Reviews for these tires are very scarce, so I wanted to add some feedback and give my opinions. I'm new here to the site as well as to a Civic, and a front wheel drive car in general. I learned to drive in 2006 on two AWD cars and then proceeded to buy two Subarus since I got my license and now- needless to say, my Civic was not cutting it in the snow like my Subaru did, so on went the winter tires.
I have an interesting situation- I'm finishing my last semester of college in upstate NY in Rochester, which gets around 95-100 inches of snow on average per year but right now I live in Pittsburgh, PA where I'm originally from. After I graduate I'll most likely move out of upstate NY, and basically the roads are wet or dry without snow 95% of the time. Because of the two drastic differences in climate, Tire Rack recommended me two different tires: performance snows for the Pittsburgh climate and studless winter tires for Rochester's snowier climate. I ultimately decided on a "performance" snow tire because I drive infrequently at school but daily here in Pittsburgh. I started my search at Tire Rack and Discount Tire Direct for reviews and narrowed down what I wanted. I used Consumer Reports too, and these Hankook i*cepts caught my eye since they were inexpensive and I loved the Hankook H727s I recently put on my Subaru Outback. After searching for them, I saw Pepboys had a buy 3 get one free sale- but there was a catch: you could only get the 4th free if you got them installed at Pepboys (something I wasn't really keen on doing) and bought the road-hazard package together. After pricing them and the comparable Continental ExtremeWinterContacts (my other choice) out at local dealers, I effectively would pay $1 more for Pepboys but it included Road Hazard. I had them put on just before New Years, the day after a 5-inch storm.
Boy, what a difference these make!! After putting them on, I went and played in the freshly-fallen snow and was very impressed. My driveway is a very steep hill, and I couldn't even move the day before on the flat part but after I put on the Hankooks, I easily went up and down with no problem. I drove through unpacked fresh snow with no problem, with overall much better traction when starting, turning, and (especially with Honda's sensitive ABS) stopping; snow traction is excellent, packed snow/slush is good but not like I would assume a Blizzak would be. Since the i*cepts are H-rated, they do very well on wet and dry, cold pavement too- much better than expected. These tires have a marked improvement in ride quality over the stock Continentals as the ride is less jouncy and more composed. Road noise may have increased, but only the slightest bit if at all. I drive my Civic now like I would drive it on my all-seasons during the other 3 seasons and these tires have not let me down yet. I highly recommend them to anyone who lives in a place where there isn't a ton of snow but sees snow-covered roads occasionally that get plowed within a day or so and wants more security in winter months and the peace of mind that their Civic will without a doubt get them there. I can't wait to go skiing and try them out in Rochester!
I have an interesting situation- I'm finishing my last semester of college in upstate NY in Rochester, which gets around 95-100 inches of snow on average per year but right now I live in Pittsburgh, PA where I'm originally from. After I graduate I'll most likely move out of upstate NY, and basically the roads are wet or dry without snow 95% of the time. Because of the two drastic differences in climate, Tire Rack recommended me two different tires: performance snows for the Pittsburgh climate and studless winter tires for Rochester's snowier climate. I ultimately decided on a "performance" snow tire because I drive infrequently at school but daily here in Pittsburgh. I started my search at Tire Rack and Discount Tire Direct for reviews and narrowed down what I wanted. I used Consumer Reports too, and these Hankook i*cepts caught my eye since they were inexpensive and I loved the Hankook H727s I recently put on my Subaru Outback. After searching for them, I saw Pepboys had a buy 3 get one free sale- but there was a catch: you could only get the 4th free if you got them installed at Pepboys (something I wasn't really keen on doing) and bought the road-hazard package together. After pricing them and the comparable Continental ExtremeWinterContacts (my other choice) out at local dealers, I effectively would pay $1 more for Pepboys but it included Road Hazard. I had them put on just before New Years, the day after a 5-inch storm.
Boy, what a difference these make!! After putting them on, I went and played in the freshly-fallen snow and was very impressed. My driveway is a very steep hill, and I couldn't even move the day before on the flat part but after I put on the Hankooks, I easily went up and down with no problem. I drove through unpacked fresh snow with no problem, with overall much better traction when starting, turning, and (especially with Honda's sensitive ABS) stopping; snow traction is excellent, packed snow/slush is good but not like I would assume a Blizzak would be. Since the i*cepts are H-rated, they do very well on wet and dry, cold pavement too- much better than expected. These tires have a marked improvement in ride quality over the stock Continentals as the ride is less jouncy and more composed. Road noise may have increased, but only the slightest bit if at all. I drive my Civic now like I would drive it on my all-seasons during the other 3 seasons and these tires have not let me down yet. I highly recommend them to anyone who lives in a place where there isn't a ton of snow but sees snow-covered roads occasionally that get plowed within a day or so and wants more security in winter months and the peace of mind that their Civic will without a doubt get them there. I can't wait to go skiing and try them out in Rochester!