Tires: Anybody have Michelin Premiers?

You can get the same effect by swapping them L > R & R > L - that'll reverse the rotation.

One thing I've noticed is that rotated tyres are often noisier for a 1000km or so till they bed into the new wear pattern for the wheel position.

 

I have found mine (on Gen 3) very quiet, comfortable, and sure-footed, overall very nice to drive on, but some of the edge came off my enthusiasm when I checked the treadwear just recently and found them pretty much on track to be done at 40,000 miles, rather than the 60,000 advertised (and that's with very conscientious inflation, etc.).

That bumps the price a good bit in terms of cents per mile or dollars per year....

-Chap

 

I had the Hydroedges on my previous car and even though they weren't noisy they did a horrible job gripping the road, especially in the rain, expecially after having them for roughly 30k miles (In Florida we have thunderstorms nightly in the summer). Anything above 45+ MPH in decent rain caused me to death grip the wheel. I got them swapped out for the defenders. Took a mileage hit but at least I could drive in the rain comfortably.

 

It's possible they revised them from one year to the next due to complaints like yours, and you have the pre-revision ones...

 

I'm not sure about in USA - but sometimes the companies source tyres from different factories. I well remember getting a pair of Michelins and thinking they were different sound and feel from the previous pair (VW Microbus '70s). When I mentioned it to the tyre shop, he went and looked - oh, they're IRISH, the previous ones were ??French I think??. He said different batches of tyres, being organic, will often have slight differences.

 

Starship, I guess you're on top of the inflation? Got them at the recommended 36/35 psi from a quality tire gauge?

Wear at the edges like that usually points to under inflation and\or cornering hard.

But anyway, if they're starting to wear out, maybe that's the answer to your prayers.

For my part, I just hope the OEM tires are OK in the rain this fall and snow this winter... I'm not expecting miracles, since they're low rolling resistance type.

 

You're wrong to have him over-inflate the tires. If I were him, I would not have done it. Toyota knows what they're doing when the set the specs. Factory inflation specs give the best balance of economy and performance. If you over-inflate them, you may get a tiny increase in fuel efficiency, however, your traction (including braking and wet/snow acceleration and road-holding) will be decreased. You will also wear the center of the tires faster than you should.

Congrats on the new tires. Do yourself a favor and deflate them to Toyota specs.

 

I used to think it was smart too, then I crashed my motorcycle in 2009 and broke my leg in 3 places, thanks partly to over-inflating tires. I could've been killed. Higher inflation = smaller contact patches = less traction in braking, turning and accelerating. There's no two ways about it. Softer tires give better traction, as long as the sidewalls aren't rolling or the center isn't caving in. It's just an economy thing.

Some of my fellow motorcyclists put car tires on the rear of their bikes and it's a whole sub-group who are fed up with only getting 6,000 miles out of a $150 tire. So they "darkside" their bikes and get 50k+ miles and most of them manage not to crash. I can only guess because they don't lean very far. I opened a can of worms with them, and fought as long as I could to try to get people to listen to the engineers. It's a safety issue.

The natural bleed is because Schrader valves weren't designed for very high pressures. Maybe 30-35 psi. I had them on my last bike; it was a bummer. I had to re-inflate them to 75 psi every week. (they lost about 20 psi per week) My new bike has Presta valves, and there's hardly any leakage any more.

Back to the car. Less traction means longer stopping distance, since ABS will kick in sooner due to tire lock-up. It might mean the difference between crashing or not, or between injury or not or between life or death.

But hey, if you chuckleheads want to over-inflate for that extra 1-2 mpg and tell yourself you know more than the automotive engineers, it's your life and your car.

 

Different opinions. Most people agree to disagree - but some just know that only they are right.

 

My only major accident, I'd been on a long drive (5000km), pressures were up by 4 or 5 psi. Partly because I had a reasonable load and higher speeds, but the grip was appreciably improved.

When I returned, I put my car in for a service. They reduced my pressures to factory suggestions. 2 days later, I lost traction on a bend due to the poorer grip, slid into a spoon drain and rolled. No injury. But after repairing, the pressures went up again.

 

I'm not sure that you can make a widespread suggestion on the basis of a motorcycle experience. They are slightly different from a PRIUS, the chassis is different for a start, and handling is quite different.

 

Good point, but in both bikes and cars, over-inflating causes a smaller contact patch, which equals LESS traction, unless the tire is severely under-inflated.

Fact: Race cars and bikes run lower tire pressure for this reason. (and because they're generally not as concerned with fuel economy as with grip)