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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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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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Replying to: rodonnell (Jul 14, 2008 12:03 pm) Perhaps I am fortunate. I do all my driving on the highway at 80+ MPH. I have never had an alignment nor a wheel balance. Not much city driving. I will definately go for another set of the same. Now priced at 159.00 at Costco
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Replying to: CTKaren (Dec 26, 2008 1:51 pm) We drove through about 200 yards of mixed solid and clear solid ice at about 15 MPH and did not even know it until we got out. The clear ice looked like a giant long puddle of water until we stepped on it and slipped. It was about 40 yards long along the right side of the car filling a large depression in the road. The rest were frozen solid opaque ice. The tires and car worked perfectly, drove straight and true without a hint that we were on ice. I was pleasantly surprised. VDIM did kick in when we had to make two quick stops but each stop was short and fast, no slide or nervous delay. Turn was precise too, no loss of directional control. We also encountered icy patches on a winding mountain road at about 40-MPH and the car went right on through without problems. The VDIM did activate twice but steering control was absolutely rock solid. The Nokian SUV WR is very good in severe winter condition and should be even better than the Goodyear Fortera TripleTred. In normal dry or wet surface driving, the Fortera TripleTred has excellent road feel, very responsive, good cornering and smooth; almost sporty. These tires turn our HH into a very responsive car. One problem with the Fortera is tread wear. We are using it as an all-season, not as snow tires and we spend 85% of the time in dry or wet climate, not snow and ice so it probably will last only at most 40,000 miles on our HH. I was hoping for 60,000 miles or more.
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Replying to: CTKaren (Dec 26, 2008 1:51 pm)
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Replying to: cdptrap (Jan 15, 2009 2:13 am)
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