# Tire wear in diesel Cruze



## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Have any of you diesel owners noticed the innermost part of your tire wearing more than the rest of the tire? I just noticed this on my car. I am trying to gauge if "they all do that" or if it may have had to do with the time I had bad wheel bearings for a bit.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Not a diesel but my 1LT did this with my first set of tires, it was an alignment issue in the front. Looking at the rear tires on my cruze though they seems to tip in ever so slightly and the inner edge making a bit more contact with the ground.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

Our rear wheels are cambered a little bit under 2 degrees, so a slight amount of additional wear to the inner edge would make sense. The 3 degrees of rear camber on my Grand Prix would just eat inner edges to death, but the 1.5-2 degrees we have doesn't seem to be as destructive. I could also see how the bad bearing could enhance this wear pattern. 

When I had my factory tires, I saw that both edges were wearing slightly faster than the centers. I attributed this to the camber when the tires were on the rear and hard turns wearing the outer edge when they were on the front. Mine were rotated every 6000 miles at my 4 free services, so they spent equal time on the front and rear of the vehicle.


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## warloc (Dec 10, 2013)

Try running a few extra pounds of air, I'm running mine at 42PSI now. On the second set at 48K, I ran my first set at 39PSI and had excessive wear on the outer and inner tire edges, that can be from alignment or low tire pressure.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

I usually fill mine to 44, and they get as high as 51 during a long drive on a hot day.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

The LH outer edge, in USA it would be the RH front tyre, is the one that cops the most wear because it is under the most strain when doing a U turn. I have 35k km on my original tyres and they still seem fair, but the outer LH front is showing signs it is wearing faster than the rest of the tyres.


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## MilTownSHO (Oct 9, 2013)

Haven't noticed it. For reference I run factory tire pressure. Just passed 50k but I swap tires for the winter.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

I have no idea how many miles are on my original tires, but I would venture to guess at least 60K miles. My snow tires didn't seem to have this problem and I got 2 seasons out of them.


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## boneheaddoctor (Dec 10, 2014)

I don't have nearly enough miles on mine yet to notice anything at 4,200 miles


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## Classy56 (Jul 16, 2014)

Mine are completely even with 95%+ HWY miles. If you do mostly city driving the front outside edge would show more wear and a "feathering". 
You probably need an alignment


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Classy56 said:


> Mine are completely even with 95%+ HWY miles. If you do mostly city driving the front outside edge would show more wear and a "feathering".
> You probably need an alignment


I have hit a few MAJOR potholes, so it would stand to reason that something was knocked out of whack at some point.


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## matthied (Feb 6, 2014)

My car did this exact thing. I noticed it by 10,000 miles. rotated them often to keep it even on all 4. Had an alignment done at 20K. (they didn't find any issues) at 55K most of the tire was 30% but the inside half inch was worn bald. Dealer didn't have an answer. Changed to Michelin since I had good luck with wear in the past on them.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

It's funny, but I didn't notice the same wear pattern on my snow tires. 

I've been running about 42PSI year round.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

I ran the front tires(I didn't rotate them) for around 50000 miles out of the 73000 miles I have on them and they are wearing on the inside band. The tire discounters said he sees this a lout because of the way the camber is set. the tires other than that still seem to have another 50000 left on them.


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## CruzeDan (May 17, 2015)

The Goodyear Assurance tires seem to wear excessively on the edges, at least all of the ones I have seen. I looked at a bunch of low mileage Volts before buying my diesel, and none of the tires were wearing right. I am aware that they are not the exact same tire, but something to think about.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

On my 2nd set and my wear was pretty even up till I had a ball joint going for about a month or so. I got about 40k out of the 1st set but they were unsafe at about 36 in winter conditions compared to brand new. I ran 41 ps1 1st set I'm gonna bump these up to about 40 as well. Tried out 38 but not liking he mpg from it.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

~40k miles on the OEM goodyear tires and they've worn 100% evenly. I've kept a log of the tread depth measured to at least 1/64". 

