jbrandt04330 — The factory Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 tires have ratings of:
Treadwear 440
Traction A
Temperature A

Stan

 

I got 35,000 out of my bridgestones driving easy, and rotating them every 5,000 miles. I think they should have lasted even longer though. They just don't have near as much tread on them to begine with though.

 

Count yourself among the lucky ones.

The TigerPaws were put on the car this past Sunday and today (Tuesday) it snowed. The Paws have a treadwear rating of 560 and handled very well in the slushy snow today.

Sears measured the tread on the Bridgestones and it showed 4/32 left on all four tires and even across the entire tire. The salesperson thought I might have gotten 5,000-7,000 more miles on them, but cautioned that at 3/32 the tires lose their grip and 2/32 fail inspection. So, they were pretty badly wore.

I am not surprised to hear the factory installed Michelin are rated with a much higher treadwear.

Let this be a lesson to anyone considering buying a TCH - insist on Michelins and don't accept a car with Bridgestones if they come with these inferior tires.

 

25K miles later, my Bridgestones are in dire need of replacements. I've always rotated the tires every 5k along with an oil change. I'm upset they didn't last any longer.

Anyways, I am a fan of Falken tires and am planning to put the Falken Ziex ZE912's on it. I've only heard some stories of people losing 2-5mpg when they put on non-LRR's and would like to know if these are isolated incidents or more of a general effect.

So I guess my question is, who of you out there have put non-LRR's and have you noticed a 2-5mpg drop because of it? The Falken's are under 100 bucks per tire and have a 65K warranty, so to me they are very desireable over the OEM's which dont last as long and are almost twice as expensive.

I could live with a "slight" mileage drop, but I'm curious to see what the average mileage drop (if any) would be. Also, please post what non-LRR tire you are using and what you recommend.

Some Specs:
Falken: (from mft. website)
Weight: 25lbs
Max Load: 1709
UTGQ: 480AA
RPM: 808


BridgeStone (OEM): (from tirerack.com)
Weight: 23lbs
Max Load 1477
UTGQ: 260AA
RPM: 795

Michelin (OEM)
Weight: 24lbs
Max Load: 1477
UTGQ: 440AA
RPM: 793


Thanks!

 

Earlier I posted about my change from Turanza to ResponsEdge, and how I lost about 4mpg. In November I changed to Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice tires for ski season, and my mileage jumped back up to 38.0 overall, and 40mpg on my 220 mile round trips to Crystal Mtn., regardless of temperature, and they're quieter too!

The ride is soft and comfortable. I have 4,000 mi. on them, and this week I'll change back to my ResponsEdge tires and examine the ice tires for wear. I don't expect a lot of miles from them, but I love the way they stick to snow and ice.

With the TCH's traction control, and with the ice tires, I feel incredibly safe in icy spots . In fact, Saturday evening I drove through a short stretch of highway which was completely coated with small hail, causing drivers to slide right off the road. The road was lined with cars parked to avoid more sliding, and I wanted to get as far away as I could, and soon, and had no problem easing through the mess.

 

I was browsing Pirelli's site and for the European customer, they have a "P3000 Energy" tire that has a low rolling resistance profile. I've check the USA's tire shops online and they only carry the P3000

On another note, does anyone have any Pirelli's on their TCH? How's the mileage?

 

Alrighty, after shopping online and finding the Falken Ziex ZE912's for $60/ea, I called up Discount tire here in Washington and they agreed to match the price with shipping, which turned out to $78/tire.

They also offered Yokohama's Yk520's for the same price ($100/tire on their website). With their 30-day ride guarantee I agreed to the Yokohama's. I'll see how it goes and if I dont like it, I'll have them put on the Falken's.

Some stats on the Yokohama YK520:
Thread Depth: 11/32
RPM: 792
Max Load: 1521
Weight: unlisted

 

Much of the difference in tire wear is due to differences in road construction. Of course driving habit matters. But there are at least three major factors, in addition to driving habit:

1. Straight roads will give less tire wear than crooked roads. The side-forces encountered in the curves directly wear the tread. And the same side-forces cause the the side walls to flex against the rims, which lets air escape through that joint, so the tires loose pressure more quickly than they would on straight roads.

2. The type of rock used to make the macadam road matters. Roads made from smooth river gravel allow tires to last many thousands of extra miles. Roads made from highly abrasive material cause tires to wear out very quickly. In Florida, where I live, the roads are made from coral rock, which is extremely abrasive.

3. The temperature of the road matters. Hot road melts the rubber faster than cold or cool road. Up north, the roads are basically frozen about half the year, and are not particularly hot even in the summer. In places like Florida, the roads are hot year round. (Just hotter in the summer than in the winter.)

 

After almost a week since I got my new tires, I noticed that I'm averaging about 36.2mpg as opposed to the 38.1 I was averaging right before I put on the new tires. The temperature has been on the colder side of things and may be affecting my average since the ICE is on longer.

In any case, if it is a drop of almost 2mpg, I'm happy with walking away with a good set of tires that have a 75k mile warranty (although I'm really expecting it to last about 40-50k)

 

Geckoboy your drop in mpg might be that the tires are so new. With new tires I usually run all four at 35 psi cold. After the first rotation at 5000 miles I start to play with the tire pressure. I air them up till they feel uncomfortable usually at 38 psi. I had many sets of tires that went for many mile by using 35 psi.

My TCH came with michelin Energy tires. I read some of the guys here ran 40 to 42 in them. I tried 40 and found they still rode smooth.

Your brand of tires may not be safe or at the pressure. Be sure to check your max pressure on the sidewall.

In the past I bought another brand of tires other than the ones that came on a Chevrolet. I lost 2 and 3 mpg in the process. I aired them a few pounds to help compensate. I read on the tirerack site than oem tires are designed for a smooth ride and to get good gas mileage. If I go to another brand or tire, I try make sure its in the oem list of tires.