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It's all about the Tyres!

A

AdamG

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Location
East Mids
Car
2004 Accord i-ctdi
Nope! Not an F1 reference.

I' ve noticed a few threads on tyre choice for Accords, especially for 17" wheels.

I spotted that the pretty ropey Avon ZV5's, that my car came with when bought in Oct last year, had started to wear. I didn't really want to spend out on a brace of boots, but on the other hand, I was quite looking forward to getting rid of the Avons. Popped into my local Kwik Fit who had a pair of Michelin Primacy HPs for £130 each. Not cheap, for sure, and I've no doubt I could've got cheaper elsewhere, but my MOT was due the following day, so I went for it........

The difference is ASTONISHING! All the previous tramlining and steering wheel bounce that happened on rutted rand pocked roads has just completely gone!!! I've done about 500 miles since I bought them, and the hugely increased grip levels, reduced road noise, improved ride comfort and steering feel have totally transformed the driving experience! I'm on 17" wheels (though not Pentas), and the tyres are 225/45R/17 94 W.

I bet I can get a lot more than 20k miles out of them. So if you're after some decent tyres, or you're getting the tramlining probs, I'd honestly go the Michelin Primacy route. It's well worth it!!
 
I'm about to purchase new tyres and still in a predicament of what to get, currently i'm running Hankook Ventus V12 EVO's but can get Bridgestone RE5050A's for £97 each fitted.
 
Wow, talk about one mans meat etc! My Accord came with a full set of Premacy HP's - 3mm on the front 6mm on the rear, on 17" wheels. I have to be honest and say I hate them! the noise was unbearable and the ride drove me crazy. I've just got swapped the front for Kumho KH31 and that's dramatically improved things and hopefully get the rears done next month. Just goes to show how subjective tyres are!
 
Did you try swapping the front and rears?
 
Dan Robinson said:
Did you try swapping the front and rears?
Click to expand...

Me? If so no, the rears are just as bad. Changing the front has improved things dramatically but get to 60 and the rears are very noisy, it's quite funny, silence from the front a cacophony from the rear!
 
I have Michelin pilot sport 3 225/40/ZR18 on my accord and i have found them very good so far except they are a bit noisy.
 
Mine are only noisy when I am approaching speeds I should... For grip PS3 are excellent. Longevity -can't tell as they are all I've had on a decent car. My van gets whatever decent brand is in stock so that don't count.
 
I've only use Michelin Pilot sport 2 (i think) so cannot comment on other tyres yet.

However I tend to notice that when new tyres are on the front tramlining etc soon become a distant memory, however you start to notice it coming back the nearer they get to the end, say 3mm, maybe just an early warning system built in!
 
Khumos on mine (same tyre size) pretty happy with mine :rolleyes: Wear well, pretty grippy and pretty quiet.
 
StuH said:
Wow, talk about one mans meat etc! My Accord came with a full set of Premacy HP's - 3mm on the front 6mm on the rear, on 17" wheels. I have to be honest and say I hate them! the noise was unbearable and the ride drove me crazy. I've just got swapped the front for Kumho KH31 and that's dramatically improved things and hopefully get the rears done next month. Just goes to show how subjective tyres are!
Click to expand...

How did you get KH31s? Or did you mean KU31s? The KH31 isn't available for the tourer on 17"s (it only comes in 91 load rating, tourer requires 94).
 
Damn my ps3s are 91...naughty Costco!
 
The danger is that should you be in an accident and the insurers find under-spec tyres they may refuse to pay out. The spec according to the door jamb sticker is 94W.

Now, it's easy to say "The 91 load index is for 615kg, and you're never going to load up an accord to 2460kg", or "The saloon and tourer aren't that different, how come the saloon gets away with 91?". The load index spec isn't just about static load, but particularly it's about dynamic loads under heavy braking and cornering. The saloon and tourer ARE that different - the tourer has a 2" longer wheelbase and completely different rear suspension design to the saloon (7th gen - I believe that the two are the same in the 8th gen, resulting in the rubbish boot of the 8th gen tourer). Under dynamic conditions the wheelbase means that the centre of gravity is different and the rear suspension design may cause different tyre loadings under cornering. The maximum gross weight of the tourer is 2100kg, while the max on the saloon is 1970kg. That requires an additional 32.5kg per tyre static load rating, with a little extra for dynamic. 94 gives 55kg extra over 91, but they don't make 92 or 93 in the 225/45R17 size anyway.
 
