Hello Everyone...From Sunny Southern California!!

Just wondering what Tires your Honda Civic hybrid came with, from the factory?

My 2006 Civic Hybid came with DUNLOP SP31as. They look great on the Car!
Besides looking good on the vehicle I'm wondering if that was the only reason Honda choose those tires?
Do they offer a Smoother Ride?
Where they made only for Honda Hybrids?
Offer better gas mileage?
Will they be available afterwards when the originals wear out?

What do You think?

PPD

PPD - Interesting question.

Some years ago Sumitomo of Japan bought Dunlop, originally a British company. My tires have 'made in Japan' on the sidewall. They are Dunlop SP Sport 300 size 195/65 R15.

It must make good commercial sense to source the tires in Japan close to Suzuka and to get a good contract price from the Japanese manafacturer. The tires are described as "offering more comfort and a quieter car interior" both qualities which I desire and which match the HCHII profile.

Being tubeless radials I would expect them to run for some 40 -50k miles, does anyone with an HCHII have that sort of mileage yet, I doubt it. Obviously tire pressures have a huge beaing on the previous question. I am not a high pressure hypermiler and run with the factory recommended pressures. I go for quiet and comfort!

I have the Dunlop SP31's also. It's my understanding that the factory installed tires were selected for thier "low rolling resistance" feature, among many other considerations I'm sure....

So technically that would mean they contribute to improved FE also. I understand that these tires (or tires very similar to them are available as replacements, but again, if I am correct, cost a little more than comparable tires that are not "low rolling resistance."

Bridgestone Insignia SE200

My wife and I recently bought two 2006 HCH II's (a "his" and "hers"). They were manufactured about 2 months apart.

Mine is a non-NAVI version and came with Dunlop SP31's. Her's has the NAVI system and came with Bridgestone SE200's.

As expected, I can tell any difference in handling or fuel economy due to the different brands of tires.

John L.

Bridgestone Insignia SE200

Does someone know wich one offer the best low rolling resistance?

Soleil24
Quebec, Canada 06 HCH owner

I've got Dunlop SP31as (or are they SP37as ?) on my Navi-equipped HCH-II.
It's difficult to tell from the font used on the tires' sidewalls.

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

Yeah, they look like 37's! But I figures the '7' look too short on the top so I thought it must be a '#1'....

anyways they are nice looking tires.

Mine has DUNLOP SP31as also.

They are fine in the dry and in the rain, but I live up a chip-and-tar road and the small gravel bits get in the wide grooves, then click and pings for the next two miles. Kinda annoying 4-6x a day, but I'm not one to complain (much!)

2006 HCHII w/Nav produced 6/06 with Serial #23856 and shod with 195/65-R15 Dunlop SP31 A/S tires that were mfg'd in the 25th week of 2006. So the car was built sometime between June 1 and June 30 but the tires on it were made between June 19 and June 25. I doubt that Honda has batches of cars sitting aroudn without tires on them on a rolling chassis but it is possible - I'll assume that my car was built toward the middle or end of June though and I bought it on August 7.

On the TireRack website you can not directly search under Dunlop for the SP31 but can find the SP40 with no problem. In a Google search though there are lots of pages on TireRack for the SP31 (though they are $70 each as compared to $57 each for the SP40).