Ask the Car People.SM


Ford Freestyle Tires

160 messages,  Last post on Aug 04, 2009 at 1:14 PM

You are in the Ford Freestyle Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Freestyle, Tires, Wheels, SUV

Messages Page 16 of 16

#151 of 160 Re: Firestone verse Mastercraft by Cooper tires are great! [bruneau1] by coldcranker

Feb 28, 2009 (11:04 am)

Replying to: bruneau1 (Feb 27, 2009 10:50 am)
bruneau1 said: "Hi, i see you are still obsessed with the T rating and 44lbs max pressure. The only thing Ford specifies is either 215/65/17 or 225/60/18. There are no specs for speed rating or max pressure."
 
Wrong. We automotive engineers know that a tire with a recommended placard operating pressure of 34 psi on the Freestyle is not compatible with a 35 psi max sidewall replacement tire. Thats only a 1 psi margin. Its obvious. Thats why Ford engineers put 44 psi max sidewall pressure tires OEM on the vehicle. That was no accident its 44 psi.
 
"Since the max speed of the Freestyle is a governed 110, any tire with at least an S rating is fine."
 
As I've said before, the critical parameter is lateral stiffness, something a TR tire (OEM style) has more than an SR tire. Max speed is not the important factor, although a TR tire would be more tolerant of low pressure / high temp conditions before blowing out, a greater safety margin. Safety margin and ruggedness is important to some people; possibly not you, bruneau. Greater lateral stiffness allows better "L" obstacle avoidance maneuvers compatible with the suspension dynamics and CG position on the Freestyle, a problem seen in some SUVs in the past and corrected in more modern cars like the Freestyle, if you stick to the Ford specs of a TR tire. (See Toyota 4Runner as a bad L-maneuver vehicle, for one example.)

#152 of 160 Re: Firestone verse Mastercraft by Cooper tires are great! [volfangary] by coldcranker

Feb 28, 2009 (11:07 am)

Replying to: volfangary (Feb 28, 2009 10:32 am)
"Wouldn't the 225 size be bigger in diameter and cause your speedometer to be inaccurate? 28" diameter vs 28.5" diameter? "
 
Yes. It corrected my speedo cal, actually.

#153 of 160 Re: Firestone verse Mastercraft by Cooper tires are great! [coldcranker] by volfangary

Feb 28, 2009 (1:49 pm)

Replying to: coldcranker (Feb 28, 2009 11:07 am)
"Yes. It corrected my speedo cal, actually."
 
So your speedometer was inaccurate until you put the 225's on?
How did you know?

#154 of 160 Re: Firestone verse Mastercraft by Cooper tires are great! [volfangary] by coldcranker

Feb 28, 2009 (7:47 pm)

Replying to: volfangary (Feb 28, 2009 1:49 pm)
You can check your speedo cal in two ways (then average results): First, time yourself between interstate highway mile markers, and, secondly, compare your speed to the display-radar set up in some neighborhoods. In my case, they agreed pretty well.

#155 of 160 What tire is best suited for my needs? by runningwalk

May 12, 2009 (10:15 pm)

I purchased my 2007 Ford Freestyle SEL new in March 2007. It is FWD with a V6. It's now time for me to purchase a new set of tires. I need advice on what tire is best suited for my needs. I live in central Alabama and have 43,445 miles on them. Needless, to say we do NOT get much snow down in the Southeast! However, we have been getting QUITE a bit of rain lately. Temperatures vary. If you don't like the weather, just wait till the afternoon! We had 113 degrees the summer of 07 and then a little snow a couple months ago!
I've kept the oil changed and tires rotated every 5k miles and happy for the most part with my Freestyle. The only exception would be when I had to have the brakes totally redone within the first year. Ford never advised of this dangerous issue with the brakes and the service tech for the dealership never mentioned the recall to us either. We talked to the Service Manager due to the expensive quote to fix brakes on vehicle less than a year old. By a miracle, the manager discovered there had been a recall due to issues with the brakes on the Freestyle so almost all the cost was covered by Ford.
By reading everyone's comments on this site, I have faired really well mileage-wise on the original Continentals. However, the service tech at the dealership just advised my tire tread depths are 2/32 on the front and 3/32 on the rear and in the "red-zone". My husband has confirmed it's time to look for new tires, however we are having to watch our pennies too!
From previous posts, should I assume that I should be looking at changing to a 225/65/17 tire? Will this give me a smoother ride and less road noise? (I have definitely noticed an increase in both these areas.) My Freestyle is what I drive to work and also the vehicle we take all the family road-trips in to horse shows or auto races!
The tech suggests putting Contis as the most affordable, but the Michelin Hydroedge for more mileage ("up to 60k-80k"). We purchased various different brands over the years, ranging from Hankook to Michelin or GoodYear.
This is the first time I've actually done any research on this topic and would appreciate any suggestions before I get mislead into buying the wrong tire for my vehicle.
Thanks for being such a good source of good information!
Bewildered in Birmingham

