Ready for new tires

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by Valente, Jan 18, 2020.

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  1. Valente

    Valente Active Member

    I'm approaching 50,000 miles and my Clarity is gonna need new tires soon. I live in Palm Springs, CA so I don't need tires for snowy climates. The Honda dealership wants $225/tire and that doesn't include stems, balancing, installation and alignment which could cost about $1500 after taxes. There is a massive choice of brands out there for 235/45/18 tires! Some as low as $500 and some as high as $2500. I am overwhelmed. I do a lot of freeway driving so I want a decent tire that won't explode when I'm doing 80 MPH. Any suggestions? Thanks.
     
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  3. Tdude

    Tdude New Member

    If you have a Costco membership than get a quote on Michelin tires. America’s tire is also very reasonable


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  4. DucRider

    DucRider Well-Known Member

    There is a lot more to tire choice than size (and speed rating). The Clarity is a fairly heavy vehicle and requires a load index of 94.
    OEM tire spec is 235/45 R 18 94V.
    94 is the Load Index, V the speed rating (you won't find anything that won't do 80 mph). Higher speed ratings tend to come with other handling benefits.

    The Clarity comes with Low Rolling Resistance tires. This trades other performance characteristics for better fuel economy (gas and electric). You'll have to juggle budget with efficiency, ride quality, traction, road noise, etc.
     
  5. stacey burke

    stacey burke Active Member

    I'm looking at Bridgestone Drive Guard. It is not much cheaper but I worry about flats... tire.PNG
     
  6. Steven B

    Steven B Active Member

    To say 'requires a load index of 94' is an exaggeration. That's what comes on the car. Per the index table, a vehicle with a GVWR of 2579 lbs on the front 'requires' an index no smaller than 90.
    https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=35
     
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  8. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Be prepared for a harsher ride with the run-flats. However, the Clarity PHEV's suspension is pretty soft, so the run-flats may not be objectionable.
     
  9. Mowcowbell

    Mowcowbell Well-Known Member

    +1 on harsher ride quality with run-flats. Their advantages are far outweighed by the ride quality in day-to-day driving.
     
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  10. Re-Volted

    Re-Volted New Member

    Be warned all EV drivers! One of the qualities that make our tires more expensive is being quieter. When I pot hole destroyed a Volt tire the shop gave me a regular all season radial loaner tire. I was shocked how much noise that one tire made, noticed immediately.


    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
  11. JimW

    JimW Active Member

    My Clarity just had its 2-year anniversary (American Honda sent me a nice anniversary card) and I have around 27,000 miles. We've had lots of rain recently and I have noticed tires slipping both in accelerating on hills and while stopping on a downhill Interstate exit ramp. This is in normal, non-aggressive driving. I am researching putting on either Grand Touring All-Season (e.g. Michelin Cross-Climate, Vredestein Quatrac 5) or High Performance All-Season (e.g. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3). I think since the Clarity is so quiet, tread pattern and noise levels will be a critical decision factor. I'm in TN, so very infrequent snow and ice. For the last 10 years or so, I have always purchased High Performance All-Season for BMW/Audi/Mini and been very happy.

    Has anyone actually replaced the factory LRR tires with either GTAS or HPAS type tires? Insights on noise, handling, reduced EV range?
     
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  13. Duxa

    Duxa Member

    Walmart is worth checking out, you can get tires for really cheap there. Now if you trust their shop's worksmanship, thats up to you. But my local Walmart Ive had a flat fixed (~$15) and new tires (for non Clarity) and had zero issues. I just make sure to get quality tires, I bought Made in USA ones.
     
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  14. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I've never tested the tire-changing technicians at Walmart, but anyone who does should warn them about the Clarity's expensive OEM wheels with their delicate noise-reducing resonators. One member of this forum had a bad experience with his local Costco's tire-changing technicians damaging the resonators and Costco not willing to take financial responsibility for the damage.

    upload_2020-1-20_9-15-34.png
     
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  15. RichL

    RichL Member

    If dealing with a snowy climate is not an issue and you don't have a need for run-flats, then Michelin has 2 options I think are worth considering. I got the quotes from Tirerack.
    upload_2020-1-20_11-26-12.png upload_2020-1-20_11-26-31.png

    These are specially engineered to be quieter -recommended for Tesla.
    IT appears that Michelin has implemented an insert called Acoustic Tech. https://www.michelinman.com/acoustic-technology.html

    I'll be replacing my OEMs soon with these Pilot Sport 4 with AT for better handling at the cost of lower tread life with the softer compound @ 320. If tread life matters, then the MXM4 are better @ 500.
     
  16. Steer clear of any Chinese brands.
     
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  17. zaggie

    zaggie New Member

    Search tires and tire reviews on tire rack.com as a starting point.
     
  18. Agzand

    Agzand Active Member

    My best tire purchase experience is with Costco. Purchased online, the tires came in a week or so to the warehouse. For tire/wheel combo tirerack is good too, assuming you can mount them yourself.
     
  19. Wall-e

    Wall-e Member

    We just had our tires replaced with Continental PureContact LS tire all around, It was reasonably priced ($800 installed). They are extremely quiet tire, have not noticed mileage hit on EV. I considered the Bridgestone run flats but ultimately decided against since it would be noisier and affect the EV mileage. The benefits for runflats are great but didn't convince me this time around.
     
    insightman likes this.
  20. Be aware that you could lose 10% or more of your effective battery range when changing from LRR to a better performing tire.
    I'm not recommending against the swap but be aware of this as a consequence.
     
  21. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    I'd be interested in data about this if you have a source. The greatest difference I've seen reported between tires in mpg (and therefore EV miles) is only in the 3%-5% range. Most tires are in the 1%-3% range or difference. This article on the Tire Rack give an example using an extreme difference in rolling resistance that only results a maximum of 5% of mpg on the highway, where the difference is the most noticeable. I think LRR tires are a great idea where they make sense and I'm happy that manufacturers are working on good ones. But for me, saving 1-3 miles per charge is irrelevant compared to other tire parameters.
    https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=29
     
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  22. I have only anecdotal evidence from years of postings on the gm-volt forum. Some of that might be accounted for by new tire/worn tire experiences.
     
  23. 4sallypat

    4sallypat Active Member

    I have the Driveguards on my BMW 528 for over 4 years now and love them.

    After driving BMWs for 20 years with first and second gen run flats, these Drive Guards are 3rd gen and ride very nicely - feels like conventional tires, very quiet, and performs well for sporty driving.
    Tread wear is amazing - looks like it will go 60,000 miles without any problem.

    Well worth the Bridgestone DriveGuards - I'd get them on my Clarity when it comes time....
     
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