[Guest]

Live in the Pacific Northwest with lots of rain 75% of the year, looking for new tires for Gen1 Volt. Any recommendations? I would like:

- good traction, esp. in rain
- quiet ride
- good fuel economy

Poking around forums, I found these:

Michelin Energy Saver A/S
Michelin Premier A/S
Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus
Continental TRUECONTACT
Cooper Starfire RS-C 2.0

 

[obermd]

Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus
Pirelli Centurato P7

I put the Pirelli's on my 2012 Cruze ECO MT (same OEM tires as the Gen 1 Volt) and wet and snow traction noticeably improved with only a minor drop in fuel efficiency. They also corner far better than the OEM Goodyear FuelMax Assurance.

I've been a big fan of Bridgestone for decades now and plan to put the Ecopia EP422 Plus (make sure you get the Plus version) on my 2017 Volt when the OEM Michelin Energy Saver A/S wear out. I will never purchase Michelin tires as I feel they are way overrated and simply an all around poor tire.

No knowledge of the Continental or Coopers.

 

[Barry]

I would not hesitate to recommend the Continental TrueContacts. I have been very pleased with the traction in dry, wet and snow, and with the noise and ride. Range dropped 10% at first, but after a long break-in period, they are back to just about par with OEM. They are also rated very well overall including for wet traction at TireRack.

 

[DonC]

For wet conditions I'd think Michelin A/S. They are marketed as being better in wet conditions, especially as they wear. It's the reason I bought them. They will definitely improve the ride and I think the wet road handling has improved, but I can't swear to that.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=GTAS

 

[Guest]

I would avoid the Ecopia, it’s not very quiet or smooth and tend to wear fast, gets good gas mileage.

The Premier AS is specifically designed for the pacific north west, has very good wet traction, good ride, but doesn’t last very long, also not technically a LRR tire, so not as good for range or mpg.

Energy Savers will probably be the best all around, but have less performance then the premier, but more life.

 

[wordptom]

Live in the Pacific Northwest with lots of rain 75% of the year, looking for new tires for Gen1 Volt. Any recommendations? I would like:

- good traction, esp. in rain
- quiet ride
- good fuel economy

In spite of the reputation the Pacific Northwest seems to have around the country, many don’t know our wet winters are counterbalanced by dry summers. Portland may experience 24.59 inches of rainfall annually, but only 1.73 inches of that is accumulated during the four months of June, July, August, and September.

One way of looking at it is that the annual rain volume cycle is the mirror image of the annual ev range cycle (the greater the start of day ev range estimate, the less the monthly rainfall).

This year the month of May in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington turned out much warmer and drier than average, according to the National Weather Service. And the agency’s Climate Prediction Center said June is likely to continue the trend.

There were only five days of measurable rain in Portland in May. Total precipitation was well below normal. The city got only .17 inches of precipitation, which makes it our second-driest May on record at the airport. Our wettest day was May 8, when Portland got a measly .08 inches of precipitation. Portland has about a 40 percent chance of below-normal precipitation for June.

 

[hellsop]

I would avoid the Ecopia, it’s not very quiet or smooth and tend to wear fast, gets good gas mileage.

They're a little buzzy (especially at about 45 mph for some reason) but I'd disagree with the "wear fast" thing. I've got 12k miles on mind now, and they've just started to not look new. Haven't even taken a full mm of the tread depth.

 

[hellsop]

In spite of the reputation the Pacific Northwest seems to have around the country, many don’t know our wet winters are counterbalanced by dry summers. Portland may experience 24.59 inches of rainfall annually, but only 1.73 inches of that is accumulated during the four months of June, July, August, and September.

Portland's not Seattle either, which typically gets 36" of rainfall per year. Hell, I'm in fargin' Milwaukee and we've had 20% more precipitation this year than Portland's gotten.

 

[Guest]

Most people have a misconception of the Pacific Northwest. Summers are usually dry often with no rain for summer months with severe water restrictions in effect. One of the few places in Canada where the grass is green in winter and brown in summer. There are micro climates (like Victoria, Cowichan Valley, Comox on Vancouver Island that get more sun than the rest). Also in the States were Sequim gets little rain and Lake Quinault that gets a whole bunch. While results can vary it's pretty safe generalization that it's wet in winter and dry in summer, mostly because at a dozen degrees (F) above freezing the roads stay wet longer (for days rather than hours). Having said that it's raining right now but not before a rhododendron bush died from lack of water (I just noticed it the other day, a lot is wild around here) because it hadn't rained for past month+.

 

[mvanzanten]

I live in Portland and I purchased the Michelin Premier A/S after my OEM tires wore out. My OEM tires only lasted 30,000 miles. They began to "chunk", chunks of rubber were missing from the outside of the front tire tread. I blame the worn out roads here that are similar to exposed aggregate cement. My Michelin Premier A/S tires have 35,000 miles on them and they have been great. No signs of damage from our rough roads. They are quieter than the OEM, but it is hard to mask the road noise on these awful roads. My electric range dropped by about 5 miles compared to the OEM tires. They handle quite well in the rain.

 

[Guest]

I would avoid the Ecopia, it’s not very quiet or smooth and tend to wear fast, gets good gas mileage.

They're a little buzzy (especially at about 45 mph for some reason) but I'd disagree with the "wear fast" thing. I've got 12k miles on mind now, and they've just started to not look new. Haven't even taken a full mm of the tread depth.

I have seen thousands of Ecopia’s, I would say that 95% of drivers that had them wore them out in less then 40k miles. Some as quick as 10k. That is unacceptable imho for a tire that is rated at 65k miles for gen 1 ecopia’s and 70k miles for ecopia +’s. As for my personal experience, I rotated them every 5k miles and got 35k miles total, replaced them on the same car with energy savers, sold car with 50k miles on the tires and 45% tread remaining. (06 civic hybrid)

 

[turnbowm]

I have seen thousands of Ecopia’s, I would say that 95% of drivers that had them wore them out in less then 40k miles. Some as quick as 10k. That is unacceptable imho for a tire that is rated at 65k miles for gen 1 ecopia’s and 70k miles for ecopia +’s. As for my personal experience, I rotated them every 5k miles and got 35k miles total, replaced them on the same car with energy savers, sold car with 50k miles on the tires and 45% tread remaining. (06 civic hybrid)

Those are interesting results, considering the fact that the Ecopia EP422 Plus has a Tread Wear rating of 640 versus 480 for the Energy Savers.