What tire would you recommend?

[jray3]

[
That's interesting. An inch and a half on each revolution probably really adds up. At least until the tire wears down some.

I don't have real numbers, but my buttometer agrees.
I'm running three different sets of tires on three sets of rims. The worn-down originals on alloys, which have about one more summer left in them, the steelies from Ben's SuperStorm Sandy-flooded project car, and a set of studless snows on alloy rims.

The worn tires on alloy rims are noticeably quicker, as they weigh the least and have less diameter, but that also contributes to an exaggerated reading on the speedometer.
The steelies with good tread are middle of the road.
The winter tires are lowest performance, given their squishy deep tread, but snow traction is excellent.
If only I had idle time at the drag strip to chart all three....

 

[acensor]

Well, I went ahead and placed an order for the Dunlops (in part because I hadn't yet heard back any replies/strong-opinions from you guys).

FWIW, I did so on (a) the "better the devil you know" theory, and (b) that arguably the Dunlops should get a bit better range than the Yohohamas, and (c) evidence from my existing rear Dunlops being run at 45psi that the new ones should be good for about 35,000-40,000 miles. And (d) Les Swab knocked of $20 from the Dunlop price to match what Discount tire offered me.

By the way: I was initially leaning to the Yokohamas in part because of their 60,000 mile warranty. But it turns out that that's misleading.... because Yokohama (and indeed most tire makers) won't honor their mileage warranty if you're not doing four tire rotations (which of course we can't do.) At best they'll give you half, and worst they'll void it completely.

Just FYI: I have Continentals on the front... put on about 10,000 miles ago.... due to fronts being out-of-toe (unknown to me) from day one dealer-new-delivery and prematurely wearing edges down. IIRR that happened to a couple of other folks here.
The Continentals are wearing and running well and I'm happy with them and their price. Too bad they don't make them for the back size.

Also, FWIW: My experience with Les Schwab is they're real good about free flat repairs and honoring their road hazard warranty.

 

[Don]

Joe had a set of the Yoko's on one of his cars for the full life of the tread and he wasn't very happy with them. I know he strongly felt they cost him a bit of range and the studies show that should be the case - Using non LRR's should cost you 4% in around town driving and 7% on the freeway, or so says Tire Rack at least

I've used Yoko's on several ICE's for many years and like their wet weather performance, but as much as I may like them, I don't think I'll ever put them on either of our EV's - I'll pay the extra and stick with LRR tires for the added range . . . . and because Mitsu says that's the tire type we should be using

Don

 

[acensor]

Thanks Don...

Your reply give me a bit more confidence that I made the right call spending a tad more for the Dunlops.
4 to 7% more range is significant... especially as our batteries get older.

And you did remind me to consider Yokohamas when our Subaru next needs tires.

Alex

 

[jray3]

Not available in our size, but two of my other cars now have the LRR Nokian Entyre. I'm quite pleased, though there seems to be slightly less grip than the Goodyear FuelMax that they replaced.

 

[JoeS]

OK, I am no longer obsessed with -

Low Rolling Resistance, as I almost never push the range limit
Tire Noise, as I don't drive long enough for that to bother me
Handling, as the i-MiEV's low CG compensates for other perceived shortcomings
Grippiness, as it rarely rains around here and my worn-down slicks work just fine on dry pavement
Speed Rating as I don't hang out at 81mph for long all that often

I just want some inexpensive tread on my i-MiEV to complement its otherwise ridiculously-low operating cost!!

Two questions -

1. Where do I look to find used i-MiEV tires and wheels from all those salvaged wrecked i-MiEVs?
2. What brands in our tire sizes have y'all purchased in the US recently?

Where I'm coming from: using CraigsList six months ago I bought two beautiful used rims with almost-new Michelins for my Tesla for $100 each (no, they weren't stolen).

After all, I was born in Scotland...

