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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Highlander Hybrid Toyota Highlander Hybrid Maintenance & Repair Highlander Hybrid Tire/Wheel Questions
135 messages, Last post on Nov 05, 2009 at 1:57 PM
You are in the Toyota Highlander Hybrid Maintenance & Repair Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
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Replying to: mk3172 (Jul 07, 2008 3:57 pm)
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Replying to: mk3172 (Jul 17, 2008 1:33 pm) Integrity: 1. Gave the feeling of "high" riding, soft, squishy, wobbly, jiggly. Car felt disjoint from tires; weird feeling. 2. Pronounced body-lean in turns. 90-deg well-banked country lane turn at 15-MPH with proper entry and exit. 3. Steering was vague and slow. Starting a turn had pronounced lag. 4. Muted small bumps well. Large bumps cause it to jiggle-wiggle. 5. Howled at freeway speed >60-MPH. 6. Did not inspire confidence in handling. 7. Did not keep pressure well, not good on dirt roads. 8. Hydroplane like any other tires but car system compensated well. Fortera SilentArmor: 1. Rides high but firm. No squishy wobbly or jiggly feel. Car felt better integrated with tires. 2. Significantly less body-lean in turns. 90-deg well-banked country lane turn at ~20-MPH with proper entry and exit. 3. Steering was still vague, turn was a little more solid, no lag but not fast. 4. Muted big bumps well, small bumps would come through but not hard. 5. Quiet on freeway. 6. While handling was not inspiring, its firm no-jiggle ride with no body-leans felt much more secure and safe. 7. Tough tires, kept pressure very well even after many mile on dirt roads. 8. Less hydroplaning, would cut through water better but could still feel lag. TripleTred (Snowflake on Mtn - severe service) 0. Completely different steering feel. 1. Rides just right. No squishy wobbly or jiggly feel. When cruising on freeways, the car hugs the road smooth as silk. It gave the illusion of a well-tuned sports car on straight run. Car and tires are one  . 2. No body-lean in turns if done well. 90-deg well-banked country lane turn at ~25-MPH with proper entry and exit. 3. Steering is more responsive, turn is responsive, almost quick. On city street, when we turn, the car turns, no noticeable lag. 4. Muted big bumps well, small bumps will come through but not hard. 5. Quiet all around on freeway and streets. 6. Handling is confidence-inspiring compared against the Integrity and Fortera SA. At highway speed, steer and it follows; much like a good sedan. On winding roads, the car takes turns with confidence. 7. Surprisingly tough tires, kept pressure very well even after many mile on dirt roads. 8. On wet surface, it cuts right through, no hydroplaning yet, and lags only in deeper flow. Overall, we prefer the TripleTred for its combination of handling characteristics, ride comfort and noise level. Our HH just drives much better, smoother and felt more planted and secure with the TripleTred. I am not claiming TripleTred is "best" against other brands; I am sure others may do as well or better. Please note that we did not research tires too much. Each change was out of desperation. We grabbed what we could as quick as we could regardless of brands. Bad execution but ended up with decent results; pure luck. |
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Replying to: mk3172 (Jul 17, 2008 1:33 pm) 
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Replying to: kvsteve (Nov 22, 2008 11:41 am) Thanks for the note. Currently slammed with family situations and work but really want to share experiences to leverage towards a solution for this on going issue with our Hybrid Highlanders. I am now on my third set of tires. Can you share the details and I will dig up the same from service invoices and tire invoices. Date of tire replacement, how much worn on front and back and the mileage each time the tires needed replaced. I was told by the dealer that you must rotate every 3k miles or you void the warranty on the tires. I'd like to know what other vehicle in the world wears thru tires like this and if this is a characteristic of this vehicle they should be telling you this when you are driving off the lot so you don't come back 10K miles later with the tires down to the cords. Sorry if I was just redundant from past messages. I have not wrapped my head around this issue for some time but I really need to. Let's talk next week. Jeff |
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My Highlander Hybrid Limited came stock with 245/55R19 Toyo A20 Open Country tires and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these tires in snow or heavy rain? I'm here in DC and there hasn't been any snow as of yet... just curious what others thought of these tires so far?
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Replying to: _starrman_ (Nov 29, 2008 10:44 am) Not impressed.. |
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| Unfortunately it may not help all of us first model year Hylander Hybrid owners but the problem is in the design and engineering. It's like they had to hurry up and get this on the road to test the market and used the old Hylander model as a a last minute concept car that they put into production. It shoudn't be a shocker to any owners of this vehicle that they scrapped this first year model and moved to the new style. I don't know if they fixed the issues with the torque ratios that cause the front tires to wear down to nothing every 10K to 15K miles but I can't imagine that the Toyota engineers didn't pick up on this on their high mileage road tests and make adjustments in the next generation. Problem is I haven't seen a recall or retrofit to my Highlander Hybrid and I'm into my 3rd set of tires after 40K miles. Where's all of hybrid benefits here? I'm paying thru the nose for being an early adopter so others can benefit down the road from refinements. I guess this is how all the audiophiles felt when they spent mega bucks on Stereo equipment and Laser Disks a year before the DVDs came out with better quality and sound for 1/10th the price. Ouch! I would like a rebate on all of these tires or a special trade in to new Hylander for being a trusting Toyota ginny pig. Anyone know a good attorney? | |
| I have a 2008 HH with original Toyo A20 Open Country tires (17,000 miles). It is not good in snow or ice. So much so, that I often wonder if it really is an all-wheel drive (4 WD?) vehicle. The tires are in good shape but have very little ridge in them. They are very flat or flush. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of buying a better all season tire that will be good in snow and ice. I was thinking that I would take off these Toyo tires for six months and alternate back and forth to get full use out of both. We drive to VT for skiing frequently and often have challenging driving conditions. Do you think different tires will be better and any suggestions on type of tires? | |
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Replying to: CTKaren (Dec 26, 2008 1:51 pm) The HH is all-wheel drive not four wheel drive. In addition the rear wheels can only be driven by the rear electric motor. Quite different from non-hybrid AWD. That said, yes it is AWD. If you get your car in deep snow, you will feel the push from the rear wheels if you get yourself a little stuck. I live in NE North Dakota and we have had a lot of snow since early November. I just got my 2008 HH stuck for the first time tonight coming home from work. It took me about ten minutes to dig away enough snow to allow me to rock it enough so the car could pull itself out. Part of the trick is to have a light touch on the gas. The VDIM system will shut down the power to all wheels if you give it too much gas and the wheels start to spin. You then need to immediately step on the brake, shift from D to R (or vice versa) and gently give it gas as you take your foot off the brake. Repeat as necessary. The car will work its way out if you haven't buried it in a drift. "Do you think different tires will be better and any suggestions on type of tires?" The only snow tire I can find to fit the 19" wheels are the Bridgestone Blizzak. You may not be able to find any of these in stock in this size (they are sold out at TireRack.com). I do not know how good they are. Consumer Reports rates other snow tires as better, but they are not available in the size needed. |
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