LRR Tires Make a Huge difference

[broski499]

I had Bridgestone Ecopia tires from Costco. I went through discount tire and asked for LLR tires, I got kumo tires that were not LLR. My average has gone down by quite a bit. I used to be able to get 45-48 easily. Now I struggle to get 40mpg.

[Ecky]

With any luck they'll improve as they wear in - old tires tend to have lower RR than new ones. But yes, LRR makes a tremendous difference.

[S Keith]

Yep. It seems to take about 1k miles before any tire really breaks in and starts performing at its optimal mpg efficiency. When I put on new EP422+, I notice an immediate drop in mpg. After a month of normal driving, I'm back to where I was.

In my experience LRR tires make a 2-4mpg difference vs. non-LRR once they've "broken in."

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Should've taken it back and gotten them to swap out tires for actual LRR ones since they didn't follow instructions.

[JSH]

I had Ecopia tires on my 05 Prius, 09 Prius, and 16 Spark EV. Good mileage but garbage tire. Dry traction was OK but they are horrible in the wet.

I switched from Bridgestone Ecopia (185/65R15) to Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus (195/65R15) on the Prius and dropped from and average of 49.5 mpg to 44.2 mpg. The better grip and turn in was worth it though.

In the Spark EV I went from the Ecopia to BFGoodrich Advantage Sport A/S (195/55R15) and dropped from 4.6 miles / kWh to 4.2 miles / kWh.

I think that BFGoodrich is a good compromise between price, grip and rolling resistance. I have them the Astro and Sportwagen.

[jakobnev]

Pity the US still doesn't have tire labels like EU, you might find a tire that is sold on both markets tho.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

Pity the US still doesn't have tire labels like EU, you might find a tire that is sold on both markets tho.

We've had the UTQG (Uniform Tire Quality Grade) for decades but it is in need of an upgrade. The score covers tire life, wet traction, and heat rating.

Lots of problems though:

1. The life rating isn't uniform from tire manufacturer to manufacture.
2. The wet traction is based on a locked tire dragging on a test rig. Since the tire is locked it doesn't take into account tread design and how well the tire displaces water.
3. The heat rating is just another way to show the speed rating

Your rating looks much better.

[freebeard]

Agreed. The External Noise rating caught my eye.

It becomes more important with electric vehicles.