Nitto Motivo - new tires

[Ddub]

One more update:

These tires have been on the car long enough and in enough different conditions for me to make some more comprehensive comments.

Assuming the treadlife warranty (60K) is even close to accurate, I am really not seeing a down side to these tires (except maybe price depending on what you are cross shopping). Noise is same or less than the OEM Michelins, ride is slightly firmer, and the handling dynamics and characteristics of the car have really been changed all to the upside. Everything is just a little crisper and a little more immediate with improved latteral grip both wet and try. I only drove twice in some snow and ice, and while nothing remarkable, they were certainly capable.

On a different note, I purchased the hazard warranty from Discount Tire, and already had one replaced (free) with a new tire because my wife somehow picked up a decent sized piece of metal while driving through a construction zone. The customer service was outstanding. They did not have the correct size Nitto Motivo in stock, so mounted a Kumho tire in its place for a few days until the replacement arrived.

 

[sciphi]

Do you track fuel economy? I'd be interested to hear if they're better/worse than a presumed low-rolling-resistance OEM tire. My Cruze will need new tires later this year, and I'd like to stick with something that rolls well.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Usually UHP tires don't do so well in the low-rolling-resistance category, i.e., UHP tire is worse than Touring tire in the MPG.

 

[Ddub]

I have not tracked tank to tank fuel economy since installing the new tires, but according to the trip computer it appears the same or very similar. It has not seen a ton of hwy time on the new rubber, and I would guess that is where increased rolling resistance would play a bigger role in possible decreased MPGs. Concern for rolling resistance differences from A/S touring tires to A/S UHP is probably a legitimate one.

 

[Ddub]

Update for anyone who is curious. As far as driving dynamics, these are the best tires I have ever had on a 4 door car, and they completely transformed the personality of the car for the better.

The bad news. Even after rotations every 6K miles and pretty easy driving conditions, the rears are at 3/32nds and fronts at 4/32nds after 19,000 miles. That is extremely poor tread life performance from a tire with a 60K mile treadlife warranty. Discount Tire is taking care of the warranty issues and I am replacing the rears right now with Yokohama YK-580s. The fronts should be replaced within the next few months as they reach 3/32nds. The Yokos are not as performance oriented as the Nitto Motivo, but hopefully will provide a similar (if compromised) driving experience with a longer treadlife. They also have a 60K tread life warranty. I haven't had Yokohama tires since my Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[kkreit01]

Wow -- that is real poor treadlife. Thanks for the update.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Aaaargh, in line with my limited experience. I don't care how good the warranty is if you need to use it then it can be very inconvenient...

 

[Rand]

mazda's usually have the alignment dialed in more for "zoom zoom" than treadlife so not making it to 60k miles doesn't surprise me

the 1/3 treadlife is quite surprising however.

I'd expect the yk580s to do better maybe 35000 miles.

they are much better than the earlier yk series but they are still a somewhat performance oriented LRR tire.

Still it could be worse you could have these "wonderful" tires
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...romCompare1=yes

that came on my 2015 forester... UGH.