OK, attached is my 4-year MPG spreadsheet on my Prius. Remember that your HH is heavier and uses larger tires so YMMV. I ran my Integrity tires (Yuk) for 45k miles, Michelin MXV4+ "Energy Saving" Tires for 55k Miles (Very nice tires, could have gone 60k, somewhat better MPG and much better handling), and now have Nokian WR tires (early results - even better MPG, great wet and snow traction, expect 50-60k miles, a little noisy - less with the WRg2, and again good handling).

JeffD

 

I ordered Goodyear Fortera Triple treads today, then mentioned how well my HH towed our little travel trailer. The tire guys said no way should I tow with Triple Treads and proceeded to look through their catalogs to see what they could sell that would give me good towing and good mileage. The Integritys that came on the car are thoroughly shot at 37k miles and we usually get double the predicted life of our tires.

What would you suggest as a good compromise between mileage and towing safety?

 

You didn't mention car year. I don't know about 2008 and beyond, but 2007 and earlier models have an odd size wheel which limits our choices. I'm trying to remember the brand that comes on the Lexus, but I believe it is an good (not excellent) low rolling resistance (LRR) tire. I think its Michilan...XL4 or something like that.

Last time I looked Goodyear didn't have any good LRR tires that would fit. I'm hoping that changes as I have been using goodyear for a long time and our favorite auto shop is a goodyear company.

 

That makes absolutely NO SENSE AT ALL. While it is true that the Fortera is not a super "low rolling resistance" tire, that is more applicable to the fuel economy rather than towards any detriment in regards to TOWING. Did he give you ANY logic behind why the Fortera "might" not be suitable for towing?

As far as the wear on the Goodyears goes... you did well to get 37K out of them. We only go 22K and we also typically get far more miles out of our previous sets of tires on multiple cars. I think Goodyear had a bad batch or two of those Integrity's because the local Goodyear dealer here ended up replacing ours and granting us full credit for the faulty tires towards our Fortera Triple Tread's we put on this past winter. I've had a number of tires and the Triple Tread was BY FAR the BEST winter/snow tire I have EVER had (in my 35 years of diving).

BTW - There is no rating or standards for low resistance tires available that is less than 5 years old.

 

Oops-- yes, it is the oddly sized 2006, equiped with 225/65R17. Fitting it up was definitely the problem. I had two very enthusiastic guys at the local Navy base autoshop trying to find something appropriate that would fit. They came up with one Firestone, but told me there were probably better tires out there, just not available to them.

I know they are only available in the west, but has anyone had any experience with Les Schwab tires (http://lesschwab.com/)? I've had very good luck with them through the years on cars, trucks and one old tractor.

From what I gleaned from the Navy guys I need a combination of maximum plys and all weather treads on a light truck tire for towing safety. What tire features determine LRR?

Ndabunka-- it was the reletively small number of plys on the Fortera that concerned them. They said towing requires more plys to absorb the added trailer weight.

 

There is always a second option, don't get just tires. Get wheels and tires. Since you often only get 2/4 sets of tires in a cars lifetime, I'm not just the extra cost of a set of wheels can really be justified. But large wheel supporting a low-profile, LRR tire could safe might may for itself...maybe.

ndabunka, I wouldn't say that is completely true about rating and 5 years. Actually most of the good data is even younger than than, and we probably will have to wait till CA's standards go into effect to see ratings on most tires. However I have, in the past, found mileage comparison between tires and some of those go back more than 5 years. Saddly all the new interest in LRR and all the people writing about it have buried that older stuff and I can't find it anymore. Probably isn't relivent anyway since even a tire of the same name would be improved a little year to year with new compounds and/or tread design.

 

Our last family car was a Previa and it ran well for most of its 14 years/240K miles, with two girls taught to drive stick. We did, however, burn through a lot of tires in the first half of its "life" before a non-Toyota mechanic convinced us to buy a larger tire-- same rims-- that tracked MUCH better and avoided the uneven wear that plagued the factory spec tires. This made me a believer in getting the right tire, but I can't say I've very knowledgeable about the specifics of tire design/performance.
The Integrities did well enough during a snowy trip to Utah, and I felt no problems towing, but looking at the tires the shoulders seem surprisingly worn. They have been regularly rotated by Toy.

 

To identify the tire options just go online to tire rack or Discount tire. While this is a size that not a lot of dealer keep in stock, there are a lot of options avialable (as orderable).

LLR doesn't have good defintition and no standards across the board. Do some searches. I think myself and others have also provided our details on what we found on LLR (or lack of it) in other threads so do a search to find it.

As far as towing, these trunks can ONLY tow 3,500lbs MAX so the plys on the tires on the Forteza's is FAR more than you need. If your towing over 5K lbs then you may need specialty tires but since the Highlander's can't tow that much, it's a mute point anyway, right?

 

Thanks. I went to tirerack.com. Nice resource.

Interesting. There must be a rule of thumb to figure what adds up to what charactaristic in a tire. Stiff walls tend to do this, V-tread does that, multi-plys add up to these factors. Nothing tested and broadly disseminated, tho-- or did you look at the pix, the specs, and the lit and make your purchase decision in some kind of formulation?

Yah, I told the guys that the trailer was only 2800lbs, but they still advised against the Fortera.

Interesting stuff. I'll dig further.

 

Here are some web references for LRR articles. These should give you a decent start on that research...
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=111009
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/09...n-for-the-peu/

Here's a site for tire rebates. I think this one is out of date but they may have other pages that are more applicable to today's market.
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/731371/