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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: 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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Replying to: paulnjnorth (Mar 05, 2009 5:02 pm) tiresaving.com I hope this will help you. |
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Replying to: paulnjnorth (Mar 05, 2009 5:02 pm) You mentioned that you will still use 19" wheels but get wider tires (or what ever is available). If the new tire is 19" like the 19" Toyo's you shouldn't need new wheels. You'd have to go with an extreemly wide tire I would think before the standard wheel was not wide enough as the Toyo's are already fairly wide / low profile tires. I can't imagine having a normal rubbing problem, but you'll lose milage perhaps. The main concern with rubbing would be on the front when you turn the wheels. |
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I've been trying to find an alternative to the Toyo A20 245/55R19, the Bridgestone Dueler doesn't seem much better and the Toyo Open Country doesn't seem that much of an improvement... I was looking at a Michelin Lat 255/55R19... will that set off every bell and whistle if I put them on? Has anyone tried to go with the larger tire? The tech guy at Toyota seems to think it will mess things up...but then he's trying to sell me more A20's...
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Replying to: mjzhh (Apr 01, 2009 12:37 pm) at toyota said better to go with the original size.There is a site www.tiresavings.com I came up with a MICHELIN (Pilot HX MXM 4) Touring All-Season 235/55HR19 for $231 each.Good Luck. |
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Replying to: mjzhh (Apr 01, 2009 12:37 pm) The Nokian is a decent all-season winter tire. We have used it in snow up to 6 inches unplowed and also the fresh powdery stuff, slush and packed icy gunk. Dry weather handling is OK but not as good as the triple tred. THis Nokian is designed for all-season with added snow-capability. It cannot beat a dedicated snow or studded snow but it beats other standard four season. The TripleTred provides surprisingly good handling in dry and wet conditions. It is solid in snow but just a hair less sure-footed than the Nokian. No skid or anything but I can feel the VDIM activating in some cases. It is surprisingly good on ice at lower speed (15-20 MPH) but ABS and VDIM will activate a bit more often than the Nokian. Our HH went straight and true. We expected NOkian to perform well in winter and it has. We did not expect it to be a "performance"-handling tire in dry weather and that is so. It is decent, but a tad slow in response compared against the Triple tred. We did not expect the TripleTred to do well in snow and ice and it surprised us. We also did not expect TripleTred to significantly improve the handling of our 06 HH and it completely surprised us. Never before would I believe that tires can so influence the handling characteristics of a large heavy tall SUV. The Nokians were used sparingly over two winters and only when we were heading into the Sierras during or after a winter storm. We did not drive it much once we are back in the SF Bay Area. They are replaced by the Triple Tred once we are home. Wear has been excellent given the limited use. TripleTred is our do-all year-round tire and it wears a bit faster. I do not believe we will get the claimed 60,000 miles, may be at best 45000 miles. Hope you find what you need. |
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