Given
51%
while driving a
Honda CR Z
(195/55 R16)
on
a combination of roads
for 7,990
spirited miles
These tyres were fitted as standard to my Honda CR-Z when I bought it. The car itself had only done about 6900 miles and was bought as an ex-Honda rep mobile so presumably most of those had been done on motorways and test tracks. I've put about 1000 miles on them myself and they are already down to about 50% tread, so I wouldn't expect more than 15-18,000 miles out of a set.
These tyres are a bit of a mystery to me actually because they have all the hallmarks of an economy tyre (hard compound, asymmetric tread design, come as standard equipment on a car designed for economy) yet somehow still manage to return pretty disappointing economy figures and are officially rated as a D for economy. I'm getting around 42mpg out of my hybrid CR-Z, and whilst I drive in a spirited manner, I'm not a hooligan redlining at every traffic light or smashing 100 on motorways, I stick to speed limits and hit the Eco button when in heavy traffic. If the official figures are to be believed, and I don't think in this case that they are in any way unreasonable, I should be returning around 48mpg, which I'm obviously not. I can only suspect it has something to do with the tyres.
Grip in the dry is as good as can be expected from any Yokohama tyre (this is the third set I've tried) but wet grip leaves a lot to be desired, on properly wet roads they seem sure footed enough and they've never come unstuck round a corner on me, but you know that point where a road isn't wet-wet and it isn't dry, it's sort of oily/slick? That's when this tyre really suffers. Cornering remains stable at sensible speeds but pulling out of junctions becomes more about taking it slow and steady, as any revs over about 1700rpm spins the wheels in these oily conditions causing the ESC to kick in, making a quick junction getaway become a juddery, slow crawl from the line, not good on roundabouts or crossing carriageways. That said, if you understand this and adjust your driving accordingly it shouldn't be an issue, just drive safely and take a bit extra time on oily roads.
I bought the car in December so had the opportunity to treat it to some British snow and the tyres performed exactly as you'd expect summer tyres to.
All-in-all they aren't the worst tyre out there, they just aren't the best and definitely don't live up to the Yokohama name. Considering a new set of these for my car will cost around £110 a corner, I think it's safe to say I will not be buying them again, I'll stick with a tyre I know to grip better in oily conditions like the S-Drive or go for a tyre that returns better mpg figures.
