Tire Rack Consumer Reviews

Initial Review, 770 Miles on Tires
April 13, 2012

I purchased Insight w/ CVT Automatic transmission 1 year ago. Car had 130K miles from the orig. owner & kept the car as close to new as you could hope to find. All service records since day one including tire purchases/alignments. Also detailed mileage log that included all gas fill ups, average MPG (46.9) for each tank, etc. Car had a new IMA battery installed 2 years ago and shows a full charge often. I commute 30K miles/year. Most driving is at speeds of 50 MPH or more on paved road. My drive includes freeway/highway roads w/ elevation changes of 900 from start to stop. 5-6K of these miles are city driving with lots of starts and stops. Not much rain and no mud, ice or snow. Over that past year I have averaged 46.2 MPG. If I "babied" the throttle & drove less than 60 MPH I could get 49.6 MPG. However, typically I would get in the 45-46 MPG. When I purchased the car it came with Dunlop tires since the owner had switched to this brand many years ago after the first set of original RE92s wore out @ 62K. I currently have 750 miles on the new replacement RE92s. First thing I noticed was that my mileage jumped up to 50 MPG in the first 100 miles. I then took the car in for an alignment and this was a good move as the car needed an alignment even though my old tires did not show any kind or abnormal wear & the car tracked strait when the steering wheels was not touched. After the alignment the mileage continued to improve. I have now driven 750 miles with the MPG keeping steady at 56.2 MPG. It should be noted that the MAX pressure on the tire says 44 PSI but I choose to run my tires at 50 PSI & had the car aligned with that tire pressure. A interesting outcome is that my road noise is now quieter with the new tires than the old Dunlops & when I go over bumps or rough sections of the road it is easier on me. My only complaint I have thus far is that the car seems to be more responsive to steering and will take time. It is not bothersome-just different.