LRR Tire Availability (besides OE Ecopia EP150)

Just another data point...

I replaced the front stock EP150 tires with a pair of EP422 plus a couple weeks back.
Quite happy so far. The car rides smoother, less jarring, even though I'm running 42psi all around.
The flip side of that is that the tires feel a little "floaty" -- less responsive to sudden steering input.

Wet and dry traction seem better than the originals. They are very quiet.
Most importantly, that awful squirming (aka "torque steer") at high throttle completely vanished!
[previously, I'd thought the problem was suspension geometry, but now I know it's just bad tires]

Range is the same, as near as I can tell.

Unless you really like to drive the car hard, these are far better than the stock set.

Hello,

So after reading all posts, I am all confused.

Please help me to pick on

1. Kumho Ecsta 4X II
2. Michelin Premier A/S
3. General G-Max AS-03
4. Any other suggestion (or share any offer )

Only for daily commute, these stock tires doesn't make me feel very confident and takes a while to come to an stop.

Thanks
Abhi

Well, I replaced the two front tires on one of my Sparks at about 32000 miles with the EP422 tires.
I have a few observances....
They make a little bit more noise than factory, which is to be expected as they are all-season whereas factory are
summer tires.
There is a slight vibration due to the all-season treads.... not that bad, just there.
They don't corner or handle as well in general, but they are still acceptable.
The braking seems fine.
The overall efficiency seems very slightly lessened.
Conclusion?
I will be going with the factory EP150s for my other spark in the future.
I just prefer the smooth-as-glass and super-quite ride of them.
They do wear out faster, but it is the trade-off.

abhisharma said:

Hello,

So after reading all posts, I am all confused.

Please help me to pick on

1. Kumho Ecsta 4X II
2. Michelin Premier A/S
3. General G-Max AS-03
4. Any other suggestion (or share any offer )

Only for daily commute, these stock tires doesn't make me feel very confident and takes a while to come to an stop.

Thanks
Abhi

Click to expand...

any other tire will out perform the stock tires. You may give up some range with non-stock tires. Which tires are best for you depends on how you drive, what you want the tires to do for you, if you drive in rain, snow, etc.


People here have the Kumho, the Michelin, and a couple of us have BFG tires. Everyone seems pretty happy with them.

IMHO, the stock tires (or any high-mileage tire) ruin the car, which is quite a lot of fun to drive on better rubber. They also make it a hazard on the highway; I'd hate to have to try a panic lane-change at 70 on OEM tires at 35 lbs. - you'd have no chance of staying in control of the car.

By going from 185x55 on the front to a 195x55 you are raising the front of the car by 1/4" or so, and raising the overall gear ratio seen by the motor. This slows the cars acceleration, slows braking, and reduces mileage, due to increased rotational inertia and the effective ratio change, and increases the unsprung mass, reducing ride comfort and grip. These are not huge changes, but they are all in the wrong direction.

For non-winter use, consider 195x50 at the front. This lowers the car a few mm, reduces the gear ratio for better acceleration, reduces unsprung mass, and the increased width grips better and looks better. 205x50 at the back also works well, with similar positive effects. Again, not huge changes, but all in the desirable direction.

For summer, I've got Dunlop Direzza DZ102 in 195/205x50 on stock wheels - an excellent upgrade at $66/tire. For winter, I bought a set of Michelin X-Ice3 in 195x55 all around - raising the car and reducing torque are good things for snow, and a summertime rebate at TR made the cost reasonable.

By going from 185x55 on the front to a 195x55 you are raising the front of the car by 1/4" or so, and raising the overall gear ratio seen by the motor. This slows the cars acceleration, slows braking, and reduces mileage, due to increased rotational inertia and the effective ratio change, and increases the unsprung mass, reducing ride comfort and grip. These are not huge changes, but they are all in the wrong direction.

Click to expand...

I just put on the kumho 4X II's on 6.5" Spark EV wheels, with 5mm spacers on the front. While I haven't broken the new tires in yet, the negative factors seem minor. I've found better grip with the wider tires on the front. The stock front's seemed to have worse traction in acceleration and braking. The tire diameter looked more like 3/4" more on the 195 Kumhos vs the Ecopia 185s. For me, more ride height and larger diameter is a plus, driving often on unpaved roads. If I could find a replacement front strut that allowed an even larger diameter tire, that would be helpful for high center road crowns, especially when winter and several inches of snow are on the road.

The original Spark wheels had newer, small TPMS sensors. I found some used sensors for sale ($17) and they seem to work fine.

Thank you,

Why the 5mm spacers?
Do the hub centers still make contact with the wheel centers? You now have that much less thread engagement on the lug nuts.

I thought owners were using 195's on all 4 corners without a problem...

Why the 5mm spacers?
Do the hub centers still make contact with the wheel centers? You now have that much less thread engagement on the lug nuts.

Click to expand...

Thought I'd try the 6.5" wheels on all four corners. Before investing in extra wheels, tires and TPMS sensors, I'd switched the standard rear wheels and tires to the front for a couple of weeks to see if I liked that, and I did. The 6.5" rear wheels need 5mm spacers on the front to clear. It's still getting over 5 mi/kW on my commute with the new set-up.

Yes, it does loose 5mm of thread with the spacers, but seemed to have more than ample thread for secure fastening. Thankfully the studs are long or I'd have changed them out. Although the wheel center is still over the hub, the wheels that came on the Spark used conical lug nuts for centering and are not real tight at the hub. Thankfully, they aren't the hub-centering mounting type of wheel that is so tight, it needs never-seize to be able to get the wheels off

Probably ought to mike the wheel center to see what the actual clearance with the hub is, since there is interest in that.

Thank you,