Skinny tire range extender?

[coloradoman]

I got a 2019 S with steel 16" rims. I am thinking when the stock tires wear out finally, I will go with the skinny tire 195/60/r16 instead of the OEM 205/55/r16. Has anybody tried this yet? The tires appear to weight slightly less and are just slightly taller (which would be nice to get my spedo more correct). I imagine they would reduce energy consumption a bit but anybody have any experience with it?

 

[Oilpan4]

I have looked around and can't find anyone who has done it trying to increase range and recorded results.
If I was going to do it I would just go to a 205/60R16.
I would bet on going taller rather than narrower.
Plus the higher weight rating of the larger tire would be a good match for me.

 

[coloradoman]

I at least have another winter and spring on the stock tires, but next summer I will probably get the skinnier tires. It should reduce surface friction and wind resistance a tad.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

While i am a few years from new tires, I have thought about trying the same, but want to know if stopping distance was impacted much.

The 16" 205 vs 17" 215 does seem to be very positive for range.

 

[flydiver]

The basic question is sound. "Theoretically", it should work. The devil is in the details.
A poor skinny LRR tire may have worse energy consumption than a fatter good LRR tire.

Same goes for handling, traction, stopping distance, and wear. There are a huge number of variables to contend with. This makes tire choice a serious challenge. It makes opinions very difficult to sort out.

I have a Leaf, but this is my experience with a Prius. 2nd hand car purchased with aftermarket set of 17-in Enkei RPF-1 wheels with Continental DW 215/45/17 summer tires. Car got about 43mpg, tires 'performed' well, but HOWLED-very noisy, to the point I hated them.

It also came with a set of OEM wheels with Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 195/65/15 snow tires. I put them on last winter. MPG went up to 47, noise decreased to acceptable, ride comfort improved. Never was in any situation where stopping/handling performance would be tested.

Normally I would not make noise a priority. I studied tire reports and personal reviews for hours. Opinions were all over the map. I finally went with General Altimax RT43 205/50/17, a bit skinnier, and taller. Tire rotating diameter almost identical.
Noise is comparable to the Blizzak's, acceptable. Ride comfort is a little better. Performance seems fine as far as I've pushed it, which is not much. MPG is a tiny bit better than the Continental, a tad worse than the Blizzak. In all, a satisfactory purchase.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

I would love to try a 15" 195 LRR tire on the Leaf Plus to see if could add an additional .2 miles per kWh or so.

 

[flydiver]

I have a 2014 SL with 17" rims. Did the early Leafs come with 15" rims, maybe with the same bolt pattern?

 

[Oilpan4]

The tire engineer I know claims that if the weight on 2 different sized tires stays the same and those tires are the same make and model but you compare the original tire size to one taller or wider or both your rolling resistance will decrease in all cases when going bigger.
But this decrease is only a few percent.
At highway speeds aerodynamic drag is what's using up almost all of your power.

So if you really want to increase range on the highway aerodynamic modification or just slowing down is the best way.

 

[alozzy]

Yup, if I had a 3D printer I would try these:

https://youtu.be/ynWNL9MpCr4

There are ones for both the 16" and 17" stock alloy wheels.

Probably only reduces aero drag a few percentage points at highway speeds, but still interesting.

 

[Oilpan4]

I have investigated this and the smooth wheel covers on a car are good for about a 3 to 4% increase in economy on the highway.

 

[goldbrick]

Any idea how bare steel wheels without hubcaps would compare?

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Has anyone weighed the 16" vs 17" gen 2 wheels with tires?

 

[refamat]

Yup, if I had a 3D printer I would try these:

https://youtu.be/ynWNL9MpCr4

There are ones for both the 16" and 17" stock alloy wheels.

Probably only reduces aero drag a few percentage points at highway speeds, but still interesting.

I saw these also and he reports about 3% increase in efficiency which isn't much and order and wait times are large for the one provider. There is a hub cap manufacturer that sells "moonies" and solid hubcap with no designs of polished steel. These would provide a little big more and are under $100 for a set of 4. The big issue with them is keeping moons on your wheel so some clamps will need to be found or devised

 

[Oilpan4]

I briefly considered switching to steel wheels and 16 aero hub caps.
But the expense would be rather extreme to pickup 3% more range on the highway.
This was back when I had a confirmed source for $70 each steel wheels that fit the leaf, I bought one, waited for it to come in, confirmed that it fit the leaf by installing it then when back to buy 3 more and they were all sold out. So i called the place and asked when i cpuod expect more, told me that was a one time deal and were not getting any more in.
Now that lone steel wheel is my full size TPMS-less spare with a nearly warn out ecopia tire.