New Rear Tire Size

Oh no! I caught a nail in the sidewall of one of my rear tires. NO ONE has the replacement 175/60R15 tires.

So... I had to put 175/65R15 tires on. Turns out they are about .6 inches taller, so i'm going to the dealer tomorrow to see if they can program the car to handle this. I'll keep you informed.

Has anyone else had this problem yet?

TireRack.com has them on backorder... and they are both over $120 per tire...

www.tire-easy.com has 175/60-15 in stock for $53.70. Tire is an off brand, H rated and the correct size. Would be a cheap spare until you can get the OEM brand.

I have purchased tires several times from this company without any problems.

OK, so this brings up a point I've been wondering about, should I be putting snow tires on my MiEV? I believe some members have experience driving the MiEV in snow, did you just use the tires that came with the car or did you get snow tires?

Tony

If you live in an area where you rarely drive on packed snow, icy roads, or snow fall greater than 1-2" the OEM all season tires should be OK. However, if you use your i in an area that routinely has heavy snow, snow packed roads, icy conditions, and you must get to where your going no matter what, dedicated winter tires should be considered.

Consumer Reports said it best several years ago; "the best all-season tire will be inferior to the worst dedicated winter tire". Look for a tire that has the Severe Service Symbol on the side (a mountain with a snowflake inside). There are a few all-season tires that have this designation and all winter (snow) tires should have it.

When using winter tires, narrow is best. Don't go wider, 60 to 55 or 65 to 60. You can go to a 165/65-15 for the rear tire as the overall diameter is about the same as the OEM 175/60-15 (less than 1% larger).

Downside of winter tires; high rolling resistance. All that traction comes at the cost of rolling resistance. Expect a noticeable reduction in range. I have only found one brand that makes a low rolling resistance tire with the severe service symbol; Vredestein Quatrac all season tire. Nokian may also have a low rolling resistance severe service symbol tire. For a regular winter tire Dunlop makes the Graspic DS-3 in the OEM sizes.

Snow tires are mandatory here in Quebec.
When we purchased our Miev, we negotiated that snow tires would be included, although not available at that time.
The dealer agreed to install them before the mandatory date.
With rear wheel drive I would say get some snow tires.

For those of you in winter locales who need snow tires, this might be a relatively inexpensive way to go

Buy a pair of '90 - '93 Miata 14 X 5.5 inch alloy wheels - Pretty cheap from eBay or a local dismantling yard. Fit a pair of 185/65-14 snow tires to them and store them away until needed. That wheel fits the rear of our car (I tried a pair from my Miata) and that size tire is within 1% of the proper diameter for the car - True, they are one size wider, but that might give you an even better bite on the snow. There are 6 or 7 different snow tires available in that size, both studded and studless from Tirerack.com

Later model Miatas ('94 thru about 2000) also came with 14 inch wheels, but they are half an inch wider (at 6 inches) which will also work. There are steel Miata wheels as well if you prefer, but they'll be much harder to find - 95% of the cars came with alloys

Depending on what you pay for the wheels and tires, you could be all set for $150 to $200 with a separate set of wheels/tires ready to be bolted on in 15 or 20 minutes at the first sign of snow

Don

Winter tires are very important for any car that you have to drive on snow or ice. And some are actually as good or better rolling resistance than most all-season tires -- Nokian and Michelin in particular. Steering and braking are more important than accelerating, and winter tires are the only thing that can help you with all three.

I called the dealer to see what they can provide. They haven't called me back yet.