Wheel advice needed
 

Hi all,

I have an '06 on order for early January, and I'll need snows ('snow tires' for you non-snowbelt types ;) ) just to get up my driveway by then. My question is not about those as much as the wheels - I know the HCH comes with wheels that are different in style and weight than standard Civic wheels. Usually when I get a new vehicle I get the snows mounted on 'winter rims' (ie cheap, steel, durable), but in this case I'm wondering - how much do the standard wheels contribute to MPG? Should I at least get alloy rims? Or would I do significantly better with wheels from Honda?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Re: Wheel advice needed
 

Remember that in the winter, your mpg is going to suffer greatly anyway. Im not 100% sure but i believe you can use some regular steel rims without adverse effects.

Re: Wheel advice needed
 

Hi; You can go to: WWW.TireRack.com
I just looked at their site and you can purchase (Winter Tire & Wheel Packages) from them. Look at the different wheels they list and it shows you their weight. There are alot of choices, like 216 I think. Good-luck ;)

Terry

Re: Wheel advice needed
 

Thanks Terry - I had been looking at some of those packages today.

I have to confess; like many others I don't find the stock wheels very appealing. The TireRack steel rims don't look too great either, so vanity may win out here and force me to buy some cheap alloys for the snows. :shade:

Re: Wheel advice needed
 

You can see my adventure in new wheels and tires here (with pics):

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...rade.4514.html

I got a lighter setup (by ~ 3lbs a wheel). It's been debated whether that will make a difference. I just got them so I won't know for a couple months. Lightweight wheels are expensive. There are some cheap (less than $100 a wheel) options out there that may be in the 15-16lb range (15"). True lightweight racing wheels (9-11 lbs) are going to be $200+ (15") - much more as you go up (16", 17"). Given there's no real conclusions yet on the actual benefit of low weight, and you're really in bad driving conditions in the snow anyway, it may be more a cosmetic decision (which is perfectly valid...;) )

You know, another thing to consider is buying new wheels for your car to use when it's warm, and use the stock wheels to mount the snow tires on. I thought the 06 had 15" wheels. There are lots of good 15" lightweight wheels (Enkei, Motegi, SRR, Kosei have some good choices).

If you check out GreanSeal's 2003 Low Rolling Resistance tire report (greanseal.org), there are some snow tires on that list that are LRR. :)

Good Luck!