Anyone try putting summer performance tires on the Civic Hybrid?
I wonder how much it would hurt the fuel economy?

 

It won't hurt mpg at all, as long as you inflate them beyond the maximum pressure rating.

Of course, you'll blow out a tire, likely damage your car, and possibly die in a collision. But you can print on your gravestone, "I was beating the EPA numbers!"

 

Tongue firmly planted into cheek??

 

Good summer performance tires are great! They may hurt the fe a little, but you will still get good fe compared to most, and have a much better handling car? Depends what your needs are! Cheers; H

 

Don't know if you a member of the Yahoo Honda Civic Hybrid group. A couple of people over there have replaced the Dunlops with Michelins and reported big dropoffs in mpg (decreases in the 5-10 mpg range). I think there's a view that the softer tire increase rolling resistance.

If you search the Yahoo group's archive messages on the keyword "Michelin" you'll get the details.

 

What do you define as max pressure rating?
Summer tires usually have stiffer sidewalls for cornering... so they can
hold up higher pressure.. I'm thinking no problem in the high 30s..