Trust me I am genuinely annoyed at this - I will give Costco a ring tomorrow and see what they have to say.
 
I'm wondering if the extra weight of the Tourer might make a difference to the Tyre characteristics? I've never driven one, so I don't know.

I've got to say though, that when I bought my 7th Gen Accord, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. I came out of an 01 2.0 SE, and was quite disappointed with the way the car drove and handled ib comparison. Well, my new Michelins have totally sorted that one out, and with new Oil and Filter, and Air Filter (done by me), and a fuel filter, bought from Lookers Honda by me, but put in by Evans Halshaw (honestly,never go there!), I'm really enjoying this car!

As evidence of Primacys vs the old Avons, there's a roundabout on the Handforth bypass, just south of Manchester. On Avons, a bit of welly through it would cause the VSA to flash every time. On the Primacys? Nothing!
 
I've just replaced my 4 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo's with another set of them cos I was so impressed.
 
The Hankooks were very high on my list and might be an option if I can't find the conclusive answer on the tyre rating for the tourer.
 
Well the Hankooks on my tourer are 94 Extra Load.
 
The conclusive answer is that it's 94.

tourertyre.jpg


This from my door jamb. Mine is a 2.0 manual, which is one of the lightest variants of the tourer, yet this still applies.
 
Correct, 16"s are a different matter. This thread has been in the context of 17"s, however.
 
I-S said:
Correct, 16"s are a different matter. This thread has been in the context of 17"s, however.
Click to expand...

So on the 16" 91 is OK? For the 2.4?

Excellent if so I just got a pair of used 16" rims to fit winter tyres :) 91 makes a lot of difference in £££
 
Just fitted Kumho kh31's and must say the road noise is amazingly quiet but i did have very noisey! winter tyres on previously, done 200 miles in them so far so good in terms of noise, apparently a few more miles will see them at there best
 
I bought 4 16" alloys from a breaking accord for £100. They even have still somelegal michelin tyres with 3mm on it :)

Also got a deal on 4 vredestein snowtrac3 €75 fitted each back in germany.
 
I had some Kumho KU39's fitted last week, had them on previous cars got to say very pleased with them. Just done 500 miles so well bedded in. Noise level about the same as my previous Michelin Primacy's, grip & braking distance slightly better. £85 a corner fitted for size 225 45 17 94y xl.
 
Right, I've spent a bit of time on this tyre load business. As I-S has posted above, the sticker on the door jamb does state 94W however my local garage said 91 is fine and thus fitted 91 rated tyres. In light of the info I checked with a few of the branded tyre retailers - all stating 91 is standard manufacturers spec. Anyway, I've spent a bit of time talking to Honda UK and a few local dealers to get to the bottom of this (Greenacre Blackburn being very helpful). The answer is categorical; a load rating of 91 IS manufacturers specification, the sticker on the jamb reflects the tyres fitted at the time and is not a minimum requirement - manufacturers specs are needed for that info. So, I've had it confirmed from the horses mouth. I knew my local garage would be correct.
 
HI Stu, Apologies for thread wander but how did you find GH Blackburn from a service POV. I live in Accy but work in Knutsford so I could use either GH or HH for my up coming clutch change. I know the standard answer on here is use HH but if GH are decent guys who know their stuff then I could be tempted.
 
entwisi said:
HI Stu, Apologies for thread wander but how did you find GH Blackburn from a service POV. I live in Accy but work in Knutsford so I could use either GH or HH for my up coming clutch change. I know the standard answer on here is use HH but if GH are decent guys who know their stuff then I could be tempted.
Click to expand...

Honda UK put me through to Greenacre to take the tyre situation further and they couldn't have been more helpful. I've never personally used them but my parents did when they had CRV's and found them to be good - much better than Gordon's in Wigan which is ironic as Gordon's always did a better deal on the car than Greenacre but never offered the same level of service. I asked them for some details on fixed-priced servicing etc which should be in the post over the next couple of days.
 
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