Need new tires under 12k miles!

I have 11.5k miles on my car and all 4 of the stock Dunlop Enasave tires are nearly bald. The wear bars are almost entirely to the surface.

Of course I need new tires and I'm not about to put on Enasaves again. Aside from the poor treadlife, they are noisy and they slip on dry pavement (tight curves or uneven surface), causing the ASC to activate. I really don't want to buy new wheels, but these bizarre sizes are hard to come by. I'm pricing Yokohama AVID EnVigors and have been told by some tire dealers that while technically Yoko makes them that size, the tire shop can't get them for bizarre contract reasons (Mitusbishi/Dunlop lockout?). Yoko is the only tire in the stock size with a treadlife warranty.

Does anyone else have over 10k miles on their car? What do your tires look like? Replacement suggestions?

You could have them shipped to you by Tire Rack and have a local tire company install them. They're not low-rolling-resistance tires, so your range might be a bit lower. You must be driving very aggressively to have worn out the OEM tires so soon (I believe I recall reading that you drive up and down windy roads above Malibu), so you probably wouldn't notice the reduced range.

Unfortunately, we're probably all going to face problems finding replacement tires with few choices due to their very unusual sizes.

Wow Barb, I'll deduce from your location that tires wear faster on warm, dry hills than they do on the chilly, wet ones up here in Seattle.
"Don't all cars make that grinding sound while cornering?"
I'm at 19,800 miles and don't have any wear bars showing yet (though they are getting close up front), and I drive near the cornering limits, with tires at 50 psi. My front end was misaligned from the factory, causing outside edge wear that was fixed before 5k, but is still measurable after realignment and rotation. This summer will be the Dunlop's last season, so I am watching all the options. Keep an eye on the "Handling" thread where we're looking at different tire/wheel combos.

Try http://www.easy-tire.com . They have both front and rear sizes. Prices start at $42.40 and up.

"The domain easy-tire.com may be for sale by its owner!"

Maybe why I didn't find info on any tires in any size there?

Maybe you meant http://www.tires-easy.com ??

I ordered four brand new 15 X 5.5 Mini Cooper wheels today - After I get a pair of them tweaked so they'll fit the front of the car, I'm going to have a pair of 185/55's mounted and a pair of 195/55's for the rears

Stay tuned!

Don

My first reaction is, WOW...you must be driving aggressively. I can't remember the last time my ASC activated. I'm curious, how much range do you get on one charge?

Question to the OP - Barb, what PSI were you running the stock tires at?

The road paving in your area may be rougher? That can wear them out more quickly.

fjpod said:

I can't remember the last time my ASC activated.

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I still haven't managed to activate my ASC. Even taking a corner quickly on a wet surface, nailing the accelerator mid-turn! I must not be trying hard enough. Then again, I'm pretty easy on tires. I frequently get 2-3x the mileage others get in reviews on the same tires. I keep the tires inflated to normal pressure (36 PSI for the i-MiEV).

Hi Barb, nice to hear from you again.

Sorry about your tire issue - I've got 14Kmiles on my iMiEV and still plenty of tread left and even wear, despite driving my own winding roads daily. Perhaps my running at 60psi has something to do with it? Mfg. spec. is 36psi and max rating on sidewall says 51psi.

Thanks for the info & suggestions.

I don't drive aggressively (often). I usually drive to maximize range as I live in the boonies and tend to need to flirt with the range limit. The wear is probably affected by the curves, rough and uneven paved surfaces, and a minimum of 2 miles of dirt and gravel each day. I keep the PSI at recommended, set at mid-elevation. I'm reluctant to over-inflate due to 2000' elevation change daily. Should I set them to recommended pressure at my lowest elevation? My range is fine, often around 80 on the flat. If I'm going up and down all day, about 55.

I have other vehicles that have been through these paces over the years. I've never gotten such poor tread life on a set of tires, half to a third of usual for me.

I found out about the Yokohama Avid Envigors when reading an article about low rolling resistance tires, and they were listed. The mfg bills them as "ultra-low rolling resistance." According to tirerack, the Yokohama is the only other option in the stock size front and back. I'm not keen on mucking with the sizes or wheels. Since I already know I don't like the Dunlops, it's worth a shot. I'll try to keep good notes on how they change the ride, handling, and economy. Although the latter is hard with such variable terrain.

At least it's not the brakes. I usually go through brakes every year. Thank you B mode.

If all 4 are nearly bald at 12K, I would definitely have the alignment checked when you install the new ones. I think it was Jray who had a set with premature wear and it turned out his car was badly misaligned from the factory

We have about 10K on the car now and while I haven't actually measured the tread depth yet, all 4 are wearing evenly and they look to have at least another 20K or so left in them

Don

In europe we have more than 10 different tire brand wich fit.

