Tires: Tired for 2002 Honda CRV, passenger car tires, passenger car tire

Question
I have to replace the tires on my 2002 Honda CRV.  Do I need Light Truck tires or passenger tires.  The ones currently on there sound kind of loud to me, but I am not sure which they are.  I have only had the car a year so it is my first time replacing them.
Thanks.

Answer
Anna,

On every vehicle sold in the US, there is a sticker - commonly called the placard - which lists the original tire size and the proper pressure for that size.  That size is the proper tire size for your vehicle.

The the placard size has the letter "P" in front of the tire size (or no letter at all) it is a passenger car tire.  If the placard size has the letters "LT" in front of the tire size (or the letter "C" immediately following the size) then it is a Light Truck type size.

The classification "Passenger Car tire" and "Light Truck tire" are more about the load carrying capacity than the type of vehicle - although it ought to be obvious that the tires on trucks generally carry more load than the tires on a passenger car, but the dividing line is pretty fuzzy.

Also, following the tire size ought to be a "Service Designation" in the form "NNL", where the "N" is a pair of numbers that indicate the load carrying capacity (commonly called the "Load Index" and the "L" is a letter indicating the "Speed Rating".

If my book is right a 2002 Honda CRV's placard ought to say the original tire size was P205/70R15 95S inflated to 26 psi.  So these are passenger car tires with an "S" speed rating.  This is a very common size an ought to be readily available.

The noise you are hearing is probably irregular wear generated by a misalignment condition and aggravated by insufficient inflation pressure and insufficient tire rotation.  So when you replace the tire, get an alignment and to prevent a reoccurrence of the noise, make sure you check the pressures once a month and rotate your tire every 5,000 to 8,000 miles.