Which tires to get for 2009 Civic?

[Doog]

My daughter is graduating college in 6 weeks and will be starting a new job as a field financial auditor for a Fortune 500 Co. in July. She will be transferred out of town for 18-22 months to audit a 6-10 State territory. The job is 80% travel mostly airline/car rental but she will be away from my OCD attention to detail on her car(2009 Civic). Her car came with a set of Doral SDL55 tires on it which now have about 25000 miles on them and are at 6/32 tread all around. There is a brand new spare that has never been on the ground. Surprisingly, the Dorals are a pretty good tire and ride well. I want to get her new rubber before she leaves town. Should I:

1. Buy 3 new Dorals $265 shipped and flip the spare on the road using the best of the 4 as a spare.
2. Get a new set of 4 Fusions off Tire Rack which have decent reviews $314 shipped.
3. Wait for the $50 Kumho rebate 4/1 and get a set of 4 Kumho Exta 4x for $347 shipped

What say you all?

 

[LineArrayNut]

Buy her a V8 Expedition so you can tell her what to do too!

Back on topic...

I went with the Ecsta 4X, but that's a UHP tire... don't you want to be focusing on low rolling resistance to satisfy your OCD?

 

[Donald]

See what sales TREADEPOT has on 4/1.

 

[Falken]

I was always interested in low rolling-resistance tires.

But, we have unpredictable Spring and Fall in regards to snowfall so I am stuck always buying All-Seasons for my Summer tires and Winter tires as mandated by Quebec law (only intelligent law in a long time).

 

[Artem]

I'd go with whatever tire has better traction. The 8th Gen Civics (Excluding the Si model) do not have traction control and are horribly unstable in the rain at highway speeds. I know as I have a 2007 EX.

I upgraded the stock 205/55/16 tires on EX rims to 215/45/17 rubber on Si rims and am very happy with the improved stability in wet conditions (i don't have to deal with snow in good ol' sunny Florida).

When I buy tires, i go for quality and price is not really a serious factor.

Just my recommendation.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Doog
My daughter is graduating college in 6 weeks and will be starting a new job as a field financial auditor for a Fortune 500 Co. in July. She will be transferred out of town for 18-22 months to audit a 6-10 State territory. The job is 80% travel mostly airline/car rental but she will be away from my OCD attention to detail on her car(2009 Civic). Her car came with a set of Doral SDL55 tires on it which now have about 25000 miles on them and are at 6/32 tread all around. There is a brand new spare that has never been on the ground. Surprisingly, the Dorals are a pretty good tire and ride well. I want to get her new rubber before she leaves town. Should I:

1. Buy 3 new Dorals $265 shipped and flip the spare on the road using the best of the 4 as a spare.
2. Get a new set of 4 Fusions off Tire Rack which have decent reviews $314 shipped.
3. Wait for the $50 Kumho rebate 4/1 and get a set of 4 Kumho Exta 4x for $347 shipped

What say you all?

I would wait until remaining tread is down to 4/32 which can be another 10-12k miles.

 

[robertbld]

I can attest to the Michelin Defender. And right now they qualify for a $70 rebate with a set of four.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: Doog
My daughter is graduating college in 6 weeks and will be starting a new job as a field financial auditor for a Fortune 500 Co. in July. She will be transferred out of town for 18-22 months to audit a 6-10 State territory. The job is 80% travel mostly airline/car rental but she will be away from my OCD attention to detail on her car(2009 Civic). Her car came with a set of Doral SDL55 tires on it which now have about 25000 miles on them and are at 6/32 tread all around. There is a brand new spare that has never been on the ground. Surprisingly, the Dorals are a pretty good tire and ride well. I want to get her new rubber before she leaves town. Should I:

1. Buy 3 new Dorals $265 shipped and flip the spare on the road using the best of the 4 as a spare.
2. Get a new set of 4 Fusions off Tire Rack which have decent reviews $314 shipped.
3. Wait for the $50 Kumho rebate 4/1 and get a set of 4 Kumho Exta 4x for $347 shipped

What say you all?

I would wait until remaining tread is down to 4/32 which can be another 10-12k miles.


She may get transferred 1000-2000 miles away and will have to rely on the car. So, I want new tires now. Otherwise I would normally wait until next Winter.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: Doog
....

She may get transferred 1000-2000 miles away and will have to rely on the car. So, I want new tires now. Otherwise I would normally wait until next Winter.


