New TireRecommendations for Leaf

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I'm surprised Bridgestone lets Nissan install inferior versions of tires. My confusion is an example of how this can hurt their reputation.

It's pretty common for a manufacturer to negotiate with a tire maker for lower priced, lower spec OEM tires. Toyota had a deal with Continental for years, and may still. Camrys used to come with Continentals that were rock hard and had terrible wet traction. They may still, for all I know.
 
I ended up buying the ecopias at Costco. They had a weekend deal that included free installation and combined with the $70 bridgestone rebate I was out the door with 4 new tires for ~$440. Not bad. Same tires at firestone would have been close to $800 after installation and taxes.

I purchased the car with 14,000 miles on it and it was clear the previous owner had some tire issues. There were 3 ecopias - one of which was completely bald, the other 2 had less than 5,000 of life left on them. There was one oddball tire that was a cheap replacement, but still had a lot of life left. I ended up scrapping it because it was cheaper to buy 4 tires instead of 3 because of the discounts. It also would have voided the warranty.

After scouring the internet it seems that the aftermarket Ecopias have good performance and tread life. They also have a 70,000 tread wear warranty so...
 
I replaced my Ecopias on my 2015 Leaf S at 36,000 miles with Michelin Defenders at Costco. I have the same model on my Honda Odyssey and I like their wet weather performance. The Ecopias gave me 3.7 m/kw while the Michelins are giving me 3.9 m/kw.
 
+1 Costco tires are a great deal, and you cant go wrong with any tire they put on. People should stop fussing about unusual tires to put on a simple Leaf...
 
Decided to go with new 17" rims and Ohtsu FP0612 A/S tires from Discount. They had a great labor day rebate sale - the entire deal was under $550 for new tires and rims. Will post the miles/KWH (there WILL be some reduction, I'm sure) and any good/bad experiences. Initial feel is very good handling and ride, but only a few miles so far.

Leaf wheels.jpg
 
Ride and handling are really good - much improved over the last set (which had been replaced ).
Miles/KWH dropped from ~4.3 to 4.0 with about 500 miles on the new tires with essentially same driving conditions. Started at 40-41 PSIG, noticed when cooler weather came in 37-38 PSIG. Need to "pump them up" and reset the gauge.

The tire dealer admitted these are some of the best tires for price/value - although I'm sure they like to sell more expensive ones.

Any others with experience with Ohtsu FP0612 A/S?
 
Marktm said:
Decided to go with new 17" rims and Ohtsu FP0612 A/S tires from Discount. - the entire deal was under $550 for new tires and rims.

Incredible price and great looking wheels! I heard $500 estimates just for new Ecopias!
 
I got some Nokian WR G3 205 55/16 94H XL for my 2014 S. I got these for a couple of reasons:

These tires come in a 94 load range, and because of this, the side walls are much stronger than the 89 or 91 tires that are usually offered for the LEAF. This stiffer side wall is a real benefit for the heavy LEAF and will be much easier on the shoulders of the tire where the 89 and 91 tires typically wear.

And these are great "All Weather" tires... NOT all season. The all weather rating means that they function asreal snow tires, yet they still hold up well on dry roads. So if you live in a snowy area, (like I do in Alaska), you can run these tires year round without a dedicated set of snows, and your performance in winter conditions will be as good as snows. I previously had these on my Subaru as well, and I can tell you from experience that they are awesome. And don't take my word for it, there are some good reviews if you Google them.

And, they just happen to be LRR tires as well and are great for economy.
 
I've always followed the cars recommendation of 36. Looking at the tires they can goto 44 max. Not sure I would want to run the tires at max psi to save a few cents on my power bill. I simply drive it like I drive any other car. I know some folks baby their ev to get better range, and that's fine. But that is not me.
 
danrjones said:
I've always followed the cars recommendation of 36. Looking at the tires they can goto 44 max. Not sure I would want to run the tires at max psi to save a few cents on my power bill. I simply drive it like I drive any other car. I know some folks baby their ev to get better range, and that's fine. But that is not me.


