2012 Nissan LEAF Tire Replacement Research

[Valdemar]

43000 miles on Ecopias, rotated 4-5 times. The outsides are bald, the middle section is holding up. I can probably push them another 3-4k, but likely will just get another set of the same soon for a peace of mind. At $110 per tire and $70 off discount available until the end of the month at Costco I see little reason to get anything else.

 

[TEG]

I replaced my Ecopia's with Continental ProContact EcoPlus, and have been happy with them so far.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ProContact+with+EcoPlus+Technology" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[jimcmorr]

How many miles do you have on them so far?

I replaced my Ecopia's with Continental ProContact EcoPlus, and have been happy with them so far.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ProContact+with+EcoPlus+Technology" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TEG]

They are fairly new. Only a few hundred miles on them so far.

 

[alcalira]

I highly recommend Kumho Ecowing tires as replacements. I think range actually increased somewhat. They are available at America's Tire/Discount Tire, and the price is reasonable.

 

[charge]

I have snow tires on now, but I will need new tires once winter is over.

I'm debating between the Michelin Energy Saver A/S or the same tire in the Summer version. From what I've read the Summer version offers better mileage. Anyone have experience with the Summer version? Seems like the cost is higher on the Summer version. Is it worth it?

Anyone find a tire that's better than the Energy Saver?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[GREENEV]

My brand new winter tires are killing my range.

I opted for a complete set of the the Continental Extreme Winter Contact.

I guess they're not low rolling resistance. Bummer.

 

[vanagon]

On the subject of tires,
I have a set of 4 16" Ecopia tires (from a 2013 model S) in perfect condition, less than 1500 miles on them, that I could sell to someone if they are looking. (Located in Pittsburgh.)

 

[Wennfred]

43000 miles on Ecopias, rotated 4-5 times. The outsides are bald, the middle section is holding up. I can probably push them another 3-4k, but likely will just get another set of the same soon for a peace of mind. At $110 per tire and $70 off discount available until the end of the month at Costco I see little reason to get anything else.

Weak sidewalls.


Fred

 

[charge]

I'd like to get the Michelin Energy Sver A/S, however size is not an exact match. The 2012 Leaf calls out 205/55R16. The Michelins only come in 205/60R16. Will having the extra height on the Michelins cause handling issues? I would assume you travel further on the larger diameter Michelins as well, so speedo and miles per kWh will be off.

I would hate to go back to the Ecopias :-(

 

[kubel]

I just picked up a set of Michelin MXV4 Primacy 205/55R16 91H and tested them out on a fresh layer of snow that we just got. I'm satisfied so far. I was originally aiming for the V rated tire (a better quality tire overall, but slightly heavier, and more expensive), but they had none in stock in the area.

And although the wait at Discount Tire was outrageous, they did deliver a better price than I would have got from Amazon or Tire Rack at $122 per tire.

Time will tell how badly range is impacted, but from my last two trips, I noticed no major difference. It's hard to tell in winter anyway since the roads are snow covered and the heater is running non-stop.

 

[johnrhansen]

what's everyone's experience with the stock tire's performance in the snow. We had our first snow here and I thought my car (with the ecopias) did just fine. I'm tuned to this thread because I know eventually I will need to replace them, but I don't see the need as long as the ones I have are still serviceable. Could I expect better snow performance with a different tire or worse?

 

[uwskier20]

what's everyone's experience with the stock tire's performance in the snow. We had our first snow here and I thought my car (with the ecopias) did just fine. I'm tuned to this thread because I know eventually I will need to replace them, but I don't see the need as long as the ones I have are still serviceable. Could I expect better snow performance with a different tire or worse?

I experienced the same snow that you did on Sunday morning. We have relatively new Ecopias (<3,000 miles). Getting down our hill was a bear, because the snow had been compacted into that ice Seattle is well known for. I frankly think it would have been a challenge even in our Subaru with snow tires, as a seasoned winter driver. Ice is always a pain. The Ecopias handled well otherwise in the snow and slush, most of which is gone now.

