The New Tire Replacement Post

[dm33]

I am strongly leaning towards the Continentals as they seem to do as well as the highly-touted Michelins (at less cost) and - in some cases - rather better.
I currently sit around 5.3 m/kwH per the car.

I haven't researched those tires but I will belatedly say that low rolling resistance tires are worth looking into. I bought some Uniroyal Tiger Paw. Very inexpensive, tough, long lasting good handling tire I've had on previous cars. But apparently low rolling resistance they are not.

I have been getting ~ 5.2 mi/kwh. I've heard worn out Ecopias do very well. Swap in these tires and i'm struggling to get 5 at all, more often 4.6-4.7 in the same drive with no AC, no heat, little expressway mostly slower driving with few stops.

The higher efficiency of the Ecopias had masked the degradation of the battery. I'm about to lose a bar at 29k miles. Now with these tires the lower range is quite noticeable.

 

[64chevy]

I am strongly leaning towards the Continentals as they seem to do as well as the highly-touted Michelins (at less cost) and - in some cases - rather better.
I currently sit around 5.3 m/kwH per the car.

I haven't researched those tires but I will belatedly say that low rolling resistance tires are worth looking into. I bought some Uniroyal Tiger Paw. Very inexpensive, tough, long lasting good handling tire I've had on previous cars. But apparently low rolling resistance they are not.

The Contintental PureContact are LRR tires. Not sure about other Continentals. The Nokians are also LRR (and have been reported here and elsewhere as not causing any noticeable impact in range).

The Ecopias do have the reputation as one of the better tires if you are prioritizing range, however I'm unimpressed with their construction and their test results. The EP422+ version looks like it might prioritize range even more (and I couldn't find any test results on it).

 

[LeafinThePark]

Haven't read through the entire thread, but very good discussion.

I'm looking for some advice - I'm in a situation where I have a leased 2013 SV, with the lease up in March of 2016. My plan is start watching for good lease deals on a 2016 or a great lease deal on a 2015 starting in December when I am eligible to end my current lease. I definitely will not renew as I really want a the quick charge option on the new car.

My problem is my original Ecopia tires are pretty worn, especially on the outside and I have one that has a slow leak requiring me to top it off every week or so. With snow season coming up in Minnesota I feel like I really should replace the tires, but at the same time, am not that excited to spend a ton of money on tires that I may only use for 3-6 months.

Should I just bite the bullet and get new tires? I am a costco member and there is a nice sale on Michelin tires right now. I've never been real impressed with the Ecopia tires in the snow...and in the condition they are in now I will be feeling pretty unsafe once the snow starts flying. Is there some option I am not considering?

Thanks!

 

[BrockWI]

My understanding of the tire is when you turn the leaf in if the tires are worn to replacement you will have to pay for new ones. So you can get the new ones now, use them and and have good tire over winter winter and turn them in with the car or run the existing tires and have them charge you when you turn the car in.

I have snows and plan to run them longer than normal to keep the stock tires "good enough" to turn in with the lease and hopefully keep the snows for the next Leaf But these stock tires are horrible in wear & traction (but good for LRR), I am down to 5/32 with only 11k on them, there is no way they would make it 20k at this rate and I keep them at about 42psi.

 

[dgpcolorado]

...My problem is my original Ecopia tires are pretty worn, especially on the outside and I have one that has a slow leak requiring me to top it off every week or so...

This wear pattern suggests that you have been running them at too low a pressure. Like BrockWI, I try to keep mine at 42 psi. The Nissan recommended 36 psi is too low.

 

[LeafinThePark]

This wear pattern suggests that you have been running them at too low a pressure. Like BrockWI, I try to keep mine at 42 psi. The Nissan recommended 36 psi is too low.

Thanks for the responses Brock and dgp.

I've tried to keep mine at 40psi, but may not have been as deligent as I should have been. My car has 35k miles, but only 2 of the original tires remain. 1 was replaced at around 5k miles due to a nail in the sidewall and another around 12k miles after it punctured when I hit a hidden pothole.

I may just bite the bullet and get 4 new tires now before winter. Question is to replace them with ecopia's or go to a bridgestone that may be better in the snow.

 

[LeafinThePark]

FYI - I put on 4 Blizzaks yesterday at Costco after I noticed that I could start to see the threads on my one bad tire. I'll try to find a couple of used Ecopias so when I return my car when the lease is up it will at least have 4 serviceable tires.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I just scored a set of brand new, never-used 17" Juke wheels on Ebay, for $300 shipped. I'm going to use my 16" stock wheels with my snow tires this Winter, then leave the snows on them and look for A/S tires for the 17" wheels before Spring. I want a balance between cost, rolling resistance, and dry and wet road performance. Tires that aren't rated LRR but that seem efficient are fine, as neither of my current sets is LRR, but both give good range. Quieter is also better. I'd appreciate suggestions, keeping in mind that cost is an issue.

 

[bowthom]

Hello Leafers,
It's been 5k miles since the new tires and here is my report:
YES, I am seeing a 20% reduction in efficiency vs the old worn Ecopias.
BUT, I am loving these tires, they handle great and really hang on to the road in the wet.

Don

Hello Folks,
Well, I popped for new Michelin Premier A/S tires for my 2011 Leaf at 43k miles. Have not done any efficiency tests but I do like the way they hang on to the road.

Will post / update here as I gather more data.

Don

 

[LeftieBiker]

Are you sure that your efficiency has dropped by 20%? That's an awful lot. I could live with maybe 10% less range, at most, and 5% less would be better.

 

[DaveEV]

Are you sure that your efficiency has dropped by 20%? That's an awful lot. I could live with maybe 10% less range, at most, and 5% less would be better.