I understand what you are saying, but 36psi, like the 32psi Toyota often recommends, is just too low for the car AND the tires. I run 38-42psi and that works fine - no pushing the sidewall max rating. 38 is good for Winter tires, and 40-42 for all season or Summer tires.
 
LeftieBiker said:
danrjones said:
I've always followed the cars recommendation of 36. Looking at the tires they can goto 44 max. Not sure I would want to run the tires at max psi to save a few cents on my power bill. I simply drive it like I drive any other car. I know some folks baby their ev to get better range, and that's fine. But that is not me.


I understand what you are saying, but 36psi, like the 32psi Toyota often recommends, is just too low for the car AND the tires. I run 38-42psi and that works fine - no pushing the sidewall max rating. 38 is good for Winter tires, and 40-42 for all season or Summer tires.

I dont mind trying 40.

Do tires vary by region or dealer?
Mine came with Michelin and I think it said m+s.

Anyway the battery and range are obviously going to depend on route and climate and such, but for my area, I think 150 would be a fantasy. Which I knew and was never my intent for use anyway.

It is interesting though that the route planner set to 9% degradation matched my last results almost exactly. Not sure one data point is statistically relevant though.
 
All of the all season tires are labeled "M&S" - it's a bad joke. Tires don't vary by region AFAIK, but OEM tires on cars are often of lower quality than the same brand and model tire sold as aftermarket. The Ecopias on older Leafs and the Continentals on older Toyotas (and newer ones, for all I know) are prime examples of down-rated OEM tires.
 
LeftieBiker said:
All of the all season tires are labeled "M&S" - it's a bad joke. Tires don't vary by region AFAIK, but OEM tires on cars are often of lower quality than the same brand and model tire sold as aftermarket. The Ecopias on older Leafs and the Continentals on older Toyotas (and newer ones, for all I know) are prime examples of down-rated OEM tires.

Hey Leftie. What do the new Epluses come with?
 
danrjones said:
LeftieBiker said:
danrjones said:
I've always followed the cars recommendation of 36. Looking at the tires they can goto 44 max. Not sure I would want to run the tires at max psi to save a few cents on my power bill. I simply drive it like I drive any other car. I know some folks baby their ev to get better range, and that's fine. But that is not me.


I understand what you are saying, but 36psi, like the 32psi Toyota often recommends, is just too low for the car AND the tires. I run 38-42psi and that works fine - no pushing the sidewall max rating. 38 is good for Winter tires, and 40-42 for all season or Summer tires.

I dont mind trying 40.

Do tires vary by region or dealer?
Mine came with Michelin and I think it said m+s.

Anyway the battery and range are obviously going to depend on route and climate and such, but for my area, I think 150 would be a fantasy. Which I knew and was never my intent for use anyway.

It is interesting though that the route planner set to 9% degradation matched my last results almost exactly. Not sure one data point is statistically relevant though.
The Leaf is a heavy car. At 36 psi you will wear out the outside edges of the tire. The center tread will still be good but the outside edges will be scrubbed. You need at least 40 psi cold to get even tread wear. 42-44 psi will give you better range at the expense of ride comfort. It ain't about the pennies, it's about the miles. :)
 
danrjones said:
I've always followed the cars recommendation of 36. Looking at the tires they can goto 44 max. Not sure I would want to run the tires at max psi to save a few cents on my power bill. I simply drive it like I drive any other car. I know some folks baby their ev to get better range, and that's fine. But that is not me.

36 is the recommendation for "regular" use. Do you add 2 PSI every time you have 4 adults in the car? Reduce the pressure back to 36 PSI for your solo commute to work?

If the answer to either of those questions is a "no" then you are not really following any recommendation completely.

As far as saving money on the power bill? I don't understand that statement at all nor will most EVers. Peruse this forum. You will soon see that many here don't even know what the impact to their power bill is. Yeah, it is that small. But lets talk about extending range. Now there is a lot there to digest and one of the easiest things to do is add tire pressure. It WILL boost your range. Now, you might think you have all the range you need and its your car, your tires. Your choice is not invalid nor is it optimal. Not everyone cares about optimal.

Personally I do the 44 or... rather I should say "43" which is what mine are set to, out of pure laziness. I selected 43 immediately after my "Winter adjustment" because I simply aired up all the tires to what I felt was about right and then spent 3 days adjusting them exercising the minimal effort required by deciding my set point on the lowest pressure of the 4.

This will do. I will lose 5 feet or even 10 feet of stopping power but due to my driving style and EXTREME use of regen, this won't be an issue. I could lose 20 feet of stopping power and that wouldn't be an issue either since I always drive with the idea of using regen in B mode for 98% of my deceleration needs. Of course, there are times when time is of the essence so E Pedal covers 1.98% of the situations B mode cannot safely handle. As far as braking on the freeway? Since Feb 2018 to now, I have touched my brake pedal twice that I recall of which was a full stop from 70 mph coming downhill on the 405 just north of Bellevue because someone thought it best to come to a stop on the freeway for debris instead of driving around it like everyone else did. This only obscured my vision of the issue. That happened on my maiden voyage home.

Now, I check my tire pressure EVERY morning within the first 2-3 minutes of my drive. Do you? Its so easy now I wouldn't understand why anyone wouldn't perform this basic check? I also check it after any extended time in a public parking lot. Paranoid? Maybe. Stranded from a flat tire? Yes, but not in the last 42 years. Have had slow leaks? Dozens! My 2010 Prius got 4 of them within 4 months due to construction surrounding me. I simply aired up the tires when they dropped below "about" 35 PSI or so pumping them up to 60 PSI. Lasted more than a week like that until I finally got around to getting the tire patched.

My LEAF's have had a few as well. LEAF Spy helped out with that as I soon discovered the "idiot" lights on older LEAFs don't come on until the pressure is in the mid 20's :shock:
(No, I did not accidentally allow my tire to get that low. I actually removed air when my leaking tire was down to the low 30's to see when the light would come on...) Makes it quite easy to see how they got their name...

It will be interesting to see how many miles you get from your tires.
 
danrjones said:
Since I'm using it as an in town car, obsessing over tire pressure to get a few more miles just is not worth the effort. We get temperature swings here in excess of 50 degrees in a day night cycle, so the tires are never going to have one desired pressure anyway. As my rare freeway trip matched the route planner then I must be fairly average driver anyway.

My prediction is the tires will outlast how long I keep the car. At my current usage I'll hit about 5500 miles a year.

That said I bumped them up to about 40. But I'm not going to obsess over it. I'm more interested in simply having a personal baseline so I can see if I notice battery degradation on those rare trips.

40 is a good compromise and realize hitting 45, 46 PSI or higher during the day is not only expected but perfectly safe. The tire pressure should be set during coldest part of the day before any driving is done. 40 is still 4 more lbs of safety margin. Mine were 40/41 before my Winter adjustment.

If there is anything you should obsess over, it is tire pressure.
 
Maybe it doesn't matter, it's just a free-for-all anyway, but i wonder if on this website there is a forum area or thread to discuss tires that isn't in a battery thread inside a battery forum?

probably explains why the search on this site is so amazing.
 
webeleafowners said:
GerryAZ said:
My 2019 SL+ came with the same 215/50 R17 Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires as my 2015 SL. I consider the ones that came on the 2015 to be the worst radial tires I have owned, but the 2019 versions seem to have a bit better traction (wet and dry) and may last a little longer.

What do you not like about them. And what pressure do you run them at.

I tried pressures from 36 to 44 with the 2015 and found that wet traction was especially bad regardless of pressure. Dry traction was marginal, tread wore out quickly, and the sidewalls were cracking by the time the tread was gone at 25k miles. The tires on the 2019 seem to have significantly better traction (both wet and dry) and the tread seems to be lasting longer so I suspect the tread compound has been changed. I keep them inflated to 44 psi cold.
 
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