Michelin Energy Saver

[fuel miser]

I bought a two year old prius in July 2008, at the time, it looked as if the Bridgestone Turanza tyres were about half worn, I expected them to last only about 10-12,000 miles. I replaced the rear pair with Michelin Energy Savers back in May, when they had in fact lasted another 17,000 miles since I'd bought the car. I didn't notice any difference whatsoever in the way the car drove when they were fitted.

Last Saturday, I replaced the front pair, again with Michelin Energy Savers (the Bridgestones had lasted 22,000 miles, much more than I had expected). I've already covered 600 miles with this new pair of (front) Michelins, and wasn't expecting the car to drive any differently. What I have noticed, however, is a massive drop in road noise in the car, and on all road surfaces. But most noticeable is those concrete sections of motorway, where my old Bridgestones used to make the most horrendous racket, so much so that I would have to shout to continue any conversation I may be having with a passenger when I hit a stretch of concrete surface. On these new Michelins, there is barely any detectable road noise, even on the very worst of road surfaces.

I'm intrigued by this situation, especially when, as I've said, the car was no different when the first pair of Michelins were put on the rear all those months ago. Does this mean that most road noise is transmitted from the front tyres? Is it just that worn tyres transmit much more noise, and these Michelins will become noisy once I've done 20-25,000 with them? Or is it that the Michelin is a much superior tyre in this respect? Has anyone else who switched from Bridgestone to Michelin noticed this?

[Chris Dance]

I have always liked Michelin tyres. Pleased to hear you noticed no difference in MPG. I have always thought Michelins gave a smoother quieter ride.

My Avensis was the most noisy car with the Dunlops fitted.

All my other cars were changed to michelin and I thought the michelins were good in all respects.

[fuel miser]

I have always liked Michelin tyres. Pleased to hear you noticed no difference in MPG. I have always thought Michelins gave a smoother quieter ride.

My Avensis was the most noisy car with the Dunlops fitted.

All my other cars were changed to michelin and I thought the michelins were good in all respects.

Hi Chris, the difference in noise levels is really quite staggering, and noticeable as soon as I drove off, as the garage where I had them fitted (same where I had the previous pair) is situated amongst cobbled streets. I didn't expect to see much difference in economy as they were all low rolling resistance types. I was impressed with the life of the Bridgestones, they lasted longer than I thought they would and had also worn very evenly, it'll be interesting to see how the Michelins compare in that respect. I check my pressures frequently (I checked the front pair immediately after having them fitted on Saturday, they were both 7lb under pressure!). For the record, in this warmer weather I am averaging between 57 and 64 mpg between each refill.

[stompe]

I have always liked Michelin tyres. Pleased to hear you noticed no difference in MPG. I have always thought Michelins gave a smoother quieter ride.

My Avensis was the most noisy car with the Dunlops fitted.

All my other cars were changed to michelin and I thought the michelins were good in all respects.

Hi Chris, the difference in noise levels is really quite staggering, and noticeable as soon as I drove off, as the garage where I had them fitted (same where I had the previous pair) is situated amongst cobbled streets. I didn't expect to see much difference in economy as they were all low rolling resistance types. I was impressed with the life of the Bridgestones, they lasted longer than I thought they would and had also worn very evenly, it'll be interesting to see how the Michelins compare in that respect. I check my pressures frequently (I checked the front pair immediately after having them fitted on Saturday, they were both 7lb under pressure!). For the record, in this warmer weather I am averaging between 57 and 64 mpg between each refill.

I have driven approximately 15000 miles on Michelin Energy Savers from Costco filled with Nitrogen. They are superb tyres in every respect. Noise levels as said above are remarkably lower, the ride quality is much improved from the Bridgestone Turanza. I noticed, while being filled with Nitrogen, I have never had to top-up the tyre pressures and the miles per gallon has gone up 4mpg. The wear seems to be really good, much better than the Turanzas. This will be my last report as I have ordered the new Prius and I noticed, coincidentally that they are fitted with the said Michelin Energy.

Stompe

[Mkuk0]

Pardon my ignorance here Stompe, but how....and why, did you get your tyres filled with nitrogen?

[gniie]

Pardon my ignorance here Stompe, but how....and why, did you get your tyres filled with nitrogen?

Sorry to barge in like that.

I've just read about this new-ish practise. From what i understand, the fact that the standard air would also contain mainly nitrogen(around 79% I think) it doesn't make it unthinkable. The rest of the air composition is about 19-20% oxygen and also contains other gases and water particles.

