Eurovan tires

[fkahlert]

ETyre is a great tire. We run it 3 seasons. No reason not to do it.
Florian

[eugenesantos]

A month or so back, I posted a similar request. Lots to consider when purchasing tires for a Eurovan. jjvincent, fkahlert, and others contributed to that thread as well with some good advice. I ended up purchasing Nokian Rotiiva AT 215/65/16 tires.

I was considering the Entyre 2.0 as well. The price was right, but ultimately I wanted a tire with more bite and bought these from tiresbyweb for $134 each, free shipping. It is still early, but they seem like a great choice.

[Ingridout]

Could you post pics of these tires on your van. I'm considering getting these tires and not sure how they will look. Thanks!

[eugenesantos]

Sure. Here you go. Along with the Nokian Rotiivas, I installed some 1.5" spacers from Cavevan, though it wasn't necessary to fit the tires. Plenty of clearance without the lift.

The tires seem great. Tread is aggressive, but road noise does not seem to increased. Mpg seems the same. And, I'm not ashamed to say, the Rotiiva's give the van some much needed swag

Good luck with your purchase.

[jjvincent]

This is what it looks like on a steelie and much lower:

[Jooknon]

Anyone ever tried a Firestone Transforce HT?
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Ben

93 MV Weekender

[jjvincent]

The name sounds like it should be in a Marvel movie.

FIRESTONE TRANSFORCE GO!!!!!

I will tell you from personal experience, if you go above a 104 on the load rating, better be ready for a rough ride unless you plan on running your EV at full load. I made that mistake a long time ago and never again.

[Jooknon]

The website I'm looking at says Load Index: 102/100.

But chances are I'll end up Nokians any way. My shop has them cheaper than the 'Super Hero' Firestones.
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Ben

93 MV Weekender

[jjvincent]

I just went to the Firestone Website and seen a bunch of high load rated ones on their spec sheet.

Think about it, why have people mistake your tires for a cell phone when you could go with the 2018 Marvel Summer hit?

[Gypsymobile]

Hankook Optima 4S

These are currently on sale north of the border at crappytire, but I'm sure you'll have an easy time finding them in the US. Picked mine up for $89 a tire so with our currency exchange you're looking at $5 a tire.

4 season tire - Stock size available 225/60/16, and load rated 102.

[Turk.380]

[jjvincent]

If I had a EV with 15" wheels, I'd sell them and buy 16". It's just because the tide has turned where the 16" was almost impossible to find when VW switched to 16". 15" owners laughed at us because the overly priced tires that wore out in 15K we had to live with. Now today, there are lots of 16" and enough of a variety. It comes down to that most delivery vans in Europe have 16" and thus more companies make tires that fit them. The 15" is still around but it's not like those guys can have make fun of us any more.

For some goofy reason, in Mexico just about every T5 or T6 you see has 205/65/16 on them and they are a 107 load rated tire. Why they have that size is beyond me because their crappy roads would ask for more of a tire with a larger sidewall. My old snow tires I got back in 2003 were the OEM VW snows for a Eurovan and they were 206/60/16 Dunlops. My EV looked stupid with them but low and behold, that size is listed on the door jamb. With those tires, it did accelerate faster.

Then you go to Europe and it's a 215/65/16 that's on 90% of everything.

If you talk to anyone with a Bus, they reference the owners manual and some designation from 1965. If you don't have that, your Bus will be destroyed and go up in flames. I assume they run non-detergent straight weight dino oil and put lead substitute in the gas too.

[Turk.380]

[jjvincent]

[kenney158]

Will be buying tires soon for my '03 Weekender. Read all the posts in this thread and am leaning toward Nokians. The price on the Entyre is super but they're described as a "passenger" tire. My understanding is that the EV must have a light truck tire.

Is it possible this passenger tire is safe for the EV?

https://www.tires-easy.com/brands/nokian-tires/entyre?code=T427919

If this passenger tire isn't adequate, I'll go with the Nokian AT-

[Masta Shake]

The load rating is really the most important thing. The difference between LT and passenger tires seems to be (according to articles I have read) that LT tires are planned on being overloaded. Passenger tires are OK for the occasional overloading. This is perhaps why VW requires a 102 or higher rated tire, they know that people will treat their tires poorly. Yes, the Michelin that GW likes as rated below that, but I'll bet VW knew that if they required a higher load rating then people who regularly overloaded or abused their tires would be OK. That's why it's really important to not go with anything less than a 102.
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As a good friend told me when I got the Syncro: "Welcome to the an intense love/hate relationship".

[jjvincent]

The GW info is dated.

Just like this past trip when the EV is loaded to the hilt and three of us in it, I'm not worried that I'll have a blowout because of an overloaded tire. For me, it's worth it and especially since a 102 load rated tire is not $200 tire like it was back in the good ol days. Just like the $250/axle brake pads or $150 rotors. Those consumables only lasted 15-20K at best too. Those were the best of times.

[Masta Shake]

Dated but Lucas refuses to move on from his defense of the Michelin. Here's the letter I got back from him in March of this year when I suggested the Nokian or Kumho.

Hey Scott,

I am sure there are other tire brands and models that are just as good as the Michelin we recommend. There might even be some that are better in a particular situation, no doubt—I have seen them come and go over the years.

But over the long run, for most people and for most driving: you just cannot beat Michelin for durability, performance, consistency, availability and value. We have been using Michelin for over 15 years, and have sold thousands of tires—and the results speak for themselves: Zero performance complaints, and not one, single failure-ever.

Thank you for your input, and for your business,

Cheers,

S. Lucas Valdes, PEME
President, PE Enterprises, Inc.
GoWesty Camper Products
1119 Los Olivos Ave., Los Osos, CA 93402
Toll-free: (888) 469-3789 x-101
Fax: (805) 528-2799
_________________
As a good friend told me when I got the Syncro: "Welcome to the an intense love/hate relationship".

[Jooknon]

I ended up getting Nokian's in the recommended load rating all the way around. Man what difference in road noise from the old worn out tires that were on there!

I think it was about $525 for them all.
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Ben

93 MV Weekender

[jjvincent]

I wouldn't put a brand like Nokian as a come and go. GW is pushing a 235/60/16 and maybe for certain situations, that's the way to go but I don't understand that it has to be Michelin since there are other tires you can get today. Not just Nokian, but there are other brands that fit the EV and have the load rating.

When they say come and go, actually Michelin has been the come and go king just due to them not making a EV tire for more than a few years. Just go to the Michelin site and they literally don't make a non snow EV tire in a 16". GW had to go to a larger size just to get in the ballpark on the load rating and that's not even enough.

If I had to suggest a tire, I'd say, go for everything but a Michelin because they are come and go with the Eurovan selection while others are expanding their selection. Honestly, if you can't find a tire to fit your EV today, then you just are not trying or have found one you have your heart set on but want acceptance from the online community that you made the right decision.