Then my advice is to buy a quality name brand tire from a trustworthy national chain that will stand behind them and can be counted upon to treat her well should the need arise.

 

[ChrisW]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: Doog
....

She may get transferred 1000-2000 miles away and will have to rely on the car. So, I want new tires now. Otherwise I would normally wait until next Winter.


Then my advice is to buy a quality name brand tire from a trustworthy national chain that will stand behind them and can be counted upon to treat her well should the need arise.


This. (emphasis added)

You can buy tires for a few dollars less at a smaller mom-n-pop type place, however, buying tires from someone who will stand behind them six months or even four years down the road will make a huge difference in my peace of mind as well as proximity of said place to wherever I may be.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Doog
She may get transferred 1000-2000 miles away and will have to rely on the car. So, I want new tires now. Otherwise I would normally wait until next Winter.

You can't take care of her the rest of her life, you have to accept the fact that she needs to learn how to survive herself, she will make some mistakes along the way and learn from it.

That's said, I think you should find national chains where she will be moving to, if Discount Tire is available there you can order/pay for everything online and she just take her car there for installation.

If you really want to have 4 new tires installed now, you may be able to get some credit for 4 slightly worn tires. America's Tire in my area gave some credit for trade in tires with more than 4/32" tread.

I currently have Kumho 4X on S2000 and E430, I like it on both cars for good performance/handling on dry and wet surface, also very low tire noise. The slight problem is it has only 40k miles tread life warranty.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: robertbld
I can attest to the Michelin Defender. And right now they qualify for a $70 rebate with a set of four.


Yeah, I can get a set from Tread Depot for $491 shipped A/R. Take the rebate now and stick them in my garage and have them installed in June. Might be the best way to go.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: Doog
....

She may get transferred 1000-2000 miles away and will have to rely on the car. So, I want new tires now. Otherwise I would normally wait until next Winter.


Then my advice is to buy a quality name brand tire from a trustworthy national chain that will stand behind them and can be counted upon to treat her well should the need arise.


Which chain would you recommend?

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

You can't take care of her the rest of her life, you have to accept the fact that she needs to learn how to survive herself, she will make some mistakes along the way and learn from it.


She has lived in Asia and France and is very capable. I just want to get her a new set of tires.

 

[mechanicx]

Discount Tire is a good place to get tires. They can probably work a deal to have 4 tires installed out the door for as cheap or cheaper than buying online, shipping, and paying mount and balancing. Plus they have to stand behind the tire.

 

[Ibrahim]

Doog, there are many good options, but this tyre even when at regular price is a great buy (in Canada, so oughta be a lot cheaper down under), have few friends using them and they are very satisfied!

Dunlop Signature II (H or V rated)

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: Doog
Which chain would you recommend?


That is a good question, as I've posted before I have all my tire work done at the dealership I used to work for. My personal cars don't travel much, the company truck does and I generally try to take it to a dealer when I need something out on the road.

I've found Goodyear and Firestone to be inconstant although both have flashes of brilliance, NTB isn't too bad I've used them in the past. I've never used Discount but they seem to have favor here at BITOG.

If you know where she will go, be worth checking out what is there. (isn't it unusual for a company not to provide a car for someone traveling so much? If they don't they probably pay mileage which should help)

To answer your question though, I personally would probably go to a Honda dealer in this situation based on my experience.

Incidentally the tire selection for this car appears very good, the OE GoodYears are pretty inexpensive. TR also list a Bridgestone as OE (it is not so inexpensive) and Michelin list the Defender, Primacy MXV4 and Primacy MXM4. The Conti Pure Contact is also in there.

Were it me I'd probably do one of the Primacy but they are clearly in another price class than what you were looking at.

 

[DuckRyder]

Oh and Michelin will definitely help with tires bought from TR and TR will stand behind them although you may have to be firm with them.

So if the local prices are just crazy, I'd still consider TR.

If you get the same tech people when you call BFG, I'd consider them as well, although they do not seem to offer anything similar to the Michelin Promise Plan.

 

[KitaCam]

I have the Doral SDL 65A on the Kitacamry...

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2880330&page=1

....and like them for the money...the model "A" may be different from yours but if you like the 55 model in terms of performance and wear, then it's a good match for Civic...it's made by Sumitomo.

p.s. I found the same 65A tire under the brand names Sumic and Aspen Touring A/S as well.

 

[Dominic]

Michelin Defender...