I just ordered a set of 16s and needed a little advice as to what tires to buy.

I live in NC and the car is driven every other day but doesn't get tons of miles put on it. Primarily a street car I will occasionally hit the autox courses whenever they pop up in the summer. I need something that offers some wet traction.

also if someone could recommend a size.

 

What kind of car (year, body style, version) is your Civic?

Do you care about value (purchase price and/or treadlife) or only about performance?

 

97 civic coupe w/ b18c swap.

not wanting to spend more then $120 per tire, and as far as treadlife goes something that will last at least 6 months

 

You can use 205/45-16 or 215/45-16; either will work. Tires come in one size or the other, not both. So pick the tire you want and see which size it comes in, and get that one.

For your stated needs, I recommend the Kumho Ecsta SPT. Very good dry traction, excellent in rain, lasts a long time (30-45K miles). In 205/45-16, the Tire Rack sells them for $65 each, a real bargain for such a good tire. Then, through the end of the month, you can get $40 back from Kumho (no matter where you buy them), so it works out to $55/tire, a real bargain.

If you wanted significantly better performance, you would have to spend a lot more ($133/tire for the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 in 205/45-16, even better dry and wet performance and similar treadlife) or else spend more for a tire that doesn't last as long and doesn't do well in wet ($95/tire for the Falken Azenis RT-615 in 215/45-16, only lasts 10-12K miles).

 

Agreed! I have the SPT and I am well was loving them (just stored my car for the winter). They provided great traction in the dry or the wet! I also did some auto-x with them and they where'nt to bad.

Dave

 

Dont get the kuhmos i had them on my eg hatch that i autox and they couldent find traction at all. Im not sure if you have merchants tire down where you are but they sell a good tire, talon tr55 or something like that its the only one. there $90 a tire and they get way better traction.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vagsreg6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Dont get the kuhmos i had them on my eg hatch that i autox and they couldent find traction at all.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think it really depends on how much experience you have in autocross.

If you're just starting out, then you're just learning, and you really don't care about getting every last hundredth of a second per lap. In that case, just use whatever tire you're already using on the street (in which case the SPT is an excellent choice). You'll learn plenty, no matter what tire you have.

If you're fairly experienced in autocross, then you really should get a separate set of wheels for that purpose, and get R compound track tires (better yet, ones made specifically for autocross, like the Hoosier A6).

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vagsreg6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Im not sure if you have merchants tire down where you are but they sell a good tire, talon tr55 or something like that its the only one</TD></TR></TABLE>

I've never heard of Talon tires, unless you're referring to the Canadian tire dealer, which is not a manufacturer.

 

I've heard that kuhmo's tend to have really soft sidewalls, is this true of the SPT's?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blackoutcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've heard that kuhmo's tend to have really soft sidewalls, is this true of the SPT's?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blackoutcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've heard that kuhmo's tend to have really soft sidewalls, is this true of the SPT's?</TD></TR></TABLE>

They may have slightly softer sidewalls than higher performance class tires, but not anything in their category (UHP). Will you notice it on the street? Highly unlikely. Might they roll over a little more than Max Performance and Extreme Performance tires at the track? It is a possibility.

Jon