Need guidance about changing tyre size of Honda Civic 2013 9th Gen

[usama_92]

I bought a used 2013 9th Gen Civic last year in October, the tyres that came with it were Michellen Energy XM2+ 195/65R15 but they were in very bad condition manufacturing date 2019 and have completed their life, the tyres are very hard, rubber is too dry and pieces of rubber are missing from the tread. I recently had to get a replacement tyre from a puncture shop because the punctures weren't sticking to the inner rubber and kept leaking again and again.

I couldn't change the tyres when I bought the car due to budgetary reasons, but now I'm looking to replace the tyres. Following are the things I'm considering:
- I plan to keep this car for about 8 to 10 months maybe 1 year more and sale it and upgrade to another car so I also don't want to spend too much on tyres and I'm not comfortable using reconditioned / smuggled tyres.
- I also plan to travel to Islamabad from Karachi in August and to Northern Areas and maybe some offroading in Skardu and Deosai too.
- I'm currently not very satisfied with the Grip of the tyres on highway as I travel to Hyderabad very frequently so I'm also planning to upgrade the size of the tyres to 205/65R15.
- I'm considering Linglong GreenMax HP-010 tyres (China) or GT Radial Champiro EcoTec (Indonesia) in 205/65R15 size. Linglong will cost me around 17 to 18k per tyre and GT Radial will cost around 20k per tyre.

Kindly help me decide which tyres to go for and also share your experience if any of you have used any of the above 2 tyres. Also, share your experience regarding change in grip and fuel economy if you've upgraded from 195/56 to 205/65 profile.

Edit (2-Jul-24):
I'm also considering GTR (General) BG Thunder Max Tyres due to budget reasons. One tyre cost is 14.5k for 195/65R15.

[mumbojumbo]

Salam

I recommend GTR BG Thundermax (195-65-15). I got those for my reborn 7 months ago and they have been working great for me. 8th gen and the 9th gen come with the same profile from factory. Almost done 16k kms on them. The cost was around 12k/tyre at the time. Can be easily sourced from huge dealer network as they are locally manufactured. I like the tread design and the noise level is considerably less compared to Eurostars that I had on previously.

Bigger tyre profile such as 205-65 would mean more grip but at the cost of higher fuel consumption. So I would recommend sticking to 195s.

[lazers]

What fuel consumption you get and you have auto ? I have 205 tires on Civic 8th (reborn) manual and the fuel consumption on m2 is 13.2 and withing city is 10 - 10.5

[pwuser166331039855]

Linglong, Sailun, Treadmax, Tucsan, are very good names and tires are very good too.

I was not fan of using Chinese tires before. But now using Chinese tires over last 3 years and fully satisfied with the performance from all the aspects.

if your focus is fuel economy, then choose 195mm tires.
and if dashing looks, good grip & comfort, then 205mm or 215mm are OK too.

[mumbojumbo]

Salam

Mine is auto. My commute is around 80 kms daily on Lahore ring road + Sialkot motorway. The fuel consumption varies of course but I drive my car usually between 80-95 km/hr and get around 15 km/L.
But in city driving it’s around 8-9 km/L.

[usama_92]

I get the same average. 8-9 in city and 14-15 on highways. My car is auto too. And yes I'm also considering BG Thunder Max due to low cost.

[usama_92]

How long have you driven then tyres. I have also read that BG Thunder Max are less noisy than Eurostars but also that BG Thunder Max tyres are harder than Eurostars too.

What is your experience and how noisy are BG Thunder Max on high speeds?

And also how good can they absorb cat eyes as there are many cat eyes installed in my daily route to office and I just speed past through them and my current tyres absorb them quite nicely.

[mumbojumbo]

Salam

As I mentioned earlier I have driven my car 16k after getting BG Thundermax and so far they have been working fine. I had Eurostars on previously and Thundermax is definitely less noisier than them. I also feel that the grip levels are better but I guess that’s just reborn magic. I have taken the car above 180 a few times since installing the tyres and the car felt planted and in control.
They don’t seem as hard as the Eurostars but I guess I’ll find out in the next 10k-15k. On cat eyes they are better than Eurostars but then again I guess every tyre would be better than Eurostars lol.
Overall, they are value for money and totally recommended.

[sindhpolice114]

Do you have any experience or review on performance/comfort of BG Falcon (185/65/15)?

[mumbojumbo]

Salam

Nope but I don’t think it would be that different from the Thundermax that I am using on my reborn.

I have used them for about 25k and so far they have been great honestly. I have done multiple high speed runs on my car and my daily commute is around 75 kms. No punctures so far Alhumdulillah and I am happy with my purchase.

[sindhpolice114]

Ok, because i have seen in some of your posts that you have mentioned a "friend of yours" has gotten BG Falcon installed in his car

[mumbojumbo]

Yes he did. But he sold the car 4 months later. His was a city aspire 2016. But during the 4 months that he did use them he was satisfied.

[sindhpolice114]

Ohh ok thank you. I am thinking of BG Falcon instead of BG Thunder as Falcon is costing 13K whereas Thunder is costing 15k. Moreover, 185 is also the stock size on my car. And I currently have Eurostars installed.

[mumbojumbo]

Go for it. Anything is better than Eurostars.

[sindhpolice114]

Sure. And there should be no effect on downsizing from the 195 eurostars back to the stock 185 size with BG Falcon right?

[mumbojumbo]

You might get slightly better fuel economy. There is no noticeable loss of grip or handling performance. I know this because I have an Exi 2004 as well for the past 18 years. Used a couple of sets of 195s and then switched back to 185s.