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Hello,

Just wondering what tires are recommended for replacement on the Ford Escape Hybrid. It appears as if there are a couple of options for low rolling resistance tires on the market currently.

I've read some about the Bridgestone Ecopia, but was wondering if anyone had any experience with the other brands.


Thanks,

John

Hello,

Just wondering what tires are recommended for replacement on the Ford Escape Hybrid. It appears as if there are a couple of options for low rolling resistance tires on the market currently.

I've read some about the Bridgestone Ecopia, but was wondering if anyone had any experience with the other brands.


Thanks,

John

I just sold my '05 FEH, but I replaced the OEM Conti's Eco Plus with the same OEM Michelin Latitude Tours that came on my '09 FEH. Ford puts the best LRR tires on their hybrids. Unless Ford changed those tires on the 2012 FEH, I will continue to replace my '09 FEH with the Michelin Latitudes.

I've experimented with the standard rims on my '05 and the Limited rims on my '09 and the 2lb lighter standard rims gave me about ~2mpg better on my '09 FEH. Also, I got a ~2mpg increase with the Michelins that had 50% less tread than the newer tires. With the lighter rims and tires that had 50% less tread, I got at least 4mpg better with the same 50psi on my '09 FEH. Had to switch the lighter rims and tires back to my '05 FEH when I sold it. I'm already getting about 4mpg less on my '09 FEH now with the heavier rims and newer tires.

Unless you put a much lighter LRR new tire as a replacement, the added weight of the rubber over worn out tires will decrease your mpg. I've checked the weight of the FEH rims and OEM tires new, and the Eco Plus were heavier than the Michelins. Right now I have 30,000 miles on my Michelins @ 50psi and they look new on the rear of my '09. I replaced the front tires and put them on the rear of my '05 FEH when I sold it.

GaryG

I went with the Michelin Latitude Tours as well. I did not see the same drop off in MPG that Gary saw. I have about 14,000 miles at 50 psi now with no noticeable wear.

I went with the Michelin Latitude Tours as well. I did not see the same drop off in MPG that Gary saw. I have about 14,000 miles at 50 psi now with no noticeable wear.

I think you may have misunderstood what I said. The Eco-Plus were heavier tires and the Michelins are lighter. When I changed from the worn Eco-Plus to the new Michelins, there was no drop in mpg. Only when I changed the worn Michelins to new Michelins did I see a drop in mpg.

GaryG

Take a look at G/Y Assurance Fuel Max. These are one excellent tire in all aspects. H

Not entirely on topic, but I didn't consider it worthy of a new thread.

I'm considering a wheel and tire change on my Escape and am interested in any feedback other FEH owners have. Factory set up is 235 70's mounted in 16 x 7's. The proposal: Purchase a set of 16 x 6 rims and mount a 215-225 LRR tire - sidewall being a fluid figure dependent on the tire width chosen and brand/size offering. It doesn't appear that there would be any clearance issues related to brake/suspension parts with the 6 inch width vs. the 7. The little bit of serious looking I've done seems to confirm that a modest drop in ride height and thus ground clearance will be unavoidable. Given the fact that it would still have substantially more ground clearance than the Prius it replaced (never had any issues with clearance as long as I was careful), I'm not concerned about the effect of the alteration.

I plan to keep the factory set up for winter use and would probably put them back on, on the occaision that I hook up to a heavy load. I know that a narrower tire in the winter would produce the best results, but want the ground clearance during the winter as our road rarely gets plowed after heavy snow.

Any thoughts/opinions on the propsed set up? MPG effect? Ride/handling effect? I have to assume that the mileage improvement would be measureable (less unsprung weight, less tire/ground contact area). My driving style does not lend itself to caring about how a vehicle handles, but don't want to wind up with a sloppy feel to it either. I'm looking at it as a way to bump me over the 50mpg tank mark and run a slightly more aggressive tread pattern in the winter months, without having to pay $50 everytime I want to swap tires. At that rate, I'm going to spend the amount of money that the rims will cost whether I buy them or not, so I'm giving this idea some serious consideration.

JBumps,

I hope you realize that when it comes to fuel economy and tires, bigger = better. It appears you are going the wrong direction.

You should also be aware that an agressive tire - one that might be good for winter weather - is not going to give as good FE compared to a mild all season (all other things being equal), particularly a LRR one.

And ride and handling are largely independent of the RR, but traction and treadwear are not.

So you may want to stick with changing tires for the winter and get yourself a set of larger tires in a LRR variety.

JBumps,

I hope you realize that when it comes to fuel economy and tires, bigger = better. It appears you are going the wrong direction.

