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New OEM replacement tires

15K views 27 replies 11 participants last post by  mikeviater  
#1 ·
VOLT owners,

I needed 2 new tires because they were worn down to the depth warning ribs across the tread. After extensive research on this site and others, with self debate, decided to buy 2 of the OEM Michelin Energy Saver All Season 215/50R17 90V, purchased on Amazon for $176.97ea for a total of $388.40 including tax and free shipping. Didn't hunt for a better price because these tires seem to be rare and discontinued. Still don't know if this was the best choice, living in sunny San Diego. the range dropped immediately 4 miles on the guessometer but after 100 miles the range has returned 90% I'd say. What have the forum members experienced? any comments?

Stephen
2017 Volt Premiere
70K mi
 
#2 ·
the range dropped immediately 4 miles on the guessometer but after 100 miles the range has returned 90% I'd say. What have the forum members experienced? any comments?
New tires will generally drop the range for a few hundred miles. That part is normal.

Tire technology has improved from when the Volt was new - there are plenty of threads on tires that are easily obtained and better (in whatever way you want) than the OEM tires.

-Charlie
 
#3 ·
phattyduck,

I don't see hard data in your statement, just an opinion. Since I am happy with the OEM tire performance/mileage and only replaced the two worn tires, I think that buying OEM tires was the best choice for me. In the research could not find any dramatically better tires to buy for my use. listed below is LRR rating for tires available:
  1. Michelin Energy Saver A/S All Season - Best overall low rolling resistance tires
  2. Continental CrossContact LX20 with EcoPlus Technology - Best low rolling resistance tire for SUV’s
  3. Pirelli P4 Four Seasons Plus - Best low rolling resistance tires for wet driving
  4. Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus - Best quiet fuel efficient tire
  5. Michelin X-Ice Xi3 - Best low rolling resistance tire for winter driving
  6. Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max - Best low rolling resistance tire for high-speed stability
  7. Toyo Versado Eco - Best budget low-rolling resistance tire
  8. Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter - Best high mileage tire for enhanced ride comfort
  9. Dunlop EnaSave 01 A/S - Best high mileage tires for electric vehicles
  10. Hankook K425 Kinergy Eco - Best high-performance tire for fuel economy

Stephen

New tires will generally drop the range for a few hundred miles. That part is normal.

Tire technology has improved from when the Volt was new - there are plenty of threads on tires that are easily obtained and better (in whatever way you want) than the OEM tires.

-Charlie
 
#5 ·
When I replaced the OEM GoodYears on my 2011, they had 4/32" tread left and they had lasted 70k miles. They are rated for 65k miles. Given that excellent performance, I bought another set. I do rotate the tires (myself) every 7500 miles. That gives me the opportunity to carefully look for nails, etc. I have caught a number of would-be puncturers before they could complete their mission. I suspect many tire shops/dealers aren't as conscientious. Plus, my new tire positions always get relearned , something that doesn't always happen by tire shops/dealers.
 
#8 ·
We have been looking at the Hankook ST H745 Kinergy and also had the Conti Pure Contact LS the Hankook is lighter than the OE tire and has a 115K kilometer warranty on it and very good ratings and at Wal mart in the US they are only 112 a piece and at Discount tire the Pure Contact LS is 164 a piece the Hankook is 145 at Discount tire and with how often we are in the US it makes sense for us to purchase there rather than paying 206 a tire Canadian, anyone on here have experience with either of those 2 tire options?
 
#11 ·
Guy's,

My range on the GOM is back! I replaced the installed 51569 94V 22 lbs V Speed Rated with the newer, 4lbs lighter (on 2 tires) with 2 new 16798 91H 20 lbs Different Tread Formula. Lifting both tires side by side you can feel the weight difference. Drove only 15 miles but even though the 16798 tires are brand new and the 51569 were worn in I did see an instant improvement. I starting to believe that these Energy Saver A/S tires are the best LLR currently out in the market, only SLRR could be better but they are extremely limited is available sizes that you can buy today. Maybe with the high gas prices there will be incentive to keep further pursuing Lower Rolling Resistance breakthroughs. There always seems to be a tradeoff of comfort, breaking traction, noise etc. Happy with the 16798 91H 20 lbs Different Tread Formula tires, can't wait until I have a set of 4!

Stephen
 
#15 ·
microVOLT,

I agree that the Energy Savers are a bit Sketchy in rain, but in SoCal we don't see much of that, occasional drizzle is more common for us. which turns the spayed oil from engines/transmissions along with the soap compound released from tires into a sort of grease, at least until enough percipitation is dropped to wash it away. I've driven on ice back in New Jersey for years so I do have some skills required to compensate. With our weather here in San Diego these light grip tires are working OK for me. I'm sort of obsessed with EV range on my volt and haven't found better LLR tires yet (if they even exist)

Stephen.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I didn't have such good luck with the OEM Michelin that was on my 2017. They had about 5/32" tread left and were horrible in the rain. They don't handle all the well on dry pavement either. They chirp from any hard acceleration from the stop light. I'm very happy with my Pirelli Strada GT2 since I made the switch. Grippy on dry pavement. Terrific wet weather handling and I can still get the EPA 53 miles range in the summer driving at 65MPH. They're quiet too. You don't hear much tire noise even with the windows down in city driving. They have hard sidewall rim protection as well.

I am tempted to try the much touted Michelin Crossclimate 2. I've heard a lot of good things about those tires.
 
