Low Rolling Resistance Tire discussion

[Joggernot]

I have new Michelin Defenders on the Accord and they seem to work well. Of course, I noticed that things weren't right, so had to replace the front wheel bearings and rotors, too. Rolling distance improved such that I have to start my coasting to stop signs about 200 yards farther away. I am happy with them, along with the bearing change...

[j12piprius]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

I got 4x Michelin Defender XT 185/65R14 86T 90k tires at Costco, and am very disappointed with their mileage performance.

My previous tires were 175/70/R14 84T Altimax RT general.

Why would 165 be better than 185; is that due to the car below lower?

[serialk11r]

Frankly, your car is reasonably light and quite fuel efficient to begin with, so these differences could be very hard to measure. I am inclined to say that you should be targeting tread life per dollar rather than rolling resistance. Most harder compound all season tires are going to be around 0.008 anyways, the lower ones going down to 0.006. Soft performance rubber will go up to the 0.013 range for the more extreme tires, but typically around 0.009-0.011. Offroad mud tires with thick thread blocks will be horrible at ~0.02 ish.

I also wouldn't run 60psi if the sidewall says 44, that seems like too much...higher pressure only helps to the extent that it avoids sidewall flex, so the rolling resistance approaches some lower limit as you increase pressure.

[j12piprius]

Any tires that I had gotten would last for 5 years. Thus the dollar cost per tread life of the Michelins including the lower mileage is much higher. Although they advertise otherwise, this is entire due to the bad design of their tires. Check the most helpful negative review at Consumer Reports, and other reviews, which got exactly the same result. The average rating was only 3.1/5.

Not a low rolling resistance tire
I purchased them because tires are advertised by Michelin as Low Rolling Resistance. I was aware there is no industry standard on LRR, any one can claim any tire to be LRR, but I trusted Michelin on this and am disappointed. Four new Defender XT tires were installed on well maintained 2011 Prius II, real fuel mpg went from avg of 55 / tank to 47 / tank.

I expected a 2-3 mpg loss that happens when ever a new tire is installed but not 7-8 mpg lost. Miles driven were accurately measured using GPS and gallons were measured at the same gas station on the same pump that is calibrated yearly so the mpg loss is real. Prius display was reporting a solid 10 mpg less.

See complete review (and others) here:
Michelin Defender Tire Reviews - Consumer Reports

[ksa8907]

My opinion? LRR sounds like hype, bout like nitrogen filled tires. I just put a set of General G-max AS-03 tires on my car, last set lasted me 45k miles and would have gone more but a hole in one sidewall plus winter coming i went ahead and bought all 4. These are uhp a/s tires, 40k rated and my 4 still had 5 of the 10/32's left.

[Phantom]

I just installed my third pair of Yokohama Avid Ascends http://amzn.to/2gHVFkP there are two models I have always went with the higher speed rated version.

On my golf the tires have been good for 80K mi. The first set I took about 100k but they were to bald at the time I changed them. The last set went about 80k and that is with my alignment out for the first 20-35k and a bad bearing. I also want to note that I'm to lazy to rotate them out of the two sets they were only rotated twice. I was driving at least 1000mi a week.

[bandit86]

I had the Michelin defenders on my corolla. So slippery in rain, to me it's not worth the trade off. Sucks even more in snow.

[j12piprius]

I got cheap Douglas tires from Walmart this morning, pumped up to 55 psi (max 51) and returned the Michelins to Costco. Mileage was 43 mpg to W and 55 mpg back, which is inconclusive but promising. The next longer test trip will be coming up soon.

[serialk11r]

Nice, I think that will save you some money. At ~400 more a set typically, from a money perspective I find it quite hard to justify the premium priced offerings from Michelin, Pirelli, Continental, etc. I dunno, maybe they do have a better ride, maybe their tread life is slightly better, but if it grips well and the fuel economy is not noticeably worse and the reviews look good, I would just go with something cheaper.

[Joggernot]

Originally Posted by bandit86

I had the Michelin defenders on my corolla. So slippery in rain, to me it's not worth the trade off. Sucks even more in snow.

Good point. I live where there is almost never snow, but lots of rain. I haven't had the problem with slippery in the rain, yet. I run 44 psi, which is sidewall max.