Off Roading

[MaaseyRacer]

Here is my deal I am going to Reno, Nv. this weekend to visit some family. My problem is they live 12.5 miles up a dirt road. It is not a gravel road, but it is maintained by the county so it is not like I am going wheeling or anything. I am going to take my 89 civic DX hatch, that is riding on Tein HA suspension (already turned to full soft or as soft as it gets). My debate is whether to run my 13 inch stock wheels with michelin tires or my 15 inch rotas with kumho tires. Normally this would not be an issue except I loose about 3/4 to an inch in ride hight with the 13 inch wheels. Anyone have a similar experience, what did you do? Should I be more concerned about ride height or about ride height or about what tire I run?

 

[B16]

i say 13" with good all terrain or m/s tires. have fun on dirt with the HA's, lol

 

[Seany-izzle]

i wouldnt worry about it. even though i dont have the suspension you do (sportline springs on stock shocks) i used to drive up a 10 mile dirt road almost twice a day....with 15 in azenis on all fours. didnt have a problem. i doubt the road you are talking about has HUGE potholes and shit like that, youll be fine with your 15's. why are people with lowered rides always concerned about dirt and snow?

 

[phunky.buddha]

If it's a dirt road maintained by the county, you'll be fine on anything you can drive on the street. It's not like the county can expect everyone to have an rock crawler just to get home in a rural area. Don't worry about it.

 

[NissanNiNjA2nd]

umm... nevada is more lazy than missouri when it comes to their roads.... go rent a 4wheeler..... err just buy a jeep...

 

[Bl6CRX]

If anything you will want the extra height with the 15s, I used to live on a very poorly maintained mountain dirt road it sucked balls, also, I if there are pot holes and such I would not set the suspension to all the way soft, because then your car is going to have more up and down motion and may bottom out as a result, I know on my car and my shitty ass road, that I was acutally able to drop my car down lower after adding a stiffer suspension for this reason, also FYI, if you happen to use that black tire shine stuff, don't for about a week before you go cause the the dirt sticks to it hard core

 

[MaaseyRacer]

Good to know, I am holding off on cleaning my car until after I go. Thanks.

 

[driver1]

def keep the rotas on...traction should not be an issue but you gonna want all the ground clearance you can get...

 

[posol]

word. rock the 15s.

driving 200 miles on the highway on 13s fucking blows.

all the highway to get there > the 12 miles of dirt

 

[cycloneb18c3]

id go rallying down their driveway....go rent somethin AWD or test drive an STI... go to driveway and have fun...

 

[bcman]

If you're really concerned about bottoming out, then you should be even more concerned about denting a rim with those low profile tires. 13" steelies are cheap to replace.

 

[MaaseyRacer]

So I am back now, here is what I did. I ran the 15 inch wheels, soften up the teins and rallied the piss out of my car. I was a windy ass open dirt road, very few blind turns. I drifted a bunch of turns and looped the car twice. My suspension is so stiff, that when you are off road with little traction the car was so easy to spin. However I caught a bunch of other drifts, and it was fun as I did not need the ebrake to initiate them. As far as I know the rims have not dings or chips on them, but they are still super dirty and I am not washing the car for another week.