Apologies for the lame question, but I'm suddenly confused on the sizes of my tires. Can anyone tell me, is a 205/45/16 roughly the same size as a stock 97 civic ex rim (185/65/14, I think)? Meaning, can I use that stock one as my spare?

I've always thought they were the same size overall, but different in terms of rim & tire size. But now I'm thinking that they aren't and I'm riding along without a spare (knock on wood!).

Any help would be awesome...

 

First number: width of tire in mm
Second number: percentage of first number giving you the sidewall height in mm
Third number: diameter in inches for wheel size

Example:
205/45/16 =
205 mm wide by 45% of 205 mm (112.75) of sidewall put onto a 16inch rim.

HIH

 

The overall size should be real close, depending on tire wear. The width is the main difference in these 2 sizes, but it's only 20mm.

 

Here are the sizes you can use for a Civic:

185/65x14"
195/55x15"
205/45x16"
205/40x17"
215/35x18"

 

sorry but u can also use 205/50/15 son
that is what i have,

and NO that tire size isnt same size as 185-65-14 i is .2 inches shorter. or 1/5 of an inch, which only makes a differnce in wheel rotation and Speedometer being off a tad bit

 

easier answer is, if you want to use your stock as a spare make sure you do not mount it on the drive wheels. put them in back if you're not sure of the circumference difference. this will save your tranny from getting beaten up.