Need new tires...

[msvphoto]

Our 2015 SEL came with worn original Contis in the back and fairly new Fuzions (lower tier alt brand Bridgestone) in the front. I suspect the fronts were put on either just prior to lease turn in or at the VW dealer we bought the car from. With no baseline I am not sure how much the Fuzions in front are affecting range, but at 44k miles we still see 80-100 miles driving the eGolf like a normal car. I will say this about the Fuzions (which I don't like much but can't really complain about too much I guess) is they lose air a lot faster than the old worn Contis.

My plan was to replace all four tires as soon as the Contis get close to their wear bars but after close to 13k miles of our ownership my patience is wearing thinner than the rear Conti's tread depth seems to be.

Based on a recommendation from an Audi forum member I put General Altimax RT-43s on my 1986 Audi 4000 quattro a year or so back. There are very few good choices remaining in the stock size for that car. So far I am beyond impressed and despite not being sold as an "eco" tire they do offer lower than average rolling resistance according to TireRack.com tests so I am seriously considering these for the eGolf as well. They are reasonably priced from internet tire vendors such as Discount Tire Direct (via eBay) and Costco installs for $60 per set.

General is an old US brand name that is now owned by Continental. I liked the RT-43s so much I just put UHP all season G-Max AS-05s on the BMW 540i wagon and so far they are outstanding. Better than the worn Michelins they replaced by far. (But not a fair comparison due to age differences.) The RT-43s are made in the USA and the G-Max are made in Germany. I guess their old marketing slogan came true, sooner or later I owned Generals. (I actually had another set of Generals that were OEM on a new 1992 Ford-F150 I bought back in January 1993.) Normally I stick with Michelin or Bridgestone, but I have been swayed of late.

I wonder how much difference in real world range between RT-43s and Ecopias, etc. really is? Efficiency is not my top criteria in tire selection normally and reviews indicate to me that eco tires (like run flats) pretty much suck at their price point.

[Verbruggan]

2016 e-Golf has Bridgestone Ecopia which I don't like...seem to be intended to only drive on perfectly dry roads so not ideal for New England. I don't drive the e-Golf during bad winter weather, but would like something that's better in rain at least. Recommendations?

Suggest Nokian eNTYRE 2.0

If you are in northern New England thinking of winter
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3
or
Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 (STUDDED)

It isn't about the ReGen, its about staying on the road...

[pgeller]

Good info guys. For me, noise is a big factor. The eG being so quiet, road and tire noise dominate. Our pavement here in Oregon runs from glass to cobblestone, so quiet tires are a must. I have those Generals on a Subaru and they are really quite good for the price.

pg

[mpulsiv]

To be fair the car may be more to blame than the tires. The weight distribution for the e-Golf set back a bit more than it should be due to replacing an engine with batteries, which increases the chance of front tire spin on wet roads among other things.

I don’t know how the rest of you drive, but as far as rain is concerned, I’ve been happy with the OEM Ecopias. In the big storm a week or so ago the car performed just fine in the standing water. In today’s commute with misty but continuous rain, I found no issues with traction.

I've never had any problems with my Ecopia's either, in the rain, and there's been plenty of it here in So CA this year. They do just fine. I suspect the problem is with the loose nut behind the wheel thinking an e-Golf is a Lotus or a Porsche.

No offense but I'd like to genuine know why horrendous Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus is acceptable in your books.
It's built on super stiff carcass to increase rolling resistance and decrease traction. I understand the sole purpose behind this tire and it serves its purpose for drivers who barely touch the pedal, apply hypermilling techniques and rave about 6 kWh consumption.
This tire is not only unsafe on wet tarmac but in dry conditions. I dropped the pressure down to 37 psi to see if grip increases. It makes no difference, even from light pedal touch, continuous spin outs when wet out.

[f1geek]

Ecopias are low rolling resistance tires. Don’t press the right pedal so hard and the tires won’t spin. I keep mine at the pressure recommended by VW and have no issues. Put some summer performance tires on the car, if you want more grip, but expect your range and efficiency to drop. Or buy a Porsche Taycan if you want a German EV sports car.

[alteregolf]

I'm in Portland, OR and the rainy season is here. I've been wondering how these low rolling resistance tires would perform on wet roads. And where I live, it's hilly and the roads are twisty. I haven't noticed any traction issues so far. That said, I drive fairly conservatively, especially when conditions are sub-prime.

[JoulesThief]

I don’t know how the rest of you drive, but as far as rain is concerned, I’ve been happy with the OEM Ecopias. In the big storm a week or so ago the car performed just fine in the standing water. In today’s commute with misty but continuous rain, I found no issues with traction.

I've never had any problems with my Ecopia's either, in the rain, and there's been plenty of it here in So CA this year. They do just fine. I suspect the problem is with the loose nut behind the wheel thinking an e-Golf is a Lotus or a Porsche.

No offense but I'd like to genuine know why horrendous Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus is acceptable in your books.
It's built on super stiff carcass to increase rolling resistance and decrease traction. I understand the sole purpose behind this tire and it serves its purpose for drivers who barely touch the pedal, apply hypermilling techniques and rave about 6 kWh consumption.
This tire is not only unsafe on wet tarmac but in dry conditions. I dropped the pressure down to 37 psi to see if grip increases. It makes no difference, even from light pedal touch, continuous spin outs when wet out.

The only conclusion I can reach is that it's operator error that is causing your traction problems. Ecopia's are on tons of Nissan Leaf's, too. The complaints about being unsafe make you and your claims an outlier, statistically, in the law of averages. Outliers, statistically are thrown away as just that, outside the range of normal.

One must possibly conclude, then, that you don't drive normally.

[zanzabar]

There are 100 choices of tires to choose from. You do not have to use Bridgestones or LRR tires! Go to Tire Rack, type in the car, and explore all the ratings of the dozens of choices and choose one in your price range that does well in rain and/or snow and/or whatever conditions you want to drive in.

[PeterS]

I decided to put on winter tires on the OEM rims, and got dedicated 17x8 rins with 225 wide tires for summer: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season (good reviews and on-sale) and I have to say it's a huge difference compared to the Bridgestone OEM tires. The ride is much more planted and I don't spin tires in the wet anymore (well - a lot less). Range penalty is ~10% . I posted pics in the performance thread.

BTW: I have a set of Bridgestone OEM take-offs (with only 250 miles on them) for sale. Pick-up/Delivery only in the greater Seattle area (I'm on the Eastside). Please PM me if you are interested.

[BarDav]

Just put on Continental TrueContact tires in place of the OEM Bridgestone Ecopia Plus's, which I was never happy with because of the traction even in the dry. Same size and pressure. The Contis have much better traction in the dry and wet, are quieter and have better handling feel. Not much range penalty, maybe 5%.
Update - having driven the car more, I'd say the range penalty in city driving is 5 - 10%, highway 10 - 15%. Still happy with them because of the better traction.