4 nearly brand new Yoko Parada 2s came with the mk1. Awe inspiring in dry when warm. Spun twice in wet/cold (unscathed both times), and caught unexpected slides a few times more. Genuinely lethal in the wet. I have 7JJ 15" wheels (OE) - not sure how common this is.
Toyo T1Rs are a revelation after the Yokos. It takes snow, wet leaves or severe provocation to lose grip now.
Well, there’s a surprise. Maybe it’s the 17 in wheels. I’ve not been able to provoke a slide, no matter how I try, not that I do.
Grantk
Sorry, mis- read your wheel size, now I’m even more surprised. Let’s hope the Paradas (195x50VR15) don’t surprise me even more.
Grantk
I Had parada2 on my civic R. Things are lethal over standing water. Aquaplaned like crazy. I had few scary moments whilst driving in a spirited fashion in the wet. That car had 205 section tyres and was FWD, I would never refit them to any car I own, never mind a RWD lightweight. They also performed pretty poorly in the dry at cold temperatures, were noisy and wore out faster than primark clothes.
Costco Wholesale are doing four Michelin Exalto2’s for £218 fully fitted this month. Retail is around £80 each for these usually. That’s what I’ll be replacing my bravum (budget plastics) with. Uniroyal are Michelins midrange brand. They also own BF Goodrich. Still think for the money T1R’s are on the money.
From personal experience, I would definitely recommend the Uniroyal Rainsport 2. I would actually lick them, I love them so much. Also, being the tyre bore that I am, Uniroyal are owned by Continental in Europe and Michelin in USA. Just pointing it out incase it’s a deciding factor in your choice.
Thanks for that final reassuring contribution readMan…All parts of the search jigsaw are now in place and the Uniroyals have arrived and are ready for fitting next week, after much careful deliberation… …Looking at the tread pattern of both contenders for our favours, they do have much in common and the prices are very similar, even on Camskill!..However, I am definitely influenced by the differences in the % ratings in the reviews for the Unis… Only Time can tell if the decision was the right one…The Toyos CF1s on the 14" were very good but changing to the 15" might have changed the characteristics for us pottering OAP’s who like our comfort and who never need the benefit of V ratings on tyres and push the limits!..
Trying to keep to a constant 60mph limit on the good double track, and preferably meandering, minor roads is pleasure enough these days!..Dual carriageways and M-ways are just not worth bothering with, so it take longer to travel long distances using the 5, but, somehow the time seems to pass just as quickly because the driving is more enjoyable, especially with the top down, which is definitely a no-no for M-ways.
I find myself examining every parked 5 now to see what they are shod with…My wife reckons that I shall be disappointed now as she knows from experience that I enjoy the “chase” rather than the final realisation of the problem… It was such an anti-climax when we finally found our present 5 as I no longer had any need to trawl through the various sites looking for a car!..Perhaps, in a year or two…?
I still haven’t mastered this layout business for the postings…I use the return key but it always seems to come out packed together with no paragraphs, and, all those bright coloured fonts - where are they hiding? Is there a quick lesson somewhere in the Forum for beginners?!..Cheers.
Drove the car again today. Tried hard but could not make it do the nasty tpings Noelfezz listed. From cold the tyres stick to the road, all the way through to driving on wet roads. Still can’t get the rear end to hang out. Drove through a large puddle at speed , with no hint of aquaplaning.
Drove very slowly through a police speed trap and still the held the road Perhaps Paradas don’t suit a Honda Civic. Copied below is a review from Tre Shopper, says it all I think.
NEW SET OF TYRES NOW FITTED AND WAITING FOR A GOOD RUN TO BED THEM IN! Total cost of fitting the set of Uniroyal Rainsport 2, including the possible 10 point (so they informed me) check on the alignment, was £268.92. Used a local small firm in the end as part of our prefered policy to use local companies - better for quick follow-up if needed, and it is good to be able to talk with someone on the spot! They also sorted out the leaking rims due to unexpected, hidden, half refurbishment of the wheels by the previous owner - and they looked so good when I collected them! The tyre firm, Autotyres(Shrewsbury) Ltd, have laser and computer equipment for alignments. Ours needed only 3 points adjusted which seemed good after 9 + years of regular use. 
Hi Ralph
Hope all is well
Off topic a little, but just noticed you mentioned the qulaity of your alloys. After months of searching I finally got myself some alloys last week which looked fine and had 4 newish tyres (Kenda still with bobbles on) on although I don’t think they are much kop, but will be getting some use out of them before I get any new ones. Anyway they arrived and whilst the fronts looked ok the insides were corroded really bad and as a result could flake off the front easily. After having two "back of a transit! wheel repair chaps around I’ve decided to get the whole alloys dipped and refurbed at Bettablast in Newcastle.
Catch you later
Jacka
Hi Jacka…I suppose it is the price we pay for inexperience. 
I think that I may have mentioned about the Club member who is tidying up a limited edition(Euphonic?) and had the wheels refurbished completely at a powder coating firm in Brum. The slightly tinted colour just suited his car colour, a dark silver, and they look as good as new, but he did not have to buy in a set of wheels to start with. Next time round…? Although, perhaps there will not be a next time round for us as we shall keep moving towards getting this one as good as we can afford. It is not like other things we regularly buy as consumers! Our one is a sound and economical starting point for a second car, well the second second car, an improvement on the first 5, which incidentally did have 15" wheels, but this one is hopefully our last! How about you?
