Best tires for 2018 Honda Clarity Hybrid Touring

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Flower

Flower

New Member
Dealership said my tires' wear pattern are down to 4.
Wants to sell me the same tires I have now, w/32,000 miles on the car.
235/45R18 Eagle LS-2 (Goodyear)

It is not uncommon for my tires to go Low Air.

These tires lasted 6 years in Coastal Georgia (bought the end of 2018).
We have snow this week and that's not normal.
I've taken the car on maybe 6 roundtrip long distance trips (7 to 10 hours one way).
Mostly drive around town.

Should I stay with these tires?
Are their better tires that won't be giving off the Low Air notice.
Honda said Low Air is common in cold weather. But what's that doing to my drive?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
 
I replaced OEM tires (Michelin Energy Saver) with Yokohama YK740. No EV range loss, seemed quieter when I got them. No idea what difference may be with your Goodyears.

I've never seen "low air", only a warning some years ago when one of the OEM tires had a flat. The tires should be 36 PSI cold.
 
Your tread depth is 4/32”, that’s not a “wear pattern”.

Tire pressure decreases as temperatures drop. It’s physics. The solution is to add air when cold weather sets in. No tire is exempt from the laws of physics.

Low tire pressure can lead to:
1) Reduced fuel economy
2) Undesirable handling characteristics
3) Uneven tire wear
4) Premature tire failure

There are no benefits to under inflated tires unless you’re in the business of selling tires.

Yours may be the first Clarity reported to have anything other than Michelin tires as OEM equipment. Some owners have reported replacing their Michelins after 15K miles, due to premature wear. Others have gone 50-60k miles on the OEM tires. Similarly, some owners have reported less than desirable ride quality and handling characteristics from the OEM tires while others have had no such experiences.

Michelin makes excellent tires, they are also priced accordingly. “Better” is typically a matter of opinion and always comes with conditions. Given your driving patterns, primary around town, just about anything would be suitable, provided they are properly inflated and that you don’t drive like Ricky Bobby.

For occasional snow, drive cautiously or not at all. It certainly isn’t worth investing in a separate set of snow tires unless your driving in snowy conditions for weeks or months on end.
 
I want to add since my original post that the dealership service guy told me that they would replace the tires with the same tires I currently had. They gave me a Goodyear quote. After my original post, we later looked at the tires and they were Michelin. Geeze. Anyway, all good info here and I'm taking it all in. Thank you.
 
2018 Clarity tires:

First set, OEM Michelin EnergiSaver: Terrible. Short life, noisy, downright dangerous in snow.

Second set, Michelin CrossClimate+: (Discountinued, replaced with CC2). Fantastic in snow, good in rain and dry. Much better handling than OEM in all conditions. Excellent range, no change from ultra low resistance OEM tires. Tire life was excellent considering low rolling resistance (usually achieved by giving you less tread). The CC2 on my Subaru dramatically reduced fuel economy so I don't recommend for Clarity unless you don't care about range but it will have a long life.

Third set (currently), Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4: These tires are amazing. They are quieter than OEM or CC+. They are amazing in the dry and wet and almost as good as my CC+ in snow. The grip has transformed the Clarity from frumpy to sports car. You won't believe the difference from OEM. You do take a hit in range though (about 15%) but it's totally worth it for the far better driving experience. Strongly recommended. BTW, cheaper than CC2 for the Clarity size.
 
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