Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max vs. Hankook Optimo 727

I read the same consumer's reports, and came away with the Michelin Primacy MX4 being the better tire. I bought 4 2 months ago. No change in gas mileage from the OEM tire, and I purchased a 205/60/15 tire. This wider tread should be better in snow then the 185, which was the only category that the Hanook was better.

 

Besides superior snow performance, the Hankooks are also less noisy than the Michelins, and they cost A LOT less than the Michelins.

Given that OP lives in Chicago area, I think the Hankook's superior performance in snow might be a big factor in his calculus.

BTW, I understand that narrower (NOT wider) tires perform better in snow.

Not to take anything away from the Michelins which also seems to be a great 4 season tire.

 

Didn't they also give you the camber measurements?

Factory alignment specs are typically twice as sloppy as someone who cares would align to.

Even by that standard, your front total toe of -0.09+0.02=-.07 is a minuscule amount of total toe-out, a good place to be on a front wheel drive. Total allowable per the Toyota repair manual is +/-0.20 so you are less than 1/2 the factory spec.:rockon:

Rear is mildly gross. You are not only out of spec on the 0.32 wheel,
0.32+0.19=0.51 total rear toe. Max allowed rear toe is 0.45 so even by Toyotas sloppy spec, you are out of spec on the total rear toe.

That said, if you like the way the car feels on the road and aren't having tire wear problems, rear alignment might not be worth fixing. If it were my car I would fix it myself. On the plus side, the extra rear toe will give you a bit of extra straight line stability.

Rear axle shims are normally done by good alignment shops or do-it-your-selfers. Toyota dealers often don't do shims. It requires an aftermarket shim to do it.


Thanks for the detailed report on your tires.

 

Chuck, the front left camber is at the limit. You would be better off it it were adjusted to -0.7 like the right side. I can't say for sure that you could feel the difference or that you would notice a tire wear improvement, although I think tire wear would be reduced enough to matter somewhat. Watch for excess wear on the very inside part of the tire tread on the left front if you don't change it. If you don't get extra wear there, then no problem.

The rear is worse. If it were mine I would definitely put a shim on the left rear and reduce the toe from 0.34 to 0.19 to match the other side and be near mid-spec. While they are at it, the camber could be reduced from -0.16 to -0.14. The camber difference is hardly worth talking about, but the same shim is able to correct camber and caster at the same time for the same total cost.

Even though your rear is out of spec, it would also be reasonable to leave it as is and keep track of tire wear if you don't want to pay to get it fixed. As a wild guess, figure on the price of a 4 wheel alignment from a good shop, plus $20 for the shim plus an extra hours labor to install the shim.

I do question the competence of your shop if they don't know that the rear is shimmable by any competent alignment shop and that Toyota doesn't have the parts to do the job. Even Toyota needs to go to the aftermarket to get the parts and some dealers won't. Toyota's Repair Manual approach is to swap parts until it's fixed. Toyota will be reluctant to do that because it is very expensive.

You have some options.

1. Go to your dealer and tell them you want the rear alignment corrected under warranty. Who knows, they might actually fix it.

2. Do nothing and keep an eye on tire wear to see if it's acceptable. There is a reasonable chance that it will be.

3. Go to an alignment shop that understands the process and get it aligned with a shim. The sooner you do that the sooner you benefit from some undefined improvement in tire life.

 

You are right. I was under the impression you had a lot less miles.

 

Now that you've had these for a few years, how have you liked them? Snow performance? Summer MPG? Looking at getting the same exact thing.

Thanks!
-Zach

 

They also damage the alloy rims by electrolytic reaction between the steel clip and the alloy as the clip scratches the paint off when being fitted. Any self respecting tyre fitter will use stick on weights on alloys.

 

Thanks for the update Chuck!!

 

Hey Chuck,

Have a few questions for you about these tires. Just got them put on my Prius this week - 2010 III model - and i'm noticing they're quite a bit different than the OEM Ecopia's that came with the car.

First thing is, I notice when i'm at highway speeds, 60+ mph, when i change lanes quickly or jerk the car a little the entire car feeling like it's rolling and swaying back and forth. It starts in the front then goes to the back. It's as if it's responding really slowly. It feel unsettling to say the least, very mushy almost a jello-y reaction. I didn't feel anything close to this with the OEM tires.

Second thing is, it feels as if i'm being buffered by a moderate crosswind when i'm driving on the highway - almost as if the car is being pulled one way slightly then the other. This happens on calm days with little to no wind, and on good interstate roads with no road issues. I definitely didn't feel this with the other tires.

Perhaps they're new and this is normal, but did you experience anything like this when you first got them put on??

Thanks!
-Zach

 

No problem. 'Boaty' is a great way to put it. Not alot of response in the tires for quick movements.

So i've discovered some interesting things and perhaps others have experienced this too.

If i inflate the tires to around 42psi the 'boaty' feeling gets better.

And as to the quick buffeting movements, or the 'twitch' of the car, what feels like could be a rear balancing issue. - The car doesn't shake like a tell tale balancing issue would present itself. More of a, tire can't find the groove in the road so it feels like it's moving left to right and back in micro-movements. I think this may me a strange combo of these particular tires, the car, and the roads.

Several of the highways/interstates i drive on regularly have grooves in them, presumably for better traction in the winter with sand. They are parallel to and run with the direction of the road. They're not big at all, it's almost as if the very top layer of concrete was taken away to leave small grooves.

I think the tires are weaving in between these grooves ever so slightly, but fast enough to notice a difference. I've never noticed it on any other car, but these are the smallest tires i've ever drove too.

I've taken it back to the shop twice and they can't find anything, they've balanced all 4 tires twice to no avail.

It doesn't do it on all roads, such as smooth asphalt ones. So this is what leads me to believe it's the tire/road combo.

Anyone else have these kinds of strange road feelings with their tires??