Best tires for Civic VX 13in? 14in HX upgrade?
 

I have the option to upgrade to 14in HX rims. What would the advantages be?Will my mileage be better or worse?


My next question is what tires should I get. If I stick with the 13 inch I was thinking of getting some kuhmo power star tires 758. I have two in the front, already, and my rear tires are BM Goodwrench Control plus. Both tires are 175/R13. Would I get better mileage with the original size 165/R13?

Right now I can just pick up two tires and have a full matching set. Otherwise I would have to buy 4 new tires. If that's the case I might just go ahead and get the 14in HX rims.

The last thing I wanted to mention is that I live in MN and the winters here are pretty bad. Should I concider a winter tire?



All feedback is welcomed.

Re: Best tires for Civic VX 13in? 14in HX upgrade?
 

My plan is to get 4 new 13" Sumitomo HTRT4's this coming summer. ($55-60 each) The 13s are lighter than 14s would be. Tires are cheaper. The tires I mentioned scored very high for fuel economy as they have minimal rolling resistance.

For winter I picked up a second hand set of studded snows on 14" steel rims. I live in Maine and you can't get around without studded snows on little light cars like this one. I won't put the tires on until a few snowstorms in, and I'll take them off before last snow. They will hurt fuel economy, but make it possible to drive the car in the snow and not have to take out the wagon that gets cruddy mpg.

I suppose if I were you, I'd do some websearching about the tires you have and rolling resistance. I don't know about the tire specifically so I can't really say anything about it.
B

Re: Best tires for Civic VX 13in? 14in HX upgrade?
 

Hum, stud-less snow tire can do great job in snowstorm, even with a civic. I have driven in many snowstorm without any problem.

I would suggest Yokohama IceGuard in 155-80-13 (smaller width is better because the snow will be more hard under the tires is the weight of the car is distributed on a smaller area). As the name said it, they are find on ice, you just have to go slower and be careful when you drive on snow (or whenever the pavement can be frosty). Most important thing to remember when you drive on snow, act slowly and do not precipitated your movement. AND winter tires needs few minutes to warm up, so the first 2 minutes, they are less effective because the rubber isn't soft enough. So, be even more careful at the beginning of the ride.

Re: Best tires for Civic VX 13in? 14in HX upgrade?
 

I had Michelin Destiny tires on my VX. See my comments under "Red Round." I had about 40k on them when I sold the car, and they were less than 1/2 worn. I also averaged 50+ mpg while they were on the car (with a high of 77 mpg on one tank). Excellent tires; I would recommend them to anyone.

Re: Best tires for Civic VX 13in? 14in HX upgrade?
 

Aye, the Michelin Harmony line is excellent. Discount Tire has it as the Destiny, Sears has it as the Weatherwise II, and Sams Club has it as the X-Radial. Other places sell it as the Harmony.

Best tire I've ever sold, based on the fact they always meet or exceed their 80k warrenty when maintained properly. The feedback I get also says that they are one of the quietest tires with some of the best all season traction out there. (Quieter than the Goodyear Assurance Comfortred. I've had plenty of old folks with Lincolns and Buicks come back and complain about the ride quality of the Comfortred. I put them in the Harmony, and they couldn't be happier). Heck, one of my techs put them on his car once, and now he refuses to buy any other brand.

The biggest thing that I would say to recommend the Harmony line is that in my 2 years of being a tire salesmen, I've had 1, MAYBE 2 of the tires have a valid manufacturer defect. I've sold probably hundreds of these tires, and I've only ever had one or two individual tires (not sets), come back with some form of manufacturer quality defect. Heck, I've never had a valid premature wear on them, the only way you can really get less than 80,000 miles is lack of maintenance in some way.

And they do come in 175/70R13

Re: Best tires for Civic VX 13in? 14in HX upgrade?
 

I have a 92 VX Federal that I've driven for 2-years and 60k mi. Previous owner reported inability to get over 38 MPG. I managed to improve his results after Seafoaming the engine, new calipers, pads, drums & shoes; adjusting timing & valves and learning how to drive for FE. Pumped the pathetic skinny Kumho's up to 50 psi and started averaging 45-48MPG, with the occasional tank ~50MPG. I believe the Seafoam treatment did the most good as I felt a noticeable power increase afterwards. I also replaced the 5-wire O2, purchased online. After changing it, the car felt different going into lean-burn, but MPG was about the same.
I hated the Kumho's. Traction, especially on wet roads was poor. When they needed replacing, I went with Hankook Mileage Plus, size 175 70 R13. The Hankooks are great, did not seem to negatively affect FE and traction is greatly improved. Oh, and they are wearing like iron; still look new after 45+k.
Finally, I too have a set of HX rims. My plan is to ultimately switch to a 185 60R14 tire on the HX rims. I don’t expect much of a hit on FE, and do expect improved ride and handling.
My call is for you to get the HX rims, put snow tires on the VX rims and keep both sets.
Doug