I finally got my ecopia ep 422 installed today and what a difference. Ok i'll start buy saying that i don't know how good the oem tire are because i bought my 09 hch11 with after market toyo garit kx 205/55/16 installed on ex wheels. I was averaging 40 mpg city and 45 mpg hightway.I can only give you stats for one day but so far i see a huge improvement, for the first time ever, i averaged 55 mpg on a 27mile run. This is easily a 10 mpg improvement. The car has never coasted so easily when i let go of the gas he just keeps going, i find myself hitting the brakes witch was not the case before. I really like to use the glide technique as much as possible and these tires are going to make my life easy. They are very quiet i have them inflated at 44psi front and back. My previous toyos were at 47.5 psi all around. Also people mention that it take about 1000 miles before the tire are broken in.Wow i can't wait to see if there still will be some improving. Did i forget to mention that these tire Roll i feel like i'm on a roller coaster compared to what i had.

Nice! Keep reporting on your tires as you wear them out.

Steve > 2012 Fiat Abarth

I just got the Ecopia 422 also, to replace the kumo kr21...hope to see an improvement.
I went in for 1 tire, came out with 4. Deal was buy 3 get 1 free. Just so happens that I had to replace 1 tire 3 months ago. No harm no foul. Just over $500.00 with an alignment.

Brian

ps just check the pressure and they had all 4 at 32 psi grrrrr. will increase to 44

Steve
Where the toyo garit LRR design? If not you will notice a big difference. I hope you went back to the stock size 195 /65/R15?
Cheers:
H

I need to begin my first post by mentioning that 44 psi is way too much to have unless you are loaded down and that's the max pressure.

Driving with that much pressure will not slow the tire to fully conform to the road and could pose a blowout risk.

Cheers......take care.

Looking to get a set myself

You don't know what you're talking about. I have been using 44psi in all my vehicles for over three years with zero downside. And increased mileage.

Steel belted radials sit flat across the road unlike bias ply tires.

There are many on this forum that are using 44psi. Use 30 psi if you want. You will get a very smooth ride--and 8 mpg less than the rest of us.

Sure I do..

"Driving with that much pressure will not slow the tire to fully conform to the road and could pose a blowout risk."

Should have read..."will not allow" not slow.

Either way, the point I was making was the tire will read....."Max load xxxx lbs at 44 PSI. Yes, you can inflate to 44 and ride on, it's just not a desireable pressure to be at when in a lighter vehicle especially when not loaded up.

Yes radials lay flat, but the weight bias is towards the center much more so when inflated that high. The contact patch has become more convex and does not give the best traction in snowy conditions and when traveling at higher speeds in the rain...that's just the facts, doesn't mean the tire is completely unsafe, just less than desireable.

Yes it will give higher MPG, not much more than when set at 40, but a huge difference when comparing 28 to 32 even still being only 4 PSI.

My personal vehicle shows 32 and I keep it at 35, tires wear better and gives me better mileage, 44 and it rides like a brick.

When I was mounting tires, we would never seat the bead at more than 40 PSI, if so, we deflated and re-lubed the bead..44 PSI in a passenger tire is high when not a high load range tire, which can hold 80 PSI in some cases, these are not.

There are alot of sipes and biting eges on the shoulder of the tire, mid-size cars at that pressure will have less weight on the tire on the shoulders when in inclimate weather, unless the tire is loaded up. Granted this will not be an issue in dry weather, and will not mean you have no traction in the before mentioned.....just less.

No, i'm no expert, but have some knowledge. Just trying to add some helpful info here, not the way I wanted to start but no worries.

You proved my point. You don't know what you're talking about.

Underinflatied tires are much more likely to have blowouts than tires inflatede to 44psi.


"A study (Aug 2001) released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Wednesday indicated that more than one-fourth of passenger car tires and almost one-third of light truck tires may be underinflated.


Low tire pressure can cause several driver safety hazards as well as environmental problems. Tires with too little air can experience failure, tread separation and blowouts. Underinflation also shortens tire life span and decreases a vehicle's gas mileage, NHTSA said."


Want to try again?

Minimal research will substantiate that overinflation will benefit handling/cornering, braking, tire wear/life, and fuel economy. This discussion is way too old to rehash for the unconvinced.

Steve > 2012 Fiat Abarth

Agreed

Underflated in this case would be below manufacturers specs, not comparing 35 PSI to 44 PSI.


Low tire pressures do what you stated, but that statement is geared towards vehicles with far less than normal pressures, 35 PSI is hardly underinflated...which is my point.

You can roll on at 44 PSI, it's just not ideal since you don't have maximum traction.