 

[Don]

Well, since you've 'eased up a bit' on what you consider important . . . . and since you live on a twisty road that can be fun to drive . . . . and since you *like* to push the car a bit on those fun roads . . . . and since you're obviously getting tired of buying new tires every 20,000 miles, it may be time for you to think about making a major change

If you were to get a set of 15 X 5.5 Mini wheels, add longer studs so you can mount those wheels with a 9 or 10mm spacer behind them, you could put some real tires on the car which would dramatically change the way it drives . . . . and your tires would probably last you lots longer than 20,000 miles because you wouldn't be scrubbing off the rubber sliding sideways on those fun roads. There are lots of OEM Mini alloy wheels on eBay for $65 to $75 each with free shipping - You might even find a set of 4 locally for less than that

If you doubt those fun roads are where your rubber is going, consider - Our first car now has 35,000 miles and I changed the front tires at 10,000 because I had a blowout and the tires on it still have an easy 10,000 or more miles left in them. Second car has 20,000 miles on it and the tires are *maybe* half worn. No 'fun' roads around here

Might I suggest a set of 175/55R15's on the front and a set of 185/60R15's on the back? Continental ContiProContact makes both tires in those sizes and Tire Rack has them in stock. Those sizes will fit and the car will *like* them and there's no problem with regen not working

We know that keeping the stock front tire size and changing the rears from 175/60 to 175/55 like the Euro cars came with does NOT work on North American cars and regen is disabled. I think this is because that makes the rears 3% too small (in diameter and circumference) and the cars computer *thinks* the rear end is losing traction because the rear tires are spinning faster than the fronts - It disables regen because it doesn't want to make that slippery situation in the rear any worse

The 175/55's I suggested for the front are just 0.7% larger than the stock size and the 185/60's I suggested for the rears are just 2% larger than the stock size, which gives you a net difference of only 1.3% larger in the rear - The car will easily 'buy' this difference - It doesn't like smaller rears, but it's not so choosey if the rears are a tad larger. Speedometer and overall gearing remain correct within a percent or two

You will *like* your new 'sportscar' if you try this Joe - Guaranteed! I already have a set of Mini wheels and I won't be far behind you on this project - We have a couple of upcoming trips so I can't do anything before May, but I'm gonna do this too

Don

 

[JoeS]

Don, thank you very much for your informed suggestions, which will certainly be cost-effective compared to OEM tire replacement. We're taking off in the Tesla for another 1500-mile trip for a few days which will give me some time to research wheel and tire availability, as I have no reservations about modding my i-MiEV.

My featherfooting wife's i-MiEV's tires barely shows any wear compared to mine for the same mileage, so I am under no illusion that it's my uninhibited driving that's the culprit.

To be continued on this thread: Aftermarket Wheels

 

[jray3]

I just want some inexpensive tread on my i-MiEV to complement its otherwise ridiculously-low operating cost!!
Two questions -
1. Where do I look to find used i-MiEV tires and wheels from all those salvaged wrecked i-MiEVs?
2. What brands in our tire sizes have y'all purchased in the US recently?
Where I'm coming from: using CraigsList six months ago I bought two beautiful used rims with almost-new Michelins for my Tesla for $100 each (no, they weren't stolen).
After all, I was born in Scotland...

I'm now getting 21 listings for salvage alloy wheels on http://www.car-part.com most in the $100-$120 range. My french isn't good, I'm betting that the $40 listing is for wheel covers instead.

But NO tires. My local salvage yard has a subcontractor strip tires and haul them off as soon as a hulk hits their yard, and then there's no tracing them. Shame, as they'll languish as oddballs at a used tire dealer.

 

[JoeS]

In this post I describe getting some low-priced Dunlop Enasave (rear) and Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires (front) which ended up costing a total of $375.20 including mounting and balancing:

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2814&start=10#p35069

The Blizzaks are directional tires, with the direction of rotation embedded on the tire sidewall.

Took my first test drive with the front Blizzaks and rear Enasaves today - blast down the freeway after my twisty local road. Tire pressure 40psi all-around. Good roadholding and a little more tire noise than with the previous bald Enasaves, mostly a ho-hum experience. Might be my imagination, but the only change noticeable is the lack of wandering on grooved pavement at speed - I always thought that was the result of zero-toe-in and not LRR tires.

I'm now looking forward to see how these tires perform in the wet - hope it rains before the summer dry spell.