Only trouble now is I am getting withdrawal symptoms as I have yet to get out for a long run to break in the new Uniroyals. The short trip from the tyre fitters was disappointing as the ride seemed lumpy but when I checked the pressures they had put in an extra 4psi all round, compared with my handbook recommended one. Seemed okay on a trip to a local shop last week after I adjusted the pressures, so now I just need a good dry and sunny day for a longer run to make it fully worthwhile and get the tyres bedded in, as advised, before the dreaded Winter is really upon us.
Tried to add a photo using the options shown above but it did not work! Hence the possible big space below. I did find out how to change the colour and font size so it’s Blue all round from now on! Oh well, yet another challenge for another day with the photo inserts!
Cheers for now
…continuing and finalising the saga of getting our new tryes, the Uniroyal Rainsport 2 have been christened a bit after a few hundreds of miles, and although we do not push the car to the limits the tyres have felt much better than the mixed bag of Pirellis and Ceat! The tread pattern is similar to the Toyo T1Rs but the rating in the reviews I used was 10% better overall than the Toyos. Having found another series of entries about the limitiations of the Toyos where, due to the softer side walls, there have been cases of blow-outs, I am pleased that we went the Uniroyal route. The guy who bought our first 5 fitted a new set of Toyos and managed to blown out the side wall on one wheel with a brief brush with a curb! I know, not conclusive evidence but he is not happy with them now and will be getting a different make when a new set are needed, which according to the statistics and comments in the Forum, will not be that long!
I will take Toyo T1R every time and my cars are driven quite a bit harder than they ought to get driven…
Think that if T1Rs had dodgy sidewalls we would have found them by now?
Any tyre that gets kerbed is likely to blow out, as is any tyre that is run below recommended inflation pressure (see Sebastian Vettel (Pirelli) a few races back or any BTCC (Dunlop) cars that did a bit too much kerb before the tyres were up to temp)
Pound for pound there is absolutely no contest in 15" Toyo, Toyo, Toyo and for the other corner - Toyo!
Dr. Eunos
After reading various posts about tyres I decided to go with Toyos from camskils in cumbria. very happy with the tyres but the price for R16 205/45 to fit my car was quite a bit more than suggested earlier in the thread think I paid about £78 per corner. By the time I’d paid for fitting and balancing (by a friend) it was a £330. Quite a bit of dosh but what price safety however do hope they last a bit longer than 10k. So do be aware at different tyre sizes they may not be the bargain that they first appear on some threads. P.S. Car was very tail happy on the last set of worn tyres but now it’s a lot more planted (new tyres or different type of tyre or both?)
Mmmm, 16" are a bit of an odd size nowadays and as such you have to pay a premium over 15" I think you will find 17" are often cheaper than 16" due to the volume production influencing the ticket price. About 19 years ago I had a new Audi 80 TDI which had 15x7 ten spoke optional alloys on, at the time 205/60/15 were fairly rare items in tyre dealers and pretty expensive compared to the popular at the time 14" as such, in those days, the 15" tyres were nearly double the price of 14" so guess its the same now with the premium price now asked for 16" and the lack of choice in 14" nowadays.
At the moment, the Toyo T1R in 15" appear to be right at the sweet-spot price-wise and at £156+ fitting and balance for four of them, it is just a total no-brainer.
Dr. Eunos
“Uniroyal Rainsport 2”
Excellent choice, all the benifits of the Toyo but better lasting!
With less grip and a heftier price tag…
Not for me!
I am new to the club and forum and am looking for some up to date advice. I have a mk 2.45 on 14 inch wheels and am looking for advice on the best wet/all weather tyres to replace the comedy ones on the car at the moment. Not bothered too much about ultimate dry weather grip as I live in the often not dry north est of england. thanks
Nicely put!
If you go to MyTyres ( http://www.mytyres.co.uk/ ) you can select all-season (or Summer, or Winter as you will) tyres from thier list, then from the tyre details page you can click on tyre reviews. What reviews are available depends on who, and whether, the tyres have been tested. If tyhere are no tyre reviews (or poor ones!) then don’t bother with the particluar tyre. I think tyretest.com is reports from people who have actually used the tyres, as for the rest it helps if you understand German! But you can always google tyre reviews for the tyre you fancy.
If, when searching, you check the “fully fitted” box they will give a list of local fitters, What you then do is ring them up directly and ask a price for your selected tyre - I’ve saved a fortune this way!
If you want to practise car control and drifting skills at sedate speeds, intentionally or not, may I commend the Triangle Talon Sport from China. Their lack of grip is truly hilarious. Proper tyres (Continental Premium Contact 2, on 14in wheels) are going on in the next couple of weeks before I slide into something solid.
John
Have you tried them? 
I suspect not! If they wear longer and you feel comfortable with the road holding then worth paying more!
At the end of the day tyres are a personal preference, like shoes.
We can share our experiences and pass on our oppinion, but one type will never suit all drivers.