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Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Rusties

Hi can anyone recommend a set tyres for my 2008 1.8 Honda Civic .

I do around 12 - 14k a year with a mix of motorway and town driving - currently fitted with Continentals on the front and Bridgestones ER300 on the back .

Have had a looked on Black Circles / ASDA and came up with

Firestone Roadhawks £53

or Bridgestone T005 at £64

or a Local tyre fitter who said he could supply Marshals at £40 each as he bought a job from a discontinued line.

Problem is I always looking for a deal / save money but for the sake of £44 am I better paying extra for the bridgestone or can anyone advise on other brands in this price range

Any help would be much appreciated.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - oldroverboy.

I have just put avon zv tyres on my kia venga.

2nd time used them on different cars.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - TheGentlemanThug

Depends on whether you're after a sporty or comfortable drive, but I use Dunlop Sport MAXX on my Civic. I find they give a good balance between the two.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - gordonbennet

Assuming you are on the 225/45 x 17 size, a set of Falken Azensis FK510 went on to my daughter's Civic earlier in the year, A rated wet grip and noise, C rated fuel, the reports are all good so far driven hard in all weathers, currently £65.69 delivered at Tyreleader.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Rusties

Thanks for taking the time out to reply .

I should have mentioned that I have a budget of around £50 - 65 ( fitted ) . The size of the tyre is 205 / 55 / 16 V and its a 8th Gen Civic .

I never go over 70mph or 4000 revs as economy is quite important ... so probably looking at comfort over speed .

The Bridgestone T005 seem to have a good right mix with a rating A/ B 71db but was wondering if there were better options out there.

Sadly the Falkens would be outside of my budget .

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Engineer Andy

Have a look at the Tyre Reviews website - your tyres are amongst the most popular sizes (THE most popular 16in tyre is the 205/55 R16 V as you'll see on that website by the number of tyres available over recent years in that size). 71dB is a bit above average on the noise, but not too bad really.

Have a look on BOTH the tyre reviews they list from magazines (often group tests) AND the user reviews by actual ordinary people, but just be wary if the score of the latter is very high of low IF the aggregate mileage covered is relatively low (i.e. there aren't many reviews by drivers or that they are only reviewed after a few hundred miles or so when still brand new).

Some tyres, as you'll see from the user reviews (not the group tests, which mainly use VW Golfs, especially the continental magazines) score well for some cars and badly for others. This can be down to whether one is FWD or RWD or 4WD, performance or standard, or the type of car, e.g. small hatchback vs MPV/SUV etc. Some cars seem also to vary considerably in terms of soundproofing, but note that the dB level quoted is the external noise heard by pedestrians, not the internal noise by the car's occupants, though it's better than nothing as a guide.

I would avoid the cheapo makes as they often sacrifice wear rate for better comfort or grip, or vice-versa. Some up-and-coming mid-range brands can be very good alternatives to the big names (many being made by them anyway), one to pick out is Hankook, who seems to have been getting better in recent years as far as their reviews, and could be good value for money. It really does depend whether you're after tyres that are biased towards comfort, longevity or performance (grip).

Note also that some tyre fitters and sellers (like Blackcircles) often have money off deals if you buy 2 or 4 tyres from a particular brand or sub-model, for example I got £25 off my Michelin Cross Climate+ all-season tyres (for my 12yo Mazda3), which are normally above average price for that size (even amongst the premium brands) but were quite competitive when the discount was applied.

I'd personally be looking at the following as a start (not in any order - prices will vary from day-to-day, sometimes by up to 10%):

  • Bridgestone Turanza T005 - £55 (good all-rounder [especially in the wet], slightly noisy - the Firestone Roadhawk equivalent [same firm] is a bit cheaper, not quite as good in the wet but still reasonable, though does wear a bit quicker);
  • Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance/Dunlop BluResponse - £50 (better on comfort than handling, they wear quicker than rivals);
  • Continental Premium Contact 5 - £61 (make sure you get the latest version with the better economy/wet grip rating - always seem to do well in reviews, slightly noisy compared to rivals);
  • Hankook Ventus Prime3 K125 - £48 (decent all-rounder);
  • Michelin Primacy 4 - £60 (similar to the Continental [slightly below? in terms of performance], quieter and long-lasting);
  • Michelin CrossClimate Plus - £72 (£25 off for 4 still going; not as good as the above in non-winter conditions, but as good as a summer tyre designed 3-5 years ago [IMHO], but better comfort generally AND has far superior grip in snow/ice than any of the above [not as good as full winter tyres, but not bad for the Midlands and the South of the UK] and are long-lasting - why I bought them to replace my [very good] Dunlop SP Sport FastResponse tyres). HJ recommended.

Many decent mid-range tyres in the £45 - £50 range that practically match the Goodyears/Dunlops, like the Hankooks, pay £75 each for the high performance tyres for better summer (dry/wet) grip at the expense of wear and comfort.

Very few bad tyres from the premium/mid-range brands nowadays, though Bridegstone has only recently started to improve after a period of producing tyres that weren't so well regarded. My Mazda's OEM tyres were a predecessor of yours (mine were the ER30) and were fine for the first year/10K miles, but were hard (great for wear, bad for noise) and eventually were VERY poor in the wet - something that Bridegstone has only improved [IMHO] over the last couple of years on their latest tyres, e.g. the T005 and its predecessor, the T001 EVO.

I also found that my Mazda dealer could fit the tyres for less (£10 each) than going through Blackcircles (£13.50 each), but it was marginal as the cost of postage is included in the 'fully fitted' price and not the 'mail order' one (£11.50 total for 4 tyres). Best to get them fitted by whoever you trust to do a good job, especially if its not a newish car, as some fitters/dealers may not pay enough attention to using the correct amount of sealant or may not give the right advice about whether any wheel alingment is required.

Easy enough for you to check if it is by seeing if the car deviates a reasonable amount (taking into account the road camber - the car should offset this a bit) on a straight bit of road. Similarly a good indicator is excessive tyre wear on the inner or outer edges of the tyres/one side of the car (different to under/over inflation).Some dealers/fitters charge a LOT for this, or (ironically) not enough and do a poor job.

The Honkooks could be within your current budget, but if you wait just another month or two's worth of pay, then you could afford one of the premium brands if you save up a bit (one less round of drinks, for example). Given your tyres are the only contact between your car and the road, better to spend a bit more for quality.

PS. Rarely do tyres sourced through a main dealer are good value for money. I used my local as they were cheaper on fitting, and I got my tyres couriered to me and I brought them to get fitted in the boot/on the back seat.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - badbusdriver

My advice would be if you can't afford decent quality tyres for your current car, get something else with tyres of a size than you can afford to put decent quality rubber on.

As Andy says, the tyres are the only point of contact between your car and the road.........

Personally i wouldn't touch the Marshal's, and out of the other two, i'd be looking at reviews for them before buying.

Also, i buy my tyres off Ebay and get them fitted at the independant garage i use.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Rusties

Thank you so much for the in-depth answer , it is much appreciated .

Following your recommendations I have read up on the Hankooks and have shortlisted either the

Bridgestone T005 -Roadhawk

or

Hankook Ventus Prime 3

Will phone / check online tomorrow to see what deal I can get on the 4 ..

Thanks again for the advice

s

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Nomag

Our Sorrento came on Hankook Ventus Prime new and they were hard-wearing lasting 24k on front only. Replaced with Nokians which were less good at 18k as Hankook were expensive. Replaced all four with Nexen N Fera in Feb as these were good value and were also an OEM fitment tyre. Very disappointing...fronts down to 3mm after 12 k miles. Have rotated tyres and will get the Hankooks again next time .

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - skidpan

My advice would be if you can't afford decent quality tyres for your current car, get something else with tyres of a size than you can afford to put decent quality rubber on.

I reality how will that help.

Decent quality tyres for a Honda Civic cannot be that much more than decent tyres for say a Ford Fiesta. Swapping cars will cost you ££££'S unless you get an older one potentially less reliable one.

Cannot see the benefit.

Its as daft as buying a new car to save money on petrol.

Also, i buy my tyres off Ebay and get them fitted at the independant garage i use.

And that can be very costly if there is an issue with the tyres. Your local indy will charge you to fit them and then charge you to remove the faulty tyre. You will have a battle with the e-bay seller to get a free return and once the replacement is back you will have to pay the indy to fit it. Then try getting the money from the e-bay seller, in the T & C's there will be a clause about this, have you ever read them?

And what do you fit to the car while the tyre/tyres are being replaced?

Last year I wanted 4 new tyres for the Caterham. Best on-line price was £40 a tyre and then the best part of a tenner to get the fitted/balanced/new valves. Local indies all in in price was £196 for 4.

Even if there is a saving it will be tiny (unless the tyres are huge specialist ones which will not apply to a Civic).

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - badbusdriver

"My advice would be if you can't afford decent quality tyres for your current car, get something else with tyres of a size than you can afford to put decent quality rubber on."

I reality how will that help.

Decent quality tyres for a Honda Civic cannot be that much more than decent tyres for say a Ford Fiesta. Swapping cars will cost you ££££'S unless you get an older one potentially less reliable one.

Comparing a tyre which i have bought myself in the past, the Michelin Cross Climate, i can get a set of 4 to fit a Fiesta for £85 less than the size the OP needs for the Civic, not a fortune granted, but at the same time not an insignificant amount of money.

But the point is that, as mentioned, tyres are an extremely important consideration for how safe your car is. And while it does matter how careful a driver you are, you can't account for other idiots on the road who may cause you to make an emergency stop or a violent swerve to avoid an accident. As such, you really shouldn't be buying a poor quality tyre on the reasoning that, being a good driver, you'll be fine. So if you choose to buy a car with tyres of a given size, you should really be factoring in the cost for decent tyres into the overall running costs. If you can't afford it, get a car with smaller tyres and lower running costs.

"Also, i buy my tyres off Ebay and get them fitted at the independant garage i use."

And that can be very costly if there is an issue with the tyres. Your local indy will charge you to fit them and then charge you to remove the faulty tyre. You will have a battle with the e-bay seller to get a free return and once the replacement is back you will have to pay the indy to fit it. Then try getting the money from the e-bay seller, in the T & C's there will be a clause about this, have you ever read them?

And what do you fit to the car while the tyre/tyres are being replaced?

Couple of things, i'm not really sure what experiences you have had, but in 29 years of motoring i have never had any issues with tyres having manufacturing defects, and that includes buying cheapo, or even 2nd hand tyres (when i was too young and stupid to know any better). So from personal experience, the issue is non existent.

As to why i buy on Ebay?, choice. Maybe where most forum memebers live there are an abundance of tyre dealers on every corner, but that is not the case where i live. So when i look at tyre reviews and choose one based on what i find, that is tyre is the one i want, not something similar, or what the dealer wants me to buy.

Incidentally, the only issue i have had buying tyres was from the local tyre dealer who fitted tyres to my van with a lower weight rating than it needed. In fact i'm pretty sure that was the point where i decided i'd be better off sourcing my own.

Edited by badbusdriver on 23/10/2018 at 19:57

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - TheGentlemanThug

I've had the Ventus Prime before. Although I don't remember much about them, I don't recall any issues either.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Engineer Andy

I've had the Ventus Prime before. Although I don't remember much about them, I don't recall any issues either.

According to all the reviews of the latest version, it seems to be a decent step up on previous generations of that tyre.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - catsdad
I have had no problems in buying tyres online for my Civic 1.8. I bought Michelins from Blackcircles and got included fitting at ATS. If there were to be a post sale issue they are all three part of the same group so I wouldn't anticipate a problem.

Anyway I've driven over half a million miles in forty-odd years and never had to return a faulty tyre. Maybe I've been lucky?

