195/60-15 Tires, premium and MPG

[Henry G.]

So the stock Goodyear LS were toast at 29k. Or damn near, driving thru a sprinkler leak was scary not that these tires were any good in the wet regardless. So I bought some 195/60-15 Eagle GT's, the new V-rated tires. At 40 psi, (they are rated for 51 psi max) I noticed they were, well squidgy. The turn in and general feel were not tight like the old ones, even worn out. Up to 45 psi: better. So up to 51 we go. Much better, grip is good, and feel is better but still not as tight as the old ones. I think its the taller tire, even though they are 60 profile they are are taller as the width has increased. But I can deal with it, even though I drive 55 miles of canyon a day. Wished I had got the 195/55 tires instead now. So to the point: I immediately noticed an MPG decrease. It got better when I went to 51, up to 33 from my usual 36 taking into acct the small speedo error due to the taller tire. But heres the kicker- as it got hot( 95-100 degrees) recently, I am running the engine extra hard as usual but with the A/C on a lot more, so I went from 89 octane to 91 premium. Right away I noticed the fuel gauge bars going down slower, and the calculator doesnt lie, I'm now getting 35 mpg last 2 tanks. I'm thinking the car's engine computer noticed the increased octane and changed the timing or am I just getting imaginative? Either way the mpg has definitely improved. Any ideas ? I keep reading that octane doesnt improve mpg but in this heat and engine load it sure seems to.

[auxmike]

51psi! That's a recipe for a nasty blowout in the hot summer.

[rningonfumes]

51psi is fine, Especially if the tire says it's the max.

Did you also take into consideration that the tires are finally broken in? I'm still up in the air about the octane ratings...some folks swear by it.

[mryaris]

I have the new Eagle GT tires on my '88 Fiero (215/45-17's up front & 245/40-18's out back) and as good as they are in the snow and rain, when pushed to their limits on dry pavement there is quite a bit of tread squirm. I only have 1000 or so miles on them (I quit driving the Fiero when I bought the Yaris), so I have no idea if it gets better as time goes by. So it's not just you and your Yaris.....I think it is just a trait of the tire itself.

[yaris-me]

You must be hard on your tires. I've 37,000 miles and a lot of tread left. I've upped the tire pressure to 40 lbs and it has improved the handling.

[watersoilair]

195/60-15 Eagle LS tires here. I'm at 28,000 kms and tires look almost brand new. That's a combination of highway, dirt road and city travel. I've never had problems with handling, be it driving fast on windy roads or stopping fast when the roads are wet...

[Henry G.]

I drive up to 800 miles a week around 350 of that canyons, as I try to get from where I was to where I want to be fast, so yes I'm hard on tires. The LS's actually rode harder but gripped better, these tires squirm at the edge, but with a projected El Nino winter hopefully they will pay off in the wet as the LS's were crap in rain, almost scary. I really need summer and winter tires, I think some 205/50-15's for May thru Oct and these squidgy GT tires for Nov-May. At least these are V-rated, since I can hit a whoping 90 in the straightaways(with a tailwind)!! Maybe next time I'll try 195/55 the taller tires were a mistake for sure.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Yeah, I, along with many other members here ride on the max rated. Some even go higher without any problems.

Yeah, the Eagle LS is a POS. At near 100% tread, they handled worse in the rain than the summer tires I had that only had 50% tread left .

As for the premium gas, every time I use it, I actually get lower mpg. But it's nice to use once a month for it's cleaning purposes (I only use Chevron).

[auxmike]

Mine came with the Eagle LS too.
It appears you get them with the power package. Otherwise you get the awful 160 treadwear Bridgestones!
I've no gripes about them....

[BailOut]

As has been proven many times over now, if you drive lightly you will see a large decrease in MPG with higher octane fuel due to it being harder to burn. If you drive aggressively, which mid-30's MPG points to, you will see a slight increase in MPG with higher octane fuel due to the timing advance.

However, the much higher cost of the higher octane fuel does not make economic sense when compared to the slight MPG gain.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by auxmike

Mine came with the Eagle LS too.
It appears you get them with the power package. Otherwise you get the awful 160 treadwear Bridgestones!
I've no gripes about them....

Nope, mine did not come withe the power package, but still came with the Eagle LS's.

[weedtank]

Originally Posted by auxmike

Mine came with the Eagle LS too.
It appears you get them with the power package. Otherwise you get the awful 160 treadwear Bridgestones!
I've no gripes about them....

i got the power package and mine came with the bridgestones

[IllusionX]

Eagle LS came with 08 and 09's.
05-07 had bridgestone RE92.

btw, when the tire states max PSI, it means max PSI when warm.

henryG.: If you wanted 55 profile tires, you should go with 205/55R15 instead of 195/55R15. I drive 195/60R15 in the winter and 195/55R15 in the summer. I wish i had 205's instead.

[BailOut]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

btw, when the tire states max PSI, it means max PSI when warm.

That is incorrect. All tire pressure metrics are rated and measured when the tire is cold (<= 70F) for consistency. This is why it is always recommended that you check and adjust tire pressure first thing in the morning.

Heat expansion is calculated into the "cold" numbers.

[UTVitz]

If you're getting engine pinging higher octane will sometimes eliminate this. But if it works for you and you don't mind the higher price-go for it. I've never seen an MPG increase from using it-usually how I drive the car effects the MPG the most.

My '08 hatch w/o power pkg came with the Bridgestones and with 10K mile rotations they're still going strong with 30K miles on them. As they've wore down my MPG has gone up quite a bit in the last 10K miles where I'm always in the 40's now. If they were not $100 each I'd buy them again, but that price is Michelin territory.

[b_hickman11]

Originally Posted by auxmike

Mine came with the Eagle LS too.
It appears you get them with the power package. Otherwise you get the awful 160 treadwear Bridgestones!
I've no gripes about them....

My 07 without power came with Bridgestones and my 08 with power also came with the Bridgestones. The Bridgestones were bald by 30,000 miles on the 07. Got 25,000 miles on the 08 and they will also be worn out by 30,000. I think it has something to do with which region your car comes from and maybe something to do with Sedan vs LB.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

Eagle LS came with 08 and 09's.
05-07 had bridgestone RE92.

btw, when the tire states max PSI, it means max PSI when warm.

henryG.: If you wanted 55 profile tires, you should go with 205/55R15 instead of 195/55R15. I drive 195/60R15 in the winter and 195/55R15 in the summer. I wish i had 205's instead.

Nope, my '07 came with the Eagle LS's.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by b_hickman11

My 07 without power came with Bridgestones and my 08 with power also came with the Bridgestones. The Bridgestones were bald by 30,000 miles on the 07. Got 25,000 miles on the 08 and they will also be worn out by 30,000. I think it has something to do with which region your car comes from and maybe something to do with Sedan vs LB.

Perhaps the region, but don't think it's a sedan v. LB thing. MiniTRD just got a LB, and he got the Eagle LS's. El Jefe, who had an '07 S sedan got the Bridgestones.