From my reading I understand that the oxygen and the water particles present in the standard compressed air is slowly damaging the structure of the tyre over the life of its use and therefore your tire will loose some of its pressure over a period of time. From my line of work I also know that the oxygen is the main cause for oxidation(not sure of the spell!!) of the rubber and will make it more brital(cracks easier...) so we are using nitrogen to combat that process for our products.

I've seen some equipment, available to everyone to purchase, that will take your standard compressed air and will sepparate the nitrogen to fill your tires. But some of the tire specialist( in UK) can also do that for you. I'm sure that if you ring few of them you will be able to source one local to you.

If my understanding of this process is wrong, can someone else correct me pls.

[fuel miser]

Article on this very subject from the AA............................

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safet...h-nitrogen.html

[Sagitar]

I have driven approximately 15000 miles on Michelin Energy Savers from Costco filled with Nitrogen. I have never had to top-up the tyre pressures

Those are staggering figures on the face of it. Could you expand on them a little please?

How long did it take to accumulate the 15,000 miles?

Did you do anything to accommodate the changes in "cold condition" pressure that result from changes in ambient temperature. It's easy to get 3 or 4 p.s.i. change for this reason alone in the U.K. Manufacturers, including Michelin, recommend that the winter "cold condition" pressure should be restored to that achieved in the summer.

How ofter do you check your tyre pressures? Conventional wisdom says that they should be checked not less than weekly and before starting a long journey. This is not just about pressure losses due to normal migration, but it also picks up slow punctures and leaky valves. The very action of checking pressures bleeds away a tiny amount of pressure each time and so will lead to the need for a top-up in due course.

The majority of catastrophic tyre failures result from running under-inflated, so frequent checks are very important.

[fuel miser]

QUOTE:- The very action of checking pressures bleeds away a tiny amount of pressure each time and so will lead to the need for a top-up in due course.

Just to wade in with a comment whilst you await stompe's reply, I carry at all times both a digital hand-help pressure gauge (for rapid checking), and a digital air-pump (bought from Halford's a couple of years ago for £20, it had a tenner off it if I recall). This air-pump I find is particularly useful, it has a built in torch and can inflate a tyre from flat in just a few minutes (the ones I used years ago seemed to take forever just to pump a couple of pounds in!) It plugs into the cigar lighter and the lead is long enough (just!) to get right round the car in one go (i.e. I don't need to pass the pump back through the car to do the tyres on the other side). It has a useful safety feature, when you select 35lb on the display to check the front tyres, for example, it will state what the actual pressure in the tyre is when you connect to the valve, adjusts if required, but it always over inflates by 1lb of pressure to allow for escapage when you release. No good if you have nitrogen in your tyres though, as they would presumably have to be topped up with more nitrogen, or it would defeat any benefits (the AA, however, don't seem to think there are any with normal car tyres).

From all I've read about Prius tyres, the pressure seems to be critical to the cars economy, the two devices I have make the task of frequent checking/adjusting very simple.

[stompe]

I have driven approximately 15000 miles on Michelin Energy Savers from Costco filled with Nitrogen. I have never had to top-up the tyre pressures

Those are staggering figures on the face of it. Could you expand on them a little please?

How long did it take to accumulate the 15,000 miles?

Did you do anything to accommodate the changes in "cold condition" pressure that result from changes in ambient temperature. It's easy to get 3 or 4 p.s.i. change for this reason alone in the U.K. Manufacturers, including Michelin, recommend that the winter "cold condition" pressure should be restored to that achieved in the summer.

How ofter do you check your tyre pressures? Conventional wisdom says that they should be checked not less than weekly and before starting a long journey. This is not just about pressure losses due to normal migration, but it also picks up slow punctures and leaky valves. The very action of checking pressures bleeds away a tiny amount of pressure each time and so will lead to the need for a top-up in due course.

The majority of catastrophic tyre failures result from running under-inflated, so frequent checks are very important.

Hi Sagitar

I have a tyre pressure monitor system in my prius so no need to check regularly for tyre pressures. The tyre pressures do fluctuate due to the ambient temperature and even on cornering and breaking. Unless you have got a tyre pressure monitoring system you do not realise the pressure and temperature changes. I think you will find someone has already answered your question on the nitrogen and there is nothing else I can add to that, only that I would thoroughly recommend it. Hope this answers your question.

Stompe