Are Ecopias the world's worst tires?

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eatsleafsandshoots

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
105
Location
Denver, CO
Having leased a 2013 Leaf, I knew I had to buy new tires along with my 2017 S because Ecopias are made out of black-dyed papier mache. But I'm getting *severe* shoulder wear on the front tires after, get this, 5k miles. The tread on the shoulder is almost completely worn out!

I'm going to rotate and get all 9,000 miles I paid for (lol) out of these tires, but does Nissan really tell you to pound sand when you can wear out a set of tires in six months?
 
No: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=332274#p332274.

The stock Ecopia EP422 aren’t that great but I was able to turn in my 2 year lease '13 with over 23K miles with enough tread that NMAC didn’t ding me at end of lease.

The used ’13 I bought w/about 23.8K miles had 3 very worn Ecopia EP422’s, so I replaced all 4 at once w/Ecopia EP422 Plus. I’ve put over 23K miles on those and have plenty of tread left.

If you’re following the recommended pressures on the driver’s side door stickers, IIRC, they’re too low and can cause edge wear.
 
cwerdna said:
No: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=332274#p332274.

The stock Ecopia EP422 aren’t that great but I was able to turn in my 2 year lease '13 with over 23K miles with enough tread that NMAC didn’t ding me at end of lease.

The used ’13 I bought w/about 23.8K miles had 3 very worn Ecopia EP422’s, so I replaced all 4 at once w/Ecopia EP422 Plus. I’ve put over 23K miles on those and have plenty of tread left.

If you’re following the recommended pressures on the driver’s side door stickers, IIRC, they’re too low and can cause edge wear.

I'm filling to 44psi. You must drive like a grandma if you were able to turn in Ecopias with 23k miles without getting dinged!

I don't drive fast, but I don't slow down for the (ridiculous amount of) corners that I drive in the mountains of CO, so I guess driving in a straight line in a city all day helps.
 
eatsleafsandshoots said:
cwerdna said:
No: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=332274#p332274.

The stock Ecopia EP422 aren’t that great but I was able to turn in my 2 year lease '13 with over 23K miles with enough tread that NMAC didn’t ding me at end of lease.

The used ’13 I bought w/about 23.8K miles had 3 very worn Ecopia EP422’s, so I replaced all 4 at once w/Ecopia EP422 Plus. I’ve put over 23K miles on those and have plenty of tread left.

If you’re following the recommended pressures on the driver’s side door stickers, IIRC, they’re too low and can cause edge wear.

I'm filling to 44psi. You must drive like a grandma if you were able to turn in Ecopias with 23k miles without getting dinged!

I don't drive fast, but I don't slow down for the (ridiculous amount of) corners that I drive in the mountains of CO, so I guess driving in a straight line in a city all day helps.

probably this straight line thing. I had a 2013 and didn't change the tires until ~30k. I'm aggressive on the cornering (right-hand turns at 20+mph, onramps and offramps at 14+ over posted limit), but spend most of my miles on straight highway or roads. tires were at 42+ psi. hope this helps!
 
The wear you are describing sounds worse than normal for your driving style if your tires are really inflated to 44 psi cold. I suggest you have the alignment checked. FWIW, the 16-inch Ecopias that came on my 2011 were much better tires than the 17-inch Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires that came on my 2015.
 
eatsleafsandshoots said:
I'm filling to 44psi. You must drive like a grandma if you were able to turn in Ecopias with 23k miles without getting dinged!

I don't drive fast, but I don't slow down for the (ridiculous amount of) corners that I drive in the mountains of CO, so I guess driving in a straight line in a city all day helps.
LOL! No. I don't but I know there's no way with my driving and my road conditions that they could last 36K miles. Fortunately, my lease wasn't that long.

But yes, I suspect your need to corner, brake and accelerate in your area is partly to blame for quick wear.

Long ago (like 20 years ago), I remember a car book (I wish I remembered the title and author) that had a map of the US and bands basically indicating their predictions of tire wear based upon road conditions, presumably roughness. I'd guess that even excluding turns and all, there are some areas where the roads will wear out a given set of tires more quickly than other areas.
 
eatsleafsandshoots said:
I'm getting *severe* shoulder wear on the front tires after, get this, 5k miles. The tread on the shoulder is almost completely worn out!
Sounds like you need a front-end alignment. Make sure you get that done when you get your new tires, if not sooner.
 
Keep in mind that many OEM tires are inferior in quality as compared to their same-brand retail equivalents you can buy at your local tire shop or Tire Rack. I had a set of OEM Continentals on my Audi that wore out just as quickly as OEM Ecopias on the Leafs, but many German car enthusiasts swear by the Conti's. I also had a set of OEM Dunlops on my Maxima that were bald before the odometer reached 40k.
 
RonDawg said:
Keep in mind that many OEM tires are inferior in quality as compared to their same-brand retail equivalents you can buy at your local tire shop or Tire Rack.
Agreed. Owners of aftermarket Ecopias seem to have much better luck than we do with the OEM Ecopias. I really wish tire manufacturers wouldn't re-use a name like that when the tire itself really is different.
 
There are many Chinese brand tires (not so much name brands made in China) that are worse than OEM Ecrapias. Some will wear longer, but overall quality is worse.
 
My OEM Ecopia's wore out by 20k! Totally unacceptable IMO. The replacement E+'s have the same mileage and are just starting to show wear, yes the OEMs are CRAP, but replacements are decent.
If people are getting 40k+ with the OEMs I can only imagine what they'd get with the aftermarkets.....probably 100k+ or longer than anyone will be driving a Leaf.
 
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