Low Rolling Resistance replacement tyres (Europe)

And my A/A rated Bridgestone EP001S's are great. I've had them a few months now and they grip really well in the wet to the point that you can throw the car round a roundabout and know it'll hold no worries. And the economy is great compared to the Bridgestone ER300 Ecopias that were on before. In fact the new tyres were really noticeable in that the car just freewheels along barely slowing down.

Best of both worlds; great economy and great wet grip.

If they fit your car (I have the 15 inch wheels) they're well worth getting and paying the slight premium.

 

I'm guessing they won't be great for wear in that something has to give somewhere. Grippy tyres generally wear quicker. But even at 20,000 miles on the front, it's still acceptable for me and better than those F/F rated Skidd'E' Ditchfinders for £39.99.

 

I'll be swapped my my summer Goodyear EG for my winter Goodyears in the next few weeks (weather dependent, still 10+ degrees here , will wait until it's consistently below 7 before swapping). I'm still very happy with the Goodyears and they will last sometime more given that they'll be in the garage for the winter! I'll have to take the hit on comfort, noise and mpgs with the winter tyres though

 

Better than sitting upside down in a ditch on a cold and damp evening

 

That's for sure! I'm getting the rear windows tinted tomorrow too, so it'll be stealth mode with the black car, black (not too dark) windows and black steelies!

 

lol I have the exact same plans for mine. Was thinking of some chrome dotted around it too, just the nice stuff from the dealers. Nothing too bling.

 

I'm probably that sample of one I was reporting terrible tyre wear last year. No mater that thread is getting low, they still grip good in the wet after 26k km, so I will keep them for another summer, that is another 12k km.

On the other car at the same time as I bought the Bridgestones I bought Michelin Energy Saver+, after same km they have much more thread left, but I must say that cornering grip is no where near the Bridgestones. The only downside I see is aquaplaning, but didn't get in the situation that that would matter.

Just took the measure, the main tread is 3,5 mm to 4,5 mm deep, depends which tire and which of three main treads. I rotate them every 12-14k km, when I change them for winter tires. So defenetly good for one more season.

 

Adac published new test results:



ADAC Test - Sommer und Winterreifen

 

Ecopia EP001S tested, does provide best fuel economy, but it has the biggest wear and the worst aquaplaning.

Note that wet handling on wet circle is the best (1th place) and braking on the wet also good (4th place), those are also my observations but obviously I can not and I hope I won't have to test aquaplaning.

 

I'll be able to report better on my Eff Grips when they go back on next month (01/04/2015 weather permitting) I've been running my winters since last Oct/Nov so haven't had a good run with them yet. I do suspect that the wear is terrible with them though as when I took them off there was noticeable wear on the fronts after not a huge number of miles. As I run winter tyres for 5ish months of the year I spread the wear over a longer period. The Goodyear winter tyres have unbelievable (good) wear as they're on their third winter and no sign of much wear at all, it's just the mpg takes a big hit and they're much louder

 

Surprised by the reports on the EP001S. They're great for wet grip and zoom through the large puddles and wet roads as if the water wasn't there. Not sure about wear let but still look like new to me.

Perhaps it depends on the car they test with? A big heavy diesel lump might skew the results?

 

Note that ADAC tested 205/55 R16, there may be small differences between sizes. It may also be that Germans looked at the thread depth and shape and concluded that this can not be good for aquaplaning

 

Here is a picture of complete ADAC test with detailed numbers, I think translation is not necessary:
http://www.motorevija.si/cms/controls/warehousehandler.ashx?path=/Galerije/2015/Marec/Test_pnevmatik/3393

I don't like The Hankok's Kinergy numbers in "normal" wet conditions, they are better at aquaplaning than EP001s, but other than that worse in any other situation.
There will always be a trade off, if you want both good wet grip and fuel efficiency then you end up with soft compound (higher wear). My next tires will definitely be more "normal" something like GY Efficnet Grip, Conti Premium Contact, Dunlop Blue Response ...

 

It's a picture, you can not translate it. On ADAC site you can click every tyre and you will see the same detailed test results what I posted is just a recap.

There is also a problem of tire sizes, exact models an model years. If I look at the Hankoks there are two very very different test results from 2014 and 2015 for the same tire but different size:

Hankook Kinergy Eco K425 ADAC Test Sommerreifen 205/55 R16V 2015 Sommerreifen-Test 205/55 R16


Hankook Kinergy Eco K425 ADAC Test Sommerreifen 195/65 R15 V 2014 Sommerreifentest 195/65 R15


What is going on here? It's like they got a completely different tyre this year?

 

I'm going to look at another tyre when the next 2 Goodyears wear out, mainly out of curiosity From memory I found them to be excellent in the wet and dry, but the soft compound seems to wear quicker. I might be next year for me though as I probably wont be doing big mileage on them this summer