Ecopia EP422 tires suck

[TomT]

Unfortunately, almost everything in nature is a compromise and you can't have it all...

If ALL you care about is rolling resistance, then by all means get the Ecrapias. If you care at all about everything else a tire is supposed to do, get something else...

I was just considering the possibility that maybe there's a tire out there that can exceed the Ecrapias in all categories, including rolling resistance. I guess no one has found that tire yet.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

The Ecopia i got from firestone has a load rating number that is two higher than the OEM so not the same

 

[LEAFfan]

The Ecrapias must have been designed to minimize weight, do you really need that extra 1/8 of rubber on the sidewalls?.. What is the load rating on the Ecopias vs the MXV4?.. it should be printed on the sidewall, I believe that is the rating at the maximum air pressure.

Are the stock tires modified versions of the retail Ecopias?

You can see all this and compare on Tirerack. The ecopias are OEM tires, the 2013 LEAF comes with Michelin Energy AS which is also a cheaper OEM tire to replace the Ecopia. The extra tree pounds on the MXV4 is going to be more of an issue in the city then the highway on efficiency. My car was very "bouncy" on the stock tires even at a high PSI of 50, now it is not.

Only the 2013 SL comes with Michelins.

 

[EVDRIVER]

The Ecrapias must have been designed to minimize weight, do you really need that extra 1/8 of rubber on the sidewalls?.. What is the load rating on the Ecopias vs the MXV4?.. it should be printed on the sidewall, I believe that is the rating at the maximum air pressure.

Are the stock tires modified versions of the retail Ecopias?

You can see all this and compare on Tirerack. The ecopias are OEM tires, the 2013 LEAF comes with Michelin Energy AS which is also a cheaper OEM tire to replace the Ecopia. The extra tree pounds on the MXV4 is going to be more of an issue in the city then the highway on efficiency. My car was very "bouncy" on the stock tires even at a high PSI of 50, now it is not.

Only the 2013 SL comes with Michelins.

And the budget ones.

 

[smkettner]

I like the 740 AA rating of the Yokohama AVID Ascend. It is a LRR tire but I don't see how to get LRR rating differences on Tirerack.

Yokohama

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

ok i believe it was the 2010 MY when Toyota started putting different tires on the Prius. I got the Ecopias (lucky me but had no issues with them) but what were the other 2 kinds? one was a yokohama i think but cant think of the other one

 

[jfsquires]

If ALL you care about is rolling resistance, then by all means get the Ecrapias. If you care at all about everything else a tire is supposed to do, get something else...

Range and rolling resistance is pretty high on my list, so I'm still looking at the Ecopias. I have about 4/32's left after 2 years and 20,00 miles of driving. Should I stay with the 205/55/R16 (20 lbs.)that came with the car, or go with the 195/55/R16 (19 lbs.)?

 

[GerryAZ]

If ALL you care about is rolling resistance, then by all means get the Ecrapias. If you care at all about everything else a tire is supposed to do, get something else...

Range and rolling resistance is pretty high on my list, so I'm still looking at the Ecopias. I have about 4/32's left after 2 years and 20,00 miles of driving. Should I stay with the 205/55/R16 (20 lbs.)that came with the car, or go with the 195/55/R16 (19 lbs.)?

The Leaf is heavy--don't go any smaller than the stock size and load rating.

Gerry

 

[Stanton]

Range and rolling resistance is pretty high on my list, so I'm still looking at the Ecopias. I have about 4/32's left after 2 years and 20,00 miles of driving. Should I stay with the 205/55/R16 (20 lbs.)that came with the car, or go with the 195/55/R16 (19 lbs.)?

I was less than that at less than 2 years, so I pulled the trigger on some Michelin Defender's (sale) since I wouldn't have passed my 2 year inspection.

Bottom line: you're going to have to choose between replacing your tires every 2 years (Ecopias) and reduced range (something else). I compromised with the Defenders; still an LRR tire but come with an 80k miles warranty.

 

[aleph5]

I replaced with the Primacy MXV4, which is supposed to be very LRR, but my efficiency has suffered so badly (~0.3-0.4 mi/kWh) that I bought another set of Ecopias and will be returning the Michelins tomorrow under their generous 30-day satisfaction warranty. I'll update as any new surprises warrant, but unless my efficiency stays way down for some reason, I have concluded that not only do the Ecopias not suck, I can't LEAF without them! :|

In terms of all the other things a tire is supposed to do (other than long wear, which I'll trade off for efficiency), I've also found little to criticize about the Bridgestones. They never gave any sense to me other than confidence in pretty much all driving conditions. Perhaps the Michelins are even better in all those categories (braking, traction, noise, etc.), but they should be if they sacrifice LRR and cost more. Any improvement in driving I've felt from the Michelins has been small enough to be attributable to just having new rubber with fresh tread. Maybe new Ecopias, too, won't get the efficiency that they had when they were broken in, but I don't recall having any such efficiency issues when the car was new.

Finally, a lot of my wear was on the outside edges of each tire and the installer found the alignment off. The middle of the tread could have gone another 6 months or so had that not been the case. BTW, the installer told me that most new cars are delivered out of alignment because of the way new cars are transported and that dealers just don't really care. FWIW...

If ALL you care about is rolling resistance, then by all means get the Ecrapias. If you care at all about everything else a tire is supposed to do, get something else...

Range and rolling resistance is pretty high on my list, so I'm still looking at the Ecopias. ...

