Improve your fuel economy!

[Trevor@TireRack.com]

Michelin, Yokohama, and Bridgestone have all released new LRR tires this past year. They increase fuel economy with out sacrificing wet, or ice or snow traction.

Michelin Defender


Yokohama AVID Ascend


Bridgestone Ecopia EP422


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[Geezer]

Hey Trevor, I'm all in favor of getting better fuel economy. My concern is that these newer "fuel efficient" tires also cost more, sometimes a lot more. Will the increased fuel efficiency offset the increased cost (or hopefully, more than cover the price difference....therefore a real return for the investment) between these and say "regular" tires over the life of the eco tire? Has Tirerack thought about doing an independent analysis as to whether these tires will actually save your customers money over the usable life of the tire?

[Trevor@TireRack.com]

We have not done an internal analysis on total savings. I do have some data on the Michelin Defender though...

@ $3.50/gallon (I wish I was only paying that) you can save up to $250/yr.

Keep in mind that these new LRR last quite a bit longer than a typical non LLR tire in the same performance category. For instance a T speed rated Defender warranties for 90K. 90K is a little high, but with proper care, 80K is realistic. Compare that to a Hankook Optimo H727 which warranties for 100K, but will only get you 60K. Even though they are LRR their performance(wet, dry, ice & snow traction) is up to par if not better than the best non-LRR tires in their respective performance category.

Personally, I do think they are worth the investment.

[ElectricAL]

I will take your word for it that they are worth it and the extra tire cost will be offset by long-term fuel savings. But no way can anybody convince me that a tire without any kind of open lug design is gonna do anything but mostly spin in the snow (although the Michelin does look like it has a fair amount of siping). Sorry for being a skeptic in that regard.

[Geezer]

Sorry, but in my old age I've learned to take manufacturers claims with some cautious pessimism. Rarely do we know what they are using to generate their numbers. For example, what tire or tires did they compare the new tire to to come with what appears to be some pretty substantial savings (and how many miles a year were they basing that claim on). That's why I was suggesting that maybe the Rack could do some reasonably unbiased testing like you do with other tires. This test may, however, include some different numbers crunching.

[ranger97]

I just had Bridgestone Ecopia EP 422 p195/60r15 installed on my Focus. Too early to tell about fuel economy yet.

However one thing I have noticed that I hadn't before, the odometer seems to be turning way too fast. I will have to check it on the open road, but today I checked a trip that mapquest said was 2.75 miles, my trip meter had it at 3.0 miles.

[ranger97]

The original were Hankook Optimos with about 42,000 miles on them. Two definitely needed to be replaced due to the inside edge wear (rear), some cupping on the right. The front drivers side had inside edge wear and center wear but not to the bars. The passenger side front still has a lot of good tread.

[dooor]

Can anyone rate these LRR tires for noise?

[Levi05]

I've been reading the customer reviews on tireracks website and I've noticed alot of people complaining about getting LESS mileage with the LRR tires, compared to whatever tire they used before. So are there any good scientific tests showing how good they work??

Also, looking at the spec sheets, I've noticed that tires of the same listed "size" have different actual circumfrences (equalling different revs per mile). Could that be messing up the customers calculations?

[tmittelstaedt]

I am also quite skeptical on these claims. Keep in mind that tire patents, like any other patents, only last 20 years. Meaning that it is open season on all tread and tire designs from 1992 and earlier. And tire manufacturers were making these same claims well before 1992.

The one thing that I don't see tire manufacturers really striving for is making a less expensive tire.