Where to find 13" tires worth buying?

I'm on the hunt for small 13" tires to fit my old 83' Civic and I'm finding a lot of names from foreign brands that don't look familiar.  This isn't very surprising, I imagine the last car to be sold in the US that runs tires this small is over 25 years old by now.  The only two I'm vaguely familiar with and willing to spend money on are Maxxis and Vredestein, and it looks like the Vreds are out of stock right now.  Anyway, with the selection of names below are there any stand outs?  I'm specifically interested in a 165/70 R13 or a 155/80 R13. 

• Vredestein - Quatrac 5
• Maxxis - MA-202
•  
• Fullway - PC368
• Petlas - Elegant PT311
• Waterfall - Eco Dynamic
• Haida - HD302 EVT
• Winrun - R380
• GreenMax - Eco Touring
• IRIS - Ecoris
• Montreal - Eco2
• Dcenti - DC33
• Sceptor - 4XS
• Achilles - 122
• Thunderer - R202
• Joyroad - Tour RX1
• Ironman - iMove

Enjoy this selection of marketing driven tire company names too.  

I had some Ironman AT tires on a truck. They were fine, wore decent and weren't super loud on the highway.

What are you using the car for?

It's only going to get worse. Any possibility of moving up to 15s? 195/50R15s are close in diameter to what you want, just wider.

Lots of 14s available in known name brands.    May be time for wheels....

I can't help in any way, but I'm fascinated by the idea that somebody thinks "Montreal" is a good name for a tire brand.

Speaking as a lifelong Toronto driver, I recommend (if you go that route) that you make sure the tires let you obey speed limits when you want to, and also stop at stop signs.

Coker carries the Michelin Pilot Exalto in the "youngtimer" retro sizes.

175/60-13

Everyone needs to buy them so they will still be available when my project is ready for them.

I'll bet that some of those brands are made by the same company. I know Giti is a Chinese company and makes multiple brands, for example. The Achilles name I've seen on an Australian forum and I think is Indonesian.  None of the rest ring any bells, aside from the first two on your list.

I have been very happy with the Vredestein Quatracs I run on my wife and grandmother-in-law's cars.  However since they are unavailable, I would go with the Kumho  Solus TA11. Thats what I bought for the Mustang 2 and have used that tire on a couple cars.  Affordable, quiet, decent all season traction.  No complaints with it.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Solus+TA11&partnum=58TR3TA11&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

They also have a "Grand Touring" Kumho for that extra Touring swagger!

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Solus+TA51a&partnum=58TR3TA51A&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Toyo and Kuhmo both make 13" tires. 

They still offer the A008's in 13's.  Super sticky little donuts.  The A052's are 200tw and supposed to be fantastic as well.

I run Yokomama A539s in a 175/50-13 on my classic Minis.....they do really well. I get them from MiniSpares in England. Shipping runs about $100 to KC and they come via DHL, so roughly 3-5 days from date of order placement.

http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Wheels/Tyres/13/TYRE18.aspx?200203&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/tyres.aspx|Back%20to%20searc

or in a 175/60

http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Wheels/Tyres/TYRE21.aspx?2002&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/13inch%20tyres.aspx|Back%20to%20search

Or buy the Nankangs for 1/2 of that price

http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Wheels/Tyres/13/TYRE16.aspx?200203&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/13inch%20tyres.aspx|Back%20to%20search

In reply to Stealthtercel :

I notice the model is Eco2, maybe they specialize in LRR tires and want to bring up associations with the Montreal protocol

You can buy some performance 13" tires, including the A052, from the UK from Darkside Developments. At least one other forum member had success ordering from them. 

Wow... I didn't realize Tire Rack had dropped the 175/70-13 options down to two.  I had planned on getting a couple sets of the Vredesteins for my Spitfire and GT6, but I see they're no longer available.  Crap. 

I don't need anything super sticky for those cars as I'm of the opinion the already questionable suspension components weren't designed to withstand those kinds of loads.  If it were a race car that would be one thing, but as a mostly stock street car... 

I wish Coker would produce the BFG T/A in 175/70-13 in addition to 205/60-13 (which is also available from TR).   Considering the 175 tire rubs on the front of the Spit, I doubt a 205 would be any better. 

GameboyRMH said:

It's only going to get worse. Any possibility of moving up to 15s? 195/50R15s are close in diameter to what you want, just wider.

Depends on how much you enjoy a car driving like crap.  Suspension geometry designed around narrow, high profile tires can wander like a lonely dog when you put low profile tires on them.

I'm still really pleased with the 205/60-13 BFGs that I bought for my '81.  They don't wander much, either, although this has been helped by keeping the stock positive camber alignment settings, and mounting them on the stock 5.5" wheels instead of sticking them on some 13x7s.

With 195/50R15s, the car's predecessor would practically rip the steering wheel from your hands with how hard it would tramline.

Ironman is a division of Cooper. I've used them, and I'd buy them again. Pretty decent  budget tires. 

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  The car in question is just getting back on the road after a long slumber (15 years?).  No sporting intentions with this one, just a Sunday cruiser.

I do have some larger 15" wheels, but for this setup I'm going for the original look with some steelies, trim rings, and center caps.  I also tried some of the larger rubber and the manual steering rack in this car got a good bit harder to turn so I think some narrow 13s are the way to go.