You should also be aware that an agressive tire - one that might be good for winter weather - is not going to give as good FE compared to a mild all season (all other things being equal), particularly a LRR one.

And ride and handling are largely independent of the RR, but traction and treadwear are not.

So you may want to stick with changing tires for the winter and get yourself a set of larger tires in a LRR variety.

CapriRacer,

Would you mind sharing why you've stated that larger tires are better for fuel economy? I've been a regular lurker on Priuschat.com since early 2008, as well as some other similar sites, and have read thread after thread of folks who've seen mileage hits with 17 inch rim and tire set ups, versus the stock 15 inch size on the second and third generation Prius. I myself noticed a fuel economy hit while running 195's versus 185's on our second gen (some likely due to tread pattern tire variety, some tire width). From multiple points of analysis: the weight of the larger tires, the ground contact area of the tire and the greater difficulty of finding a LRR variety tire in the larger size - smaller/narrower would seem to provide a very clear advantage.

I fully agree with your stance on the aggressive winter tire. This is a large reason for my ability to justify the rather pricey purchase of this second set-up - fewer miles on the short lived tread life of the soft compound winters, as I can risk changing them earlier in the spring/later in the fall without worrying about being stuck. The hit on mileage with them on is a degree of necessity - we life at a higher elevation on a back road that rarely if ever sees a plow (as much as I love the Prius, it's not getting us home 8-10 days out of the winter).

Hi JBumps

A lot of engineering went into the design of the FEH tires and rims so I'd be careful about changing tire or rim size. Here I've copied and pasted my hard work on finding the best tires and rims for my two FEH's.

"just got back from Goodyear who mounted the 2 Michelin Latitude Tours on the front of my '05 FEH. I brought a scale to weigh the '05 FEH Rim, so now we can compare the weights. The stock FEH Rim is 2.2 pounds lighter than my new '09 FEHL Rim which is 20.4 pounds. The standard FEH Rim weighs 18.2 pounds. If you add the new Eco Plus at 31 pounds, the total weigh is 49.2 pounds. If you replace the Eco Plus tires with the new Michelins, the standard FEH Rim and Michelin tire would weigh 47.6 pounds each. WoW! This is what my new tires and Rims weigh on the front of my '05 FEH now. The FEHL Rim and Michelin Latitude Tour tires weighed 49.8 pounds, which is .6 pounds more than the stock FEH rim and the Eco Plus. The folks that got the '09 FEH non Limited models have the 47.6 pound tire and Rim set-up."


If you do the math, I dropped 2.2 pounds with the standard FEH rims on my '09 FEH and I can only estimate that the 50% worn Tours dropped me down another ~5 pounds each from the new Tours. This dropped me down from 49.8 pounds with FEHL rims and new Tours to about 42.6 pounds each. That's down 7.2 pounds per tire and a total of 28.8 pounds less to get moving.

The weights I took above should be helpful in choosing the right rim and tire for your FEH. If I were going to invest in an additional set of tires and rims for my FEH, I'd search for a set of four used standard FEH rims. The offset will be the same so no problems with handling. The ground clearance is something I would not change myself because it is a part of the overall engineering design and tested in a wind tunnel. You could use one of the tires and rim as a full size spare and store it where the donut is kept. You can also keep these tires and rims as an investment to the value of your FEH. Odd size tires and rims have little value to your FEH.

One last thing, I'm not convinced a thinner tire will improve roll resistance other than lighter weight if that's the case. I have low profile 50R 20" tires on my '11 Explorer and 40R tires on my '12 Focus and get better MPG than I ever expected.

GaryG

CapriRacer,

Would you mind sharing why you've stated that larger tires are better for fuel economy?......

http://www.barrystiretech.com/rrandfe2.html

....... I've been a regular lurker on Priuschat.com since early 2008, as well as some other similar sites, and have read thread after thread of folks who've seen mileage hits with 17 inch rim and tire set ups, versus the stock 15 inch size on the second and third generation Prius. I myself noticed a fuel economy hit while running 195's versus 185's on our second gen (some likely due to tread pattern tire variety, some tire width). From multiple points of analysis: the weight of the larger tires, the ground contact area of the tire and the greater difficulty of finding a LRR variety tire in the larger size - smaller/narrower would seem to provide a very clear advantage. .......

The problem is that RR can vary widely. Even within the same tire size it can range up to 60%. - and the size effect is pretty small, so it can be easily overwhelmed by other factors.

