[manim]

Originally Posted by revvhed

Time for me to change my tyres. After reading this thread and the Civic Maintenance one I have sort of narrowed down my options.
As far as size is concerned, I'm going to go with 205/65 R15.
Now comes the age old question, Yokohama C - Drives or Michelin Primacy LC or some equivalent Pirellis ??

Having experienced:
1) Eagle NCT5 (OEM)
2) Michelin Energy MXV8
3) Michelin Primacy LC

My vote goes to PLC, they are very silent, comfortable, and lasts a long time.

[ramanak]

Originally Posted by revvhed

Hi,

Time for me to change my tyres. After reading this thread and the Civic Maintenance one I have sort of narrowed down my options.
As far as size is concerned, I'm going to go with 205/65 R15.
Now comes the age old question, Yokohama C - Drives or Michelin Primacy LC or some equivalent Pirellis ??
Tyre gurus please help.

If you travel frequently on rough roads, try Michelin XM2.I have been using XM2- 205/65/15 size on my Civic for around 5000 Kms.They have handled rough roads quite well.You will enjoy the additional Ground clearance that 205 size offers and stability while taking corners at high speeds.One advice-Get Wheel alignment/Balancing re-checked at Honda service center after replacing tyres.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by nareshtrao

For Civic, the best upsize/upgrade is 205/65 R15 - Pick a brand of your choice. The ride is better, ground clearance is better, road-grip is better and your mileage does not get affected.

Planning to switch to 205/65 R15.

This is the first change (after 52,000 kms of high speed driving).

Two questions:

1. The mechanic tested the tyre this morning and told me that I must change my tyres immediately. It was well above (or below) the danger mark. Have I got the life out of my stock tyres?
2. How to check the manufacturing date when I go and get a new set? How "old" is acceptable?

Thanks.

[manim]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

[*]How to check the manufacturing date when I go and get a new set? How "old" is acceptable?

There is a four-digit date-of-manufacture in every tyre.
For example in mine it says '4211'.
This means 42nd week (October third-week) of 2011.

I read somewhere that tyres above six years of life should not be used since the rubber deteriorates over time.

I would personally accept tyres within a year of manufacture.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by manim

There is a four-digit date-of-manufacture in every tyre.
For example in mine it says '4211'.
This means 42nd week (October third-week) of 2011.

I changed my four (Civic) tyres to Michellin Energy XM2 205/65 R15 V yesterday at TyrePlus in Whitefield, Bangalore (near Forum Value Mall) for Rs.26,800/-- (after discounts and exchange of old ones). Mr.Senthil, who's in-charge of TyrePlus, was very helpful and he patiently answered all my questions regarding price, compatibility, date of manufacturing, state of the existing tyres (after running for 51800 kms), etc. The drive feels good....need to check the performance on a long drive. The new ones were marked 1013.

[saurabhkum]

I'm planning to get my civic's tyre changed to 205/65/15 . I want a tyre with long life and low noise. Also will like not to overspend on the same what are the options available to me. Experts pls help

[k2max6]

I'm also planning to change the shoes of my civic (done 48k/one tyre damaged due to puncture) . Currently its running on 195/65 R15. I am thinking of upgrading to 205/65 R15. Michelin XM2 (Have it on my wagon r - super Silent) most probably or Yoko A-Drives (have them on my swift - not silent) ?
Also confused if should upgrade all 4 together or 2 which are required right now.In case i upgrade 2, the rest 2 have an approx life of 10k kms left.So thinking of upgrading all together?
A lot of people here have upgraded to this size.Can it cause any damage to the suspension in the long run? Most importantly how is the ground clearance improvement?
Awaiting quick replies. Have to change in a day or two.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by k2max6

I'm also planning to change the shoes of my civic (done 48k/one tyre damaged due to puncture) . Currently its running on 195/65 R15. I am thinking of upgrading to 205/65 R15. Michelin XM2 (Have it on my wagon r - super Silent) most probably or Yoko A-Drives (have them on my swift - not silent) ? Also confused if should upgrade all 4 together or 2 which are required right now.In case i upgrade 2, the rest 2 have an approx life of 10k kms left.So thinking of upgrading all together? A lot of people here have upgraded to this size.Can it cause any damage to the suspension in the long run? Most importantly how is the ground clearance improvement? Awaiting quick replies. Have to change in a day or two.

For what it's worth, the manual says 205/65 R15 is OK. GC would go up by a smidgen over 6 mm.

I got routine alignment done for my car's tyres today. Stock Goodyear Eagle NCT5s. 37600 kms. One had gone completely bald by the 32500 mark, so that's the stepney now. So effectively 3 tyres at 37600 and one at 5100 kms. The guy at the shop (a well-recommended shop in Gurgaon) suggested that the tyres have lived their lives out and was of the opinion that even 37600 is "too much" for the stock Goodyears. HASS, and many TBHPians, tell me that 45-50k is easy with the stock tyres. So I don't know if there's something wrong with my driving or tyre pressure maintenance, or maybe it's simply my reliance on HASS for alignment, balancing and rotation for the first 30k kms that caused such fast wear.

Now I plan to hit the 40k mark and switch to either Turanza ER300 or AVS dB 550s in the stock 195/65 R15 size. Not terribly interested in upsizing to 205/65 R15s as I'm happy with current ground clearance, grip (acceleration and braking mainly rather than cornering), steering feel and mileage.

By the way, of all regular/commonly available tyre sizes, 225/45 R17 comes closest to stock ride height. That's my ideal "upgrade" if I know my driving involves only butter-smooth roads.

Regards,
spadix

[k2max6]

Will upgrading to 205/65 R15 change the steering feel. Mileage change is expected,about how much,If its 10% and above i guess i will stick to stock size ? Mine are also OE NCT5 tyres ( They have 5-10k kms left in 3 of them which i will take a year to do) but anyway it is recommended to change tyres in 5-6 years even if mileage is low.Planning to change all 4. Mine are April 2007 manufactured.
Any other recommended tyres ?
I am also interested in Turanza's. Michelin's are almost 1k expensive each relatively.
How much better are the XM2's over Turanza considering the former being 20% expensive.Are turanza ER300 very noisy when compared to XM2?
Any comments on the Bridgestone B250?

[spadix]

Originally Posted by k2max6

Will upgrading to 205/65 R15 change the steering feel.

Yes, steering will get a little heavier but that shouldn't be a major concern.

Originally Posted by k2max6

Mileage change is expected,about how much,If its 10% and above i guess i will stick to stock size ?

No idea how much the drop in mileage would be. Do remember though that a tyre upsize to 205/65 would change the way you calculate mileage. First you need to increase the odo reading by a factor of 2*pi*(change in radius) in km. Change in radius from 195/65 to 205/65 is exactly 6.5mm. Assuming you maintain correct tyre air pressure in both cases, your odo reading would be understated by change in circumference caused by increase in radius. Once you account for this, you will get the exact change in mileage due to the upsize.

Originally Posted by k2max6

Mine are also OE NCT5 tyres ( They have 5-10k kms left in 3 of them which i will take a year to do) but anyway it is recommended to change tyres in 5-6 years even if mileage is low.Planning to change all 4. Mine are April 2007 manufactured. Any other recommended tyres ? I am also interested in Turanza's. Michelin's are almost 1k expensive each relatively. How much better are the XM2's over Turanza considering the former being 20% expensive.Are turanza ER300 very noisy when compared to XM2? Any comments on the Bridgestone B250?

Goodyear Eagle NCT5 === Bridgestone B250 === Michelin Energy XM === stock tyres (factory-fitted) for the Civic. Now I don't know the differences between XM, XM+ and XM2. Probably XM+ and XM2 are better than stock-grade. Not 100% sure.

Turanza ER300 (195/65) or ER60 (205/65) === Yoko AVS dB 550 === new Potenza GIII === Continental Pro Contact 2 === Michelin Primacy LC === touring grade tyres. Each of these offers better grip in all conditions than the stock tyres, and will also be silent (relative to NCT5 at least) to begin with. Over time as the tread wears out these will all start to produce more noise. People have not had a good experience with CPC2s on the Civic (some instances recounted on the maintenance & must-dos thread). Primacy LC is a very good tyre but due to soft sidewalls, leaves no margin for error on rough/potholed roads at speed. Turanzas are durable. Yoko A-drives and C-drives would probably fall into this category too, but AVS dBs are significantly better than either. Also probably the Goodyear GT range belongs here but I've heard reports of them being very noisy and not offering too great grip either, essentially behaving similar to stock grade tyres.

Yoko S-drives === Yoko Advan === old Potenza GIII === Michelin Pilot Sport === soft-compound sport tyres for great cornering grip and great grip overall. I've not heard of too many people using these options at least in the 15" size. Tyre life would be quite low. 25-30k kms tops. Plus these are expensive too.

Also the Jap tyres (Bridgestone, Yoko, Goodyear) last longer on average (statistically speaking) than the European tyres (Pirelli, Michelin), all things considered.

Regards,
spadix

[k2max6]

Will there also be a loss in pickup. I felt some when i upsized to 185 in my swift. Generally speaking upsizing is not required for me as i was upsizing for GC only and it its a tiny bit increase so i guess i should stick to the stock size?

In case of an upsize, Taking a very rough figure for FE can it go down to 9kmpl from 10kmpl or the variations are relatively small?

I have narrowed down to turanza and xm2. Size still undecided. Can someone compare between the xm2 and turanza? The the turanza is costing Rs.5400 while xm2 is Rs.6300 approx. I was getting inclined towards turnaza because of the budget.

[k2max6]

I need to get the tyres tomorrow. Any help please ^^^

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by k2max6

I need to get the tyres tomorrow. Any help please ^^^

I changed my tyres 3 years ago (Oct'2010) when I upgraded to Yoko AVS dB550 205/65 R15.

I have driven 29500 kms since then, without a puncture (touchwood).

There seems to be a lot of life still left (saw clearly when i got alignment & rotation done this Monday).

Will I choose it again? 200% YES.

Ok now about your queries.

Steering will feel slightly heavy after upgrade and you will get used it in a day (if not few hours).

Fuel efficiency change is hardly noticeable.

Other than this, these are quite silent tyres (how they got their name). Good grip in wet and dry condition.

If you are planning to replace all four tyres, I will strongly recommend these tyres and this size.

[k2max6]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

I changed my tyres 3 years ago (Oct'2010) when I upgraded to Yoko AVS dB550 205/65 R15. I have driven 29500 kms since then, without a puncture (touchwood). There seems to be a lot of life still left (saw clearly when i got alignment & rotation done this Monday). Will I choose it again? 200% YES. Ok now about your queries. Steering will feel slightly heavy after upgrade and you will get used it in a day (if not few hours). Fuel efficiency change is hardly noticeable. Other than this, these are quite silent tyres (how they got their name). Good grip in wet and dry condition. If you are planning to replace all four tyres, I will strongly recommend these tyres and this size.

Thanks for the quick reply. I am planning to upgrade all 4. I will now have to decide between XM2 and AVS db550. Cost wise almost the same.

Should i upsize just for the tiny bit increase in GC ? I don't want to to upsize for other reasons. Is the increase in GC noticeable at times or negligible?

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by k2max6

Thanks for the quick reply. I am planning to upgrade all 4. I will now have to decide between XM2 and AVS db550. Cost wise almost the same.

Should i upsize just for the tiny bit increase in GC ? I don't want to to upsize for other reasons. Is the increase in GC noticeable at times or negligible?

Well, improvement in GC is marginal. But there are other benefits also mentioned in this thread earlier. If you don't want to upsize for other benefits, then it is your call.

BTW, what is the price of OE size and 205/65 R15 ?