205/40-17 is slightly bigger than 205/45-16. But also the 17" wheel/tire will weigh more.

 

I was wondering if putting 17s on a civic would look ok without any kind of lowering. I was thinking about 40 in aspect ratio for the tires. What do you think?

 

^ Depends on who you ask. I think it looks horrible even with lowering.

 

I mean to somone who things 17s look good on a civic. I like lowered look but I can't lower my car right now cause of the train horn mounted on the rear of my car and cause it costs some $ for some good coilovers.

 

I have a 7th gen civic and im not positive but it looks a little bigger then older model civics so a 17" rim IMO looks better on the late models to where I agree on 16's for earlier civics. It looks very nice.

 

can someone point me to which gen civic = what year? I also see some K-series something-series about civics i don't have any idea what mine is.

 

How much a tire/rim combo weighs, and how much it slows a car is subject to several different factors.

-A 17x7 rim could weigh less than a 14x5.5, if the 14 is steel and the 17 is a lightweight alloy. Look at the variance in rim weights for rims of the same sizes sometime. The range in weightmight surprise you.

- Another factor to consider is the weight of the tire. A lower profile 15"tire will weigh less than a higher profile 14" tire of the same construction, overall diameter,and width. A heavier construction, a wider tire, or an overalltaller tire will likely add weight.

- A taller overall tire may slow a car some due to altering the final gear ratio and possibly causing the vehicle to operate outside of it's designed powerband. It may also be just as fast/quick, but the speedometer reading will be decreased by a taller overall diameter. This is a very common issue with Jeeps, as larger tires are often installed for better ground clearance and flotation offroad. The speedometer can be corrected, or the ring and pinion gears can be changed to match the new tire size.

- A tire with a wider contact patch will generally have more rolling resistance than a narrow one. This can be offset somewhat with higher inflation pressure, but higher PSI may cause uneven treadwear. Rolling resistance can also be altered by tread pattern.

If you want to increase your rim size without affecting your tractable power as much, select lightweight rims and match them to lightweight tires thathave a similar overall diameter and width to your existing ones.An example would be going from a steel 14x5.5 and 185/65R14 combo, to a lightweight alloy 15x6 and 195/55R15 combo.

 

My aftermarket 17" wheels are the same diameter as my stock wheels and pretty much weigh the same. They might be a little lighter. Only thing thats different is that, after putting my stock wheels back on, it fells like driving on jelly.

 

I tried 17s on my EG, didn't work rubbing after every bump i went over went back to 16s which are perfect little bumpy but looks and feels good

 

16's + 45 series tires = TEH WIN!!!