There is no question the Eco-Plus tires will last longer if you can stand the noise but I gave that up at 70,000 miles when I couldn't stand it anymore. I replaced my '05 FEH Front Eco-Plus 25,000 miles ago because of tire damage with the Tours and saw an increase in MPG. I took the rear Eco-Plus off my '05 FEH and put my used Tours on the front of my '09 FEH with 25,000 miles on the rear rims of my '05 FEH. Now I have a full set of Tours with about 25,000 miles on them all, which are still much quieter than the Eco-Plus at 25,000 miles.

The big news is I expect terrible tank mileage averages in my '05 FEH with E10 and my wife driving all the time with Max A/C. Since I changed the Eco-Plus rear tires with the Tours, I have notice a clear 1 1/2 - 2mpg improvement in her tank average. There is no such thing as her changing her driving habits so I know it was the Tours that changed her tank average.

GaryG

 

I'm contemplating putting on a set of goodyear Fortera TripleTred's on my 08 FEH. Has anyone put a set on theirs? If so, difference in mileage?

 

I have four of these as my "winter" season tires. They are very good for where snow, ice and winter conditions exist. There is a hit in mileage-around 1-1.5 mpg- compared to the stock Eco Plus tires. When the 2005 hybrid arrived, Ford advertised the stock Eco Plus tires are being either 3 or 5% more efficient than compared to "other" tires.

 

I can vouch for the fact that my Tours, after almost 15K miles now on them, are still VERY quiet, have not decreased my mileage any measurable amount, and...in fact.....seem to have increased my mileage almost 1.3 MPG over the OEM tires on my '08 FEH.

I was originally worried that my MPG would be 1-3MPG lower...didn't happen. Very happy about that.

The tours were expensive...no doubt about that. But, I"m pleased with the benefits so far. Stay tuned....

GR

 

The quietness of the tire is the material and cut of the tread and the LRR has much to do with the weight of the tire and rim.


The stock FEH Rim is 2.2 pounds lighter than my new '09 FEHL Rim which is 20.4 pounds. The standard FEH Rim weighs 18.2 pounds. If you add the new Eco Plus at 31 pounds, the total weigh is 49.2 pounds. If you replace the Eco Plus tires with the new Michelins, the standard FEH Rim and Michelin tire would weigh 47.6 pounds each. This is what my new tires and Rims weigh on the front of my '05 FEH. The FEHL Rim and Michelin Latitude Tour tires weighed 49.8 pounds, which is .6 pounds more than the stock FEH rim and the Eco Plus. The folks that got the '09 FEH non Limited models have the 47.6 pound tire and Rim set-up. If you replace the Eco-Plus tires with the Tours, you get the best MPG LRR set-up possible. As the Tours wear, they get lighter and become even more LRR. This is the best way to increase your gas mileage without changing your driving habits.


GaryG

 

I'm not quite sure what the value is in comparing a current production tire with one that is no longer in production (Eco Plus). I notice Continental is selling a new version now anyways, so perhaps they got the message a while ago that the tire could use improvement.
On a similar note, from looking at the Tire Rack website, there are now 8 different LRR tires in the OEM FEH size (235/70-16), from brands such as Bridgestone, Kumho, General, and Pirelli in addition to Michelin and Continental. Hopefully drivers with those tires will post up their reviews as they install them. It's great to see that there is now a wider market for fuel efficient tires!
I was curious what the options are on 16" lightweight forged wheels that would fit an Escape. Anyone here have that info on that?

 

Light weight is the key to rims and tires for better MPG. When I took my used 25,000 mile Tours off my '09 FEH and replaced them with new ones, I'm getting worse mileage now. I can feel and see that the roll resistance increased from the lighter older worn Tours to a new full tread Tour.

When you look at comparing any of you old worn tires to new, your looking at in some cases a lighter new tire being judged by a worn tire that has a reduced weight because most of the rubber is gone.

Most of the rubber on my Eco-Plus was gone and I replaced them with the used Tours with most of the rubber gone. This is a true comparison of LRR tires. If I had replaced the Eco-Plus used tires with new Tours, I bet I would not have seen the big improvement I did with the used Tours. The noise was an open and closed case comparing the two.

Replacing the used Tours with new Tours on the front of my '09 FEH eliminated any tire noise and my '09 now rides like new again. This is why I'm against rotating the FEH all terrain tires. Why put noises front tire on the back and make noises tires from the back by putting them on the front?

Anyway, I'm not against other tire makers but it seems Ford engineers spent a lot of time and money developing the LRR Eco-Plus and the Michelin Latitude Tours LRR tires for the FEH. I've bought all of my Eco-Plus and Tours from my Ford dealer that have been on both of my FEHs. I only paid a total of $30 to my local tire store to make all the changes and balance my tires the other day and now I have a perfect '09 with no tire noise and an '05 FEH with much less noise and better MPG. They both have full size Eco-Plus tires and matching rim spares.

GaryG

 

The Grabbers are 33 pounds and a new Eco-Plus is 31 pounds so you are going to take a fairly good hit in MPG. The fact that your old Eco-Plus are lighter now because of being worn, your going to see an even bigger hit with the new Grabbers. The Standard FEH rim and Eco-Plus new weighs 49.2 pounds but your most likely at around 46.0 pounds each because of the wear. The new Grabbers and the rims will put you at 51.2 pounds each. The Tours would put you at 47.6 pounds new with the rims.

The Tours are top of the line handling, stopping, and ride. The sidewalls are thinner and this makes them lighter and more flexible over bumps. I've read everything about the design of the Tours and they've lived up to the Ford and Michelin claims. The Tours are much better than the cheaper Eco-Plus but the quality, safety, and better MPG is worth paying more to me. What I'm trying to say is, you get what you pay for sometimes. There is nothing easier to get better mileage or worst mileage than simply changing tires. Handling and safety is just as easy.

GaryG