Honda Ridgeline Tire Seletion

Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
61
Location
PA
Hello,

Currently shopping for new tires for my 2013 Ridgeline, size 245/60 18”. Came stock with Hankook Dynapro HP2. While decently quiet and they seem to have low rolling resistance, their wet traction is terrible. As a little background, I do run a dedicated set of winter tires (Nokian Hakka R2) when the time calls for it.

I’m looking at a few different tire choices. First up is the highway all season truck tire, the General Grabber HTS 60, Michelin Defender LTX M/S or Cooper Discoverer HT Plus. In the crossover/touring the Pirelli Scorpion Verde all season plus or Nokian Entyre C/S. In the AT category the newer Continental Terrrain Contact AT, normally I would not consider an AT tire as the most I drive on is state maintained dirt roads and some very limited secondary roads not maintained by the state, but the Continental says it’s for people who drive 90% on road and 10% off.

What I am looking for is a quiet tire, with lower rolling resistance that can also extend my running of them if need be into the winter. What I mean by that is something with some decent winter traction, I just took of my Nokians because here in PA we will have had over two weeks of above average temps directly after two decent snowfalls, I just didn’t want to wear down my Hakkas on my daily commute when it’s 50-70 degrees out during the day. But we still sometimes get snow in March, and I’d like to have something that can be run 3 1/2 season maybe..
 
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I have the Discoverer HTs on my XJ and they're awful in rain and snow, even mild snow. Have to use 4WD a lot.

I had these on my LR3:
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp...rtnum=56VR8KL51

They were super quiet, rode nice and good wet traction. I lived in Florida at the time so never tried them in snow, but I would think they're decent. They have cool sidewalls too. Only downside was longevity, got about 30k from the set. But that's on a 6000lb LR3 and I was less that anal about rotating them. Used to run them on sand and dirt roads often too.
 
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I have the Discoverer HTs on my XJ and they're awful in rain and snow, even mild snow. Have to use 4WD a lot.

I had these on my LR3:
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp...rtnum=56VR8KL51

They were super quiet, rode nice and good wet traction. I lived in Florida at the time so never tried them in snow, but I would think they're decent. They have cool sidewalls too. Only downside was longevity, got about 30k from the set. But that's on a 6000lb LR3 and I was less that anal about rotating them. Used to run them on sand and dirt roads often too.


Many reviews on Tirerack complaining about horrible wear on those Road Venture tires.
 
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Cooper Discover HT plus are not made in your size. If i like cooper u could do the SRX or the Evolution HT. My first choice would be the Michelin defender ltx m/s. Another tire I'd consider is the BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport LT.
 
I live in a very hilly snowy icy area. Used to run two sets of tires on the truck because of the terrain. But then one year I decided to go with just the Bridgestone Dueler Alenza all season tires I was using for summer which was the OEM tire. The past several years they have performed very well. No slipping no spinning it's been great. I guess GM knew what they were doing when they selected this as the factory tire. That's what I would put on yours.
 
I have Firestone Destination le2's on bothy ridgeline and my titan, and like them.

They came stock on the Ridgeline.

I ended up with them on the titan prior to buying the ridgeline after the Bridgestone dualers and Pirelli scorpions.

They are a good mix of wet/dry performance, a quiet ride decent life, and 3peak mountain rated so I can avoid chain control.
 
I have the same truck, same year, live in pa, run Nokian Hakkas in the winter, and also thought the stock hankooks were awful in every situation. Replaced them with the Terrain Contact AT, ran them for a few thousand miles and then sold them and bought the staple Michelin Defender. I sold the Terrain Contact because A. They weren’t any good with snow, even light squals or an inch or two in November or late March after I took the Hakkas off. And B. They are a few lbs heavier per tire and lost about 1.5mpg over the course of running them, and yes I log my fuel economy at every fuel up.
The continentals were very quiet, very good in the wet and worth it if your doing some light off-roading. The Defenders are by far the best tire I’ve ever owned on any vehicle. Im still impressed how they made a tire with a 70,000 mile wear warranty that handles so well in the dry and wet and is whisper quiet. They also got my MPG back to normal and ive driven them in some light snows and was impressed by their handling characteristics, braking still isn’t as good as the Nokians but nothing will match a winter tire. If you get the Defenders you will not be let down!
 