 

[garsh]

...I bought another set of Ecopias

I wonder if the retail Ecopias are different from the OEM Ecopias. Please add a new thread to the board in 6-months/a year and let us know how the new Ecopias are wearing.

 

[Valdemar]

... I've also found little to criticize about the Bridgestones....

+1. IMHO they are a nearly perfect match for the Leaf. I know everyone's driving style and roads they drive on are different, but here in SoCal I'm going to easily get 35k miles of normal driving out of them. Most likely I will be getting the same set when time comes, don't really feel going the trial and error route. I know people are running high pressures in them, but I find the recommended 36psi provides the best handling and ride quality, going higher doesn't help much with the economy but handling and ride quality both suffer.

 

[thankyouOB]

i thought the driveability was fine and the range was excellent.
i got rid of them when i had a flat, had the flat fixed and that plug failed. while in the shop, I saw that a second tire had a bubble.
this was at about 17k miles driven.
with no spare, i went with four new tires michelin mxvs.
i did lose range. that still irks me. dunno what is the right course; both include downsides.
it depends on what you want to prioritize.
if i had it to do again? dunno.

 

[Nubo]

... I've also found little to criticize about the Bridgestones....

+1. IMHO they are a nearly perfect match for the Leaf. I know everyone's driving style and roads they drive on are different, but here in SoCal I'm going to easily get 35k miles of normal driving out of them. Most likely I will be getting the same set when time comes, don't really feel going the trial and error route. I know people are running high pressures in them, but I find the recommended 36psi provides the best handling and ride quality, going higher doesn't help much with the economy but handling and ride quality both suffer.

Handling is subjective of course. I found I much prefer the ecopias' handling at 44psi. In particular, less wallowing and sharper turn-in. Maybe a bit more nervous in crosswinds at high speeds but of course everything's a compromise. From the frequency of reports of excessive shoulder wear my impression is that 36psi is too low for the tires on this car.

 

[Valdemar]

Handling is subjective of course. I found I much prefer the ecopias' handling at 44psi. In particular, less wallowing and sharper turn-in. Maybe a bit more nervous in crosswinds at high speeds but of course everything's a compromise. From the frequency of reports of excessive shoulder wear my impression is that 36psi is too low for the tires on this car.

I find handling twitchy at higher PSIs, and the car feels less stable at freeway speeds as you say. But yes, it is a personal choice. Excessive shoulder wear should be expected when driving wheels also turn, especially given the extra weight our cars carry.

 

[Ingineer]

I'm very satisfied with my 422's. I know some people have had horrible issues, so I think there have definitely been inconsistencies between the batches.

I run mine at 50 PSI, they've been wearing well, and they handle great. (My driving style is very spirited when I don't need to be range-conscious!)

Several people I know have had bad results, but mine are excellent! A friend recently replaced his with a new set of Primacys and he likes them, but I honestly cannot tell any difference when I drive his car.

-Phil

 

[TomT]

Easy decision for me: Absolutely the MXV4s! Other than the slightly better efficiency, there is NOTHING I liked about the Ecrapias! I think they are a pitiful excuse for a tire...

if i had it to do again? dunno.

 

[jfsquires]

I'm very satisfied with my 422's. I know some people have had horrible issues, so I think there have definitely been inconsistencies between the batches.

I run mine at 50 PSI, they've been wearing well, and they handle great. (My driving style is very spirited when I don't need to be range-conscious!)

-Phil

These are the tires I'm looking at. Can anyone who replaced their tires with Ecopias
tell me which they chose and why? I'm especially interested in the choice between the 89H and the 91H service descriptions on the 205's.

I'm having trouble with formatting this table. Hope you can make sense out of it.

Bridgestone Ecopia Tires

195/55/R16 205/55/R16 205/55/R16 P205/60/R16

Service Description 87V SL 89H SL 91H SL 91H SL
UTQG 480 A A 400 A A 480 A A 480 A A
Max. Load 1201 lbs. 1279 lbs 1356 lbs 1356 lbs.
Max. Inflation Press. 51 psi 44 psi 44 psi 44 psi
Tread Depth 10/32" 10/32" 10/32" 10/32"
Tire Weight 19 lbs. 20 lbs 19 lbs. 21 lbs.
Rim Width Range 5.5-7" 5.5-7.5" 5.5-7.5" 5.5-7.5"
Meas. Rim Width 6" 6.5" 6.5" 6"
Sect. Width 7.9" 8.4" 8.4" 8.2"
Tread Width 7" 6.6" 6.8" 6.7"
Overall Diam. 25" 24.9" 24.9" 25.7"
Revs Per Mile xx 837 837 812

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Ecopia+EP422&partnum=955VR6EP422V2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&tab=Specs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

anyone notice a difference in the load rating on the Ecopias from the OEM and ones from Firestone? dk if that strengthens the sidewalls or not but the one I was higher (and slightly more expensive) from Firestone

 

[jfsquires]

anyone notice a difference in the load rating on the Ecopias from the OEM and ones from Firestone? dk if that strengthens the sidewalls or not but the one I was higher (and slightly more expensive) from Firestone

I can get a set of Ecopias from Costco for less than $500. So for 25 months of driving, that's $20
per month. Compared to the cost of gasoline alone - maybe 5 to 6 gallons - that's not too bad.

If the 91H version of the 205/55 is stronger than the 89H version, any idea why it is 1 pound lighter?
Would the 205/60 version be better at #21 (1 pound heavier)?