LRR Suggestions

[Sean88]

I'm looking to replace the tires on my '92 Civic Si and wanted to get the best tires for FE. The rims are 14" and from an Accord. I think they are 5.5" wide. Based on my reading I'm looking at the following options.

Bridgestone Potenza RE92 165/65SR14
Bridgestone B381 185/70SR14
Dunlop SP20 FE 185/70SR14

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Sean

[ketel0ne]

I have the Potenza's on my Yaris, not a bad tire from my point of view, but I have read horrible reviews. I put 44psi in them and the ride is harder than stock but I expected that.

Early US Prius came with the Potenza, Canadian prius came with the Dunlop SP10

[Matt Timion]

Krousdb put the Honda Insight tires on his 14" rims. I think it would be best to figure out which tires they put on the Insight and get them on your car.

[Sean88]

I think it would be best to figure out which tires they put on the Insight and get them on your car.

Those would be the Potenzas. I should have added to my previous post that the Potenzas are Insight OEM and the other two 2005 HCH OEM. I'm definitely leaning torwards the Potenzas but wanted to see if anyone had better results with something else.

[Matt Timion]

Those would be the Potenzas. I should have added to my previous post that the Potenzas are Insight OEM and the other two 2005 HCH OEM. I'm definitely leaning torwards the Potenzas but wanted to see if anyone had better results with something else.

Ah, gotcha. I don't think many tests have been done comparing different LRR tires. Unfortunately, tire companies don't even really keep track of rolling resistance coefficients for their tires, so it's not even something they are concerned about.

I imagine they are very similar. Perhaps a call to the manufacturer of the tires is in order.

[Sean88]

Great idea. Just got off the phone with Bridgestone tech. The person I talked to did not have much information and did not indicate that there was anyone else who might have more info. They did indicate that the OEM tires would give the best mileage due to CAFE requirements. They also said that OEM tires have a slightly softer compound which gives better fuel efficiency and better handling. This did not entirely make sense but just passing along what Bridgestone had to say. I'm going to try a few more and see if I can get better info.

Sean

[Sean88]

Not much better at Dunlop/Goodyear and Michelin. The Dunlop rep had no info at all and even asked a senior rep who also had no info. No reference, nada.

The michelin rep indicated that they had the MX line of tires that was somewhat designed to give Lrr by incorporating silica in the tread compound.

http://www.michelinman.com/overview/energy_mxv4_plus/95.html

They don't have any data or studies to back this up though and there is only one tire in the 14" rim size and none in 13".

This is definitely not an area where tire manufacturers are doing a whole lot.

[SVOboy]

*sigh* at tire manufacturers. Perhaps you could call honda and find someone that knows about the tire selections process (since all these tires are on hondas)

[Sludgy]

Here's a link to lrr tire data:

http://www.greenseal.org/resources/reports/CGR_tire_rollingresistance.pdf

[Matt Timion]

Here's a link to lrr tire data:

http://www.greenseal.org/resources/reports/CGR_tire_rollingresistance.pdf

This link has been passed around a bit here... unfortunately it's 3 years old and I think some of the tires listed on that PDF are no longer in production.

[rh77]

This link has been passed around a bit here... unfortunately it's 3 years old and I think some of the tires listed on that PDF are no longer in production.

I read online somewhere that Green Seal performed a new LRR Tire test recently, and has yet to publish the results -- I haven't found anything yet -- keep an eye out for it :rolleyes:

RH77

[AlexK]

I have the Potenzas on my Yaris also. I don't like them but now that I know they are LRR I will cut them some slack. My Yaris tends to grab every line in the road and also you can feel any side wind blowing the car around. These are the only tires I've tried on it so far so it could just be the car, but I've had a lot of different cars with a lot of different tires... it feels like the tires to me. Cornering seems to be just fine (no squealing yet, and I take 'em fast to preserve momentum).

[ZugyNA]

http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/ultra5.htm

"Find a size and brand that fits your car. If your original tire size is 185, go to a 195 tire, etc. Keep the same wheel (rim size) of course. Look at the tire catalog for the specs on tire diameters. We have found over the years that Yokohama tires give great traction in winter, have a great tire pattern and are cost effective. Another way to bigger tires is to keep the same width but use a taller height of the tire like this example: 185 35 R15 to 185 45 R15."

[SVOboy]

Someone should tell my yokohama to stop sliding all over the place in the snow. Once I did a 360 into an intersection though, that was pretty cool.

[rh77]

...and by the way, Dunlop's idea of "Customer Service" is one of their "Corporate Lawyers" calling you to tell you the tire failure was not their fault. I will never buy another Dunlop as long as I live.

RH77

[ZugyNA]

Someone should tell my yokohama to stop sliding all over the place in the snow. Once I did a 360 into an intersection though, that was pretty cool.

I've never tried them...like the Kumho Ecsta 60 series a lot.

[SVOboy]

I like mine a lot, it was just that one trip to school that I almost died so many times.

[Compaq888]

I believe the Kumho I had were LRR. I don't have any data to support it.:(

[Sean88]

Found the following discussion that mentioned a Consumer Reports study in 2005 that classified tires with respect to LRR.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=141306&page=1

Gary, the only thing I can point you to is Consumer Reports' recent (11/05) test of 18 all season passenger car tires. They ran the tires on dynamometers to determine the amount of drag each tire produced. They then grouped them in broad categories of "Excellent" (5 out of 5) to "Poor" (1 out of 5), so there could certainly be statistical variations within each of those rankings. CR has also included the "Rolling Resistance" ranking on a few of their more recent tire tests in the last few years.

One of the guys bought some Falken ZE 512 tires based on the results from the study but didn't notice any improvement in FE. Has anyone seen that study? I think one of my relatives subscribes so I'll try and track it down.

[Ted Hart]

...and by the way, Dunlop's idea of "Customer Service" is one of their "Corporate Lawyers" calling you to tell you the tire failure was not their fault. I will never buy another Dunlop as long as I live.

RH77

Me. neither! "Done Lops" ain't hitting on much!! IMO, of course....-whitevette

[Sean88]

Just found some more information from trb.org.

http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=5973

And a pdf showing RR of an assortment of tires.

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/SR286Rolling_Resistance_Data.pdf

The table also shows weights of tires.

[SVOboy]

:thumbup:, nice find, I'll toss this stuff in the FAQ right now before I forget.