I have finally worn through the last set of Bridgestone B381s I could get (When I replaced tires last time remaining ones were gathered from various locations, so I got some of the last ones available, got five and rotated them). I saw an old thread on this subject but the last post was around 2015, so I wonder if there are any new candidates. I see that the Hankook Kinergy ST tires are still available in 185/70R14. Any experience with these? I know that Michelin tires (at least the Defenders I tried and returned) really lowered the mileage. I have 230K miles on it and would like to get another 50K out of the car. Runs great now anyway and still gets around 52-53 mpg. Love the manual transmission.

Anyone have any tire suggestion for these cars in 2021?

 

I see that no one has an answer for this. That is to be expected since tires are far and few between for this car. I just settled on Hankook Kinergy STs. Will report on how they do.

 

Impatient much? 13 hours isn't much of a window.

Are Defenders even available in that size? I couldn't find any.

The Insight's Bridgestone PE92 is somewhat tempting, but the size variation is disturbing. It would introduce a 7% error in the speedo/odo and appear to yield better mileage than actual by the same amount. Plus, those really don't handle well and have a lot of road noise.

Assuming you're looking for a tire with mpg in mind, while I have no experience with the Kinergy directly, I would choose the same. Searching slight size variations that wouldn't substantially impact speedo/odo accuracy fails to yield anything but the Kinergy's.

 

Hi Mr. Kieth,

Thank you for the response and your efforts at searching. Not so much impatient myself but had to respond to the shop where my car was pending inspection and failed for tires (I knew they were close but did not think they would fail when I took it in and also asked for tire rotation). Not sure if Defenders are available in that size any more, but they were recommended when I last changed tires by the tire shop. Bad deterioration in mileage like others have reported, so I returned them for the Bridgestones that just wore out. I looked at the PE92s but felt the same way. Shop recommended some Uniroyals but they are quite heavy, so I was leery. Great car, so I am sorry to see this problem, but I guess there are not that many out there still.

Cheers,
Charlie

 

I just checked my '03. It still has the tires that it came with. Goodyear ultratour... decent economy, and no objections, but they're not available anymore...

Yep. I'd definitely choose the Kinergy.

 

Thank you. Very few choices in this size any more. Great that you have an '03 still running. Hope it is a manual trans.

 

It is not great. It's a CVT and either the drive spline stripped or the belt broke, and the battery is toast.

 

Sorry to hear that. My 2004 is a manual and that is one of the reasons I hang onto it. The only other manual hybrid I know of these days is the Honda CRZ.

 

00-06 Insight came in both manual and CVT. The manual had an ultra lean burn function that allowed 70mpg+

 

Yes. Of course. I was not thinking of older ones but newer ones. I guy in my little valley in VA completely rebuilt one of them and drives it. I always wanted one of the manual transmission ones. Still about the best mileage on any hybrid.