Front tire : 145/65R15 72 T

http://www.allopneus.com/find?activite=1&marque=&d1=145&d2=65&d3=15&d4=72&d5=S&variante=&saison=e&page=1

Rear tire : 175/55R15 77 T

http://www.allopneus.com/find?activite=1&marque=&d1=175&d2=55&d3=15&d4=77&d5=S&variante=&saison=e&page=1

Here is a short list :

Toyo Proxes NE
Hankook K425
Vredestein Quatrac 3
Yokohama A.Drive AA01
Bridgestone B340
Bridgstone Turanza ER300
Pirelli Cinturato P6
Continental Ecocontact 3
Michelin Energy XT1
Dunlop Enasave 2030
Goodyear Vector 5

Theses size also fit SMART fortwo and forfour

In North America, our cars do not use 175/55R15 tires on the rear. Not sure why . . . . maybe because the car is larger and heavier, but the rear tires here are 175/60R15

Don

As long as there is a much higher percentage of smaller cars in Europe, there will likely be a much greater selection of tires for these cars, many of which would fit our i-MiEV's unlike here in North America. However, looking at the energy efficiency ratings of the available tires on the Allop Neus Website (A is best and G is worst), none of them is more efficient than our OEM Dunlop Enasave tires which are rated C. No other single tire model had a C rating for both front and back sizes. So to match the energy efficiency of the EOM tires, one would need to buy different models for front and rear tires. And these alternative tires are likely unavailable in North America.

Unless the percentage of small cars increases considerably in the U.S., those of us who don't want to sacrifice range when we buy replacement tires might be stuck with the EOM tires at fairly high prices

Don said:

In North America, our cars do not use 175/55R15 tires on the rear. Not sure why . . . . maybe because the car is larger and heavier, but the rear tires here are 175/60R15

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I didn't knew that Don, thanks for the information.
I was thinking that the cars was the same, except the front & rear bumpers and the charger type
(Europe : 220V/16A).

So theses tire in 175/60R15 size are not available in the US ?
'cause they're available too in Europe :

http://www.allopneus.com/find?activite=1&marque=&d1=175&d2=60&d3=15&d4=&d5=&variante=&saison=e

So bad...

Our C-Zero will reach 10 000 km this week, and our tire are still like new
We inflate it to 3.2 bars / 47 psi

steph said:

Don said:

In North America, our cars do not use 175/55R15 tires on the rear. Not sure why . . . . maybe because the car is larger and heavier, but the rear tires here are 175/60R15

Click to expand...

I didn't knew that Don, thanks for the information.
I was thinking that the cars was the same, except the front & rear bumpers and the charger type
(Europe : 220V/16A)

Click to expand...

It's a completely different car here Steph - Nearly a foot longer, more than 4 inches wider and just a touch taller too. I believe the onboard charger (and most of the drivetrain and electronics) are the same. It did come with a puny little 120 volt, 8 amp EVSE here, as you say

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/09/first-photos-of-u-s-spec-mitsubishi-i-miev-revealed-ahead-of-la/

I don't believe there is any other car in North America which uses the 145/65R15 tires that our car does and since they've sold so few of these here, the tire manufacturers don't seem to be eager to market tires specifically for it, knowing they would have so few customers

If we want really good tires, we may have to import them from Europe individually

Don

Don said:

I don't believe there is any other car in North America which uses the 145/65R15 tires that our car does and since they've sold so few of these here, the tire manufacturers don't seem to be eager to market tires specifically for it, knowing they would have so few customers

If we want really good tires, we may have to import them from Europe individually

Don

Click to expand...

155/60R15 are equivalent (similar diameter) and have greater load range (74 vs. 72). In Europe, they are cheaper (=more usual) than original 145/65. Slighty more rolling resistance? May be.

155/60-15 is the size of Smart front tyres, and there must be easy to find.

Since I have no plans to move to Europe any time soon, and my car will never see snow or ice (mud definitely)... I put the Yokohamas on. It's only been two days and I haven't done my mileage run yet. Alignment checked and was fine, wear was even. First impressions:

- Handling is noticeably and significantly improved.
- Noise is the same or less on the straight. There is a noticeable increase in noise while taking turns at low speeds (<30). It might just be the nubs.
- LRR at least feels good. It could be my imagination, but I feel like I more easily pick up momentum and use braking on my 2000' descent.
- No immediately noticeable drop in energy efficiency (like using the A/C).

The road I live on is a thrill destination for bicyclists, motorcyclists, and rally/club drivers. It averages about 7% grade, with a max of about 20%, and LOTS of turns. I count about 20 curves per mile ranging from slight to full 180s, tight or loose. Few guardrails. If you eff-up, you can end up down a 1000' drop never to be found in the brush. I drive up and down 5 miles of this road every day. The old tires made me nervous, frequently slipping on curves or uneven pavement. These tires are good enough that I can actually enjoy this road and be a little aggressive now and then.

I need a new tire today. My tire only around 3K miles but was damage because I hit something really bad on the road.
I called Mitsu to tow. The dealer said they won't have one for a week. The price is $165 for the tire plus labor. So I have have Mitsu tow to my house.
I have called many places in San Diego. They don't have the tire.
My suggestion to all. Buy extra tires for your car.

If you can wait - there are some on line tire suppliers listed previously on this post - pg 1

The Tire Rack for one

quote"alohart"
You could have them shipped to you by Tire Rack
and have a local tire company install them. They're not low-rolling-resistance tires, so your range might be a bit lower.