What tires do you have & how would you rate their RR, treadwear & traction?
 

Figured I’d start a thread to give Consumer Reports like insight, but with a focus on which tires ecomodders tend to choose. It’s always good to see if a particular brand has changed their formula and if it’s improved over the years or not.

Also if anyone wants to highlight any new developments in tire technology, that would be awesome.

Ummmm the top 3 choices need to have more than 3 choices (at least on my phone)

Otherwise it's traction, traction, Z or better rating

The Golf tdi is spoiled.

I voted "rolling resistance". I prioritize fuel economy, and am generally of the opinion that I'll spend more money to make my car more efficient than will ever come back to me. Getting huge numbers on my fuel economy instrumentation is almost a game, and something I have pride in.

However, I find I'm in a somewhat unique position. With my engine swap, I destroy front tires, even when not trying to, and let's not talk about when someone shouts "DO A BURNOUT!".

I would honestly run the narrowest, lowest rolling resistance tires I could get away with, but even pressing the pedal to the floor in 2nd gear with the famous RE92s causes wheelspin, taking potentially hundreds of miles of life off of them each time I pull away from a stop, if I'm not careful. So, I've settled on something a little wider and sturdier, simply so they survive.

Michelin Energy Savers
 

Reddit mentions Michelin Energy Savers to be slippery, poor durability and prone to developing bubbles. Are they industry shills spreading rumors or are these legitimate problems?

AAA claimed that hypermiling is dangerous and various news outlets brought in law enforcement, painting it as illegal, instead of focusing on the correct way to do it, as a way to discourage the general public & persuade public opinion. It’s hard to know the truth now a days.

What is the personal experience of forum members on Michelin energy savers? How does the self seal function? Thanks!

Any significant decrease in fuel economy with avid ascend GT?

I almost voted treadwear but went with traction instead. Tires are the only thing connecting your vehicle to the road, I'll choose traction every time. Treadwear is a close 2nd. LRR isn't even a consideration and because of its inherent relationship with traction, I actively avoid it.

First all anything seen on redit should be treated as if it were heard from a middle school lunchroom table.
There is no self seal function. They get a nail in them they go flat like every other tire.

I went from ecopia, to replacing 2 of those avid ascend gt, that was a mistake and to energy savers..
The avid ascend gt is rated as average rolling resistance accord to the euro tire rating system.
I would say it caused a near catastrophic loss in range on the leaf and I only replaced 2. They are a great tire, just not for an electric car.

There's posts on here here where I go over it in detail.

Michelin doesn't make them in a 165/65r14 anymore, but they used to. Compared with RE92s, I found them to last longer, have a firmer ride, and sharper handling.

I put them on my wife's Fit, and I feel they're some of the better (best?) all-around LLR tires - but they typically cost a premium too.

I still run the Hankook Kinergy ST on my Saturn. I feel that they have a nice balance of LRR,l and traction. They last however long they last

Indeed. Thanks for sharing this thought. Safety is a priority over fuel efficiency. I didn’t realize how much of a hit the other 2 take, according to what others are reporting and perhaps I misjudged & voted incorrectly.

I currently run ohtsu fp0612 A/S. Don’t drive enough to know how it compares to other tires, but I can say I’ve gotten excellent even treadwear, including over a year and a half of running over a nail and getting it patched. The patched tire holds 50 PSI & only falls 2-3 psi below the other 3. And it appears to be an excellent value, made by the company that makes Falken. Anyone can compare & contrast it’s RR & traction with other brands? I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

I found these self seal energy savers, new product? Wondering how it works:
https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires.j...rom=selectSize

Thanks for telling how fuel inefficient avids are, I think I’ll avoid them.

But I did just notice a sidewall failure at 8k in a Walmart review, concerning Michelin energy savers. Anyone else have sidewall failure here?

I used to go off-roading in my Insight occasionally, when I had two energy savers and two RE92s on the car. I broke a belt in one of the RE92s and the sidewall bubbled, but the energy savers eventually died from ~80,000 miles of treadwear.

Don't buy tires from walmart. They buy blems and scab made tires.
I bought my energy saver tires from tirerack dot com.

The energy saver tire inflated to 38psi showed no loss in range when I switched from warn out ecopia tires inflated to 44psi. Which is impressive because worn tires are your most efficient and new tires are least efficient.

Does the same hold true for Costco tires?

I don't know about cosco.

No my Michelin LRRs have been terrible, great dry traction but terrible wear and one developed a bubble in the tread area

Ahh, thanks!! Which vehicle were they on? PSI? Driving style (hypermiler or spirited)? Tire size? Stock tires? Good wet driving?

Any significant difference in ohtsu tires RR & traction compared to Michelin Energy Savers, or does it not justify the price difference & am I better off just running ohtsu tires at 50 PSI?

The energy savers are normally at least $150 each.
The Yokohama avid ascend GT tires are probably closer to $100. I say the energy savers aren't necessary on something that isn't electric only.
The Yokohama tires are better in every single way except rolling resistance and maybe tread wear, but with tread wear is should be pretty close between the 2.
If you run them at 50 psi they will wear out along the center of the tread by 40,000 to 50,000 miles. Only run them at max inflation when it's apparent that they will wear out on the shoulder, or if they are already fairly bald.

After all the snow last year & being next to hills impossible to climb in A/S, since I never bought new winter tires, I decided to check out LRR A/S with decent snow ratings.

I was surprised to see MICHELIN Cross Climate 2, which just came out, have the 3 peak snowflake & is Severe Snow Service Rated.

According to many YT reviews, including Engineering Explained, these A/S tires perform better than some winter tires! What sorcery is this, that everyone’s claiming this new tread pattern and compound allows it to have excellent LRR, tread wear and traction, including winter performance? I thought there were sacrifices that had to be made in the triangle? Is it possible this thing is a breakthrough? Sounds like an excellent question to ask of Capri Racer! ;)

Also wonder if they’re superior to Nokian WRG4. Anyone here have Michelin Cross Climate 2, to share their triangle experience?

Just wanted to add how much I appreciate the ecomodder community. I hang on to every piece of great advice, so thank you!! On Reddit, hypermiling is heavily criticized and looked down upon & I feel alienated, outside of this community, & amongst varying opinions, & sometimes at a loss of words when defending hypermiling. Or as I like to say, hypersmiling. I did get a laugh on the thread reading about problems hypermilers face, so relatable to me, so thank you.

The Cross Climate 2 use a winter compound, and a very unique tread pattern that is supposed to prevent them from wearing rapidly during summer. I've never actually driven on them though.

Is this the world’s 1st no compromise tire? If the tread life is good, I could get behind the idea of saving money by not having to swap winter/summer tires out twice a year. And a LRR tire to boot? This sounds too good to be true, what’s the catch? :D

From the sounds of it, yeah. But, I bet a summer compound with the same tread pattern would still last much longer.

Snow traction is mostly about tread pattern - especially edges. It's always been possible to make a tire with good snow traction that could be used year round, but those types of patterns sacrifice wear. Aside from the first M&S All Season tires back in the 1970's (which wore pretty badly!), the marketplace has been demanding good wear, not snow traction, from its all season tires. Snow traction was reserved for winter tires and until about 10 years ago, winter tires didn't sell very well. I suspect the change was the improvement in winter tire traction following the introduction if the 3MPSF symbol (known in Europe as the Alpine symbol.)

Please note that the Michelin Cross Climate 2 has neither a wear rating, nor a treadwear warranty. My best guess is that they used a typical all season tread compound and knowingly sacrificed treadwear to get the snow traction. Time will tell if I am correct.

Thanks Capri Racer, glad to see you’re still here! I took a year hiatus from the forums, but can’t wait to see what is new on these forums concerning fuel efficiency! :p