Low Rolling Restistance tires in 165/65/14

[Spule 4]

Originally Posted by cems70

Right...I completely forgot about the Quatrac 2. I did quite a bit of research on this tire a year ago. I even contacted Vredestein to get some test results on the coefficient of drag compared to other tires, but they wouldn't release any info. I decided against the Quatracs because they cost substantially more shipped to my door than other more common tires from a local tire dealer. The Sumitomo HTR T4 that I bought a few weeks ago were on sale (size 175/70/13) for $34.99 each. Size 165/70/13 were $47 each (never on sale due to the odd size).

Steve

I had mixed results with Quatrac 2s as far as wear and noise. FE was about the same as the Bridgestone Turanzas I normally ran on the car (1992 Camry 2.2 wagon). Here is the car right as it turned 200K miles. A shame, as I had used older type Verdes on Citroen DS and GS cars before.



I for one would also look at the Nokian i3. The TDI/Prius guys seem to agree on them (if nothing else!)

I just asked if the European market Michelin Energy would be imported to the US, the reply was "no", and they thought I was looking at the MXV4?!?! The Primacy is to be a good tire, but nothing under 13"..... Michelin used to sell in the US such good tires.....

Hello Mr. Rea,

Thank you for your email. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

We are sorry that we cannot help you with your request for the Michelin
Energy MXV4 tires. We have just introduced the newest "energy" tire: the
Primacy MXV4. It features lower rolling resistance for better gas mileage.
However, the smallest sizes are in 15 inch sizes; the same is true for all
of the previous generations that are still in production: the Energy MXV4 S8
and the Energy MXV4 Plus. Should the automobile manufacturers begin
importing some of the smaller vehicles to the U.S., we may introduce some
smaller sized tires as replacements.

If your questions have not been answered to your satisfaction, please call
me at 1-800-847-3435 (toll-free) between 8:30AM and 6:00PM Eastern Time
Monday through Friday.

Sincerely,

Mike L.
Michelin North America
Consumer Relations


Also, in Europa TUeV has done some work on this matter as far as reporting, even tho we do not get this in the US. Info in my post at FitFreak:

http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/eco-f...tire-time.html

My post there sums up why I do not think that LRR tires will be an issue taken seriously in the US. Treadwear and out the door price are the selling point of tires, long term cost benefit analysis is not a common thing to most of us Yanks?

Dunno......

[cems70]

Originally Posted by Spule 4

I had mixed results with Quatrac 2s as far as wear and noise. FE was about the same as the Bridgestone Turanzas I normally ran on the car (1992 Camry 2.2 wagon). Here is the car right as it turned 200K miles. A shame, as I had used older type Verdes on Citroen DS and GS cars before.

I for one would also look at the Nokian i3. The TDI/Prius guys seem to agree on them (if nothing else!)

Spule,

Thanks for the feedback on the Quatrac 2. I would have always wondered if their LRR was better than other tires. Now I know they're probably on par w/ lots of other LRR tires.

I went through 2 sets of Nokian NRT2 165/70/13 tires on my previous Civic VX and I loved them for their awesome performance and LRR. Sadly, Nokian does not make any 13" tire for the US market any more, so the i3 (nor any other Nokian tire) is an option for McPatrick's 13" rim.

[McPatrick]

us Yanks?

Spule 4: that looks like a very Dutch license plate there... The road on the other hand looks to be American.

[Spule 4]

Originally Posted by cems70

Spule,

Thanks for the feedback on the Quatrac 2. I would have always wondered if their LRR was better than other tires. Now I know they're probably on par w/ lots of other LRR tires.

I went through 2 sets of Nokian NRT2 165/70/13 tires on my previous Civic VX and I loved them for their awesome performance and LRR. Sadly, Nokian does not make any 13" tire for the US market any more, so the i3 (nor any other Nokian tire) is an option for McPatrick's 13" rim.

Wow, never noticed that the 13" tires were not sold in the US. The last time I bought 12" tires for my Metro, I was warned by a local dealer that the days for a lot of options for 12" and 13" tires being commonly available were coming to an end.....and I had to get Kumho 12" tires from TireRack for the Met instead of locally.

I do know the last two sets of Nokia tires I got were 165SR 15, and no such tires anymore for older European imports.

[Spule 4]

Originally Posted by McPatrick

Spule 4: that looks like a very Dutch license plate there... The road on the other hand looks to be American.

Good eye.

[McPatrick]

I found someone selling 155/80/13 Kumho Touring 795 A/S here http://tireandwheelchoices.com/tire_kumho.cfm?mid=163.

The speedometer will be 3 percent of which doesn't worry me too much. I wonder though if they would fit on the original VX rims? I know you could go up from 165 to 175 but could you go down to 155 as well? Seems like if it would it would benefit the FE to go for 155 because the contact surface with the road is less big and the wheel well will be closed up a bit more to since it would be 80 instead of 70...

[GasSavers_Ryland]

For my vx I have 155/80-13 snow tires, and they work great! the vx rims take 155/80-13 tires perfectly, I've had 175/70-13" on hondas befor, and I would never make that mistake again! even at 45psi they are slugish, unless you are doing some sort of extream racing they are way wider then any reasonable person could ever need, and heavy to boot.
altho it does seem dificult to find quality tires in the 155/80 size, I'm sure it can be done.

[McPatrick]

Thanks for confirming that tire size would fit Ryland. Since I can get those Kumho's in that size and they have been tested good as a LRR tire I think I will go for those then.

[McPatrick]

Ok, just bought those 155/80 R13 Kumho's online. Shipping was free so the total was only $150. Will post later how it works out...

[GasSavers_Ryland]

the last time I bought tires I bought them online as well, then I took them in to a small local mecanic, and because I had a 2nd set of rims was able to tell him that he could take his time to get them done, and because of that I got a
"not a jerk" discount, paying a total of $20 to have 4 tires mounted and ballenced, as the car never had to go on a lift, and I wasn't in a rush.