ArmyofOne

As of 9am this morning, I had a flat. After 31,000 Miles, the Bridgestone Turanza EL-400's from the factory on my 2006 Honda Civic EX were SHOT. They were noisy, bumpy, wobbly, harsh in every way and balder than a babies ***, one was even showing cords.

Goodyear Assurance ComforTread in 205/55/16H...quite possibly the best tire I have ever had, hands down, period. 205/55/16 + quiet/comfortable ride + 80,000 mile treadlife + all season capability + reasonable price = Impossible? Not anymore...read on.

Road Noise: There isnt any...I mean I wish i could say i could hear something....but I cant. They are silent as the dead. I would say if my Civic had more sound deadening, it would be purely silent.

Grip Wet: Have not tested cause i have only had the tires since 3pm...but i tested them in a puddle at a light...sure footed (no hydroplaning) and from a stop on the wet they do OK, but my 140HP Civic was able to break them loose in the rain at WOT No problem...but as long as you drive like a normal person in rainy weather, I see no trouble arising.

Grip Dry: Well, once again, these are not a high performance tire. The performance these tires concetrate on is a smooth, quiet comfortable ride (more on that later). On straight line acceleration at WOT in the 140hp 1.8L Auto Civic, I could not break them loose. However, making a right or left turn from a stop accelerating at WOT, I could....thru second gear and into third. Keep in mind, this car was NOT designed for burnouts...but for fuel economy. In the twisties, these tires rule till about 80mph...at which point i didnt have the ***** to test them further (fear of tickets in NY). Dry Grip in the twisties is the $h!t

Grip Snow/Ice:Obviously cannot comment till snow and ice comes...but there will be a snow and ice review, rest assured. We get plenty of both up here (14 feet on avg per year!)

Ride Comfort: on a scale of 1 to 10....15045938721906.4 These tires are fantastic. Even in a somewhat lower profile (205/55/16) the ride is comfortable and smooth. No more harsh bumps, vibrations, or bump steer. By having the tires absorb more of the road harshness, it will drastically reduce the number of times I have to have an alignment done due to the pothole filled roads of upstate NY. The Civic's ride is now on par with the accord or higher end cars of its day...what a relief.

Install service: I had my tires installed at my local goodyear store...and i must say, while the service reps were polite and nice, they ROYALLY *****ED my factory Honda wheels...I'm a little perturbed about that.

205/55/16H Goodyear Assurance ComforTread:
$136x$4
$544-$80 ($20 in store rebate per tire coupon)
$464+$100 ($25 per tire for mt/balance/valvestems)
$564-25% (military discount)
$423+$25 (sales tax)
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Total: $448.xx

Thats out the door, Mounted and Balanced. Apparently I have 2 bent rims that they managed to balance...and they ride just fine so screw it. LOL.

Just for the sake of argument, lets price a set of tires I would have bought instead...the only tires i would consider other than the Assurance line.

Falken Ziex ZE-512 in 205/55/16
$80x4
$320-$40 ($10 per tire in store rebate coupon)
$280+$100 ($25 per tire mt/balance/valvestems)
$380-%25 (Military Discount)
$295+$25 (sales tax)
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$320.xx Out-the-door for the Falken Ziex ZE-512...a more than capable all season with the quietest/smoothest ride i have ever experienced...only one problem...multiply $320x5=$1,600.xx, because during the lifetime of 1 set of Assurance ComforTreads, I would have to replace the Falkens a minimum of 5x...and thats being generous, I never got more than 15,000 miles out of a set...and my mom is on 83,000 on her comfortreads in her camry...and just now needing replacements.


Questions, Comments, Concerns?

ArmyofOne

Whoops, my fault, didnt realize i was still in the car chat forum...a big thanks to the mod that moved my thread.

leavehard

Thanks for the review. But here's the funny part. I have a set of Falken ze-512's (w rated) that I put on my 50K mile 98 LS400 about 3K miles ago. The performance has been more than acceptable in everything except snow/ice (marginal in these conditions). However, I am very close to replacing them already based on the ungodly road noise from these things. They set up a howl from 30 mph on up. I find myself cranking up the Nakamichi just to mask the noise, lol. I've read about the Goodyear's you just purchased, but if you're telling me the Falkens are as quiet as the Goodyears, I'll look to another brand.