Is it The ‘HPT’ Option Worth Ticking for the Honda Civic Si?

For an extra $200, you can add the HPT designation and high-performance tires to your Civic Si, but should you bother?

We love the Civic Si. It’s an easy car to love because it’s a Civic with tuned suspension, a limited-slip diff, and a manual transmission from the factory. The Si designation adds everything it needs to elevate the already lively Civic to please enthusiasts. As standard, it comes shod with a set of Goodyear all-season tires that are fine for daily driving needs and back road shenanigans, but the Civic Si is sharp enough to deserve grippier tires when the roads are warm. Hence, Honda offers the HPT (High Performance Tire) option, which swaps the OEM all-seasons for a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 summer tires.

Recently, our friends at Motor 1 drew up a pros and cons list for the Civic Si HPT. This brought up the question, is it worth the extra $200 to swap the stock tires for sticky summers? There’s no doubt the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 line is a great summer road tire. They’re motorsport-derived and super-sticky in dry weather, although Goodyear also claims a set will stop a vehicle 6% shorter on wet asphalt than its closest competitor. The list of premium cars that have come from the factory with Eagle F1 Asymmetric standard includes the Ferrari California, Audi Q7, and some Porsche models. It’s a grippy tire that increases grip and responsiveness, and, undeniably, it’s a performance upgrade on the Si.

The problem is that, unless you live somewhere that doesn’t have a season with near-freezing temperatures, you’re going to need a spare set of all-season tires and wheels to put them on. That mens having to spend around an extra $700 before tax for extra tires. On top of that, you’ll need around $1,200 for a set of the OEM wheels. The Civic Si is an excellent value at $25,200 as an enthusiast’s daily driver. However, adding $2,000 for a set of performance tires to use part of the year adds around five percent to the value proposition.

Those tires will also wear faster, which adds to maintenance costs. Economy is a large part of the Civic’s appeal, and the HPT option eats heavily into that benefit. Our approach would be to leave the HPT box unticked, and when the factory-supplied tires wear out, invest in a set of grippier all-seasons. After all, the aim is to enjoy the car, not shave tenths of a second off the back road journey home.

Photos: Honda

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Ian Wright

Ian Wright has been a professional writer for two years and is a regular contributor to Corvette Forum, Jaguar Forum, and 6SpeedOnline, among other auto sites.

His obsession with cars started young and has left him stranded miles off-road in Land Rovers, being lost far from home in hot hatches, going sideways in rallycross cars, being propelled forward in supercars and, more sensibly, standing in fields staring at classic cars. His first job was as a mechanic and then trained as a driving instructor before going into media production.

The automotive itch never left though, and he realized writing about cars is his true calling. However, that doesn’t stop him from also hosting the Both Hand Drive podcast.

Ian can be reached at bothhanddrive@gmail.com