All-season tire performance?

tubesguy said:

Sadly, you can't judge ride comfort, noise levels, and grip/stability in bad conditions from anything on any tire dealer's site. So I'm still hoping for that info from any users of replacement all-season tires. Mpg info, while a secondary concern, would also be helpful. - Pat

Click to expand...

Best mileage: use 165/65R14 OEM Bridgestone RE92 tire (this is an all season tire but that category is a joke, more on this later)

Best summer grip in dry and wet roads: 195/55R14 Toyo T1R or 185/60R14 Yokahama ES100

Best grip in snow and ice: Winter tires such as the 165/65R14 OEM sized Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03

Best all season tire? These tires are a huge compromise in all conditions. They do not excel in any road condition. Some of the premium quality all season are the best at being quite, comfortable and last a long time, but they do this by sacrificing grip and mileage. IF you want the best mileage by all means buy the OEM RE92 but If you want another all season tire I cannot help you. My experience instructing advanced driving courses has turned me away from ever wanting to buy all season tires again.

Normad mentioned some interesting options from Nokian but i don't have experience with those specific tires.

The Toyo T1R and Yokahama ES100 tires are the only excellent ultra high performance summer tires available in 14" sizes and in diameters that keep the speedomer within 2%.
There are a number of ultra high performance tires that are slightly better then those two in dry and/or wet grip but that would require moving to a larger diameter tire (195/60R14 Falken Azenis) or moving up to 15" rims like you suggested.

Upgrading to 15" rims and top of the line ultra high performance summer tires:

Pros:
Better tires are available in 15" sizes because it's a more common size used for civics etc...
Lots more rims are available in 15" some of then are lightweight
With better tires and lower profile shape the handling and grip with improve and provide a more responsive ride

Cons:
The 15" rims will have a larger moment of enertia compared to the 14"rims even if they weigh the same, reducing the Insight's acceleration slightly. Added cost of buying more rims.
The comfort will decrease because the sidewalls of the 15" tires are shorter.
14" Race-compound tires will always be better then any street tire for the ultimate grip in dry or wet conditions.

Be careful with the offset of the rims test fit before buying. I recommend 15"x6.5" rims instead of 15"x7" rims because the tires and rims are less likely to rub and the rims are typically lighter.
The Insight is very light weight 1880lb so it will not benefit as much compared to upgrading a 2500 lb civic from 14" rims to 15" rims.

Another option is to use 185/60R14 Yokohama A032R Race Compound tires on the street in the summer if you want better grip without buying 15" rims :badgrin:

There is no significant reason not to upgrade to 15" rims and get even better 195/50R15 tires. Let us know what you decide and how it goes.

The Eagle F1 is a better tire in the rain and the Hankook R-S2 is better in dry conditions. The Eagle F1 would be quiter then the very noisy Hankook R-S2. I drove a WRX with R-S2 tires today at a Car Control School and those tire do NOT squeel at the limit, they make a scrapping sound before slidding like an R-compound tire. They don't give a audioble warning before skidding, but that limit is so high i should never be experienced on public roads unless it's an emergency avoidance situation.
The owner of the WRX noticed almost a 10% drop in fuel economy when we swithed from his OEM Bridgestone RE92 to the Hankook R-S2 a few weeks ago :shock:

If you going for it, buy the lightest 15" rims you can afford.
The OEM insight rims are only 11lbs each.