Experience with Continental Purecontact LS tires.

[mar318]

Hi, though I would share my tire experience.

Purchased 235/45/18 plus-sized tires from Tirerack along with new wheels in July of 2018. These replaced the original 205/55/16 OEM Ecopia 422s It has now been ~59000 mile and Im down to the wear bars, so wear has been excellent. No problems with the tires other than developing a very, very slow leak within the last year. It's so slow that I never even bother to fix it. Just 3-4 psi of air every 2-3 months. Otherwise, held air well.

Driving dynamics were day and night as compared to Nissan's OEM Bridgestone Ecopia 422s (not to be confused with the aftermarket 422 Plus). Original Ecopia lasted 28000 mi and was slippery, chirping the tires whenever the accelerator pressed more than normal. The PureContact LS was stable, cornered well and predictably, and accelerated and braked well, both in the dry and wet. Snow performance was good but deep stuff should be left to the winter tires, which I had. I only noticed that steering effort increases compared to OEM tires, but that could be caused by the Plus wheel and tire combination.

Range did decrease from avg of 4.4-4.5 to 4.1, with winter/snow driving averaging 3.8-3.9 (some highway but mostly in town). Given the increase in performance and confidence this tire provided, it was worth the tradeoff in range. My challenge now is that these Contis are not offered through Costco, which generally has the best pricing for fully installed tires.

 

[bojoho]

Appreciate this info. How would you describe your driving style?

What tire pressure did you strive for?

 

[frontrangeleaf]

I also run these in 225/50R17 and like them. Much improved driving characteristics, slight decrease in range.

 

[mar318]

Appreciate this info. How would you describe your driving style?

What tire pressure did you strive for?

I would say moderate to aggressive. It's lots of fun tossing it into the turns. The tires performed admirably with barely a chirp or squeal throughout our many roundabouts.

Generally, I have the tire pressure set to 40 but had to increase to 42 due to wear at the other edges (again due to turns).

 

[frontrangeleaf]

I feel Nissan missed an opportunity in not making some version of the Leaf overtly "sporty" - slightly wider wheels, maybe re-configured steering (weight was way too light, mostly fixed with better tires), a few aero bits for looks.

They could have positioned it as an all-electric Mazda 3 hatchback. Maybe the lack of thermal battery management held them back.

 

[Ancient1]

Hi, though I would share my tire experience.

Purchased 235/45/18 plus-sized tires from Tirerack along with new wheels in July of 2018. These replaced the original 205/55/16 OEM Ecopia 422s It has now been ~59000 mile and Im down to the wear bars, so wear has been excellent. No problems with the tires other than developing a very, very slow leak within the last year. It's so slow that I never even bother to fix it. Just 3-4 psi of air every 2-3 months. Otherwise, held air well.

Driving dynamics were day and night as compared to Nissan's OEM Bridgestone Ecopia 422s (not to be confused with the aftermarket 422 Plus). Original Ecopia lasted 28000 mi and was slippery, chirping the tires whenever the accelerator pressed more than normal. The PureContact LS was stable, cornered well and predictably, and accelerated and braked well, both in the dry and wet. Snow performance was good but deep stuff should be left to the winter tires, which I had. I only noticed that steering effort increases compared to OEM tires, but that could be caused by the Plus wheel and tire combination.

Range did decrease from avg of 4.4-4.5 to 4.1, with winter/snow driving averaging 3.8-3.9 (some highway but mostly in town). Given the increase in performance and confidence this tire provided, it was worth the tradeoff in range. My challenge now is that these Contis are not offered through Costco, which generally has the best pricing for fully installed tires.

Curious as to why you selected the 235/45 size when up-sizing. To maintain the same diameter as the 215/50/17 stock tires, you would normally go to 215/45/18. By increasing the diameter, did you encounter any rubbing or other problems? What did the change do to your speedometer and odometer? I would imagine the drop in GOM range came in large part from the tire diameter change, as well.
Also, you did not describe the new wheels. What brand were they? Any change from stock in the rim width? They look really nice.

 

[mar318]

Curious as to why you selected the 235/45 size when up-sizing. To maintain the same diameter as the 215/50/17 stock tires, you would normally go to 215/45/18. By increasing the diameter, did you encounter any rubbing or other problems? What did the change do to your speedometer and odometer? I would imagine the drop in GOM range came in large part from the tire diameter change, as well.
Also, you did not describe the new wheels. What brand were they? Any change from stock in the rim width? They look really nice.

When I first got the car, I quickly realized that the speedometer and odometer were off. Even after trying to recalibrate via the radio, it wasn’t enough. I calculated what it would take to get the speedometer to be dead on and that’s how I got to 235/45/18. In reality it’s off by 1mph so displayed 70 mph is closer to 71 GPS. I’m ok with that. Since I needed wheels for the 18s, I ended up getting a tire/ wheel package from Tire Rack. The wheels are 18X7.5 ENKEI PERFORMANCE J10. The tires fit perfectly with no rubbing at all. Too bad Tire Rack stop carrying the wheels as I thought they are really nice looking.