Better Tires

[FlyPenFly]

How much will my range suffer if I go with some higher performance tires?

My car came with the Bridgestone Ecopia EP 422 Plus tires.

I've been thinking of getting some high performance summer tires in the same size for my 2016 SE.

 

[JoulesThief]

How much will my range suffer if I go with some higher performance tires?

My car came with the Bridgestone Ecopia EP 422 Plus tires.

I've been thinking of getting some high performance summer tires in the same size for my 2016 SE.

8-12 % loss of range.

If you are in So Cal and want to sell your Ecopia's, I might be interested.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Assuming 10%, aBout 8 miles seems worth it for high performance tires....

 

[JoulesThief]

Assuming 10%, aBout 8 miles seems worth it for high performance tires....

If you bought the car, it's up to you... I'm at the opposite end, old, drive slow, like to get more range out of a battery charge, and drive at a more relaxed pace. HOV Lanes will suck your battery down right quick if you drive much over 60-65 mph.

But I do understand wanting summer tires in Los Angeles, we have lots of canyons to drive in with 2 lane twisties, and the e-Golf has the capability with the very low center of gravity to feel somewhat like a go kart.

Good sticky tires, if I was young again, would be a blast. Anyone that drove an original VW Rabbit/Golf GTI with the close ratio gear box and Pirelli P6 185 or 195 -60-14's will know exactly what I am talking about, sometime in the early to mid 1980's. Incredible, from a VW.

 

[FlyPenFly]

My other car is a Boxster S. The e-Golf is a pretty darn entertaining drive on its own. Did a canyon drive and the smooth power delivery was fantastic. The tires though felt very squirrely and unpredictable.

 

[JoulesThief]

My other car is a Boxster S. The e-Golf is a pretty darn entertaining drive on its own. Did a canyon drive and the smooth power delivery was fantastic. The tires though felt very squirrely and unpredictable.

LOL, well they are designed totally for efficiency, not for at the limit lateral G-Loads, or accelerating or braking. Probably just went from 10 /32 to 8/32 tread from Boxster Boi getting it up on three wheels on that drive. :evil:

 

[RonDawg]

If you want high performance summer tires, personally I think the 8-12% quoted by JoulesThief may be on the low side. On VWVortex, someone there swapped the rims from his Golf R onto his eGolf and promptly lost 1 mile/kWH of "fuel" economy. If you are averaging 4-5 miles/kWH now, that represents a 20-25% loss in efficiency.

 

[FlyPenFly]

If you want high performance summer tires, personally I think the 8-12% quoted by JoulesThief may be on the low side. On VWVortex, someone there swapped the rims from his Golf R onto his eGolf and promptly lost 1 mile/kWH of "fuel" economy. If you are averaging 4-5 miles/kWH now, that represents a 20-25% loss in efficiency.

I believe that person also significantly increased wheel size which of course comes with much bigger contact patches.

 

[JoulesThief]

If you want high performance summer tires, personally I think the 8-12% quoted by JoulesThief may be on the low side. On VWVortex, someone there swapped the rims from his Golf R onto his eGolf and promptly lost 1 mile/kWH of "fuel" economy. If you are averaging 4-5 miles/kWH now, that represents a 20-25% loss in efficiency.

I believe that person also significantly increased wheel size which of course comes with much bigger contact patches.

Well, give it a try and get back to us.

 

[kirby]

If you want high performance summer tires, personally I think the 8-12% quoted by JoulesThief may be on the low side. On VWVortex, someone there swapped the rims from his Golf R onto his eGolf and promptly lost 1 mile/kWH of "fuel" economy. If you are averaging 4-5 miles/kWH now, that represents a 20-25% loss in efficiency.

Yup. A few things going on here:

1) Tires. Sticky tires will reduce the range a bit. Conversely, lower rolling resistance tires that the OEM ones will do better

2) Wheel width. Wider wheels increase the contact patch (as FlyPenFly said) more contact = more traction, but less efficiency

3) Wheel weight. Beyond just adding more pound-for-pound weight that the car has to accelerate, wheels are a rotating mass so you get a bit of amplification. Adding four wheels that are 1lb heavier overall actually makes your car work like a bit more than that has been added I've read anywhere from 1.5x to 10x weight, the answer is probably closer to the lower end and it depends exactly how the weight is distributed over the wheel.

4) Wheel aerodynamics. Even if nothing else changes (tires, wheel size/weight), just changing the design of the wheel will change the efficiency.

There are many other factors I've skipped, but my I think the above four are likely to be the biggest. If I was going to swap the tires (I've considered getting better LRR tires), I would try very hard to fit the stock wheels. If you really want to swap the wheels, you might consider ones that are built to be very aerodynamic. I like the look of the rims on the Jetta Hybrid better than the e-Golf.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Unfortunate that nobody makes high performance LRR tires. I will be sticking with the stock wheels.

Are the OEM tires run flats?

 

[JoulesThief]

Go look at the tire on the rim, there's your answer. Or read the owners manual. Every new owner should read the owners manual. Good reading material in "The Other Office". :mrgreen:

 

[miimura]

Unfortunate that nobody makes high performance LRR tires. I will be sticking with the stock wheels.

Are the OEM tires run flats?

High Performance and Low Rolling Resistance are opposite engineering goals in tire design. Simply impossible.

e-Golf OEM tires are definitely not run-flat. The car comes with a compressor and tire goo.

 

[kirby]

Apologies for threadjacking, but related to LRR tires... Are there known great LRR tires that fit the stock rims for this car? If not, I'll do my own research and report back.

 

[miimura]

Apologies for threadjacking, but related to LRR tires... Are there known great LRR tires that fit the stock rims for this car? If not, I'll do my own research and report back.

If your e-Golf came with the Bridgestone Ecopia tires, you're unlikely to do any better on efficiency. If yours came with the Continental tires, get the Ecopias for better efficiency.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Here's the link to the OEM Bridgestones:

http://www.tirebuyer.com/tires/bridgestone/ecopia-ep422-plus/p/tv104001311

70k tread warranty and a 640 rating makes it a seriously Hard tire.

I'm debating pulling the trigger on a set of BFG G-Force Comp 2 A/S.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+COMP-2+A%2FS&partnum=055WR6GFC2AS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Very highly rated.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

I am now using Nokian WR-G3 tires and they are better than the stock Conti's in every way. They are all-weather tires, which means they are decent in the winter time, and they are lower rolling resistance.

 

[JoulesThief]

I may get to try my ecopia's in the rain the next few days here in So California, maybe snow too, if I can get up to the local mtns.