#17 ·
We bought the Hankook kinergy ST when we were in Florida last weekend and then drove all weekend on them and then back home to Canada. Great tire super quiet handle rain exceptionally well (it was torrential a couple nights we were out) and on I75 and 95 in the heat and rain they were great and no noticeable decrease in range from our almost 2500 kilometer drive
 
#18 ·
I have the Crossclimate 2's on my Volt and they are amazing! Those original energy savers are like driving on glass if there is any sort of wetness on the road. They were the worst tires I have ever experienced in my life and I was so happy to get rid of them. Here in MN we get weather and those tires were not made for around here.

They still had plenty of life and were at 33k when I got rid of them. I am now at 52k on my car and have a separate set of Michelin X Ice for the winter but I use the Crossclimates into the winter as well. They handle great in wet and snow, dry handling is great. Range didn't impact much maybe a mile or two over the default tires.

I will take a slight hit on range for the gigantic gain on safety and performance. With the energy savers if I would try to stop or go on wet it would just spin the wheels or hydroplane it was so bad. On dry pavement they worked fine but any amount of water and it was game over so I just said I am done with these... LOL
 
#19 ·
For what it is worth, I bought 2 Uniroyal, Tiger Paw Touring all weather tires expected to run 75000 miles @$153.00 per. Pretty quiet and I haven"t realized any real depreciation in mileage. Of course, I only replaced 2 tires so-----.
 
#20 ·
bigal,

It's not recommended to mix tire models on a car, they can pull differently in adverse weather conditions making a car unstable and unpredictable leading to accidents. I replaced 2 of my tires as well but used the factory model to change out the two baldish tires that were 2/32 depth on my Volt. Bought 4 tires of the same model 16798 91H Michelin Energy Savers to get the rebate on a 4 tire purchase. The last two new ones will be installed in the fall. The Michelin Energy savers aren't that great in rain and worse in snow but I live in SoCal so that's not usually an issue for me.

Stephen
 
#23 ·
FWIW, just replaced the original Michelins with Bridgestone Turanza Quiettracks. Night and day difference in performance, comfort, and noise.

Personally, I like Michelins a lot. And while the Pilot Sport 4S and Cup 2 tires I normally run (and like) are way different than the Energy Savers, I absolutely hated these tires. Noisy, lack of dry/wet grip (even in San Diego), and the fact that with tires rotated every 7.5K miles only lasted about 34K before hitting the wear bars was disappointing. They wore extremely evenly, but just more quickly than I expected.

With the Turanzas, the ride is much improved, no tire whine, and more grip all around. Range hasn’t really suffered; maybe lost 10% for the first 500 miles or so, but it’s the nearly the same now. I know these tires technically aren’t LRR, but do market their “tire technology” as fuel economy focused.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the quick review. My Bridgestone Ecopia 422+ are nearing the end of tread life and I don't really want to go into the winter season with them. I have to deal with snow, slush, and ice in the winter here in Denver. I've had Turanzas on other vehicles in the past and really liked them so I was leaning towards them again. I won't put Michelins on any car - they have zero traction in the wet.
 
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#25 ·
Following this post as I'm looking to replace tires on my 19 Volt before winter really hits here in MN. Seen some good suggestions, but wondering how one finds out if tires have low rolling resistance. I don't see that listed in the stats on tires. Would really like a tire that can handle the weather without impacting my electric range. Thanks in advance for the advice!
 
#26 · (Edited)
lpete14,

In MN I would think safety should be your focus and major concern, what good is range mileage if your car is upside down on the side of the road! LLR tires are opposed to traction is what I found out in my weeks of research with snow being the ultimate challenge for any All Season/snow tire out there. I would look for traction in snow with "fuel saving design". Doing research the most you will get is opinions with little facts or scientific data from consumers, studies, research or the tire manufacturers. You can get opinions here on Volt tire experiences in this forum with a little research and a lot of reading. In tire design, It seems that you can't focus on a specific performance goal without compromises trading off some other performance variable. For example tread wear vs traction. The tire compound focused on traction tends to be softer than for a tire with treadwear set as a priority. Race tires are soft designed for "stick" as a priority and they could care less about longevity. Looks like you have a research project to do, at least many internet searches ahead of you if you want to find a definitive answer for your specific question. Scientific data is scarce I found out just for the tire LLR ratings of one brand versus another for example, sorry about the "wordiness" of my answer

Stephen
 
#27 ·
In MN I would think safety should be your focus and major concern, what good is range mileage if your car is upside down on the side of the road!
That's why I invested in a set of snow wheels. All Season are at best 3 Season...
 
#28 ·
December 2022: I needed replacement tires for my 2013 Gen1 Volt after my OEM Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tires wore out prematurely. Never missed a tire rotation and I am not a sped demon. Chevy dealer only quotes Fuel Max tires. I was able to get some pro-rated money back from this Fuelmax set and used it to purchase a set of BridgeStone Ecopia EP422 Plus.... They seem very good and it doesn't appear that I lost any range. I say "appear" because its difficult to judge in a midwest December where the ambient temp may vary 40 degrees from day to day... the colder the more range I lose, so tire effects on range are difficult to judge. Especially when the engine runs due to freezing temps even with battery is full. That being said, It appears to me my range has actually improved over the worn fuel max tires. I am very happy with the driving performance of the BridgeStone Ecopia EP422 PLus tires.

Mike