As far as I'm aware, no one has documented a tire here that compares to the EP422 in terms of efficiency (within 5%), which is a shame.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Are you sure that your efficiency has dropped by 20%? That's an awful lot. I could live with maybe 10% less range, at most, and 5% less would be better.

As far as I'm aware, no one has documented a tire here that compares to the EP422 in terms of efficiency (within 5%), which is a shame.

The Pirelli Carving Edge studdable snows I use produce a drop of 0.1 m/kwh, which is comparable to a... 2.5% reduction? That's a drop from 4.4 to 4.3 in the same temperature and driving conditions. The Goodyear Eagle LS tires I use in warm weather are about the same, maybe a little worse.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

The Pirelli Carving Edge studdable snows I use produce a drop of 0.1 m/kwh, which is comparable to a... 2.5% reduction? That's a drop from 4.4 to 4.3 in the same temperature and driving conditions. The Goodyear Eagle LS tires I use in warm weather are about the same, maybe a little worse.

Well, your car overall is 2.5% less efficient, but what percentage of your losses are from the tires? If tires account for 25% of the energy loss in a car, then the tires are 10% less efficient.

 

[jjgilham]

I just replaced the factory Bridgestone Ecopias with the Bridgestone Ecopia Plus (EP422+) tires 205/55R16 91H BW GRAND Touring.

I paid just over $500 installed with free lifetime rotation etc from Costco. I had about 32K miles on the factory tires and the fronts were bald on the outside edges. For the previous 5 days commuting (285 miles) on the original Ecopias I got 4.66 miles / kWh. In the following week for 5 days of commuting (284 miles) I got 4.40 miles /kWh on the new ones. This works out to about a 5% differential between very worn LRR tires and brand new LRR tires from the same manufacturer. I suspect that as the new tires break-in I'll get some of that differential back.

I've been very happy with the new tires, they feel much more solid in the rain and have a nice feel to them. I believe the + tires have a higher sidewall load rating (91) and I'm hoping they last longer they do sell with a 60k or 70k mileage rating, so at least if they wear prematurely and I've still got the car I'll get a partial refund.

 

[64chevy]

I ordered new Continental PureContact tires today.
They'll arrive within a week or two. My understanding from prior research is that these are LRR and should provide comparable economy to the Ecopias (worn tires notwithstanding), but only time will tell. I also suspect I'm about to drop my first bar (TBH, I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet), and we are entering the cold season here in WI so range will suffer quite a bit due to more usage of heating, etc...

18K on a 2013 SV.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I was expecting to lose a bar any time now, but Leaf Spy says no. Maybe with Winter here, yours will keep that bar until at least Spring...

 

[Levenkay]

For the previous 5 days commuting (285 miles) on the original Ecopias I got 4.66 miles / kWh. In the following week for 5 days of commuting (284 miles) I got 4.40 miles /kWh on the new ones. This works out to about a 5% differential between very worn LRR tires and brand new LRR tires from the same manufacturer.

Some of this difference may come from the sheer difference in diameter between the new and old tires. I don't know how much wear is normal, but I think the OD of the LEAF's tires is about 24", so if there's 1/8" of tread wear, the diameter of the old tires will be about 1% less than the new. I very much doubt that the energy efficiency readout uses the GPS-sensed distance, so distance will be computed proportional to motor rotation. And since your "new miles" are longer than the old ones, it's going to take more energy to traverse them.

 

[DaveEV]

For the previous 5 days commuting (285 miles) on the original Ecopias I got 4.66 miles / kWh. In the following week for 5 days of commuting (284 miles) I got 4.40 miles /kWh on the new ones. This works out to about a 5% differential between very worn LRR tires and brand new LRR tires from the same manufacturer. I suspect that as the new tires break-in I'll get some of that differential back.

Very nice! Looks like the EP422 Plus should match the EP422. Hopefully they wear better, too.

I have the EP422 Plus tires on my Prius. Efficiency has not been as good as the GoodYear Fuel Max that were on it, but other changes happened at the same time (wheel bearing replacement and alignment) which may be causing some of the discrepancy.

 

[dgpcolorado]

... I had about 32K miles on the factory tires and the fronts were bald on the outside edges...

It is worth pointing out that it is "normal" for the EP422 OEM tires to be bald on the outside edges because the tread on that portion of the tire isn't full depth. Also, unless one runs the tires at substantially higher than the Nissan recommended 36 psi, the outside edges of the tires will wear more quickly than they should. I try to run mine at 40-42 psi and some here run them quite a bit higher than that. Makes for a harder ride but better mileage and tire wear (and handling IME, I drive a LOT of mountain curves).

I mention all this because we get so many newcomers to this site that it bears repeating periodically, even though it is old hat to many here.

My experience with new EP422+ tires was much the same as yours. I also appreciate the improved snow traction of the new tires versus the old worn ones.

 

[bowthom]

Are you sure that your efficiency has dropped by 20%? That's an awful lot. I could live with maybe 10% less range, at most, and 5% less would be better.

As far as I'm aware, no one has documented a tire here that compares to the EP422 in terms of efficiency (within 5%), which is a shame.

Yes I'm sure, I was hoping for it to improve once the tires had "broken in" if such a thing exists. They say that new tires have more rolling resistance than worn tires even of the same type & manufacturer.

Of course it's anecdotal but I can barely make 4 m/kWh driving around town (no freeway) and I regularly obtained 5 m/kWh before. That's with no heat / def. Now that winter is full on I'm really noticing the decrease in range and this is experienced with my always present work commute.

Don