Always inflated to 51PSI and rotated every 3500 miles, with last two rotations being at 7,000 miles.


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## warloc (Dec 10, 2013)

Hey Diesel, I have an off subject question for you. I'm getting ready to join the 50K club and have a brake question seeing how you seem to have the most miles here. When I rotate every 6K miles I see my brake pads are still like new with the chamfers still present. Have you had to do a brake job yet? Looks like they will last 100K +on tis car . I had an Accord that would eat pads and rotors in 25K miles so I'm very pleased with the brakes on the CTD.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

Warloc I've got 75000 miles on mine and observed the same thing. Last tire rotation at 71000 the brakes looked brand new but most of my miles are interstate


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

warloc said:


> Hey Diesel, I have an off subject question for you. I'm getting ready to join the 50K club and have a brake question seeing how you seem to have the most miles here. When I rotate every 6K miles I see my brake pads are still like new with the chamfers still present. Have you had to do a brake job yet? Looks like they will last 100K +on tis car . I had an Accord that would eat pads and rotors in 25K miles so I'm very pleased with the brakes on the CTD.



118K miles and my brakes are still good. I, too am impressed with the brakes.


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

I bought my '14 CTD with 31,000 miles, it now has 53,000 miles and I drive approximately 80% highway. The inner edge is excessively wearing so I had all four tires flipped on the rim. The remaining tread is very good so I want to maximize the tire life.

I would consider getting a 4-wheel alignment but I suspect they would only adjust the toe. The car drives straight so I do not know if the alignment is the problem. If it is true the camber can go out on these I would want that adjusted too. 

Are there any nation wide auto centers that would do a 4-wheel alignment and actually adjust toe and camber if needed?


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

BDCCruze said:


> I bought my '14 CTD with 31,000 miles, it now has 53,000 miles and I drive approximately 80% highway. The inner edge is excessively wearing so I had all four tires flipped on the rim. The remaining tread is very good so I want to maximize the tire life.
> 
> I would consider getting a 4-wheel alignment but I suspect they would only adjust the toe. The car drives straight so I do not know if the alignment is the problem. If it is true the camber can go out on these I would want that adjusted too.
> 
> Are there any nation wide auto centers that would do a 4-wheel alignment and actually adjust toe and camber if needed?


Mine is a 15 diesel with 38k miles, I am getting mine aligned on Friday. Should fix the issue.


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Just to update my previous post, I put new tires on around 70k miles. I now have 123k and notice the inner edge is wearing unevenly again. I had the alignment checked and it's good. I run 38-40 PSI. I'm almost exclusively highway.


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

BDCCruze said:


> Just to update my previous post, I put new tires on around 70k miles. I now have 123k and notice the inner edge is wearing unevenly again. I had the alignment checked and it's good. I run 38-40 PSI. I'm almost exclusively highway.


38-40 psi seems a tad high, but that would cause excess wear in the center of the thread, not the shoulder.

Normally, the toe setting is the main factor in shoulder wear. You've taken it back, to the same shop, I presume? Have you taken it to a different alignment shop? Have the control arm bushings and ball joints been checked? 

Do you by chance drive frequently on a road that has lots of crown in it, such as a worn, country road? Do you carry lots of weight in the car? How often have you rotated the tires?

Doug

.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

I just put new tires on. Adjusted all to 35. 

When the tires warm up. They rise to 38 - 39. 

Sounds like a toe out problem. Also. Have you been rotating?


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

plano-doug said:


> 38-40 psi seems a tad high, but that would cause excess wear in the center of the thread, not the shoulder.
> 
> Normally, the toe setting is the main factor in shoulder wear. You've taken it back, to the same shop, I presume? Have you taken it to a different alignment shop? Have the control arm bushings and ball joints been checked?
> 
> ...


The door sticker says 38 PSI. Tires are rotated regularly at 5-8k miles. I am almost exclusively freeway driving.


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

BDCCruze said:


> The door sticker says 38 PSI. Tires are rotated regularly at 5-8k miles. I am almost exclusively freeway driving.


Gee, and I thought 34 was high for a spec - I'm of the 28-32 generation 

Seriously, if you're rotating them that often, and still getting excess shoulder wear, I'd try another alignment shop.

Doug

.


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## sailurman (Sep 29, 2016)

I have lifetime alignment with Firestone. However, I haven't taken mine in in over a year because the wear is spot on. I always rotate/balance at Discount Tire the same day I do oil change. I haven't kept a log of how long they have gone, but I am on my third set now at 135K Miles. I run until just before the tread warning markers and then change them. I don't like the risks with no spare


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## electrozap_29 (Mar 9, 2017)

Mine has worn tires on the inside edges every time and I've had several sets of tires. I'm at 188k now. I've had it aligned 2 times the 2nd time they adjusted the toe slightly although it was still within spec. Walmart was trying to give me a hard time about warranting the tires due to the wear on the inside edges. They said something has to be worn nm out or it's out of alignment. The alignment was done by a local dealer and I had them check the front end when the did the alignment and note it on the work order. Long story short I left wal mart with new (cheaper brand) tires for $110!!


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Took mine back in to another store. They said the alignment is still good. They flipped tires on the rims for me. I have 55,000 miles on the current set with 6/32 tread left (started with 10/32).

This place (same business, different branch) keeps telling me my struts need to be replaced every 50,000 miles (in their mind I should be about ready to put my 3rd set on). It's such a waste of money, parts, and energy to do that. The tires and struts are not showing any signs of bad struts (cupping, uneven tread face wear, bouncing more than once per bump, etc) yet they insist I need new ones. It seems to slip their mind that inner tire wear can be the result of something other than struts.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

electrozap_29 said:


> Mine has worn tires on the inside edges every time and I've had several sets of tires. I'm at 188k now.


I wonder what the toe measurements in these high mile cars would be like if a spreader bar were used.


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Want to see something disgusting? Tires have around 5/32 in the middle. This car did the same **** thing to the last set. I've had 3 alignments done (at different places) over the past 75k miles and they still wear out. This is from the drivers front. I should easily be able to hit 100k miles on this set it it wasn't for the excessive inner wear. Also included my alignment from 10k miles ago.

Does anyone know if the Diesel has a different setup for the front end than the gas 2011-15 Cruze?


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## MRO1791 (Sep 2, 2016)

diesel said:


> Have any of you diesel owners noticed the innermost part of your tire wearing more than the rest of the tire? I just noticed this on my car. I am trying to gauge if "they all do that" or if it may have had to do with the time I had bad wheel bearings for a bit.


My 2015 still has original tires with plenty of tread, care is over 60K miles, but I do run winter tires so the tires don't have the full 60K. I expect these will be replaced by age not wear given they are approaching the 6 year mark. Also, I run close to the tire recommended pressure, on the original OEM Good Years, that is 51PSI. In general I run the tire recommended pressure on all my vehicles that that helps them last much longer.


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

MRO1791 said:


> My 2015 still has original tires with plenty of tread, care is over 60K miles, but I do run winter tires so the tires don't have the full 60K. I expect these will be replaced by age not wear given they are approaching the 6 year mark. Also, I run close to the tire recommended pressure, on the original OEM Good Years, that is 51PSI. In general I run the tire recommended pressure on all my vehicles that that helps them last much longer.


Man, there's no such thing as a tire recommended pressure. The pressure on the side wall is the maximum rated pressure.

Source - I sold tires for 3 years.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

The "recommended pressure" would be what is on the sticker on the door - that's gonna be the manufacturer's specified tire pressure, which will be for the best "blend" of longevity, ride quality, road noise and fuel economy. 

That said, I run ours pretty high - 46.5 psi on the Fuel Maxes for spring/summer/fall. Close to max, but don't quite want to go _that_ high.


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## MRO1791 (Sep 2, 2016)

BDCCruze said:


> Man, there's no such thing as a tire recommended pressure. The pressure on the side wall is the maximum rated pressure.
> 
> Source - I sold tires for 3 years.