#156 of 160 Re: What tire is best suited for my needs? [runningwalk] by coldcranker

May 13, 2009 (11:00 am)

Replying to: runningwalk (May 12, 2009 10:15 pm)
runningwalk,
Definitely Goodyear Fuel Max ( TireRack web page view of it -- click here. The 225/65-17 size works great. You could stick with the 215/65-17, but the 225 width is a small improvement on my Freestyle. That Fuel Max tire has all the great specs, and is the latest feat of engineering from Goodyear. Very exciting technology there, not old tech at all. Very good in rain with new computer optimizations done on the tread shape.

#157 of 160 Re: What tire is best suited for my needs? [coldcranker] by runningwalk

May 17, 2009 (8:06 pm)

Replying to: coldcranker (May 13, 2009 11:00 am)
Thanks for the advice Coldcranker. Now to save up or find a REALLY good sale! LOL

#158 of 160 Re: What tire is best suited for my needs? [runningwalk] by coldcranker

Jul 31, 2009 (7:30 am)

Replying to: runningwalk (May 17, 2009 8:06 pm)
The tirerack.com, where I usually get my tires (or from a local Discount Tire store, who will match tirerack.com's price) has Freestyle 225/65-17 Fuel Max tires for $103. Four will cost $412. After that, over the life of the tire, if you get a conservative 3% better MPG fuel economy, thats equivalent to about 7.5 cents per gallon of gas purchased discount. You save about $142 dollars on a Freestyle ( average 21 MPG, assume tires go 40,000 miles). Therefore, the true cost of Fuel Max tires is about $100 less than $412, or $312. Its $100 because of the interest rate penalty for spreading the savings out over 3 or 4 years of the tire's life.
 
Also, thats money that never made it into the hands of Hugo Chavez or the Saudis. Thats the best part.
 
A fleet manager friend of mine told me Goodyear is putting this Fuel Max rubber materials tech into truck tires, too, and the website at Goodyear Fuel Max FAQ for truck tires using Fuel Max, which also applies to car tires... click here

#159 of 160 Re: What tire is best suited for my needs? [coldcranker] by bobw3

Aug 04, 2009 (9:20 am)

Replying to: coldcranker (Jul 31, 2009 7:30 am)
Where did you get the info that these tires improve MPG by 3%?

#160 of 160 Re: What tire is best suited for my needs? [bobw3] by coldcranker

Aug 04, 2009 (1:14 pm)

Replying to: bobw3 (Aug 04, 2009 9:20 am)
One SAE article.... click here...
 
...another SAE article click here...
 
.. and another article about the tech they're using....
 
Goodyear claims 8% when the tire is new at highway speeds using SAE tests, and 4% average over the life, but they don't take into account the fact that as the tire wears, it gradually loses some of its advantage, so I claim its really 3% over the tire life. And, even though its a 65,000 mile warrantied tire, many will trade them in at around 40,000 miles.
 
Best way to view it is that you get about a 7 cents per gallon of gasoline discount every time you fill up if you have Fuel Max tires. It helps. I gave a presentation at an SAE meeting last May where I went through all the individual engineering improvements possible invented or refined over the past few years, and we noted that, combined, average cars can get about 20% more efficient by doing relatively easy things, and the Fuel Max tire is one of them.

Messages Page 16 of 16

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement