Agreed. I even tried calling the two dealers in town to see what they recommended, and they were both absolutely clueless as to what LRR even meant. Completely useless.

 

I don't have any issues with my OEM Dunlops when its dry, but the performance in wet roads is a little disconcerting.

However, what I find most . . . hmmm, almost frightening I'll say . . . is the performance in the wind. I feel like I'm blown around in this car fairly easily and significantly. Last night we had some major storms in the area, I was driving through downtown on my way home on the interstate and the wind was strong (radio said gusts up to 60mph), and I literally felt like I might be blown off the road (and it was an interchange on a bunch of overpasses - long drop ). Last night was extreme, but it doesn't take much wind for me to really feel it moving me about my lane.

I'm not sure if this is a function of the tire, but it's my only guess because I'm sure the HCH is heavier than my old Focus was and I never had these issues in that.

 

I don't even have my HCH II yet and I'm already thinking of what to replace the tires with when they wear out (I just enjoy understanding the whole picture of hybrid ownership). But as someone mentioned in this thread (I think; I've seen several threads at various forums on this and they're melding), Consumer Reports does rate rolling resistance, so assuming their testing is accurate, that's probably the best gauge for the moment.

 

I noticed no difference in FE after the switch. The main reason for the switch was not to affect FE in a negative way but to improve handling, especially in the RAIN. FE did not suffer at all, but handling greatly improved especially in the rain.

 

Thanks that's great to know. Esp, as I already use Blizzacks in the winter months.

I'll definately have to check out the HTRs when the OEs wear out.

Oh, and the price is hard to beat -- $53 each right now!

 

I think they are $43. I bought them when they were at $38. (www.tirerack.com)

 

Can someone please post up this consumer report that's been mentioned?

I was under the impression that the energy was michelin's LRR series tire.

 

I posted some info from the CR website here.

 

I put on Bridgestone Turanza Serenities, to cut noise and improve ride comfort. Was pleasantly surprised, have seen a 1-2 mpg cut in mileage

 

Update on my mileage (updating the original post of this thread):

After 5000 miles on these michelins, I am now getting around 42 mpg per tank, where I was averaging before in the high 43 to low 44 range. So if I assume the break-in for these tires has transpired, then I conclude that these tires cost me about 2 mpg compared to the Dunlops. I bought the car (with the dunlops on it) at 14k mi, so I have no early data from the Dunlop tires. It's possible that I have yet to see the best from my new tires, but so far it looks like about a 4.5% drop.