[vosinsight]

A little background

The Honda Insight 2nd Gen uses OEM 175/65R15 84S tires.

What do the numbers mean?

The first number (175) is the width of the tire. The second number (65) is the tire profile as a percentage of the first number – the OEM tire has a sidewall that's 65% the width of the tire. The letter just means Radial construction. The third number is the wheel size the tire is for (15 for 15" OEM wheels).

Some real life examples:

• A wide tire would have a large first number.
• A low-profile tire would have a small second number.
• A thick tire for off-roading SUVs would have a large second number.
• Blingy 22" wheels would have 22 as the third number.
• If you switch to a 16" wheel, you would need a tire with 16 as the third number and a smaller second number.

The '84S' is a rating.

The number is the load rating (84 is relatively low but the Insight is a lightweight car). The letter is a speed rating (S is rated to 112MPH). The ratings are ordered S, T, U, H, V, Z from low to high. These don't matter too much as the Insight is neither a heavy-duty cargo vehicle nor a performance vehicle. You should just go with 84S or better.

There are other ratings

All tires, in the U.S., not sure about internationally, have a UTQG (Universal Tire Quality Grade) rating. This was created by the US DoT to help consumers and is self-reported by tire companies (so it is more an approximation than truth).

A tire like the Hankook Kinergy Eco has a rating of 400 A A (available on tire manufacturer websites as well as on the tire itself).

The first number is treadwear (100, 200, 300, 400 etc.). The higher the number, the more miles the tire can go before being bald.

The first letter is traction grade, or how sticky the tire compound is, tested by dragging the tire at 40MPH on a wet surface. AA is over 0.54g, A is over 0.47g, B is over 0.38g, and C is less than 0.38g. The higher the g's, the better.

The second letter is heat dissipation, which is most necessary at high speeds. Tires that are A can go over 115MPH, B can go 110-115MPH, and C can go 85-100MPH.

How much to pay

Honda Insight tires (175/65R15 tires) run between $50-140 each as of Nov 2017.

If you're buying online and having them shipped, expect to pay $10-15 to get each tire mounted at a shop.

Tire choices

Now that you understand tire sizing, you can compare all the models available at that size.

My personal top choices from my research:

Longest tread life

1. Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 600 A A $52.50 (great treadwear) (65,000 mile warranty; 1-year road hazard protection)
2. Cooper CS3 Touring 580 A A $76.50 (65,000 mile warranty; fairly good performance apparently but an unknown)
3. Yokohama Avid Ascend 800 A B $80.50 (not the greatest performance tire)

Of these, the Sumitomo is marketed as a performance tire and compares well against performance tires despite its low price and long treadwear. This is the model I'm most likely to buy when my tires need replacing.

Best performance

• Hankook Kinergy Eco 400 A A $73.50 (summer tires more sport-oriented)
• Cooper CS3 Touring 580 A A $76.50 (65,000 mile warranty; fairly good performance apparently but an unknown)
• Contiprocontact 400 AA A $83.50 (good grip without sacrificing low treadwear; OEM on Si Civics and many others) (3-year complimentary flat change; 1-year road hazard coverage; 60,000 mile warranty)
• Yokohama Avid Envigor 560 A A $82.87 (more performance oriented)
• Contipremiumcontact 280 AA A $85.50 (less treadwear but more grip)

Tire reviews

I have no experience with any of the tires above. If you have experience with a 175/65R15 tire, please share.

Try to use this format:

Tire size:
UTQG (please look it up if you don't know):
Tire manufacturer and model:
Experience with treadwear:
Experience with tire issues:
Experience with performance driving:
Experience with winter driving:
Experience with driving in rain:
Experience with unwanted noise and harshness:
Overall satisfaction out of 5:
Price:

 

[egads]

You are limiting your choices by only looking at the 2010-2011 tire size.

See this thread:

http://www.insightcentral.net/forum...n-discussion/23096-tires-any-suggestions.html

Also, you can use the search to find some other tire threads.

 

[jcbesq]

i'm getting yokohama avid touring s tires tomorrow at mavis 185 65 15
the old kumho kh30's 185 65 15 performed admirably after 45k miles and still have meat left but the shoulders of the tire are cracked, chipped and worn ... not bad for a 40k mile tire

 

[Natalya]

Bridgestone Ecopia 175/65/R15

This is a great LRR tire. I have a set of 4, the back two came with the car when I bought it and I bought the front two back in the summer. The tires are also very quiet, which is surprising considering they are LRR. I couldn't be happier with these tires. I don't know why they aren't on your list, because I'm pretty sure the 2011+ came with Ecopias in their stock configuration.

Note:
2010 and 2011 are spec'd for 175/65/R15 while the 2012+ is spec'd for 185/60/R15 from the factory.

You could probably fit the smaller 175/65/R15 on a 2012, and save on rotational mass and slightly improve MPG, but I think there might be a speed discrepancy because there is a diameter difference in the tires. I think this change is accounted for by the odometer, not by the VSS. The part number for a 2010 LX cluster is 78100-TM8-A03 and a 2011 LX cluster is 78100-TM8-A04 which are off by only 1, but a 2012 LX has 78100-TM8-A51 for its instrument cluster. This indicates to me that the 2012 is probably calibrated differently to account for the larger tires.

I couldn't tell from diagrams which sensor on the transmission was the VSS, but for a 2010 and 2012 LX the two pickup assemblies there had the same part numbers in the catalogue.

 

[jcbesq]

just got the yokos on ... handles and stops great in dry conditions ... we'll see what happens in rainy and snowy weather but right now i'm a happy camper ... alignment made it feel sharper too