Hello. recently bought a 2000 Honda Civic MB2 1.4 (90hp) fastback. Car came with 195/45/R16 wheels, size which is not mentioned in the official car's Vehicle's Registration Certificate. The only official size mentioned there is 185/60/R14. I'd like to change the tires which are pretty worn and keep the R16 Rims that are already on the car. But for these rims to be written in the car's Registration Certificate by my local Automotive Registry they need to be officially approved by HONDA. Is there any official source/document that states the optional tires/rims approved for this particular model? That could help. Many thanks!
I don't know the laws in Romania and I don't know of any country in the world that restricts changing wheels and tires. The manufacturer is not the approval authority when it comes to deciding which wheels are authorized of not.
The manufacturer simply builds the car with a specific lug nut pattern that allows ANY wheel and tire combination to be attached as long as it fits. Clearly you do not want to run a set of 16" wheels with big mud tires as that would not be optimal for your normal day to day road performance. But what I am getting aT is that you should be able to use any wheel and tire combination as long as the tire itself is approved for use on the roads in your country.
in the USA all tries must be NHTSA/DOT approved. National Highway Traffic Safety Association dictates road legal tires. I want to say the minimum tread wear rate in the USA is 200 and anything lower than 200 is considered a racing compound and not street legal.