 

[JoeS]

Update on the new front Blizzaks and rear Enasaves:

As I was pushing the car a bit going down my windy road last night, the ASC kicked in prematurely :shock: keeping me from applying full throttle in the curve. Guess there must be a diameter mismatch between the Blizzaks and Enasaves which is recognized by the car. This is a noticeably more sensitive response than normal, as 'normally' this occurs when one is really throwing the car into the curve. Guess this will make my tires last longer :roll: (or I can disable ASC more often :evil: ).

 

[rmay635703]

165/65r14 re92’s roll the best

 

[JoeS]

165/65r14 re92’s roll the best

Sadly, those excellent Bridgestone Potenza ultra-low-rolling resistance tires used on the Gen1 Honda Insight do not fit the stock i-MiEV wheel rims.

 

[JoeS]

Update on the new front Blizzaks and rear Enasaves:
As I was pushing the car a bit going down my windy road last night, the ASC kicked in prematurely :shock: keeping me from applying full throttle in the curve. Guess there must be a diameter mismatch between the Blizzaks and Enasaves which is recognized by the car. This is a noticeably more sensitive response than normal, as 'normally' this occurs when one is really throwing the car into the curve. Guess this will make my tires last longer :roll: (or I can disable ASC more often :evil: ).

Hey, we had some rain and the front Blizzaks and rear Enasaves have done a nice job of maintaining traction.

Unfortunately, the mismatched tires are proving to be a hazard. Example: entering the freeway a few miles from my house, I have about 100-yard straight followed by a turn which merges with oncoming onramp traffic before merging with the freeway itself. Not a problem, as I simply floor it at the start of the straight stretch and am already at speed as I do the first merge still floored and then continue accelerating and finally merging with the freeway. The reason for needing the speed to the first curve is that the onramp traffic is already moving fast and accelerating. So, what's the problem? As I hit the first curve fully floored, with these mismatched tires ASC kicks in and results in noticeable slowing of the car - what would have been a nice clean merge with onramp traffic now results in my now-slowed car causing cars behind me to crowd up even though I have the go-pedal floored!. As the car recovers it now doesn't have the speed to nicely merge with the freeway traffic. Solution is simple: I just need to remember to disable ASC! Note that recovery from ASC actuation is not instantaneous.

Thanks for listening - I simply needed to vent, and perhaps a cautionary note to anyone wanting to install mismatched tires. :x

As an aside, with the Tesla I have the opposite problem: flooring it (force of habit) results in going waaaay too fast by the time I hit the first curve! :roll:

 

[DBMandrake]

Thought I'd throw my 2c into the conversation as I too was faced with needing new tyres on my Ion last year, and contemplating the odd sizes it needs.

The tyres that came on the car were Hankook Kinergy Eco summer tyres, all were getting towards minimum tread, were starting to crack badly on the sidewalls (not a good sign!) and with winter coming I didn't want to be running summer tyres when I rely 100% on the car for the daily commute, and didn't want to try to source a second set of winter wheel rims so I decided to try some All Seasons to use all year round.

After a bit of research and enquiry I settled on the Vredestein Quatrac 5, which are one of the few affordable All Season tyres available in both sizes the car needs in the UK:

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=20710352.110.50616&sowigan=GAN&Breite=145&Quer=65&Felge=15&Speed=&Load=&kategorie=6&Marke=&ranzahl=4&tyre_for=PKW&x_tyre_for=&F_F=1&m_s=3&rsmFahrzeugart=PKW&filter_preis_bis=&filter_preis_von=&homologation=&search_tool=standard&Label=E-C-68-1&details=Ordern&typ=R-281206

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=20710352.110.50616&sowigan=GAN&Breite=175&Quer=55&Felge=15&Speed=&kategorie=6&Marke=&ranzahl=4&tyre_for=PKW&x_tyre_for=&F_F=1&rsmFahrzeugart=PKW&search_tool=standard&Label=C-C-68-1&details=Ordern&typ=R-281218

They've now been on the car about 6 months and 6k miles, barely show any signs of wearing in yet and performed admirably through the winter snow and ice. I never got stuck once and I was routinely passing stranded cars (presumably on summer tyres) in the severe snow we had recently in the UK.

