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What tires would be best for my Ford Escape Hybrid to improve mileage?

Pravus Prime has an FEH and should be knowledgeable.

Wild guess on my part - the narrowest tires recommended will probably be what you are looking for.

Hi Will:

___Your FEH’s ContiTrak FE’s are “probably” decent enough LRR tires to begin with but if I were replacing a set, I would look at the Michelin MXV4 + series. Decent All-season traction w/ very low rolling resistance ratings.

___Krousdb and I were talking about this the other day and the Bridgestone B381’s (51 #’s max sidewall) and Dunlop SP20 FE’s are not made in a large enough size to fit a Prius let alone an FEH so those are out. The Bridgestone RE92’s made infamous on the Insight are not the same when you choose the non-Insight 14” sizing so they would be out too … That leaves us with the Michelin MXV4’s in just about any size imaginable.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

My Goodyear Assurance Comfortread's are supposed to have an LRR rating. Mine are 185/65-15. I don't know for certain if other sizes carry the LRR rating.

Hi Larry and Will:

___The Greenseal report was completed almost 4 years ago so its LRR tire data is quickly becoming outdated but the following is just another long line of links I have stacked up for the betterment of all man kind :D

Passenger Tire Rolling Resistance Measurements Made Available by Three Tire Companies, September 2005 (http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/SR286Rolling_Resistance_Data.pdf)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hmm, I'm not seeing my tires listed. Possibly not on the list then but are now? :cross fingers:

Hi Larry:

___They are there … Abbreviated as “GY Comfortred” – Measured RRC of .01139 :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi Larry:

___They are there … Abbreviated as “GY Comfortred” – Measured RRC of .01139 :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne


Hmm, perhaps the marital status of the tire salesman's parents is in question? :D What's worse is that my 185/65-15's aren't on the list.:(

Hi Larry:

___A given family with close to similar sizing will almost always have very similar RRC’s. Except the particular Bridgestone RE92’s for the Insight whose RRC was almost 30% lower then any other size of the same model tire.

___Another interesting link in my long list of Favorites … The following will help you wrt how tire profile and diameter affect a given tires RRC.

TIRES, TECHNOLOGY AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION (http://www.iea.org/textbase/work/2005/EnerEffTyre/duleep.pdf)

___A tire salesman is almost as evil as a Used Car salesman. Especially so if he or she is a relative :D

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I ran MXV4s on both of my Volvos. They didn't work well on the car without ABS but they were perfectly adequate on the S70. Maybe not the best wet traction in the world but they got the job done, and that's probably what I will put on the Prius when the time comes to ditch the Integritys.

Those Michelins are expensive, but they have insanely long treadlife so you get what you pay for IMO.

Suggestions for LRR tires aside from Michelin MXV4s? Preferably economically priced ones?

Having read this thread I'm not much further ahead in finding LRR tires for my Volvo 240. Primary snafu is that the Michelin MXV4s that fit most cars got a bum rap from "brick" if used without ABS, which is how I woudl use them.

I did not find any LRR information on Tire Rack. How have you folks identified LRR tires?

Thanks.

Those PDFs linked above are useless. My Nokian WR's aren't on them :D

Hi Brucepick:

___I am not sure what size tires your Volvo sits on but there is also the Bridgestone B381’s and Dunlop SP20 FE’s to consider. Neither are great traction tires but if I were to drive a car w/ smallish 14 and 15” wheels, I would be driving them.

___As far as the Michelin MXV4 + Energy’s, I am a big fan winter or summer. We have our fair share of snow in Chicago as well but traveling on snow cover roads may have happened 4X’s this year? Create the buffers and you could stop by aero drag alone ;) Anyway, the darn things are down just 4/32 from new (7/32 now from 11/32) w/ 78,000 miles on them and there is a lot more miles left where that comes from. Pay me now, pay me later sort of comes to mind …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The MXV4s may still be the best bet for a LRR tire despite my experiences with them on the 740. I didn't like the braking performance at the time, but it could be that it's just what you get with that kind of tire. They're designed to roll, and unfortunately that involves some compromize vs. a sport tire with more grip.