Ecopia and more tire replacement questions

87 vs. 86 is an index showing how much weight the tire can support. More is better. As long as the replacement tire number is at or above the original equipment tire, you are good.

I just bought a set of Ecopia EP100 for my 2004. They were made in Japan. The tires that I received were built during the 47-49 weeks of 2009.

These tires are in the 185/65R15 size and are H-speed rated. They are very quiet and seem to have good handling. I have no idea how long the tread will last. The spec sheet says tread depth is 10/32", but I measure tread depth of 11/32".

Regarding the road hazard protection, that is a program that I decline, based on my personal policy not to buy insurance for hazards that I can pay for out-of-pocket. Given the example you cited, you are paying $19 to protect a tire that costs $130 (after balancing, taxes, etc.) This is a 15% premium for that coverage.

Since you are presented with the option to buy this coverage on two tires: if you think that the chances are greater than 30% that you will suffer a road hazard that requires tire replacement, during the life of those tires, then it would make financial sense to buy that protection. Otherwise, it would not - unless you can't afford to buy a replacement if/when the tire is impacted by a hazard.

I've been driving for 40 years and only recall two tire failures that required premature replacement. One was on my BMW 325i convertible (20 years ago) where the car had a bulged sidewall like the one you suffered. The other was on the 2004 Prius where my wife hit road debris and the RF tire blew.

 

I also noticed, but don't understand the comment about the need to reduce tire pressure.

I bought the tires from Discount Tire in Tucson. The tire installer put 32 psi in the tires. After I got home and let the tires cool off, I inflated the tires to 42/40 psi.

The ride is fine. Of course, I do not have a Touring model and the regular suspension is pretty soft (even after I just installed new Toyota brand struts/shocks made by KYB.)

I can't say how the 15" size will differ from 16" other than the obvious point that there's less sidewall in the 16" size to absorb shock.

I have not noticed significant mpg change per the MFD. The mpg is usually in the mid-40s. Out here, the highway speed limit is 75 mph, so that doesn't help fuel economy.

I did some repairs recently, like changing engine coolant and replacing the iridium spark plugs. The coolant change required running the engine at idle for a prolonged period, so that depressed the MFD readout for this tank of gas.

 

I don't think the car will have cosmetic issues besides the fact that you have different model tires in the front vs. back. If you are asking about dynamic handling, there's some possibility that you would have a mismatch with one axle having better traction than the other.

If I were you, I would start by installing one new Turanza tire in the front. I believe your current front tire tread depth is 6/32" after 16K miles. What is your rear tire tread depth?

Then I would leave that new tire in the front for the first few tire rotations, while rotating the other three tires around to equalize treadwear. The idea is that the new tire, remaining in the front, would be worn down faster than the other three so that when you're ready to buy a new set of four tires after another 15-20K miles, they'll be fairly evenly worn.

 

I just bought a set of four Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 for my 2007 (22K miles) from Costco in Tucson today. The Goodyear Integrity tires were pretty smooth on the shoulders and had 6/32" to 7/32" in the center tread.

The total price for the four Ecopia was slightly over $400 including new TPMS stems and gaskets, sales tax, installation, and the $70 price reduction that Costco is offering through August 18 if you have the coupon from their current coupon book.

I asked for the tires to be inflated to 44/42 psi. When I got the car back, the invoice contained a footnote to the effect that the customer had requested overinflation to 44/42 psi, therefore the treadwear warranty would not be applicable (50K miles).

The Bridgestone tires have a red dot and a yellow dot on the sidewall. Does anyone know the significance of the colored dots? My guess is the dots show the heaviest and lightest spots on each tire? The tires were installed to align the valve stem with the colored dot: Costco used the yellow dot on my 2007 while Discount Tire used the red dot on my 2004.

 

Here is one tires companies explanation. It seems to be an evolving standard.

What Are These Red and Yellow Dots On My Tires? | TireTeam Talk

Do you have any idea what caused that wear pattern?

 

I have these tires for about 10k and had the Goodyear Comforttred 195/60/15. I decided to go back to stock 185/65/15 because I wanted my speedometer to read closer to actual mileage. I did not notice any difference in handling and saw an increase of 1-2 mpg and my speedometer is only 1 mile off. So, I believe there was a slightly better increase in mileage because the Goodyears have lower rvv. I was able to get 4 installed for about $325. I think I'll be sticking with these tires as they can't be beat for the price and performance.

 

Thanks very much for providing that link!

My dad was the first owner of the car (for the first 16K miles) and although I encouraged him to use 44/42 psi, I doubt that he did so. He lives on a mountain road in an area with frequent (if not daily) rain so the tires are subject to considerable shoulder wear on curvy roads.

The 2004 has logged 9K miles on the Ecopia tires and the tire tread wear is minimal: One front tire is at 9/32" while the other three tires are at 10/32". At that rate the tires will easily exceed the tread life warranty of 50K miles.

 

We had the $18 per tire warranty from dicount tire. After 40,000 miles one of the tires tread started to seprate, one other tire had damage from running into a curb. Even after 40k miles they replaced them for 50$(we had to buy the warranty and pay for labor on the new tires). Considering tires for the truck cost arond 150$ each we got a good deal buying the warranty. But like all warranty's i'm sure on average you will lose money buying them.

 

An update to this thread from my July 2010 post. My 2007 now has 50K miles. I rotated the tires for the first time since buying the set of EP100, and also changed the engine/oil and oil filter today. I noticed a small Phillips screw at the edge of the tread of the right-rear tire. This could not be patched since it was too close to the sidewall so Costco replaced the tire with an Ecopia EP422. The tire had 7/32" tread remaining so I got 5/8 credit on the old tire. (10/32" is the new tread depth and 2/32" is the minimum tread depth.)

According to the salesman, EP100 had to be special-ordered since Costco no longer carries that model in its stores. When I asked him to do so, he then found it was on backorder and he had no idea when Bridgestone would have that model/size available.

So, I now have a new EP422 on the left-front, an EP100 with 9/32" tread depth on the right-front, and EP100 on the rear with around 6/32" tread depth. I'm thinking about buying another EP422 for the right-front at a later time.