Specific question regarding my tires and wheels

[FLAteam]

I drive a 96 Honda Civic DX and I recently bought some VX wheels. The tires are totally shot on them. I have 13 inch steel wheels now, with 175/70R13 Uniroyal Tigerpaws. They're old tires but they've got good tread. I was wondering what I should do about the tires once I put the VX wheels on...Should I:

1. Buy new tires at Sam's Club. They're 155/80R13 Dunlop SP40 for $35/each, cheapest ones I can find online and locally. Its $10 each tire for mounting, and I'm sure there's disposal fees of some kinda. Totals around $200. I could probably sell my steel wheels for $50. Or...

2. Find some place to transfer my tires from the steel wheels to the VX wheels. I heard its around $20-25 to do this in my area (but from somewhat shady places).

I'm concerned about fuel economy, but also how much I'd save on not getting new tires. Are tire prices going up? Maybe it would be a good idea to get them now? How would the sizes of tires affect my fuel economy? I'd be going slightly less revs/mile.

Thanks!

[theholycow]

Brand new tires probably cannot pay for themselves in FE alone. If the existing tires were worn it wouldn't be worth remounting them, but with decent tread just put them on the new wheels -- or wait to change the wheels until the tires are worn.

[SL8Brick]

I agree with theholycow. If your existing tires have sufficent tread depth, there's no reason not to reuse them. However, if you're going to buy new tires...the Dunlop SP40s are notorious for wearing out quickly and have iffy traction issues. You might want to consider these: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Solus+KR21&part num=58TR3KR21&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes &place=1

[mkiVX]

swap the 175 7013 on
the 155 80 are taller and will NOT get you better mpg trust me
I had that same set up on my 96 dx hatchback and i loved them

[civic94]

any tire shop can switch tires, i just bought vx rims myself this week and switched the tires, then sell the old rim+ bad tires on craigslist for cheap. make sure the shop has a balancing machine.

cost 23 per switch at the shop i went, balanced

[RoadWarrior]

Is it my imagination or have those prices gone up some, swear it was only about $55 a tire in my size last month.

[SL8Brick]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior

Is it my imagination or have those prices gone up some, swear it was only about $55 a tire in my size last month.

You're correct...I sell tires & auto parts for a living and prices are higher across the board.

[FLAteam]

will big chain places (tires plus, big 10 tires, discount tire) swap the tires over? I imagine they'd charge a bunch...

by the way, how long have your tires lasted you since hypermiling? I want my tires to last me at least another year and a half...

[theholycow]

The extra inflation that hypermilers use helps the tires wear longer, but not braking for corners adds some wear. I always get good life out of my tires anyway.

[bigrobrn]

I just had 4 Prometer 175/70 R13 mounted and balanced today for a grand total of $162.00.
I opted for a little more rubber on the road than the stock sized 155/80 R13.

I was happy with the $162.00 out the door price for 4 tires.

They are on my new project car. My 1996 Geo Metro 1.3L.

[baddog671]

I've seen alot of interest in these VX wheels, can I get some info on them? Steel or aluminum, weight, bolt pattern, width, backspacing...
Thanks!

I've had both 155/80/13 and 175/70/13 on my old Metro. I liked the 155's better

[getnpsi]

they are 4x100 and a SOB to find. I bought THREE off ebay locally for 60 bucks last year. I sold one wheel and now need 2 more. Locating them is tough. I have been to 6 local yards

[FLAteam]

I'm looking at getting 4 Kumho Power Star (155/80R13) for $29/each, and after its all said and done, looking at $175 w/coupon from discount tires.

You can try to get these wheels on forums (clubcivic,com, hondamarketplace.com), local forums (like orlandoforums.com) or on Craigslist.

[vxhatch]

I had the kuhmo 155/80/13s on my 92 VX and just replaced them with Hankook Millage Plus 175/70/13. Although I haven't been logging miles & calculating MPG, my perception is that the car accelerates slower, rides harder and gets lower MPG with the new tires...YMMV

Doug

[FLAteam]

lol...thanks for the update. I've filled up maybe twice on these tires and wheels and I've seen no real difference in fuel economy yet (averaging 34mpg). However, I'm using AC like a crazy man and I'm also driving around 80 mph on the interstate.

...so basically i'm not really hypermiling, other than my city driving. If I ever break 36.6 (my record with steel wheels and my 175's), I'll let everyone know. This will probably happen sometime in January of next year, when its not so freakishly hot in Florida.

Oh, and I do notice a change in how acceleration feels. But then again, they're new tires, balanced and everything, versus some super old tires unbalanced. And they're nicer tires than the ones I had on my steel wheels, so everything's really improved (accel, braking, ride quality, handling, high speed stability, road noise, ease of turning).

[Erik]

This past Wed. I had 1 used tire swapped onto my rim (mounted and balanced) for $11.50, but I had to keep the old tire to avoid paying an extra $1.25 disposal fee.