Winter Tires ?

[RobCrx]

Hey Guys what winter tires you suggest for a 1990 civic Si ?
My 1 yr old all season Falken ZE912 are horrible.
I need size 195/50 15
I hear Bridgestone Blizzak, Michelin X-ice are good as well as some Nokian brands...how about studded tires ?
I dont use my civic in spring or summer or fall... just winter..

what do you ice racers use ?

thanks

[TFB]

You just use this car in winter? Then why are you on 50 series tires? In winter you don't need high-G cornering capability and besides, that aspect ratio on a light car in winter is the equivalent of putting a small toboggan under each corner of the car. Some might even call the winter driving experience "horrible".

Studs are illegal in southern Ontario, so forget that.

Your better bet would be to go closer to stock with a 170/70R13 or better yet, a 165/75R13 or 155/80R13. The narrower taller aspect tires will give you more bite in snow and slush. By going to a 13 inch tire, you get a lot more choice in decent winter tires at low cost. My bet is you could get decent winter or all-season rubber in these sizes for $60 to $75 a tire at Walmart or Canadian Tire and still be far further ahead than going to a top dollar winter tire in a 50 or 60 aspect ratio.

[George]

If I was going to buy snows I'd just get something cheap at canadian tyre. And narrow is better than putting wide snow shoes on it.

[RobCrx]

My rims are 15x7 on the car.. and stock size is 195/50 15.
Thats why .

http://i43.tinypic.com/1zfheu9.jpg

[blur911]

You pretty much can't get winter tires in 195-50-15. In 185-55-15 you can get Michelin X-ice or Pirelli 190 Snowsport.

Even if you went to 14" the choices are limited. Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice comes in 185-60-14 which is the correct size for your Civic.

There might be some other choices, not sure what though.

[RobCrx]

185/55 15 is almost the same as 195/50 15. On the tire size calculator site,
it says :
'Speedometer reading with non stock tire is 1.2% slow.
When your speedo reads 60mph, you are actually traveling 60.7mph'

is this okay ?

[TFB]

My rims are 15x7 on the car.. and stock size is 195/50 15.
Thats why .

http://i43.tinypic.com/1zfheu9.jpg

The Si is just the performance version of the standard civic hatch, and the standard civic hatch came with 13s on it. See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/SelectTireSize.jsp?autoMake=Honda&autoModel=Civic+Hatchback&autoYear=1990&autoModClar=

The outer circumference of your 50 series tire is about the same as the tire sizes I gave in the first post. The load capacities should be about the same too. Given that this is your winter car, toss the 50 series tires and get something more suited for winter. For winter, tall and skinny is usually better than low and wide.

[RobCrx]

I found at optionjdm.com they have a set of 195/50 15
Sunny Wintergrip SN3860 Snow tires . Are these any good ?

scroll down
http://www.gtcars.ca/online/optionjdm-com/81074-optionjdm-winter-tires-special-2008-09-a.html


http://www.kamortires.com/tires/wintergrip.jpg

[TFB]

I found at optionjdm.com they have a set of 195/50 15
Sunny Wintergrip SN3860 Snow tires . Are these any good ?

scroll down
http://www.gtcars.ca/online/optionjdm-com/81074-optionjdm-winter-tires-special-2008-09-a.html


http://www.kamortires.com/tires/wintergrip.jpg


Not according to these ratings... http://www.tyretest.com/pkw_winterreifen/sunny/sn3860_winter_grip/index.html

[RobCrx]

Not according to these ratings... http://www.tyretest.com/pkw_winterreifen/sunny/sn3860_winter_grip/index.html

WOW ! weird, every single review is bad ! never seen a tire been reviewed that poorly.. :eek:

[Cap'n Pete]

Hmmm, I thought that even a crappy winter tire was better than a good all season?! :rolleyes: :confused:

[MightyMouse]

My rims are 15x7 on the car.. and stock size is 195/50 15.
Thats why .

http://i43.tinypic.com/1zfheu9.jpg

No, the stock size for the 90 Civic Si is 185/60/14.

[njansenv]

I put a set of Hankook iPike W409's on my wifes E30. It tranformed the car from a mildly 'scary rear-driver' to the best winter beater I've ever driven.
$360 installed and taxes in at Tires23....
185/70/14.

Nathan

[JGraves]

I ran a 91 Civic Si for a few years as a winter car. The best tires I ever had on it were 155/80R13 Bizzaks (WS-15) which were noticeably better than the same tire in 175/65R14.