Performance in warm dry weather is not as good as the summer tyres that were on the car before, but its close - I'd say dry summer grip is about 80-90% of the original summer tyres, I can notice the grip is less if the car is pushed hard but the difference is small.

I found increasing the tyre pressures to compensate for the softer tyre formulation helped a lot - the manufacturers recommended pressure is 36psi which was OK on the previous summer tyres however I have found that raising these to 40psi in warm weather makes the car feel and handle a lot better, and a lot closer to the summer tyres. In freezing conditions I found about 38 psi was optimal.

Performance in the wet is excellent especially cornering - I don't really notice any significant reduction in grip between dry and wet roads with the grip being very safe and predictable, whereas with the (admittedly worn) summer tyres the grip was better that these in the dry but considerably worse in the wet, so much so that putting your foot down on a wet roundabout invariably caused the rear end to let go and the traction control to go into overdrive to prevent a tailspin - on these tyres there is barely a complaint from the tyres on the same wet roundabout with foot down, with only very mild and controllable oversteer. I put this down to the tyre having a lot of sipes compared to a summer tyre so it is able to clear even deep standing water easily.

So if anyone wants a good all year round tyre that will cope well with a UK winter but still be good enough in summer, I can recommend these, and at £60 each (£55 when I bought mine last year) they are reasonably priced too.

All I would suggest is to run them at higher than normal pressure - around 38-40 psi seems to be optimal, and makes them feel a lot better in summer.

As for "low rolling resistance" - they are not specifically sold as a low rolling resistance tyre, but they actually get a C energy rating on the EU scale, compared to the E rating for the Hankook Kinergy Eco which are specifically sold as a low rolling resistance summer tyre!

(Which you can see here: https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=59945216.110.58894&sowigan=So&Breite=175&Quer=55&Felge=15&Speed=&Load=&kategorie=6&Marke=Hankook&tyre_for=&x_tyre_for=&Herst=Hankook&m_s=3&rsmFahrzeugart=ALL&filter_preis_bis=&filter_preis_von=&homologation=&Label=E-B-69-2&details=Ordern&typ=R-342565 )

I've certainly not noticed any reduction in range compared to the old tyres, especially at 40 psi. And when I get home from work in the winter with the heater on with 5 miles of range left, every mile counts for me!

 

[DBMandrake]

Update on the new front Blizzaks and rear Enasaves:

As I was pushing the car a bit going down my windy road last night, the ASC kicked in prematurely :shock: keeping me from applying full throttle in the curve. Guess there must be a diameter mismatch between the Blizzaks and Enasaves which is recognized by the car. This is a noticeably more sensitive response than normal, as 'normally' this occurs when one is really throwing the car into the curve. Guess this will make my tires last longer :roll: (or I can disable ASC more often :evil: ).

These cars are super sensitive to tyre size mismatches between front and rear.

When I got my new Vredestein Quatrac 5's (previous post) I actually bought the rear two first - earlier than I originally had been planning due to a non-repairable puncture in the rear left, and ran with these two new full diameter tyres at the rear and the worn original tyres at the front for a couple of months until I replaced the fronts with new tyres as well.

During this time I noticed many anomalies with the traction control system. The main symptom was that rapid acceleration on a moderate left corner would sometimes cause the traction control light to flicker on and power to be reduced when there was absolutely, definitely not any loss of traction or wheel slip occurring - it was happening even on a warm dry road with relatively moderate acceleration that would not have been causing a loss of traction.

The other symptom I noticed is that sometimes when leaving work, during the first downhill leg regenerative braking would be severely restricted for quite a period of time, then after a while it would start working. As the battery was at 60% there is no reason why regeneration should be restricted. As the traction control will cut regeneration if it detects wheel slip on ice (which I discovered in winter...) I knew that it was probably the traction control causing this due to believing that regeneration was causing wheel slip.

I continued to see both symptoms intermittently right up until the time when I replaced the front tyres as well - as soon as the proportions between front and rear tyres were matched again both symptoms went away and never returned!

