wheels and tires questions

talohunter

I drive a 96 civic vti.


Now for the questions.

1. What mags would look good in my car? I'm leaning towards rota grid sports bronze. http://www.rotawheels.com/grid.php

2. What's a good tire to buy? Size is 195/55/15

3. What's a good place to buy mags/tires. Can I buy it directly from rota? Their factory is near our place. i heard Evangelista is a good place to buy also. But are the shops there honest? I don't know much about this stuff and am very gullible. They could pass off used/surplus ones as bnew and I would not know.

4. How should I take care of the mags as to not to look like the picture above. When I got the car the mags were already like that. I think its because the car was from the province and it was washed by tubig poso and was parked 200m from the beach.

5. How many times can a tire be vulcanized before it is already compromised? I may be just unlucky but since the start of the semester, I have been victimized by nails 3 times already.

6. How much for the mags and tires? Ballpark figures would do.

Thanks!

biglang_liko

I suggest checking out the seller threads in various car-group forums. Since you drive a Honda, try Honda Club Philippines, there's an on-line seller of Rota rims, na marami nang nabentahang club members. Also you might be able to get a good deal from modders who are upsizing their rims and selling their almost new 15inch rims with slightly used tires. Sayang 4 holes lang yung stock rims mo, offer ko sana sayo yung original 07 honda civic 15-inch rims ko with 195/65/15 dunlops na isang buwan ko lang ginamit bago ako nagpalit hehe.

talohunter

The person selling rims online told me he only sells to bonafide members. I was supposed to post this topic in hondaclub forums also but I still can't post a topic. Bnews are ok as long as they are rota. Those are cheap right? I can't afford those original branded ones.

biglang_liko

Yes rotas are good quality rims and are competitively priced. I just recently bought a set of new rims and what I did first was call up practically every auto supplier listed in the yellow pages. Most of them will give you a quotation over the phone if you already know the particular rim model and tire size you need. Im not sure about the prices of 15-inch rotas, but 17-inch rotas are around 25k/set, so 15s should ba a lot cheaper.

You might also want to consider concept one, they're not as expensive as they seem. 17-inch concept ones cost from 30k-35k/set depending on design, which is only slightly more than the cost of 17-inch rotas.

If you are looking for affordable good quality tires, try NANKANG brand made in Taiwan. (215/40/17 Nankangs cost P3700 compared to 215/40/17 Dunlops which cost around 5k, ...195/55/15 Nankangs would definitely be a lot cheaper) In fact at these prices, you could even afford to get 16s or 17s for the price of dunlop-shod 15s.

grayegcivic

Try www.honda-tech.com Research before you post! They can help you whathever question you have. Also can have ideas on what to do with your car or the direction you wanna go.
A lot of Filipino Members there too.

slamm

195/55R15 is definitely the place to go; set aside around [email protected] per tire plus around 15K to 18K for the rims. Design is a matter of taste but sticking to simple ones like a classic 5-spoker ensures that the rim design doesnt age. You can trade in your old rims and tires but don't expect much; you may want to keep them and restore them later on for use on the car if you decide to sell.

On tire brands, Bridgestone, Goodyear or Yokohoma is okay... (i'm a bit privy to Bridgestone tires on a personal preference) never skimp on tires as these are important to your safety on the road. But before you upgrade your rims, have your suspension checked first (And please avoid shops like Rapide) as a bad suspension will keep you from getting a wheel alignment and thus your new tires will wear out unevenly.