Civic Type R Tyre Choice - Help!!

[davy9449]

My mate has an anniversary edition Type R and is looking for a set of replacement boots. He was going to stick with the original Brigestone Potenzas, but he has been recommended Yokos - £130 a tyre - ouch!

I thought maybe Toyo Proxes, or a cheaper tyre in Avon ZZ3s are highly rated. What does everybody else use and how good are they, particularly in the wet!!!???


Cheers

[insanojackson]

I replaced mine with toyos think they were about 80 each they were spot on

[PJ S]

Goodyear F1's Asymm or Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta.
Both should be had for £80ish each.
Don't look down on the Falken FK 452's either.

www.camskill.co.uk would be the cheapest delivered, although compare with www.mytyres.co.uk

[Hut49]

PJ S said:

Goodyear F1's Asymm or Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta.
Both should be had for £80ish each.
Don't look down on the Falken FK 452's either.

www.camskill.co.uk would be the cheapest delivered, although compare with www.mytyres.co.uk

Good choices, but I'd put money on the F1's pattern being more prone to tramlining. The Ultrac Sessanta has been getting some really good reviews and would be my choice if the superior Yoko's are unaffordable

[Redlake27]

Follow the results of the Evo tyre test.......The Eagle F1 Asymmetric - stops two car lengths shorther than a Yoko!

See www.mygoodyear.co.uk

[davy9449]

interesting, thanks. Will be considering tyres for my Focus soon too. Will have a look on the EVO site.

[Composite Guru]

TBH i stuck with the original RE040 Bridgies, they are definately the best for the CTR. The reason why is because the CTR benefits from a strong tyre wall, most tyres aren't as strong on the side wall as the 040 are so normally feel soft when going into corners hard. Some people go for the Toyo T1R but they have been commented on about having a similar soft wall.

RE040 only for the CTR IMO.

[PJ S]

Trick with the T1-Rs is to inflate well above the recommended level the owners manual and door sticker suggest.
I've mine on the rear of the Accord, at 38 psi (running max less 15% rule).
The Sessanta's max is 50 psi - so I'd hazard a guess and say if you ran them at 33-35 (whatever's suggested for), you'd find them a fair bit different than at 40-42.

[Catz]

Composite Guru said:

TBH i stuck with the original RE040 Bridgies, they are definately the best for the CTR. The reason why is because the CTR benefits from a strong tyre wall, most tyres aren't as strong on the side wall as the 040 are so normally feel soft when going into corners hard. Some people go for the Toyo T1R but they have been commented on about having a similar soft wall.

RE040 only for the CTR IMO.

I stuck with Bridgestones too .... I like them, especially when they're nice and new!
Never had any probs even in the wet. Snow is another matter though ...

[fido]

Catz said:

Composite Guru said:

TBH i stuck with the original RE040 Bridgies, they are definately the best for the CTR. The reason why is because the CTR benefits from a strong tyre wall, most tyres aren't as strong on the side wall as the 040 are so normally feel soft when going into corners hard. Some people go for the Toyo T1R but they have been commented on about having a similar soft wall.

RE040 only for the CTR IMO.

I stuck with Bridgestones too .... I like them, especially when they're nice and new!
Never had any probs even in the wet. Snow is another matter though ...

Third'ed. My rears have done nearly 15k and still going strong, so they last a fair bit as well.

[cwoodsie2]

General consensus on the teg forum is that the toyo's are better in the wet than the recommended but as said above could have a bit softer wall than other tyres. Apparently it's the same on the civics.... perhaps have a word on one of the forums??

[havoc]

Agree entirely on sidewall stiffness. Seems to be a Honda trait...

'teg tyres are completely different - the RE010 was designed for the 'teg, and it's still the best for it, albeit a little wet-weather compromised...which I get around by having two sets of rims!!!

S2000 tyres might be closer, bizarrely...I went from unique-fit S02's to T1-R's, and found the wet performance much better, but the sidewalls too squidgy...even inflated 3psi over stock, it's still a little less planted...will be going to RE050A's next.

As for the CTR...well avoid the S03's...damn awful tyre. RE040 supposed to be pretty good, RE050's get good reviews. The new Goodyear might well be worth a look too if the sidewall is stiff enough, ditto the Vredestein. Best bet is hop over to the CTR forum(s?), see what the consensus is there.

[jimmyjimjim]

havoc said:

Best bet is hop over to the CTR forum(s?), see what the consensus is there.

Having had a CTR, and done the research on the CTR forum at the time (couple of years back), there were 4 recommendations:-

1). Original fit RE040s. Obviously had these myself! My opinion, FWIW - can be almost scary in the wet on a bad road, or when cold, brilliant in the dry, pinpoint precision on turn in, quite noisy. Grip goes down rapidly after the first few thousand miles, then comes back near the wear indicators.
2). Toyo T1-Rs. Had these myself, and on the whole I considered them a better fir for the car. Turn in is nothing like as precise; I found it took me quite some time to get used to that after the RE040s, but dry grip was improved slightly - I found I didn't wheel spin out of junctions so much (and that was after the RE040s were close to the wear indicators, and gripping well, as a comparision), damp/wet grip was enormously improved. Noise down, as well. Wear possibly a little better. They also seemed more prograssive, possibly down to the softer sidewall allowing a more progressive slip (also probably why they aren't as precise as the bridgestones). As England isn't the dryest country in the world, unless you intend tracking it, I'd go for these or the yokos below. Cheaper in 215/40 than 205/45; reduced sidewall height of the 215/40s possibly helping to be in the same ballpark as the OEM REO40 205/45 sidewall stiffness. Cheaper than the RE040s.
3). Yokohama something or other Can't remember the model (something like an AVS-2?), check the CTR forum. Meant to be between the toyos and the RE040s for sidewall stiffness, better in the wet than the RE040s, not as good as the toyos in the wet. One of the main selling points on the forum at the time I was looking was that they'd found someone knocking them out for about £60 a corner.
4). Falken something or other. Can't remember what, check the CTR forum; main recommendation seemed to be longevity, never tried them. Got quite a few recommendations from people doing high daily mileages. Cheapest of the 4 by a reasonable amount. The claim was that Falken were trying to break in to the performance tyre market and so were selling a good tyre cheaply.

I went for the toys as I couldn't find any place selling the yokos cheaply when the bridgstones needed replacing, but I don't think there's much in them, from what I read. The toyos are defintely an aquired taste - I didn't like the loss of the turn in precision at first, and it took me a while to get used to that, that would be my one point against them....but there's quite a few big pluses to make up for that.

[havoc]

I've one lasting criticism with the Toyos on the S2000...rapid direction changes.

On the S02's, it was so planted and immediate it was scary, even through smaller-scale 'eau rouge' type corners. On the Toyo's, even up to 34/35 from the 32psi stock, it can get a little 'unsettled' through such corners. The other 95% of the time, it's just 'softer'...which you can take or leave.


As for Yokos...I know there's some ITR owners who've gone to a type of Yoko and are pretty impressed...might be worth a go...

[jon-]

A car I can actually help with!

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyres_For/Honda/Civic...

If anyone feels like adding their thoughts please do

[speedy36]

Personally have used RE040 on both my RX8 and my Type r and no complaints what so ever.....other than the price of course but hey.


search for the cheapest thats what i say!!!!! but stay with what you can handle!!!

Edited by speedy36 on Sunday 14th October 23:40

[Martin_Hx]

Ill probably stick with my pots to be fair !

[jon-]

The 040s are fine dry tyres but my god they're awful in the cold and wet. As a previous CTR owner trust me when I say there are better all round tyres!