What a difference a tyre makes

[jaapv]

When I bought my car last year (less than 15.000 km) to replace my 2013 model it came on Pirelli Scorpio Verde All-Season tyres. Pretty impressive I thought, if only the name.
By now and 10.000 km later I was totally fed up with them: uncomfortable, noisy, the car was twitchy on the straight despite full wheel alignment.
As I had been happy with the Michelin CrossClimates I had on my previous PHEV, I had them replaced by the present Cross-Climate SUV, despite grumbles from my Profile Tyre Center (Pirelli is a top brand, Scorpio one of their best lines, still 6mm left, mumble, mumble, etc. :lol: )
And yes, suddenly the car is smooth, silent, and drives like on rails, as I expected.

But the real surprise came during the next few days: an over 20% increase in electric range :shock: I did not see that one coming.

 

[greendwarf]

Perhaps some of the "why can't I get a decent range" complaints are to do with the choice of tyre rather than battery degradation! :idea:

 

[SolarPHEVcat]

When I changed the original Toyo R37 of my MY17 for the Michelin Crossclimate, there was a consumption increase of 6%.

It's the price you pay for having a much better snow behavior.

Although in the north of Spain, where I live, it no longer snows every year and begins to lose the sense of riding allseason tires.

 

[jaapv]

The strange thing is that the improvement in consumption -although present- is far less using the ICE.
All-season tyres are nor specifically snow tyres, they are more generalist than winter tyres. They are meant for climates with occasional winter conditions. So I would say you are driving the right choice.

 

[kpetrov]

Second that all-season tires are no good for winter conditions. That being said summer tires are no match at all for winter conditions.

 

[jaapv]

Well, it depends on the winter conditions. For places like Northern Scandinavia or Russia this may well be the case, sometimes studded tyres are even better, however for more temperate climates including the Alps (where winter road maintenance is well developed) this is certainly not an issue.

 

[greendwarf]

As I remember it from my youth, Michelin had a reputation for lower rolling resistance than their main competitors, which gave better consumption and longevity but at the expense of softer side-walls and therefore were more susceptible to damage.

But are you saying that in similar driving conditions, consumption seems lower in EV mode than under ICE or just in general?

 

[jaapv]

The difference in consumption between the tyres is less in ICE mode than in EV mode. I have no explanation.

 

[greendwarf]

The only reason I can think of is that when directly connected to the front wheels only rather than via the electric motors front & back the ICE is less efficient. :idea: