Need tire recommendations for VX

[ScrambledEgg]

For whatever reason, the former owner of my VX replaced the nice, light 13" wheels with ugly, heavy 14" steel wheels. So... my first and most immediate modification is to find a set of the original wheels and get them back on the car.

The question, then, is what kind of tires should I get? Obviously I want tires that will provide superior gas mileage. Good tread life is also a priority.

I live in SE Pennsylvania, and travel up to New England in the winter months, so I do have to drive in snow and I'd prefer to get all-season tires, unless there is a significant reason not to.

Beyond that, I'd be curious to hear your suggestions and/or recommendations... brands, models, sizes... whatever.

As best I can tell the stock tire size was P165/70 R13.

[1993CivicVX]

these offer the best fuel economy for the price by far with a very respectable low rolling resistance score but will not serve you in snow or ice. Strictly summer tire. http://www.tirerack.com/tire-12/Sumitomo/HTR+200.shtml

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005...olling_res.php

These offer great all round performance with reasonably low rolling resistance but not available locally as far as I know.

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/ALL%20...ed_quatrac.htm

This might be useful to you as well: http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=2495

[cems70]

Try these threads as well...tire size 165/70/13 has been discussed in length:

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=6053
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=5665
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=5323
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=3993
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=2662

[ScrambledEgg]

Thanks for the info, and pointing me to the various threads...

After looking through all of it, I'm leaning towards either-
Sumitomo HTR T4
Vredestein Quatrac 2

I'm kind of leaning towards the Sumi's, they're a little bit cheaper and look to be rated for a little longer tread life. However, the one review I found on TireRack was not very good... they guy said he basically wore them out by 44,000 miles (when rated for 75,000).

[cems70]

I have the Sumi HTR T4. 20,000 miles on them now, and it doesn't look like they'll be worn out by 44,000 miles, so take that review with a grain of salt. There are a lot of factors that contribute to tire wear: vehicle weight, how the car is driven (fast or slow, high speed cornering etc.), climate, inflation, rotation intervals, alignment, etc.

The 51 psi maximum inflation is great, but the traction with these tires is not great in dry, wet, snow or ice conditions. It's fine if you drive the car normally, but if you're an aggressive driver, I would go w/ the Quatrac 2 tires.

[Stevo440]

Checkout Kumho KR-21's in size 175/70/13, inflate to 50+ front and 45+rear. They work really well in all conditions. Had Kumho 795's but they discontinued those, they were wearin really well till I caught a nail and got a flat at 85 mph and did'nt know it for a while, by then the tire was toast, so I could'nt get a same tire replacement, which lead me to the Kr-21's they are cheap also but handle real well, and are wearin great. I had Sumitomos a while back and they did wear rather fast. Good luck....

[McPatrick]

I used these on my VX and now on my CRX HF in size 155/80/13:

http://tireandwheelchoices.com/tire_kumho.cfm?mid=163

I know some other members have decided to get these as well. They're cheap and are LRR tires. I Have put thousands of miles on these with 50 psi in them with no uneven wear or any excessive wear at all. Recommendable as far as I am concerned.

[soletek]

I will second the vote for the Kumho KR-21's that is the same tire I have on my toyota truck, just a differnt size. They have a tread wear multiplier of 680! that is equivilent to 136,000 miles. You can find them at tirerack.com

[Sigifrith]

The Insight rode on Potenza's.


Bridgestone - Potenza Series - Potenza RE92
Load index: 78S
Sidewall: Black

[ScrambledEgg]

Thanks for the additional suggestions. The Kumho 795's were of interest, but as Stevo440 pointed out above, they're apparantly discontinued.

I also looked at the Kumho KR21s, but in comparing those with the Sumi HTR T4s, I think I'm still leaning toward the Sumis.

The Kumhos had a better rating (640 A B versus 560 A B for the Sumis), but also had a lower max inflation (44 vs 51 psi), had a slightly wider section width and were a good bit heavier. The combination of narrower tread, lighter weight and higher max inflation has me about ready to make a Sumi purchase.

But things got a little more complicated... I haven't yet been able to score a set of VX rims for a reasonable price, so I started looking at some aftermarket wheels, and came across the Kosei K1 TS.

These are available in a 14x6 size (no 13s) and weigh only 9.3 lbs each, which is what I think the original VX rims weigh. Only drawback is the 14" Sumi tires are approximately 1 lb heavier than the 13" tires (and slightly wider), but are also a little larger in diameter (good thing, right?)

While this combo might not be quite as efficient as the 13" VX rims with 13" tires, it would almost certainly be an improvement over what I've got now (14" steelies with four different brands of tires, none of which are LRR).

One advantage is the "easy" factor... I can order the new wheel & tire combo from TireRack and have everything shipped here ready to go. As compared to hunting a set of VX rims, then ordering the tires, then having to take them to get installed and balanced. The last set of VX rims I was bidding on (eBay) went for $280 plus about $50 to ship them ($330 total). The Kosei rims are $416 (set of 4), not much for shipping (since I'm paying to ship the tires either way, the incremental cost isn't much), and installation/balancing/valve stems/etc. is all free from TireRack.

Plus I have to admit I like the look of these wheels... does smiling while driving help your FE at all?