I think his point was that a 225mm wide tire will have more resistance than a 195mm wide tire. That would mainly apply to comparing a 195 and 225 version of the same type of tire, which isn't what's at issue here. Either way, I still maintain that the only way to rule out weather is if you do 3 controlled runs on each set of wheels. Of course, that also assumes that the car's MPG-meter is accurate enough to produce repeatable results and we've already had at least one post from someone saying their fluctuates wildly. That would likely show up as a very large variance between each of the 3 runs for each set of tires however.

 

Stock rims on an 03-05 HCH are 14.2 lbs (I weighed mine after I got new wheels). I have to suspect that the 06 is in the same ballpark - maybe a tad more as it's a 15". The Superleggera's are ones I looked closely at too. Just under 16 lbs is probably very comparable to the stock wheel - within a pound most likely. What I'd look at is the tire weight. I replaced my 185/70R14 with a 195/60R15, and the new tire weighs 18.3 lbs (compared to 17.8 on the stock tire). I found that wider tires - 205, 215, etc. got into the low 20's on weight. Looks like the 225/45R17 tire is 21.3 lbs. Not bad, but may be a pound or so over the stock tires. Tire width may also play a role.

BTW, I got the Continental CV95's (instead of the CH, but same family - just a V rated tire). The mileage for the first 3-400 miles was miserable. I credit this to the "newness" of the tire. They were just plain sticky. I've put about 900 miles on them now, and they're rolling much, much better - easily comparable to the Dunlops they replaced. Just hang in there on the break in period. As you go past 500 miles + things should get much better if they follow the same pattern as mine.

One last thing - your car looks GREAT!!!!

 

"Your car looks GREAT!!!!"

No kidding about that; your car will be envy of many a 2006 Civic owner, both hybrid and non-hybrid, and probably Si as well.

And way to go: I believe you will draw many people towards consideration of the purchase of a hybrid, because of the fact that you will have a car that gets great mileage, and looks fabulous to boot.

And: not only are you promoting hybrids, but every day you get to drive that sweet machine as well. Life is too good!

 

I hope it is the newness. I can't bare to look at the stock wheels on the '06, and the OZ wheels look infinitely better.

Hopefully we'll get updates?

 

Agreed...terrific look. Hey Tim, can you please give me an update. Did the new tires quiet the ride at all? I use a cell with a bluetooth earpiece. Love my HCH but it's a little loud over rough roads and on the freeways, making it hard to hear on the cell.

Interested to hear!

Thanks,
Lansing

 

I have a general question about wheel and tire weight, which reveals my ignorance of physics and other such things. Here it is:

How much difference does the weight of the wheel and tire make, considering that the whole car weighs over 2500 pounds more than the scrawny 2-5 pound extra per wheel?

I understand some of the fundamental ideas about why it should make some difference; I just don't know if the difference is significant, or negligible.

 

I wish I had a better report, but in my opinion the car is just as noisy as before. I did notice, however, that at 32 psi things were quieter than at 42 psi where I keep them. The Continentals aren't worse than the Dunlops, but they aren't noticeably better either. I'm seriously considering some kind of sound undercoating to see if it helps. On the good side, handling is profoundly better. Not that I push it much, but cornering is now, dare I say, fun?

I'm not an expert by any stretch. I have a friend who races - he said that notionally a lighter wheel will improve accelleration and stopping distance (the engine/brakes don't have to expend as much energy turning or stopping the wheel). He even said that things are easier on the suspension too. I've read that 1 lb of wheel (or unsprung) weight is equivalent to about 8 lbs of car weight reduction (so my overall 12 lb reduction should equate to 96 lbs less car weight). Percentage-wise to a 2500 lb car, that's not much. I can't say that I've noticed a difference in FE yet, but I really won't be able to do a true comparison until July when the weather gets warm and I can compare summer FE data with what I had last summer. Truthfully, I'd be content if I just didn't mess it up. Unless it makes a 3+ MPG difference, it's going to be very difficult to detect given all the "noise" that goes into any given tank's FE.

 

Thanks, Tim...

You may have saved me a ton of cabbage for now. No worries. I love my car. I'll just go the smarter route and get a cell that has better volume!!!

Great reports!

Lansing

 

The MPG calculator is really squirley. This morning the overall calculation (since I bought the car) was 51 mpg. This afternoon it was in the 40s. The last tank calculator was in the 40s this morning and in the 30s this afternoon. I find it changes quite a bit througout the day-- much more than I would have expected. I don't think it's working as intended.

The other thing that happened to me today is that a guy with a non-hybrid Civic coupe stopped me as I was about to leave the gas station and complimented me on the rims (that's never happened to me before-- though I've never bought rims for a car before either). This is completely unlike my wife's response, which was "I liked the old ones better."



-- Frank

 

I'm with you on this one, Frank. Perhaps your wife was considering how much jewelry could be bought for the price of four Superleggeras?

But in the interest of domestic tranquility, I recommend that you not propose that idea to her...