Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Couple of things for you to consider Lydia. Wet traction. On a car your size wet traction is everything when it rains. These little cars don't have much weight to hold them on the road so a tire has to be designed with the car size and weight in mind. For that reason the Firestone would be out. The Bridgestone would be the favorite of the two. But, you also want a tire that is relatively quiet too. The little cars don't provide much sound deadening materials and hiway noise can leave you just about deaf. The Bridgestone is not going to be a quiet tire- been there, done that one. The best tire for wet traction and a quiet, decent ride will be the Yokohama YK580. Great wet traction, quiet, all season, and provides a much better ride. Tread life is 60,000 miles and they are considered a fuel efficient tire which means fewer trips to the gas station. We've bought them thru Discount Tire and I think Tire Rack also carries them. Give them a look. Cost is about $115 each https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/detail/yk580
Wow! Thank you! You summed up a lot of the characteristics of my car that I am worried about. It does not have good traction in wet at all and it is a car where you feel every bump and dip in the road.
So when I googled the name, the first result was the Yokohama S drive... would this be it? Yokohama*S.drive
Or maybe I will have to go through a different site to get the exact Yokohama YK580. Someone else mentioned I will need a good winter tire in Tennesee- do you think the YK580s would fit for that as well?
What year is your Civic? Some of the roads in the Tennessee mountains are a blast to drive especially if you have a sporty suspension.
It is a 2011 Honda Civic, LX Sedan. It has 16 inch wheels.
I have driven on this car around the mountains in Tennessee and it was a bit scary- some of those mountain bends are super tight and this car does not seem to have the same sportiness as my old Jeep. Though maybe with a great pair of new tires that will change!
Do you think the Yokohama YK580s would be good in Tennessee winters? I am open to any and all suggestions as I am totally clueless about everything tire/car related (I'm sure that's obvious!)
Back when I had my old Accord (which is similar in size to the '11 Civic) I always used the Michelin Primacy MVXV4 All Seasons and it has served me well ($125 a pop). I've also heard the Michelin Defender is an excellent tire as well ($109 or so on Tirerack.com) for amazing wet/dry handling.
Back when I had my old Accord (which is similar in size to the '11 Civic) I always used the Michelin Primacy MVXV4 All Seasons and it has served me well ($125 a pop). I've also heard the Michelin Defender is an excellent tire as well ($109 or so on Tirerack.com) for amazing wet/dry handling.
Thank you. So you think these would be the best choice? I don't know much about the differences between tires or what I really need
Lydia, no the S Yokohama is not the same tire. The YK tire has different structured tred across the tire for small cars. If you are in Nashville, there are several Discount Tire locations there and they can show you the tires. Good thing about Discount Tire, if you put the tires on the car and don't like them, they will sell you a different tire and give you a full refund for the Yokohama's. So it's not a matter of buy them and you're stuck with them.
At one time I was a Michelin fan. Then Michelin went to a high carbon tire compound. This high carbon makes the tires go farther. The big problem with high carbon is that as it ages, it becomes hard, just like all Michelin tires do over time. The day you buy them, they are great. But as they age they get hard, ride quality goes away and traction goes away. This is true of any high carbon content formulation compound tire. There is no argument here- it's a fact of high carbon tires so be aware.
Here's the tred and block design for the YK580 tire. Notice that it is not symmetrical across the tire. Makes for better traction with small, light cars.
i prefer falkens and khumos myself, and i dont like firestone tires.
I will second Falken. They seem to get no love but the set I had on my '02 Monte Carlo SS were phenomenal in both wet and dry and amazingly inexpensive.
Lydia, no the S Yokohama is not the same tire. The YK tire has different structured tred across the tire for small cars. If you are in Nashville, there are several Discount Tire locations there and they can show you the tires. Good thing about Discount Tire, if you put the tires on the car and don't like them, they will sell you a different tire and give you a full refund for the Yokohama's. So it's not a matter of buy them and you're stuck with them.
At one time I was a Michelin fan. Then Michelin went to a high carbon tire compound. This high carbon makes the tires go farther. The big problem with high carbon is that as it ages, it becomes hard, just like all Michelin tires do over time. The day you buy them, they are great. But as they age they get hard, ride quality goes away and traction goes away. This is true of any high carbon content formulation compound tire. There is no argument here- it's a fact of high carbon tires so be aware.
Here's the tred and block design for the YK580 tire. Notice that it is not symmetrical across the tire. Makes for better traction with small, light cars.
I have to vote against those YK series. Discount Tire pushes them like crazy so we put a set on my '06 300 and the wife's '08 Aspen (Durango clone). While they provided great wet/dry traction I found them incredibly hard and stiff.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
