Great (Ridiculous?) Efficiency with Michelin Pilot AS/4

[dml105]

I recently changed my tires to new Michelin Pilot AS/4s, sized 245/50/R19. 3 years ago, I replaced the OEM rims with Volvo XC90 rims ("turbine") and put the larger 245s on them, using the Continental DSW06 245/50/R19s. Those were pretty good - I didn't notice much loss of efficiency going to the wider tire. But now that I have Pilots on, I can make a direct comparison - the Pilots are blowing the Contis away.

This morning, for instance, I had a 12 mile drive in 85 deg weather, 80% interstate at highway speed, 20% stop and go, with basically flat elevation gain. At the end of the trip, I had averaged 4.1 miles per kWh.

Last week, I had four drives of about 20-25 miles, half highway half surface street, and got 3.7-3.9 miles per kWh. This appears to be a marked improvement, one that I hope is sustainable.

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[Stanman]

What was your average speed? When I drive 70mph+ my efficiency goes is about 2.3. SOC at 100% is 270 miles. When driving at 70+ i'll get about 245 miles. Thats with my lead foot and A/C running. I run 20 x 9 wheels, 245 45R 20 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S All seasons. This is my second set of the same tires. Love the handling.

 

[RickMachE]

I recently changed my tires to new Michelin Pilot AS/4s, sized 245/50/R19. 3 years ago, I replaced the OEM rims with Volvo XC90 rims ("turbine") and put the larger 245s on them, using the Continental DSW06 245/50/R19s. Those were pretty good - I didn't notice much loss of efficiency going to the wider tire. But now that I have Pilots on, I can make a direct comparison - the Pilots are blowing the Contis away.

This morning, for instance, I had a 12 mile drive in 85 deg weather, 80% interstate at highway speed, 20% stop and go, with basically flat elevation gain. At the end of the trip, I had averaged 4.1 miles per kWh.

Last week, I had four drives of about 20-25 miles, half highway half surface street, and got 3.7-3.9 miles per kWh. This appears to be a marked improvement, one that I hope is sustainable.

Have you put the new wheel/tire circumference in a calculator vs. the old and made sure you're actually driving a mile when the car says you're driving a mile?

 

[dml105]

What was your average speed? When I drive 70mph+ my efficiency goes is about 2.3. SOC at 100% is 270 miles. When driving at 70+ i'll get about 245 miles. Thats with my lead foot and A/C running. I run 20 x 9 wheels, 245 45R 20 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S All seasons. This is my second set of the same tires. Love the handling.

I don't know my average, but I was going the interstate speed limit* for most of the trip. I was very surprised to the 4.1 when I arrived given the high speed.

* ish.

Have you put the new wheel/tire circumference in a calculator vs. the old and made sure you're actually driving a mile when the car says you're driving a mile?

Yes. 225/55/r19 and 245/50/r19 rotate almost exactly the same - 702 revs/mile versus 704 about 0.3% different. A difference in tire pressure would have about the same effect.

 

[HuntingPudel]

As a person with a bit of aero education, I am going to request photos of the wheels you’re using and the ones you used to have. I have a feeling that they are more responsible for a freeway efficiency change than the tires. ??

 

[dml105]

To clarify, the rims are not new. I’ve had these rims for about 3 years, but until recently, had DWS06 245/50/r19s on them. Now I have Pilot AS/4s in the same size.

But these are the rims:

They’re from a 2022 XC90. And I did purchase them thinking aerodynamically.

 

[AliRafiee]

3.7-3.9 to 4.1 was probably due to tail wind of 2mph. Or maybe you lost some weight. Way too close to measure, especially in that short time period.

 

[Scooby24]

Tire rack recently did a test on efficiency with the Pilot Sport AS 4s and the efficiency was worse than even the Pilot Sport 4s.

There's likely some other factor at play and/or placebo effect. Maybe they're better than the DWS06's but I doubt it would be appreciable.

 

[Triggerhappy007]

I agree, not a good measure if the speed is not continuous. I would have tested on the highway without traffic.

 

[mkhuffman]

Tire rack recently did a test on efficiency with the Pilot Sport AS 4s and the efficiency was worse than even the Pilot Sport 4s.

There's likely some other factor at play and/or placebo effect. Maybe they're better than the DWS06's but I doubt it would be appreciable.

I don't think the DWS06s are very efficient, but I think you are correct.

There are so many factors that impact efficiency, and a controlled test is very difficult.

When I compared the iONs I put on my GT with the OEMs, I used as much data as possible to try to eliminate factors outside of my control. You have to make sure the comparison is done in similar weather, similar battery temperature, similar internal climate control, similar speed and similar time of day. Also, the distance compared needs to be the same over the same road, and it needs to be long enough to accurately track battery energy used.

And if you do all that, you can probably see a consistent trend for before and after the change.

However, the trip efficiency displayed in the car is not accurate. This week the display showed 2.4 mi/kWh when I did a 143 mile trip, but when I divided battery energy used into 143 miles the efficiency was 2.77.

So if you really want to compare tires or wheels, you have to use a OBDII scanner and record actual distance traveled and actual battery energy used. Otherwise, you really can't trust the results.

 

[MME2000]

I've been a lifelong Pirelli fan, I will no doubt try the new EV tires from them after the OEs are done

 

[2FlyMache]

I have been using the Pilot 4 AS and they are significantly better than the DWS 06’s. My range has been the same as the Hankook Ions i had on before. The Continental on my car took a 20% hit on range for me.

 

[ChehRob]

Consumer did some EV mileage versus temperature and were almost shocked, the higher the temp, the better the mileage. It was a lot more than they expected.

 

[mkhuffman]

Consumer did some EV mileage versus temperature and were almost shocked, the higher the temp, the better the mileage. It was a lot more than they expected.

If you have a link to that report I would love to read it.

 

[Jeff-NoVA]

I have to say I'm intrigued by this post. BTW, @dml105, any pics of those wheels on your Mach E? Curious to see how they look.

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