Fuel Economy / Tires
 

Does anyone ever see the advertised 24 MPG highway for the Freestar? My lead sled SEL averages 15-17 around town and I'm lucky to see 20 on the highway - even when drafting semi trailers and coasting down steep inclines.

The Uniroyal Nail Guard tires fitted from the factory need replacing now that I've reached 30K miles. Any recommendations for a longer lasting tire that will also provider higher MPG? Kumho and Hankook tires seem to be gaining popularity; does anyone have experience with these?

I have the HANKOOK HPW401 winter tires on my 04 Limited in P225/75R16 size. These tires have almost 60,000 miles on them. They presently are at about 40-50% tread left on them and I will be replacing them the end of this year. I run snow tires year around as they provide better traction and and less chance for hydroplaning in deap water. I also ran these in the P225/60R16 size on my 2000 Taurus which my Son now owns. These ones also have about 60,000 miles on them. Only down fall is that HANKOOK doesn't make the HPW401 in a 16" size any more. I just Installed a set of the HANKOOK W300 ICEBEAR in P235/60R16 sise on my Son's 2005 Pontiac Bonneville. These are working great for him in the Columbus, OH snow/ice that they have been having.

I actually have a better ride with the 225-75-16's than the stock 235-60-16's. Since the height of the OEM tire sidewalls are designed into the suspension, the taller sidewall provides a softer ride than the lower sidewalls do. Also, I don't run the factory spec'd 36PSI in the tires. I pattern my tires so that they run flat across the whole tread. The HANKOOK HPW401's that I run have 42PSI in the front tires and 40PSI in the rear. If I ran the factory spec'd 36PSI, the tires would have had the outer edged eaten away long ago. I also run snow tires year around. There are several benefits to doing this.

1. Softer compound tire grips better in all weather conditions.
2. More siping reduce the distance needed for braking on wet and icy roads.
3. More siping effectively not only increases tire life but will result in a smoother ride.
4. Tires don't get traction from the tread block, but from the edges of the blobks and siping edges griping the road surface, thus more siping in a snow tire improves traction by providing more traction edges.
5. Reduces heat build up in the tire by providing more edges for airflow cooling
6. Provides better resistance to hydroplaning as a snow tire has larger tread grooves and outer bead grooves.
7. May wear out sooner, but are cost efficient.

Thanks for the time and effort in your post regarding the tires. You've obviously thought about this topic a lot and are doing what is best for you and your situation. I think I'd be inclined to pass on running snows year-round, however. I don't know anyone else who does it, never heard of anyone else doing it and can't find any support in forums or blogs for the practice. Most modern tires (Goodyear for one I know for sure) use different compounds in different areas of the tires to achieve the grip and wear properties you speak of when running snows. Not that I'm going to put Goodyear F1 shoes on my van anytime soon, but I know tire technology has advanced greatly over the last ten years.