My new daily

[Duck Vader]

Drove the Jeep on Friday. That sucked. After being used to driving a nice riding, comfortable, quiet, decent handling car, the Jeep was horrible. I don't even fit in it right. Head is up against the roof when driving and everything. Now if I could just convince the wife to sell.

[Jeff V.]

Sounds like when I get out of my truck and go to my Audi, or vice versa

[Duck Vader]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Sounds like when I get out of my truck and go to my Audi, or vice versa [/quote]

Ya. That is anothing ding against getting an older muscle car. The older I get the more I like refinement.

[Duck Vader]

So this hsppened today on my way home.

Went from full pressure to 4 psi in about 5 miles.

[Boostaddict]

Had that happen in my volt a few weeks ago. Sucked to have to use the slime compressor but I had no other choice. Luckily my near new tire was patched and seems to be doing fine. You can get slime replacement canisters for the compressor for about $33 which isn't bad.

[Duck Vader]

Don't trust going long term with the slime though. These are stock factory tires with almost 50k miles on them. Probably time to think about swapping in some new rubber.

Problem is I have no idea what tires to use.

Narrowed it down to these ones:

Factory tires I have on there now:
Goodyear ASSURANCE FUEL MAX - Don't really have the greatest reviews and road noise is really bad.

Best Rated and most recommended LRR replacements:
Bridgestone ECOPIA EP422 PLUS - Haven't seen much complaints about these, problem is they suck in snow and ice.
Michelin ENERGY SAVER A/S - Overall a bit better than the Goodyears, but worse ratings in snow/ice. Pretty sure this is what comes on the 2nd gen volts as standard now?

Best Overall tire:
Continental TRUECONTACT EcoPlus - Best traction/road noise, but most see a 10-15% drop in electric distance. Right now I get about 42 miles per charge. That would drop me to about 35-38 in the summer.



But the prices are also a consideration (for 4 tires from Tire Rack).

Goodyears = $565
Bridgestones = $580 ($510 after rebate)
Michelins = $785 ($715 after rebate)
Continentals = $452 ($382 after rebate)

So if going off cost alone, and I compare the Bridgestones to the Continentals, that is a $130 difference. With the Conti, say I drop to 35 miles per charge. That is 7 more miles on gas vs electric. I average about 35 mpg on gas. So that is 30 more miles a week on gas. Which is 1560 miles a year. Or 45 gallons of gas, which at about $3.00 a gallon (Volt requires premium), comes out to about $130. So at the end of one year I would break even on savings. Say the tires will probably last 5-6 years. That is $650-780. Is it worth that much for the "better all around" tire?

[mjannusch]

That reminds me: I was thinking about getting some winter wheels with better winter tires for the Volt this year. The stock tires kind of suck in the cold/snow.

[Duck Vader]

I am really debating on getting the contis. More research is showing after break in it seem to be about a 5% loss in mileage. The extra traction will be nice since I am a more aggressive driver than most.

Also debating on getting new wheels with it, maybe something lighter to help improve efficiency?

[Duck Vader]

Actually the wheels are only 19 lbs. That is already pretty light. 17" wheels, 7" width.

More info on the tires I am debating on:

[Duck Vader]

Biggest issue it seems is that the Contis are T rated, rest are V rated...

[mjannusch]

[quote=""Duck Vader""]Biggest issue it seems is that the Contis are T rated, rest are V rated...[/quote]
I don't think you are going to be running 118 mph+ in a Volt...

[Duck Vader]

Can't find anyone willing to install them for me.


Might look at Michelin Premier a/s tires. Excellent ratings and can get them for about the same price installed as the rest.

I think they are lrr tires

[Duck Vader]

These are the ones I am talking about.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js ... toModClar=

I can get them installed at Costco for $665.96

[Chris GTO TT]

[quote=""Duck Vader""]These are the ones I am talking about.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js ... toModClar=

I can get them installed at Costco for $665.96[/quote]
We have a set of those in 235/65 /17 on our Outback and are pretty happy with them.

[Duck Vader]

Just ordered them. Ugh. So much $.

[vr4]

[quote=""Duck Vader""]Can't find anyone willing to install them for me.


Might look at Michelin Premier a/s tires. Excellent ratings and can get them for about the same price installed as the rest.

I think they are lrr tires[/quote]

Tirerack has a listing for local installers. My local Les Schwab will install anything I take them (within reason). Also many independent shops that do tires will install for you.

For future reference I'll likely have a tire machine this time next year

[Boostaddict]

I have the contis on my volt. Bought them about 3 months before I used the slime last month (and yes my tire was appropriately cleaned and patched afterwards). I had no decrease in fuel efficiency after switching from my old crappy goodyear fuel max. No regrets.

Oh, and for future reference, the Walmart had the best installed price for the Continentals when I got them but I had a local Belle Tire price-match them for me. I paid ~ $554 out the door with road warranties.

[Duck Vader]

This was my thought process:

Contis from tire rack after shipping: $525. If I could have found someone to install, maybe it would have ran about say $75 to install? So say $600 total.

I can got the Michelin Premier A/S - a tire that fits all the requirements (speed, LRR, load) etc. For $60 more out the door. I also have my CPO warranty. Figured better use a tire that meets or exceeds factory specs so that in case something happens they can't blame the tires.

Also, the Premier and Contis have almost damn near identical ratings, if not better for the Premier.

[Duck Vader]

According to UPS the tires should be at Costco on Friday. Can't wait to try them out. Keep reading good things about them.

[Duck Vader]

Had them now for a couple weeks. So much nicer of a tire. Only lost about 2 miles per charge too. Not bad.