentioned in this thread, you calculate the difference in wall height and that difference is the (maximum) increase you could get for ground clearance.

This is my first post at Team-BHP, but I've been browsing this website for about 5 years now. I must say, it is a great place to be in.
Regards,
Anurag

1999 - CBZ
2001 - Maruti 800
2007 - Honda City ZX VTEC
Attached Files
File Type: xlsx Tire size and Ground Clearance.xlsx (9.7 KB, 498 views)
VTEC_Love is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks