Best LRR Tires for '97 Civic?

[Baltothewolf]

This is actually 3 questions in this thread.

1. What are the best LRR Tires for the 97 Civic? I believe the tire size is 185/65/R14.
2. Would it be beneficial to go bigger (or smaller?) tires and be able to keep the same rims?
3. WWould the G1 insight rims fit onto my civic?

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

This is actually 3 questions in this thread.

1. What are the best LRR Tires for the 97 Civic? I believe the tire size is 185/65/R14.
2. Would it be beneficial to go bigger (or smaller?) tires and be able to keep the same rims?
3. WWould the G1 insight rims fit onto my civic?

G1 Insight rims will fit, but honestly I feel you're better off keeping the lighter HX rims (I think they're lighter anyway) with some pie pans over them. G1 tire size is much smaller and would probably not be ideal. My guess is that the stock tires on the 01-03 Prius might be your best bet; I believe they were Potenza 175/65/14's, which would give you slightly shorter effective gearing, but I'm nowhere near a tire expert.

EDIT: Those actually have a really horrible treadwear rating. You can probably make some headway looking at Priuschat for first-gen tire recommendation threads.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Ecky

G1 Insight rims will fit, but honestly I feel you're better off keeping the lighter HX rims (I think they're lighter anyway) with some pie pans over them. G1 tire size is much smaller and would probably not be ideal. My guess is that the stock tires on the 01-03 Prius might be your best bet; I believe they were Potenza 175/65/14's, which would give you slightly shorter effective gearing, but I'm nowhere near a tire expert.

EDIT: Those actually have a really horrible treadwear rating. You can probably make some headway looking at Priuschat for first-gen tire recommendation threads.

Oh I thought the G1 insight rims were lighter... Also price really isn't a problem. I don't want to spend 150$ per tire but, I won't mind spending 50-120ish.

[shorebreeze]

Probably the Michelin Defender so long as you don't do a lot of winter driving on it. It's LRR-rated with tremendous tread life and good in the dry and wet. Beyond that, the choice of LRR tires in that size is really small. Are the wheel wells large enough to take 15 inch rims with 195/65 profile tires, or even 195/60 or the 185/15 inch sizes used by the Honda Fit? That would open up your options enormously. Otherwise get the Defender and if you're in a colder climate, consider running a separate set of winter tires, driving very conservatively in the event of any frozen precip, or waiting for roads to be cleared after snow or ice.

[Daox]

I'd probably suggest the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max.

[vrmouseyd15b]

Thanks for asking the question, Baltothewolf now I just have to watch this thread!

Subscribed.

[shorebreeze]

Two other suggestions, both of them LRR, which I was not aware were available in your size -- the Nokian eNTYRE, an all season that looks to me like it would be more secure in the winter than the Defender and certainly tests better with Consumer Reports for winter driving than the Defender; and the Nokian WRG3, an "all-weather" all season tire which will boost winter grip especially on ice over the enTYRE and any other all season at the expense of slightly increased summer wear and needing to be rotated more often. The eNTYRE has a 75000 mile warranty, the WRG3 55000. If you go with the WRG3, however, you'll want to make sure it's the asymmetrical tread; some of their smallest sizes are directional which provide fewer options on rotation.

[Baltothewolf]

Guys remember I live in socal, it never gets below freezing, and even if it does, it's only 1 or 2 days out of the year. We never, ever see snow and very minimal rain.

Originally Posted by shorebreeze

Probably the Michelin Defender so long as you don't do a lot of winter driving on it. It's LRR-rated with tremendous tread life and good in the dry and wet. Beyond that, the choice of LRR tires in that size is really small. Are the wheel wells large enough to take 15 inch rims with 195/65 profile tires, or even 195/60 or the 185/15 inch sizes used by the Honda Fit? That would open up your options enormously. Otherwise get the Defender and if you're in a colder climate, consider running a separate set of winter tires, driving very conservatively in the event of any frozen precip, or waiting for roads to be cleared after snow or ice.

Holy crap 90k warranty tread life??? I think I know what I'm getting lol.

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

This is actually 3 questions in this thread.

1. What are the best LRR Tires for the 97 Civic? I believe the tire size is 185/65/R14.
2. Would it be beneficial to go bigger (or smaller?) tires and be able to keep the same rims?
3. WWould the G1 insight rims fit onto my civic?

Let me answer your second question first:

Go bigger. Go larger in any of the 3 numbers in the tire size will result in slight improvements in RR - but the difference is small. Be careful of going up on one of those three numbers and down with another. That isn't "bigger".

But where the big improvement in fuel economy lay is in the difference between tire lines - and, No!, I'm not referring to differences in brand,. I'm referring to a line of tire that comes in different sizes, but the entire line of tires is essentially the same.

But you didn't tell us what you think is important to you in a tire? Is treadwear important? How about traction? What is the balance between these 2 properties and RR?

Tires are compromises and you can't get everything in one package.

[California98Civic]

What they all said. And I run 175/70-R13 Michelin Defenders because they were the only LRR tire available to me for the VX wheels. Your 14" HX wheels have a couple more choices. Still. I like the Defenders. Your stock tires size in 185/65-R14. So 175/70s will be almost the same diameter, but narrower, which is better for aero, somewhat. If you go wider, you can get taller with the same wheel, but wider is not better than narrower for FE. If you get bigger wheels, you can have taller and narrower, like a 175/65-R15 or something... but your HX wheels are so light (10.8lbs?) that almost anything else adds weight and adds it farther from the hub, increasing the rotational mass effect.

You have great wheels. Keep 'em. I would put LRR 175/70-R14s on 'em from Michelin or Bridgestone.