Yahoo Autos Our Honda Civic Type R Wore through a Tire in Fewer Than 9000 Miles
Our long-term Honda Civic Type R burned through an entire front tire after just 8873 miles.
The Continental SportContact 6 tire, which enables the Type R to hit 0.99 g of lateral grip, is a high-performance summer tire with a 240 treadwear rating.
Other high-performance long-term test vehicles have made it at least 20,000 miles before needing replacement tires.
Our long-term Civic Type R hadn't even gone in for its first oil-change service when we noticed something else: Its left-front tire was completely worn out.
These aren't just any tires. The Type R's Continental SportContact 6 is rubber of the highest-performing order, enabling the king of Civics to corner harder (0.99 g on the skidpad during our initial testing), and stop shorter (from 70 mph in a heroic 147 feet) than not only other hot hatches, but also some rear-drive performance machines.
It's not surprising that the fronts were the first to go, given our propensity to lean into the Type R's 306-hp, 2.0-liter turbo until it chirps the tires. Plus, the mega Civic loves being driven hard, and we are powerless to resist. But, aside from our initial test regimen, the 8873 miles that burned through the usable 7/32 of tread on the Continental SportContact 6 were street miles.
The reason both front tires weren't worn out is the fact that the other front tire—and that wheel—had already been replaced at 4300 miles after a pothole KO'd that assembly on the way back from visiting Peter Cunningham's rabid Honda collection in Wisconsin.
This reminded us of the outcry following the launch of the original NSX in the early 1990s, where owners were burning through tires between 3000 and 9000 miles and led to a class-action lawsuit and new rear-alignment settings for the mid-engined super coupe.
Comparing sidewall treadwear ratings of the Contis against those of its peers, the SportContact 6's are rated at 240 versus 300 for Michelin's Pilot Sport 4S, a rough implication that the Michelins could last up to 25 percent longer. But they may not perform as well, which is always the tradeoff. Tellingly, there's no treadwear warranty on the Continentals, whereas the Michelins have a 30,000-mile guarantee.
Perusing our long-term files, the Type R is easily the most profligate tire burner. Our Camaro SS, Shelby GT350, and Porsche 718 Boxster S went 20,000 miles before needing new rear tires and the BMW M2 and Chevy Corvette, 25,000 miles.
But we aren't totally free of blame here, either. The Type R's rear tires, which have now been rotated to the front, are only about half worn. This means that if we rotate our tires—something we're not used to doing on high-performance cars, because they're typically different sizes front and rear—we should be able to coax 15,000 miles out of them. Which still isn't great.
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