Low Rolling Resistance replacement tires: Current List

I put about 40 kms on brand new 195/65R15 Michelin Defender XT this morning, driving our son's Civic Hybrid out to the airport. They seemed to roll easy, felt sure and solid.

Our son and duaghter-in-law invariably hand the car over to me with displayed fuel economy around 8 liter/100 km (30 mpg). I'd tanked up and reset the trip meter, a few days earliers, and by the time I got out to the airport I had it at 5.7 (41 mpg).

I expect they'll run it back up again, but I'll ask my son what he thinks of them, feel, rolling resistance, mpg and whatever, over the next few weeks.

 

It seems Michelin doesn't make the Energy Saver A/S anymore. According to the place I went to get tires today. They tried to call Michelin and ask, and that's what Michelin told them on speaker phone.

I don't know for sure yet, but that's so weird. Wondering what will be the best tires to get from now on.

 

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As of today on their webpage.................................
MICHELIN®
Energy™ Saver A/S
Passenger Car/Minivan

4.4 / 5 Based on 324 user reviews

 

A real mix of opinions.

 

Like some other things, everyone has one.

 

I really like the Ecopia. I have them on my other cars. I think that's what I'll go with when the ones on it wear out.

 

@bisco has the energy saver a/s, and is happy with them I think. I've had Ecopia EP20: impressed with their mpg, but the did get noisy as they wear. Other'n that no problems. Well except don't even think about snow driving, when they're worn.

 

I'll never have to worry about that. I drive on the highway to much to be worried about them. When they start to get low, they get changed. It helps that the company I work for is owned by a tire company. Employee discount helps a lot. I'm not planning on driving in the snow either.

 

I had mixed set of Ecopia E20 (OEM) and Ecopia 422 Plus after I had unrepairable flat on stock E20 early in my Prius ownership. I was happy with great mpg from those tires, but were not happy with their handling on snow at all. After 2 years, two OEM E20 were worn down, needing replacement. Two newer Ecopia 422 plus were also worn quite bit after only a year. Last fall, I purchased set of 4 Xice3 for winter, and rather than buying two new tires in spring to replace worn out E20, I purchased a set of 4 Conti Truecontact. I am very happy with both of those LRR tires. Both tires had mpg slightly worse (2-3mpg on average) than Ecopia in winter and summer, but they are better traction and ride. I will see how tread life are going to be on them.

 

I've got the Energy Savers as well. I've put over 30k on them, and I'm sure they can go another 30k easy. I can't say the same for the crappy OEMs (which were threadbare by 30k). I think they were Bridgestone (dumped them in January 2015 for these). I don't do any snow driving in my local clime, so I couldn't tell you how they handle in ice conditions (there is rarely snowfall, and I remember them sliding on ice on my inclined driveway...which tires wouldn't?! ). It sounds like the two most popular here are Bridgestone Ecopias (though with some manufacturing locale caveats?) and Michelin E/S. Might have to try the former on the next go around and test the earlier claim about an mpg bump.

 

That's unfortunate. I'm at 30,000 miles on mine and still have 8/32" of tread left. I may go to a true LRR tire again, but the performance has been great. It seems like after 20K miles or so I started getting some of the 3 mpg mileage hit back, now I'm getting 47-49 mpg on just gas instead of 48-50.

 

Soo....How'd it go ?

 

I have these non brand Jinyu tires that came with my rims.... averaging about 42 mpg.. Shopping around for new tires within these 2 months before the other 2 pairs wear out. Which LRR tires are good for gas saving for all season?

 

Has anyone tried the EnergySaver non A/S?
I have the A/S version and they're good,So good in fact that i get 58+ mpg with them.....wondering if I switch from 17" with A/S to 16" non A/S would bring even better mpg....oh for winter I'm gonna use the Xice3,they're to only ones that I found with the green x tech,so I'm not worried about snow/slush/ice,in Toronto , Canada I prefer to be safe rather than sorry,when it snows....it snows...and we do get severe ice storms a few times per season,not gonna risk it with all seasons or all weather's for that matter.

 

Michelin Energy Saver A/S = The ultimate in mpg, good wear but lacking in performance. Good wet braking. not great in snow. Low noise and comfortable. The hypermilers dream tire! My personal favorite!

What about the non A/S version? The summer grand touring tire?
Is that worse or better than the A/S?
They seem to be lighter as per weight chart from Michelin itself.

 

Are you able to find them? That might lead to issues if you have to replace one, and/or you'll end up getting really old stock. Even the A/s iteration: Costco for one seems to always be out of them, at least in metro Vancouver.

Good to hear a report on the A/S by the way. Still, IF I can ever convince the missus the 15" PIP rims I snagged look semi-presentable, I'm probably going to go with Defender XT, just a Goldilocks tire. And if I continue to be shot down, I guess it's Primacy in 17".

 

Yes I managed to track them down,from a local supplier here in Toronto.
Size is gonna be 205/60/16....good question about the stock year....truth be told I haven't thought about that! Yikes!!
Thanks for that,I'll have to check....does anyone known how to check year of manufacturing?
Oh and I'm planning to put 4 of them,on brand new light weight 16" wheels from kosei,only weigh 12.4lbs each...also from same dealer and they came out to be waaay cheaper than ordering from tire rack USA,with shipping and taxes,about 3-400 cheaper.

 

Just google. There's a 4 number code on every tire, in a sort of oblong field: two numbers are the week (1 thru 52) and two are the the last two digits of the year. Read up, take a look at the ones you've got now, to see how it works.

 

Chris,

In the DOT code on the side of the tire the last four digits should be numbers. They correspond to the week and year of manufacture.
For example:

0117 would be the 01 week of 2017.
2216 would be the 22 week of 2016.

How long tires are good for is an arguable point, and how they are stored has a lot to do with it. A general rule is a new tire shouldn't be more than 5 years old, and tires shouldn't be on a vehicle after 7. Again, that's just a general guideline.