Correct, that tire max tire pressure also matches the tire maximum load capacity. If you are less than full capacity you can have less pressure and it will not harm the tire. It will also not harm the tire to run the max tire pressure at lower loads, though it will make the tires absorb less energy on rough roads and in some conditions alter the traction.. but it won't hurt the tire.


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## MRO1791 (Sep 2, 2016)

MP81 said:


> The "recommended pressure" would be what is on the sticker on the door - that's gonna be the manufacturer's specified tire pressure, which will be for the best "blend" of longevity, ride quality, road noise and fuel economy.
> 
> That said, I run ours pretty high - 46.5 psi on the Fuel Maxes for spring/summer/fall. Close to max, but don't quite want to go _that_ high.


That pressure is ALSO based on the tires that the car had from the factory.. change tires to something else and it may no longer be a proper pressure. The TPMS computer in the car can be set to a new pressure using the GM MDI tool. 

There is no MPG benefit for any pressure less than the maximum tire rated pressure, the rolling resistance increases with lower pressure. The only reason to go less than the max tire pressure is ride quality to absorb more rough road surface energy, and in some places, like gravel or loose surfaces, improve traction, and you can only go less because the tires are rated for loads above the vehicle maximum loads and thus do not need the full pressure on the tire. The tire max load rating is at the tire max cold inflation pressure. 

Also, note the section in the owners manual, I seem to recall it says to verify tire pressure is adequate when you full load the vehicle, I think even the recommended pressure might assume something less than full load capacity, then you have people going above rated load often.. it's not hard to do on a car like the Cruze.. Load up some heavy luggage, and 5 People and you can be well over the rated load for the vehicle.. do the math if you doubt me on that.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

On my original good years from 0-38k miles of aggressive driving with perfect tire rotation and door placket psi they wore almost evenly on shoulders and center. 15 Cruze diesel I had the steering replaced under B2b at 10k so alignment was done


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)




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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Did an inspection on mine today and the driver front (one in picture I posted) has a pronounced knock when rocking the tire back and forth. The passenger front doesn't do it. I was under the car while someone rocked the tire and it sounds like it's coming from the steering rack so the inner tie rod end is probably going out. I'm just going to take it in and have it done, inners are too much work.

The tire was really bad though so I moved it to the back and hopefully I can still get another 10-20k out of it. At least I have some answers now.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

BDCCruze said:


> Did an inspection on mine today and the driver front (one in picture I posted) has a pronounced knock when rocking the tire back and forth. The passenger front doesn't do it. I was under the car while someone rocked the tire and it sounds like it's coming from the steering rack so the inner tie rod end is probably going out. I'm just going to take it in and have it done, inners are too much work.
> 
> The tire was really bad though so I moved it to the back and hopefully I can still get another 10-20k out of it. At least I have some answers now.


Crazy how something so small and hard to detect while in cab can cause so much wear. Mine in the pics posted ^ aren’t bad for 40k and aggressive driving and occasional auto x


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Starting doing my inner tie rods today. Rented the tube style removal tool from Auto Zone. You put a crows foot type wrench fitting on the tie rod nut and slide a tube over it and it locks in with the ears. The "OEM" brand tool is an absolute piece of trash. The end is so worn out that it can't hold the crows foot from twisting open enough to skip. I was able to get both sides off but I can't get them back on to torque spec. I'm going to buy the U clamp style adapter from Auto Zone tomorrow because there's no way that one will slip.


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Finished the inner tie rods using the u-bolt clamping style tool. Used stainless steel zip ties on the inner tie rod boot. Took it in for an alignment to a different shop and they said everything looks good.


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Been doing some reading about excessive inner tire wear and the only thing I can find is talking about control arm bushings. However, mine are completely fine. I have 90k miles on 70k mile tires so I shouldn't be complaining but I still have 4/32 left in the middle and feel like I should be able to get another 20k miles out of them. But it's at the point where it's going to start causing tread separation.

