[MikeF]

I'm about to take delivery of an '02 Insight, and have been reading the posts about higher-performing summer tires and various winter tires as replacements for the OEMs.

Many posts talk about buying used or new 14" Civic wheels to use for the winter tires -- heavier, yes, but cheaper than another Insight rim.

Do all 14" Civic wheels fit the Insight (same bolt pattern? same offset? no rubbing in the wheel well when the steering wheel is turned to the bump stops?) If so, I'm sure I can find some good used ones in the want ads.

Thanks!

MF

 

[Rick]

Yes I believe they do. In fact, I think in Japan our wheels are upgrade wheels, you get steel wheels with snap on covers if you don't pay extra for the alloy ones. The Insight uses a standard 4X100 bolt pattern, not sure what the offset is exactly, but I dont think it's a problem. The weight will cause you to loose some mileage though.

 

[Guillermo]

I bought used civic VX alloy 13" rims 4X100 5" wide with offset of 55 mm. This rim clears everything but make sure the offset is 55 mm or less. I highly recommend these rims for winter because they weigh 8 lbs ! yes that's right 8 lbs each while the Insight OEM 14" rim weighs 12 lbs. I bought these rims used for $180 Canadian (~ $140 U.S.) and they came with cheap all season tires, this combination weighed the same as the OEM Insight rim and tire (22 lbs).

Another reason you should buy 13" rims for winter tires is because 13" tires are significantly cheaper then 14" tires.

I recommend 175/70R13 winter tires because they have the exact diameter as the OEM Insight tires.

Winter tires harden and loose their ice gripping ability after about 3 winters. So for maximum safety replace your winter tires every 3 years, it's much better to buy cheap and replace often then to buy expensive winter tires and try to wear out the treads by milking them for 5 or 6 years.

At 48 psi the cheap 175/70R13 all season tires, these rims came with, feel firm and responsive (at 32 psi i'm sure they would feel sluggish) I've been milking these cheap all season tires for the last 2 months until I replace them with winter tires in about 4 weeks.

 

[Rick]

If you still wanted to get the steel wheels I ran across some at discount tires web site for $33 each today.