So lets take the issue of the 15" to 17" on the Prius:

1) Most folks think 17" is bigger than 15", but in reality the tire sizes are P185/65R15 86S or P195/65R15 89S vs P215/45R17 87V. So while the rim diameter went up (and so did the width), the aspect ratio went down (smaller!) So there's a mixed bag with regard to size.

2) Further, the Load Index went from 86 or 89 to 87. So in one case, it actually went down (got smaller).

3) Plus going from an S speed rated to a V speed rated is going the wrong direction.

a) V speed rated tires will generally have 2 cap plies, while S speed rated tires will have none. Cap plies add mass AND RR!

b) V speed rated tires are generally designed for grip, and that's the wrong direction for RR.

4) Heck, even Tire Rack rates the P195/65R15 Bridgestone OE tires as LRR, but not the P215/45R17!

There are a lot of oranges being compared to apples - and it's difficult to sort this all out. That's why that study I linked to is so valuable. It attempts to keep the other factors constant so size can be studied by itself.

You should also be aware that OE tires are generally low for RR - and they do that by sacrificng treadwear and/or traction. That's why you hear so many complaints about OE tires.

But replacement tires generally are designed for treadwear, so there's a hit in the RR department. Plus worn tires give better RR than new tires (all other things being equal).

So what happens when folks take off their OE tires and put on new tires? They take a double hit - and if they make another change (say tire size) to see what effect THAT change has, they are generally fooled because the other factors have bigger effects.

Go back to Priuschat.com and check to see if the comparisons are as I have said. But be aware that no matter how you slice it, the 17" tire does not come in an S speed rating, so it will always be at a disadvantage.

Sorry for the delay in response - I thought I had notices set up to be sent to me when additional posts were added.

That's a lot to digest and I haven't had a chance to look at the study. I really do appreciate the information and the feedback. Look forward to reading the study, even if it does appear that my planned "mod" isn't going to materialize after all.

I have narrowed it down to the Michelin Latitude Tour and the Goodyear Fuel Assurance Max. Both have the same warranty. The Michelin is about $30 per tire higher, but they have a $70 promo now that will lower that to about $13 higher per tire. I really want the one with the least amount of road noise. I have read reviews and some will praise the low road noise, and then there is a review of someone complaining about the road noise on the same tire! :confused:

Michelin vs Goodyear? In my experience, the GY is quieter. The Odyssey's OEM Michelin Symmetrys were much louder than the new Fuel Max's. It's a Honda so tire noise is prominent.

I found that the Michelins are quieter than the OEM Continentals, but I haven't experienced the Goodyears on an FEH.

Both are excellent tires! I really like my G/Y Fuel Max that are on my HCH2. I think you will like which ever you purchase. H

I have narrowed it down to the Michelin Latitude Tour and the Goodyear Fuel Assurance Max. Both have the same warranty. The Michelin is about $30 per tire higher, but they have a $70 promo now that will lower that to about $13 higher per tire. I really want the one with the least amount of road noise. I have read reviews and some will praise the low road noise, and then there is a review of someone complaining about the road noise on the same tire! :confused:

I've had the Michelins on both my FEH, and one set was new and one set had 50% wear. I switch complete rims and tires around on both FEH's and compared sound and MPG. The sound was always much louder on my '05 and it turned out to be a bad rear wheel bearing. You may want to check your wheel bearings first. The Michelins were quiet on my '09 no matter which set I put on it.

The Goodyear Max is .5 pounds heavier new than the Michelins. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it is to me. The Michelins have a very thin sidewall and will get much lighter as they wear down the tread and your MPG will really increase from new as they get old. The last 65mpg tank I got in my '09 was with the worn Michelins.

The Goodyear Max does have a max sidewall of 51psi and the Michelins are 44psi max. I run 50psi in all my Michelins and they perform nicely in hard turns, even with the thin sidewalls.

Ford thought so much about the Michelin Latitudes they put them on all Escapes including the Gas models with 16" rims. Noise was a big factor in Ford's decision also according to my research of the '09 FEH I ordered.

GaryG

I ended up choosing the Michelins yesterday. Paid $859 OTD, and then I am supposed to get a $70 visa card in the mail which will drop the total investment down to 789. That is a lot of money for a set of tires! I like my wife's prius more and more each day. :)

Drove home from the tire dealer (about a 34 mile drive) and the ride was improved and much quieter. At lunch today I bumped up the PSI to 44 and noticed more road noise. :eek:

I am, however, hoping to achieve my first 40 mpg tank with these new tires (best tank with the old tires was 36.78mpg). :flag: I am already noticing an improvement in my fuel efficiency.

John