Oops, I did it again! Bought another cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage. Mods in progress...

[MetroMPG]

Yeah, I'd expect the added weight would hurt in urban driving.


I should have pointed out that ~95% of my driving is highway.


On the Insights, were the larger tires' rolling resistance comparable to the RE92's? That also made a big difference on those cars.



I just discovered the center bore is a little smaller on the Civic wheels. Gonna have to get out the dremel and adjust them.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I just discovered the center bore is a little smaller on the Civic wheels. Gonna have to get out the dremel and adjust them.

That's surprising, I thought Honda's was the biggest in that bolt pattern. Toyota's is very significantly smaller.

[freebeard]

https://www.roadkillcustoms.com/whee...ta-wheel-size/
https://www.roadkillcustoms.com/whee...A&Models=CIVIC
54.1 vs 64.1? Center bore [is not equal to] PCI. IIRC some wheels center on the bore, some on the PCI. Maybe use a mill instead of hand work?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

With winter gone, I'm thinking of trying these old 15" Civic wheels that I have in my junk pile. Civic tires are 185/65/15, where the Mirage stock size is 165/65/14.

A friend has switched from 175/70R14 to 185/80R14 in a trucklet he owns, but his main intention was to raise the ground clearance. He claimed to not having noticed any change to fuel efficiency.

[MetroMPG]

^ I wonder if your friend remembered to adjust his calculations to account for the under-reported distance due to the bigger tires.

[MetroMPG]

Turns out the problem was a bit of Ontario rust on the hubs PLUS a bit of crust in the alloy center bores.

Here they are actually on the car:


Initial driving impressions:

1) I love the change. An 8% gearing difference is definitely noticeable to an eco-driver.

2) The car rolls a LOT easier & farther compared to the snow tires that were on there. Combination of lower rolling resistance and more rotating mass. Not sure what the r.r. difference would be to the stock LRR Dunlop Enasaves though.

3) I just need to calibrate the ScanGauge for the speedometer/odometer change

4) Also need to streamline the wheels. Air blenders! Wheel discs in their future. These are the same wheels as are on the back of the MPGiata, so I'll only need to make a pair.

[MetroMPG]

OH, and the car will also need to be lowered a bit.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

^ I wonder if your friend remembered to adjust his calculations to account for the under-reported distance due to the bigger tires.

He didn't even consider either this or how it would affect the final drive ratio, and he was even doing the wrong calculation when it came to wheel wells clearance.

[samwichse]

What tires are you running? Because currently you have the magical size...

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Envious of you EV guys.

I'm considering doing this for gearing:



Details: https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...tml#post644566

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by samwichse

What tires are you running? Because currently you have the magical size...

Magical!? You have my attention.

I think you might mean magical because the stock 1st gen Insight tire size is the same as the stock Mirage tire: 165/65r14.

But these Civic wheels are 185/65r15. The tires on them are just old, worn out rebranded Canadian Tire garbage. Though they actually seem to roll quite well.

I have a line on a used set of OEM Prius LRR tires that I would put on the Civic wheels: P195/65R15 Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus. But they might not become available for another year.