Problem is, my car has worn the tires like this since I bought it with 30k miles (about 160k now). I've never had any issues with feathering, cupping, or any other abnormal tire wear beyond the inner edge. I wonder if it is the road crown like suggested since I have driven the same road since I bought this car. Maybe a combination of alignment specs and tire size? The wear does seem to get worse as the tread life goes down, maybe it's causing more of that edge to hit the crown. I also did an inspection today on flat concrete and the heavily worn edges are not even touching the ground so I'm completely confused on what is causing it.

I'm thinking about putting on a new set of tires and taking it back and asking the local alignment shop to take out some of the camber. I don't know what else to do.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

BDCCruze said:


> Been doing some reading about excessive inner tire wear and the only thing I can find is talking about control arm bushings. However, mine are completely fine. I have 90k miles on 70k mile tires so I shouldn't be complaining but I still have 4/32 left in the middle and feel like I should be able to get another 20k miles out of them. But it's at the point where it's going to start causing tread separation.
> 
> Problem is, my car has worn the tires like this since I bought it with 30k miles (about 160k now). I've never had any issues with feathering, cupping, or any other abnormal tire wear beyond the inner edge. I wonder if it is the road crown like suggested since I have driven the same road since I bought this car. Maybe a combination of alignment specs and tire size? The wear does seem to get worse as the tread life goes down, maybe it's causing more of that edge to hit the crown. I also did an inspection today on flat concrete and the heavily worn edges are not even touching the ground so I'm completely confused on what is causing it.
> 
> I'm thinking about putting on a new set of tires and taking it back and asking the local alignment shop to take out some of the camber. I don't know what else to do.


1. Driving style, if you push the car hard even with stock settings you’ll wear in and outside at factory psi. 2. Maybe control arms are bent. 3. Maybe who ever did alignment didn’t do a good job. These where my factory tires after 40k of aggressive use in highly crowned Florida.


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Put a set of Continental Control Contact Tour A/S Plus on today. Also moved from 38 to 40 psi to see if that helps.

I'll keep close eye on the inner edge and see if it's wearing even or not. Got 90k out of my Fuel Fighters so I need to be OK with that and move on.

I also double checked my ball joints today and they are fine.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

BDCCruze said:


> Put a set of Continental Control Contact Tour A/S Plus on today. Also moved from 38 to 40 psi to see if that helps.
> 
> I'll keep close eye on the inner edge and see if it's wearing even or not. Got 90k out of my Fuel Fighters so I need to be OK with that and move on.
> 
> I also double checked my ball joints today and they are fine.


I got 40k out of my fuel max tires, considering that I’d call your 90k run a good one.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

pandrad61 said:


> I got 40k out of my fuel max tires, considering that I’d call your 90k run a good one.


We had about 50k on our original Fuel Maxes (one had been replaced earlier due to a nail in the sidewall), and I don't recall them being too low on tread depth or having any odd patterns - the other three were only replaced because my wife blew two of them out running into a curb.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

MP81 said:


> We had about 50k on our original Fuel Maxes (one had been replaced earlier due to a nail in the sidewall), and I don't recall them being too low on tread depth or having any odd patterns - the other three were only replaced because my wife blew two of them out running into a curb.


A funeral for a tire cut short due to curbs. I hated the fuel maxes and got 40k so I can’t complain too much. I also shredded them as you can see in the pics lol


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

I actually like them - they're relatively competent in dry and wet, don't get stupidly slippery in colder weather like the Energy Savers on my Volt do, and they're quite efficient. But we're not tracking the car in the least, so outright performance is absolutely not a requirement, fuel efficiency is.

I'm actually heavily considering changed to them on my Volt when the Energy Savers are done (which is probably soon, since that car _blows through_ front tires), but they're a pound or two heavier, so I'm not entirely sure. They have a Bolt-specific tread pattern of Energy Savers that I'm looking into as well. I believe they're actually lighter than the Volt-specific ES, with a slightly narrower contact patch width.


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