It's FINALLY TIME !!!!! I'm getting rims & tires next week & i'd like some professional or personal advise from you all... I plan on getting 17" rims & I wanna get very low profile tires.... I'm pretty set on the rim but the tires I have no clue ??? What tires are the most dependable, longest lasting, road hugging, UBER THIN LOW PROFILE tire ???? I'm willing to spend $150 a tire untill I upgrade to my low profile runflats..... It's very important that the tires are very thin for those new rims to shine :-)

 

Well... The profile is determined by the size of your wheels and the size of tire that your car is set up for. A '95 Civic DX came from the factory with 175/70-13 tires. If you get 17" wheels, then the best tire size will be 205/40-17. That size shouldn't rub on your fender well liners too badly, if you get wheels with the proper offset. So that's the size you want. Note that that size will still be 3.6 percent larger in outer diameter than your stock size, so it will throw off your speedometer and odometer by that percentage. But there's nothing you can do about that because you're not going to find 17" tires that are any smaller.

As for the other criteria - most dependable, longest lasting, road hugging - any good tire should be dependable. In general, you have a trade-off between price/value and performance. The higher the level of overall performance ("road hugging"), the quicker it's going to wear out and often (but not always), the more it's going to cost.

Take a look at this overview of different kinds of tires. Think of tires across a spectrum from the stickiest, fastest-wearing tires to the less sticky, longer-lasting tires, and you come out with a list that looks like this, starting with the stickiest and working down from there:

1. Drag Radials: BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Drag Radial (won't last very long)

2. Other R Compound Tires: Hoosier R3S04 and A3S05, Toyo RA-1, etc (typical treadlife 2-4K miles)

3. Specialty Super-Sticky Street Tires: Falken Azenis RT-615 (typical treadlife 10K miles)

4. Best Top-of-the-Line Street Tires: Goodyear F1 GS-D3, Bridgestone S-03, Dunlop SP Sport Maxx, etc (typical treadlife 15-25K miles)

5. "Value" Top-of-the-Line Street Tires: Toyo T-1R, Kumho Ecsta MX (typical treadlife 15-25K miles)

6. Budget Performance, "Bang for the Buck" Tires: Yokohama AVS ES100, Kumho Ecsta SPT, Dunlop Direzza DZ101, etc (typical treadlife 25-40K miles)

7. All-season tires: Kumho Ecsta ASX, Pirelli PZero Nero M+S, etc (typical treadlife 25-50K miles)

For many folks who have cars close to stock and who don't go to the track, the "budget performance tires" (number 6 on the list) is perfectly fine. But if you want better performance (and particularly if you go to the track, and/or if you have a high-horsepower application), then you really want to move up this list for better performance. It's your choice.

Here are tires you might consider, in your 205/40-17 size, and are IMHO the best tires you'll find in each category:

3. Specialty Super-Sticky Street Tires:
Falken Azenis RT-615 $102 from Vulcan

4. Best Top-of-the-Line Street Tires:
Goodyear F1 GS-D3 $143 from the Tire Rack

5. "Value" Top-of-the-Line Street Tires:
Toyo T-1R $119 from onlinetires.com
Kumho Ecsta MX $101 from the Tire Rack

6. Budget Performance, "Bang for the Buck" Tires:
Yokohama AVS ES100 $89 from the Tire Rack
Kumho Ecsta SPT $67 from the Tire Rack

7. All-season tires:
Kumho Ecsta ASX $66 from the Tire Rack

In particular, the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 is rated the best in the article in a tire comparison test in the new (December) issue of Car and Driver, and it also has the number one top survey results of all 24 tires in the top performance category on the Tire Rack website. So if you're looking for great grip and handling, and you don't mind paying a bit more than some other tires cost, that's the one I would recommend.

Summary: Goodyear F1 GS-D3 in 205/40-17 is an awesome choice.

 

For the best balance between performance and tread life go with an ultra-high performance all-season tire. Pirelli PZero Nero M&S, Continental Extreme Contact and Kumho ASX would all be good choices.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Clay@tirerack &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For the best balance between performance and tread life go with an ultra-high performance all-season tire.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I disagree, because all-season tires are too much of a step down in performance, and they don't add that much to tread life. I don't consider that much of a "balance". But if you really care mostly about tread life and are willing to sacrifice significant performance to get it (or, of course, if you need to drive the same tires year round including light snow and frigid cold), then by all means consider all-season tires. Which is why I included them in my list of categories and indicated typical tread life.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Clay@tirerack &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Pirelli PZero Nero M&S, Continental Extreme Contact and Kumho ASX would all be good choices.</TD></TR></TABLE>

In the all-season category, I only suggested the ASX above because of the huge difference in price in your size (Pirelli $102, Conti $81 on special, Kumho $66). The prices of those tires are closer to each other in some other sizes, but not in 205/40-17.

 

Just for the record i don't know that I'll need an all season tire, cuz I live in Vegas.... I do appreciate the quick detailed response... I needed a little help, thats more than what I expected... THANKS ALOT NSXTASY !! I'll do a little more research on the options above & keep you guys posted...

THX !!!