Premature Tire Wear

[imthejman]

With only 23K miles on my Leaf, today I was forced to replace the stock Bridgestone Tires. The Nissan dealer wanted $720 for this.

I am used to getting double this mileage off of a set of tires. There was no alignment problem, and I'm not a hard driver.

I did my research and found the P205/55R-16 Yokohama AVID Ascend, which I purchased from TireRack.com. The Yokohamas are Low Rolling Resistance tires that are green because they incorporate orange oil in their formulation.

The total cost was about $200 less than what the dealer wanted, including mounting and balancing.

I'll let everyone know how they fare. Is anyone else experiencing problems with the Leaf's OEM tires?

-John Logan

 

[Caracalover]

I also am going to need tires soon. The additional wieght of the Leaf is to blame, and inflating the tires higher is what my tire guys suggest. I did not do that for the first 22.000 miles. I do a lot of mountain driving.

I will go with the Michelin tires they suggest. They have silicone in the mix, which repels water and they are supposed to stop up to 30 feet shorter from 60MPH.

 

[greenleaf]

At 21.5k miles, my stock tires still look quite good, maybe 1/2 life left. I kept them inflated at around 37psi and check them regularly.

 

[GeekEV]

I had to replace mine around 21k as well. Really just the fronts. I didn't rotate as often as I should have and the fronts wore at a vastly different rate than the rears. By the time I went to get them rotated the were so far gone the tire shop wouldn't rotate them. The backs still had 50% tread left though. I went with the Michelin Primacy MXV4 (iirc) that others have recommended here. So far so good.

 

[cwerdna]

How much mileage one can get out of tires can also vary a lot depending on road conditions, not just the driver and inflation habits.

There's a long running list of LRR tires at Priuschat at http://priuschat.com/threads/low-rolling-resistance-replacement-tires-current-list.92774/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Not sure how many come in the right sizes and weight rating for the Leaf...

 

[mwalsh]

At 21.5k miles, my stock tires still look quite good, maybe 1/2 life left. I kept them inflated at around 37psi and check them regularly.

Same here, at 22.5k miles. I inflate to 40psi and rotate religiously.

 

[Nubo]

I rotate at 4000 miles and inflate to 44 which seems also to give me the best handling with the OEMs. Wear looks ok at 8000 miles except for a bit of edge wear on one tire that was from an early alignment problem.

 

[ttweed]

At 26K miles, the OEM Bridgestone Ecopias are almost shot. I'm looking through all the tire replacement threads on MNL and am wondering what to replace them with. Why are so many people choosing the Michelin Primacy over the Energy Saver A/S? Just price? Seems like the Energy saver is a better match for the Leaf in terms of range and efficiency.

Has anyone tried the Kumho Ecowing? It's not even mentioned on the thread cited above at Priuschat. http://www.kumhotireusa.com/tire/category/car/80C8D2DE-DE27-4876-B31E-A518201CA306

Thx,
TT

 

[Volusiano]

You guys did so good. Mine were shot at 17.5K miles.

 

[kubel]

At 7,000 miles, my front tires were almost at the wear bars. I pulled them off and put on my winter tires a few months ago. Come spring, I'll put the worn tires on the rear and can probably get 15,000 miles out of them before I have to get replacements.

I'm a spirited driver, but I've always been a spirited driver. I've never burned through tires as quickly as I have these Ecrapias. I just think they are lousy tires.

 

[DaveEV]

Why are so many people choosing the Michelin Primacy over the Energy Saver A/S? Just price? Seems like the Energy saver is a better match for the Leaf in terms of range and efficiency.

Good question, the Energy Saver would be my first choice, but it is a little harder to find.

 

[TLeaf]

17K on the original tires and after two years and two tire rotations (@ 7.5K & 15K), everything's looking great. Inflate to ~40psi and have the advantage of moderate summer temps here in Seattle. Otherwise, I wouldn't say we exactly have the smoothest roads around here.

 

[TomT]

Because some of us favor a tire with better performance (MXV4) over one simply optimized for just rolling resistance. The difference in efficiency between the two is small but the difference in braking, handling and performance between the two is much larger...

Why are so many people choosing the Michelin Primacy over the Energy Saver A/S? Just price? Seems like the Energy saver is a better match for the Leaf in terms of range and efficiency.

Good question, the Energy Saver would be my first choice, but it is a little harder to find.

 

[DaveEV]

Because some of us favor a tire with better performance (MXV4) over one simply optimized for just rolling resistance. The difference in efficiency between the two is small but the difference in braking, handling and performance between the two is much larger...

Have you driven both tires? The Energy Saver is a summer tire which Michelin rates basically the same as the MXV4. The Energy Saver is also OEM on some 3-series BMWs and Mini-Coopers. I had the MXV4 in the same size as the LEAF on my previous car - and frankly I thought they sucked in performance compared to the old, worn out Bridgestones I compared them to. Tread depth is so deep the tires the tires squirmed liked crazy when cornering and there was no steering feel. Cornering grip was also severely lacking. I've driven other cars with the MXV4s and they didn't change my opinion of them.