Back to the OP, don't just think in terms of the initial price. Tyre life, and therefore cost per mile varies enormously. My Civic came with Continentals and twice needed fronts at 20-25k and rears at 45k. I then bought Michelin Cross Climates which are on course for twice that despite not costing much more than the Continentals at the time.

Edited by catsdad on 23/10/2018 at 18:42

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - skidpan
Anyway I've driven over half a million miles in forty-odd years and never had to return a faulty tyre. Maybe I've been lucky?

Been driving 44 years but only about 450,000 miles.

Had a set of 4 Dunlops replaced within 4 weeks because the dealer was unable to get them balanced.

Had 2 Contis replaced at approx 1 year because of sidewall cracks.

Had a set of Michelins replaced at 6mm remaining because of sidewall cracks.

To be fair the seller had nothing to do with the replacement of the Contis and Michelins, that was down to the manufacturers nominated dealer but with the Dunlops being faulty immediately the seller dealt with the problem.

Maybe I have been unlucky?

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Engineer Andy
I have had no problems in buying tyres online for my Civic 1.8. I bought Michelins from Blackcircles and got included fitting at ATS. If there were to be a post sale issue they are all three part of the same group so I wouldn't anticipate a problem. Anyway I've driven over half a million miles in forty-odd years and never had to return a faulty tyre. Maybe I've been lucky? Back to the OP, don't just think in terms of the initial price. Tyre life, and therefore cost per mile varies enormously. My Civic came with Continentals and twice needed fronts at 20-25k and rears at 45k. I then bought Michelin Cross Climates which are on course for twice that despite not costing much more than the Continentals at the time.

That's one of reasons I got them. Apparently Michelin are also saying you can go right down to the legal minimum with confidence, and that they (all their latest tyres) should last well over 6 years which seemed to be the age at which many used to get really hard and lose lots of grip, especially in the wet.

My OEM (2005) Bridgestone ER30s could've lasted another 20k miles (they'd already covered 40k), but after two very hairy incidents in the wet, if I had kept them on the car, I'd had likely had a serious accident. Just not worth compromising on quality for tyres IMHO.

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Rusties

Just put in an order for a set of Bridgestones T005 which came in at £59 each fitted ( inc

5% discount code ) .

Hopefully they should do the job and last for a while , I looked into the Hankook tyres but there was as 48HR+ waiting time for an appoitment and I only get one day off a week ( wednesday ) .

Thanks again to everyone who took the time out to respond .

s

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Bolt

Just put in an order for a set of Bridgestones T005 which came in at £59 each fitted ( inc

5% discount code ) .

Hopefully they should do the job and last for a while , I looked into the Hankook tyres but there was as 48HR+ waiting time for an appoitment and I only get one day off a week ( wednesday ) .

Thanks again to everyone who took the time out to respond .

s

I have them on the rear, fronts wore out on the diesel tourer civic about 13k ish, tried to replace with same tyres but not available at the time, so bought the T300s for same price and had no problems, and found them better than the oem fitted Michelins, much quieter and better imo grip in the wet

Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - drd63
Shahpur, glad you got your tyres sorted. At the end of the day it’s a 1.8 Civic you’re not really going to be taxing any mainstream tyre. Would you really notice a difference between one brand and another.
Honda Civix 1.8 - Honda Civic 1.8 Tyre Advice - Engineer Andy
Shahpur, glad you got your tyres sorted. At the end of the day it’s a 1.8 Civic you’re not really going to be taxing any mainstream tyre. Would you really notice a difference between one brand and another.

That's why, with a healthy pinch of salt, I always check the user reviews (and not just the magazine reviews) of tyres on the Tyre Reviews website, especially as you can choose reviews by either car model or size of tyre.

Some makes/models of tyre that do well in the magazine tests sometimes do VERY poorly for specific makes/models of car, especially RWD cars or those already not famed for good handling, like many MPVs/SUVs. Similarly, some (mid-range or premium) tyres that only do averagely well in the tests often do fine in the user reviews, often because the cars they are fitted to aren't performance/great handling models and aren't driven hard.