Thread: Wheels/tires
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Old 05-03-2013, 12:55 PM   #5 (permalink)
California98Civic
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
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Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe
Team Honda
90 day: 66.42 mpg (US)

Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeSabreT View Post
Summer cometh... slowly. Last day of finals here in Iowa, but we were hit with a small blizzard and 4 or so inches of snow... Just a few days ago, it was 80F. Go figure.

Anywho, my 1987 LeSabre is in need of some new tires (the old Cooper Trendsetters are shot), and I'm trying to decide whether to keep the stock alloy wheels (15" and fairly bulky) or buy some 16" lightweight alloy wheels.

Michelin Defenders look like a good set of tires...

Suggestions?
Several guys have tried this, and tested it. So use the search function seeking "tall tire test" and such. The best test I saw was from Sentra SE_R ... search for it and others. Consider more factors: LRR capability, tire weight, and tire width. Remember to calibrate your distance and speed readings to accommodate what is essentially a change in gear ratios, the wheel/tire being in essence another gear. If you don't calibrate, before and after the swap, it will be tough to know if you got a benefit because of the distance undercount on the odometer.

I plan to switch to michelin defenders eventually. Running down my current tires first.
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.



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