I don't see how the Energy Savers could be worse - it is a summer tire (bigger tread blocks, less siping generally means better steering feel / cornering), it's also OEM equipment on 2 of the best drivers cars out there (3-series / Mini-cooper). The Energy Savers are also lighter by at least a couple pounds. The only drawback I can see of the Energy Saver is reduced tire life and it's not an all-season if you live where it gets cold.

 

[Volusiano]

I like the fact that the MXV4 has 60K miles warranty on them. I replaced my OEM Bridgestone Ecopia with the MXV4. I think they perform better than the Bridgestone Ecopia, but I can't compare them against the Energy Saver because I never had the Energy Saver before. What's the mileage warranty on the Energy Saver?

 

[aleph5]

Has anyone tried the Kumho Ecowing? It's not even mentioned on the thread cited above at Priuschat. http://www.kumhotireusa.com/tire/category/car/80C8D2DE-DE27-4876-B31E-A518201CA306

Unless there's a strong consensus for another tire, I'll probably look toward one of the Kumho models to replace mine which are starting to get thin at ~21k. Kumho tires on my other cars have been a solid improvement over any other brand I've used and happen to cost less too. I'm a believer in them.

P.S.: I see they have a SOLUS and ECO SOLUS models that carry 85k and 100k mile warranties! Maybe the 85k would be a good one to try.

PPS: After comparing, I agree the Ecowing is the right one. Low rolling resistance, etc.

 

[ockam]

I'm at 22K and the Bridgestones are quite worn out on both edges of the tires. The center is fine. I'll have to try inflating them higher when I change them out later this month.

 

[JoshSD]

2 of my 4 original Ecopias had significant uneven wear after about 15k miles. The dealer's service department was not at all helpful, but Discount Tire promptly gave me prorated credit for a pair of replacements (about 75% of the value was credited). I bought their insurance/rotation service for all four for something like $15 each (x4) because they were helpful and quick, and because I might be able to use the hazard insurance someday. I've already been using their free rotate/inflate service which is also quick.

 

[ttweed]

I like the fact that the MXV4 has 60K miles warranty on them. I replaced my OEM Bridgestone Ecopia with the MXV4. I think they perform better than the Bridgestone Ecopia, but I can't compare them against the Energy Saver because I never had the Energy Saver before. What's the mileage warranty on the Energy Saver?

The Energy Saver A/S has a 65,000 mile warranty--5,000 more than the Primacy MXV4. There is also a Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 tire that meets Michelin''s Green X standard* for low rolling resistance and has a 50,000 mile warranty.

The Ecopia EP422 also has a 65,000 mile warranty, so it's pretty obvious to me that those numbers don't mean squat. I will ask my dealer if they are eligible for any pro-rated replacement from Bridgestone for early treadwear, but I'm not that excited about having another set of Ecopias.

Like aleph5, I have had great experiences with Kumho tires, and my Discount Tire store has the Ecowings in stock in the Leaf size for less than all the above, even with the $70 Michelin rebate that is running right now. It has a 60,000 mile treadwear warranty just like the MXV4. I was hoping someone had tried them and could give some feedback before I commit to them. I'm convinced the Kumhos couldn't be any worse than the Ecopias, so I may try them without any feedback.

"Good handling" is a relative term, and the Leaf is not a performance car, so that is not a big factor for me. If I wanted handling, the Michelin MXV4 would not be anywhere at the top of my list--there are many far better street tires in the high performance category, like the Bridgestone RE-11, the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 StarSpec, the Yoko ADVAN Neova AD08, the Kumho Ecsta XS and Hankook Ventus R-S3, but none of them wear well, and I don't want to kill the range by going with a "good-handling" tire either. The Leaf is not a sports car, by any stretch of the imagination, and doesn't get driven that way--I have a 911 for that.

TT

 

[NSXTASY]

Because some of us favor a tire with better performance (MXV4) over one simply optimized for just rolling resistance. The difference in efficiency between the two is small but the difference in braking, handling and performance between the two is much larger...

Have you driven both tires? The Energy Saver is a summer tire which Michelin rates basically the same as the MXV4. The Energy Saver is also OEM on some 3-series BMWs and Mini-Coopers. I had the MXV4 in the same size as the LEAF on my previous car - and frankly I thought they sucked in performance compared to the old, worn out Bridgestones I compared them to. Tread depth is so deep the tires the tires squirmed liked crazy when cornering [...]

comparing worn out tires with brand new ones about handking is like comparing apples to oranges
thats the reason racing tires have minimum tread depth if any tread at all !!!
you cant go wrong with Michelins.