205 16 R16 tire size
 

I have a 2005 Honda Accord EX. 4 cylinder 5 speed.

Today I picked up a fork (that's right, an eating utensil) in my sidewall as I was traveling down the road.
I took it to the tire shop, they sprayed some stuff on it, looked to see what happened and then told me the tire was fine.
(I assume this means that the fork penetrated the rubber but not the steel belts of my tires sidewall.)

Anyway, that got me to thinking about new tires. Is 205 60 R16 tires what the factory puts on Accords?
My vehicle has decent wheels on it, not great - but decent, so I don't know if they are factory wheels and tire size or not. They seem wider than what might be necessary. I don't know.
Anyway, it is not time to replace them but I thought I might find out so I could start to shop around when I am out running around.

A few comments:

• The steel belts are only under the tread, never-ever inside the sidewall of the tire. The cording there is typically made out of polyester or nylon.
• Regarding your tires, yes, 205/60 R16 tires are standard equipment for your car and they are the very minimum width I'd consider for such a car.

Regarding new tires; I assume you'll be looking for a good quality All-Season tire. Assuming "yes", the following all get good reviews by folks in the Accord community:

• Continental PureContact with EcoPlus
• General Altimax RT43
• Michelin Defender T+H
• Michelin Premier A/S
• Pirelli Cinturato P7 All-Season Plus

FWIW #1, I've had the predecessors to the PureContact, Preimer A/S, and Cinturato P7s on three different cars and gotten exemplary performance from all three.

FWIW #2, new tire time for my Acura TL is coming up some time this year and I'm torn between going with the tried and true Pirelli Cinturato P7 or experimenting with the relatively inexpensive General Altimax tires.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the answer. It is about 25-30 more per tire for quality tires.

I drive a lot right now. I am layed off from GP and took a part time gig as a courier. (believe it or not, this pays better than my job at Georgia Pacific does. If I worked full time it would pay nearly double the wages. The only problem is that it is not steady)

If you tell me it is wiser/safer/smarter to spend more money on tires I will do it.
It looks like I can get the Pirelli's for about $93 dollars each (plus install and disposal) at Walmart.
Not my favorite place but, it is a better deal than anyone else has.

So I live in Portland Oregon. We have a lot of rain, the rest of the time it is dry. Very little snow and I just won't drive on those days.

Anyway, given my situation do you think the Perellis will be good. Or do you have a better recommendation.
If I am going to be driving this much, I need tires I can count on.

Because I don't know how long I will be driving. I am pretty sure I don't want to go back to GP, so finding another good job could take a few months and during that time I want to not worry about my tires. Especially not if I am 300 miles from home.

Is there a tire that is known for never getting flats from punctures. flat tires are time consuming and eat into my profits. I am a per mile driver so if I spend a 30 minutes changing a tire it takes longer to do the same job and there is not pay for just sitting there.

You can buy Run-Flat Tires (called RTFs) instead of the conventional GFTs (Gets Flat Tires), I haven't checked to see if they're available in a size which fits your cars. Such tires are heavy (which negatively affects ride and handling), and expensive.

Disclaimer, RFTs are typically mounted on cars with TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System), the issue is if they do go flat you need to know the pressure has gone out of the tire and get it repaired within say, 50-miles, otherwise you risk destroying the tire.

The other option would be to carry a can of "Fix-a-Flat" which you spray into the tire via the tire valve.

While a little more expensive, Michelin's came as the standard tire of choice from Honda. In your application (delivery)you'd be better off with something like that, in that Michelin's are a high mileage tires, that last a long time.

Ship, if you put a can of "fix a flat"in any tire, make sure you play dumb at the tire shop (that you don't know anything about it). They absolutely hate that stuff, not to mention it makes a mess. I've had my butt chewed out for using that stuff before, so now I just play dumb about it.

Right now I've General Altimax winter tires on my own Accord, but then I don't drive as much as I used to, plus I've got several other vehicles that I rotate into the driving mix.The Generals are all right, but they're a soft compound (been great this cold winter though), which means they'll get chewed up in the summer if I do a lot of driving on them.
I hope this helps.

I am not advocating using fix-a-flat, I hate that stuff; just pointing out the option.

Regarding Altimax tires, yeah, what you wrote is pretty much true for any winter tire, they should never be used beyond the winter months or they will get chewed up in a hurry. In my post where I listed out optional tires I think you're confusing the Altimax RT43 (an All-Season tire) for the Altimax Arctic (which is a winter tire).

I might have been confusing them. These days I run Dunlops in the summer (dedicated summer tire) and the Generals in the winter. This works out ok for me. My wife's Accord has Barums on it, as they're an all season tire.

A friend of mine has Generals on his work truck, and loves them. He hates having to rotate them though, as it's 8 lugs off, 8 lugs on times 4 tires.Those replaced a set of Michelin's that he had on for 11 years, and were starting to get some cracks.