So I would not recommend mixing and matching different brands of tyres between front and rear on these cars, as different brand tyres of the same nominal dimensions often have quite a big difference in rolling radius that will upset the traction control. Likewise mixing brand new tyres at one end and heavily worn tyres at the other end (reduced rolling radius) can also cause a problem, as it did with me.

 

[anthonyelectric]

Update on the new front Blizzaks and rear Enasaves:

As I was pushing the car a bit going down my windy road last night, the ASC kicked in prematurely :shock: keeping me from applying full throttle in the curve. Guess there must be a diameter mismatch between the Blizzaks and Enasaves which is recognized by the car. This is a noticeably more sensitive response than normal, as 'normally' this occurs when one is really throwing the car into the curve. Guess this will make my tires last longer :roll: (or I can disable ASC more often :evil: ).

These cars are super sensitive to tyre size mismatches between front and rear.

When I got my new Vredestein Quatrac 5's (previous post) I actually bought the rear two first - earlier than I originally had been planning due to a non-repairable puncture in the rear left, and ran with these two new full diameter tyres at the rear and the worn original tyres at the front for a couple of months until I replaced the fronts with new tyres as well.

During this time I noticed many anomalies with the traction control system. The main symptom was that rapid acceleration on a moderate left corner would sometimes cause the traction control light to flicker on and power to be reduced when there was absolutely, definitely not any loss of traction or wheel slip occurring - it was happening even on a warm dry road with relatively moderate acceleration that would not have been causing a loss of traction.

The other symptom I noticed is that sometimes when leaving work, during the first downhill leg regenerative braking would be severely restricted for quite a period of time, then after a while it would start working. As the battery was at 60% there is no reason why regeneration should be restricted. As the traction control will cut regeneration if it detects wheel slip on ice (which I discovered in winter...) I knew that it was probably the traction control causing this due to believing that regeneration was causing wheel slip.

I continued to see both symptoms intermittently right up until the time when I replaced the front tyres as well - as soon as the proportions between front and rear tyres were matched again both symptoms went away and never returned!

So I would not recommend mixing and matching different brands of tyres between front and rear on these cars, as different brand tyres of the same nominal dimensions often have quite a big difference in rolling radius that will upset the traction control. Likewise mixing brand new tyres at one end and heavily worn tyres at the other end (reduced rolling radius) can also cause a problem, as it did with me.

Hello,
I am thinking about the Vredestein Quatrac 5 Vs. the Continental Conti Eco tires
.

Have you seen a drop in Range with the Vredesteins?

Thank you!

 

[acensor]

DbMandrake wrote, in pat--
"....So I would not recommend mixing and matching different brands of tyres between front and rear on these cars, as different brand tyres of the same nominal dimensions often have quite a big difference in rolling radius that will upset the traction control. Likewise mixing brand new tyres at one end and heavily worn tyres at the other end (reduced rolling radius) can also cause a problem, as it did with me...."

For what it's worth:
I have Continentals (one of the few officially low-resistance tires available in the US that fit our wheels at standard size) and the original Dunlop tires on the back. I notice no anomalies with this particular "mis-match." Have had this combo for over 10,000 miles.

Alex

 

[BarryP]

I bought four YOKOHAMA ICEGUARD IG20 tires from tirerack for a total (with tax) of $240. Then Yokohama turned around and mailed me a $60 VISA debit card.
I had a local shop put them on for $80 two weeks ago. They look like great tires for the winter here.
They have been driving quiet. Some mileage has dropped but it's in the noise since temperatures have dropped and the tires have a slight larger circumference as discussed earlier. I would guess a 5% drop in mileage. But that's way cheaper than buying Dunlops.
-Barry

 

[acensor]

I bought four YOKOHAMA ICEGUARD IG20 tires from tirerack for a total (with tax) of $240. Then Yokohama turned around and mailed me a $60 VISA debit card.
I had a local shop put them on for $80 two weeks ago. They look like great tires for the winter here.
They have been driving quiet. Some mileage has dropped but it's in the noise since temperatures have dropped and the tires have a slight larger circumference as discussed earlier. I would guess a 5% drop in mileage. But that's way cheaper than buying Dunlops.
-Barry

Hey Barry....
What sizes are they? And are front and back different sizes?