 

[mxp]

Hi,
Since this is a tire replacement post, I'd add in my latest tire purchase.

We own 2 2011 Leafs which we replaced all our tires recently. We chose Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus 205/55/16 91H which have a 80K mile warranty. These tires has a tread rating of I recall 800 which is double of the Ecopias.

The Serenity Plus (this is also a Eco-rated product from Bridgestone) is a slightly heavier tire, but it clearly looks and feels much stronger than the Ecopia. The sidewalls were definitely thicker, and amazingly with a super quiet ride. I like the handling of the tire, although I cannot say much about the % loss of range. Regardless, I am happy with these tires.

The price was $123 a piece but we got $70.00 off all 4 for a price-match deal. And, on top of that, Bridgestone also had a $70 prepaid visa promo which we claimed by submitting our invoice.

Another forum participant "braineo" (search his posting) had also bought similar tires and reports a 5% loss in range, but I think it may still be too early/new to rate it.

We hated the Ecopias, although we got 28K miles out of them, the wear was very uneven on BOTH vehicles. They were absolute junk tires. All the time, it felt like we were riding on thin rubber.

 

[NoVAEV]

Michelin Energy Saver A/S - Update!

I have just over 1,200 miles on the Michelins at this point and again, all I can say is WOW! We had a 3 day rainy spell last month here in VA where I had a chance to really push the tires to see what they could do in the rain. Wet performance, resistance to hydroplaning and overall dry traction with the A/S' is impressive. Granted the Michelin's are new, I'm accounting for how the Ecopia's performed when new in my layman's evaluation. It's also important to note that a few days after installing the Michelin's I increased the tire pressure to 50psi across the board which in theory should have hurt the wet performance but it doesn't seem to have affected it at all. I really do love my new Michelin's and I'm glad I made the change.

Michelin Energy Saver A/S - Update!

Tires now have 3500 miles on them and still performing great with zero tread wear from what I can tell based on a visual inspection. Still running all four tires at 50psi with no issues to report. All around performance is excellent.

That is all.

 

[NasGoreList]

we just got ours month ago and it wears ecopias :-(. my other car is mazda rx-8 so driving leaf seems like driving on bubble gum..that being said when the time comes to replace the tires I will go for decent performing all season tire. these cars are so efficient that losing 3-4% of that efficiency by going to better handling/gripping tires is not a big deal...

 

[dgpcolorado]

... these cars are so efficient that losing 3-4% of that efficiency by going to better handling/gripping tires is not a big deal...

Unless you are already stretching the range of the car and coping with a battery losing capacity. Then that "3-4%" is a big deal. Depends on your typical usage pattern.

But, yes, losing 3-4%, if that's all it is, in wasted electricity isn't that big of a deal. The Tesla, for example, is considerably less efficient than a LEAF so it uses a LOT more energy per mile of travel.

 

[patrick0101]

Has anyone tried Falken Ziex ZE914 EcoRun tires on their 2011/2012 Leaf? If so, how well did they perform, what was the range impact...

 

[essaunders]

Anyone running the Continental PureContact with Ecoplus tires on their LEAF?

At just under 18k and three years I'm wondering if I need new tires. The online chat guy from TireRack suggested these tires as a 'best non-OEM option'


Edit to add: I'm getting these put on the car. I'll try to report back

Getting these over other option as these seem to me to be a better 'snow' option.

 

[QueenBee]

Anyone running the Continental PureContact with Ecoplus tires on their LEAF?

At just under 18k and three years I'm wondering if I need new tires. The online chat guy from TireRack suggested these tires as a 'best non-OEM option'


Edit to add: I'm getting these put on the car. I'll try to report back

Getting these over other option as these seem to me to be a better 'snow' option.

I have them. They seem louder, especially under acceleration. It's hard to know how much of the range hit was from new tires and how much is from them being worse than OEM.

Interested to see what you think.