I have the same truck, same year, live in pa, run Nokian Hakkas in the winter, and also thought the stock hankooks were awful in every situation. Replaced them with the Terrain Contact AT, ran them for a few thousand miles and then sold them and bought the staple Michelin Defender. ...The Defenders are by far the best tire I’ve ever owned on any vehicle. Im still impressed how they made a tire with a 70,000 mile wear warranty that handles so well in the dry and wet and is whisper quiet. They also got my MPG back to normal and ive driven them in some light snows and was impressed by their handling characteristics, braking still isn’t as good as the Nokians but nothing will match a winter tire. If you get the Defenders you will not be let down!
+1

If you decide to go Cooper, get the AT3 4S; they are good in all conditions and apparently better on road than the street tires.
 
I own the continentals, and think they would be ideal for your conditions. They advertise as an AT but handle and drive like a hwy tire. I’ve got 15k on mine now, and they have been the best I’ve had so far in not gradually losing their cold/wet traction. I’ve previously had cooper RTX, Bridgestone, and Dueler HL/2, as well as used vehicles which came with michelins and Goodyears. The conti won’t grip quite as strong as a more aggressive AT off-road, but its a good compromise. It definitely grips in dirt better than a hwy tire, yet is still highway tire quiet on pavement, no noise penalty. Balanced well and roll smooth.

their only downside... I find I needed to air mine up to 37 on 18” wheels to tighten the handling. However, they tend to hold their air, so I don’t have to inflate them often.

m
 
I own the continentals, and think they would be ideal for your conditions. They advertise as an AT but handle and drive like a hwy tire. I’ve got 15k on mine now, and they have been the best I’ve had so far in not gradually losing their cold/wet traction. I’ve previously had cooper RTX, Bridgestone, and Dueler HL/2, as well as used vehicles which came with michelins and Goodyears. The conti won’t grip quite as strong as a more aggressive AT off-road, but its a good compromise. It definitely grips in dirt better than a hwy tire, yet is still highway tire quiet on pavement, no noise penalty. Balanced well and roll smooth.

their only downside... I find I needed to air mine up to 37 on 18” wheels to tighten the handling. However, they tend to hold their air, so I don’t have to inflate them often.

m
Yep, those are very good also. There are some reports of a mpg hit with these tires -- did you notice any difference?
 
Good point. So there may have been a 1/2-1 mpg decrease, but I was coming off of oem hankooks, which would have been chosen by Ford with mpg in mind; I would not have expected to keep that mpg without sacrificing something else. The oem hankooks were a great tire in terms of quimet, mpg, and dry handling. They started losing their wet traction and hydroplaning resistance pretty early in life. I don’t think the decrease would have been more than 1 mpg. For me, the average mpg indicator is great until a tow for a weekend, and then it’s messed up for 6 months....

Firestone Dueler LE series has been a good mpg tire for us, and long wearing. However, they get slick in the cold and wet. We did have a set of cooper .... maybe a CS3 or CS4 on my wife’s CRV. She really liked those tires and they did not drop mpg. The CRV now rolls with BFG traction TA Sport II (I think, this is by memory). They have a rather aggressive tread and make just a smidge of noise, but they have been solid performers wet and dry. IIRC they may be snowflake rated. I considered them for the lexus.

Both the continentals and BFGs are probably on the shorter end of expected lifespan. 50-60k miles? I don’t like tires when they age and the rubber gets hard and slick in the rain, so I tend to prefer a softer compound if I can get it.

m
 
Nitro 421Q are great hwy tire with 108 load rating and don't cost a lot. Michelin LTX and Goodyear Kevlar would be at top of my list though.
 
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