Tested: Firestone Performance Tires Make the Honda Civic Si Better — and Worse

• The Honda Civic Si comes standard with all-season tires.
• Honda lent us a Civic Si equipped with aftermarket Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 summer tires.
• Our testing shows improved performance, but the Civic Si's lack of power becomes more obvious.

A great skidpad result, but ...

The 0.96 g skidpad measurement is impressive — that's nearly supercar-level territory. All the credit goes to the Firestone summer tires; they really allow the Civic Si to hang on. However ...

"The skidpad results are nothing to sneeze at, but getting them was about the dullest experience I've had on our skidpad in a while," said vehicle testing manager Kurt Niebuhr. "It took no technique other than getting the Si up to speed, turning it and really exceeding the limit of the front tires. Any other inputs yielded no results or slowed the Si down."

Niebuhr continued: "Most performance cars require some driving, some throttle and steering work to balance it on the edge of adhesion, but the Si simply wanted to be left alone until its tires gave up. Traction and stability control systems could not be fully disabled either, so you'll need to steer clear of their (inevitable) intervention if you want to get the most out of the Si."

On our handling circuit, Niebuhr had similar things to say, citing the Si's tremendous grip but milquetoast handling. "How Honda made the Civic Si less fun and less enjoyable to drive than the Civic Hybrid is a real head scratcher," he said.

How's the Civic Si perform on the road?

Earlier this year, Firestone invited me to Knoxville, Tennessee, to drive the Civic Si equipped with Firehawk Indy 500 tires on the infamous Tail of the Dragon — a beautiful winding road through the Smoky Mountains. Here, the tires added tremendous confidence to the Civic's handling, allowing it to slice through corners without the driver needing to rely heavily on the brakes. What's more, on long stretches of freeway, the Firestone summer tires weren't noticeably louder than traditional all-season tires, nor did they make the ride overly firm.

However, back home in California, the Civic Si proved a bit dull on local canyon roads. Vehicle test editor Gabriel Vega noted that, because the tires have so much grip, you really have to lay into the Civic Si to power out of corners. And with only 200 horsepower on tap, the Si has a pretty sizable power deficit compared to similarly priced sport compacts — something we noted during a comparison test last year.

In the end, we recommend a summer tire upgrade; this really helps the Civic Si perform at its best. But is the Civic Si really the sporty compact car you should buy? We're not so sure. Even the Civic Hybrid has more power and is more engaging to drive. We bet those Firestones would fit on the Hybrid too.