What did you do to your Mirage today?

[Mark]

Interestingly enough Hercules Tires (unit of Cooper tires) has a pretty aggressive non directional snow available in 175/65r14.

The Hercules Avalanche RT does resemble the newer style Cooper Evolution Winter (both directional winter tires), & the Hercules Avalanche X-Treme resembles the older style Cooper Weather-Master S/T2 (both non-directional winter tires).

Obviously, on their website the reviews are great for both styles.

Even the 175/65r14 Hercules MRX Plus IV (available Canada only) looks like an all-season tire that would have good all-season/all-weather tread pattern. Rubber compound may not be as good for winter, however.

Cooper Tires and several brands associated with them (Mastercraft & Starfire especially) are quite popular in my area. They are seen as mid-price American tires. I hope Goodyear's purchase of Cooper Tires recently doesn't mess that up.

Enough snow tire talk. I want to think SPRING!

[Dirk Diggler]

I'm one of the odd ducks who'd rather buy a used car with maypops on it, than new tires. Because I'm OCD about which exact tires I would want on my ride. Now, if the seller wanted to stick my preferred tires on there, I wouldn't stop them. But that's not likely to ever happen. The problem is, when someone gets ready to sell a car, they usually put the cheapest friggin crap tires on it they can find. I don't like cheapie tires.

Just manually checked my mpg and it came out to 31.4! Yowser! I'm constantly on the 75 just north of 285 so my rpms are usually between 2500 and 3400 doing 70 to 75 mph just to survive. I'm that's it's on account of my wheel/tire combo being 3lbs heavier than my OEM set up too. I have the cheapo Barum Brillantis2 tires. Complete opposite of the llr Pontenzas I had in fuel economy but I appreciate the deep tread and more solid grip on wet roads with the Barums. I might upgrade to a slightly more high end 175 65 r14s.

[PityOnU]

Just manually checked my mpg and it came out to 31.4! Yowser! I'm constantly on the 75 just north of 285 so my rpms are usually between 2500 and 3400 doing 70 to 75 mph just to survive. I'm that's it's on account of my wheel/tire combo being 3lbs heavier than my OEM set up too. I have the cheapo Barum Brillantis2 tires. Complete opposite of the llr Pontenzas I had in fuel economy but I appreciate the deep tread and more solid grip on wet roads with the Barums. I might upgrade to a slightly more high end 175 65 r14s.

Damn, Dirk! You must be flogging it! I don't think I've ever gotten MPG like that before. Hoo-wee!

Be safe out there, my dude!

[Mark]

Just manually checked my mpg and it came out to 31.4! Yowser! I'm constantly on the 75 just north of 285 so my rpms are usually between 2500 and 3400 doing 70 to 75 mph just to survive. I'm that's it's on account of my wheel/tire combo being 3lbs heavier than my OEM set up too. I have the cheapo Barum Brillantis2 tires. Complete opposite of the llr Pontenzas I had in fuel economy but I appreciate the deep tread and more solid grip on wet roads with the Barums. I might upgrade to a slightly more high end 175 65 r14s.

I filled up today. Just a tad bit over 45 mpg calculated today. Most everywhere I go is mostly highway driving. It takes about 10 miles to even reach the end of town where I live, & I am driving around 60 mph close to home. I tend to drive about 5 mph over whatever the speed limit is, unless the weather dictates going slower. I am not doing a lot of stop & go driving (car sitting idle).

This last tank was still mostly my winter set of tires (recently taken off the other day). It may go up some slightly with well worn Federal/Dunlop tires, & the rise in temperature will help, too. I have three different width 14" steel rims (4.5", 5", 5.5") & 4 different pairs of 165/65r14 tires. I keep all my tires about 2-4 pounds under their maximum psi ratings. Dunlop/Federals are 44 psi, Nokian are 47 psi, & the Nexen are 51 psi.

Dirk - Before you give up on the Barum tires, I would experiment with 40-42 psi in them. You won't notice that much of a difference in the ride, because the Mirage has a soft suspension. I have the advantage of owning an air compressor, & I can pump them up cold in my driveway. If you have a gas station with an air pump nearby, try pumping them up while they are still relatively cold. It may be worth trying at this point?

Your lower mpg ratings is probably a combination of everything. Even the mighty Jatco CVT can't overcome aggressive city driving! I wanted to say- you need to slow down & smell the roses, but I think it's stop & smell the roses? The roses would smell better, but you surely wouldn't get anywhere doing that!

[Eggman]

Interestingly enough Hercules Tires (unit of Cooper tires) has a pretty aggressive non directional snow available in 175/65r14.

And they're studdable. The document says they take size 12 studs. Looks like a good choice for a winter tire.

But where can you find them?

[Mark]

And they're studdable. The document says they take size 12 studs. Looks like a good choice for a winter tire.

But where can you find them?

Studs aren't legal in Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Illinois. Thus, I don't think of that. The Cooper, Hercules, & Mastercraft directional snow tires look very similar if not the same tire. I did a dealer search for Cleveland -

https://www.herculestire.com/dealer-...veland,%20ohio

Cooper will often run rebates (VISA gift cards) in the spring & fall. If I were interested in buying a set of tires, I would watch for that.

Cooper tires for pickup trucks are extremely popular in our area! Guys driving big old American pickup trucks want American tires on them I guess! I see way more Cooper tires than Goodyear tires, & I think that was the market Goodyear was after when they purchased Cooper.

[Fummins]

Just manually checked my mpg and it came out to 31.4! Yowser! I'm constantly on the 75 just north of 285 so my rpms are usually between 2500 and 3400 doing 70 to 75 mph just to survive. I'm that's it's on account of my wheel/tire combo being 3lbs heavier than my OEM set up too. I have the cheapo Barum Brillantis2 tires. Complete opposite of the llr Pontenzas I had in fuel economy but I appreciate the deep tread and more solid grip on wet roads with the Barums. I might upgrade to a slightly more high end 175 65 r14s.

I just filled up this morning, averaged 39mph for this tank, last one was 27mpg! Same station, same pump. It idled a ton on my bad tank and got a lot of -30c weather, car sits on the street at work. This is running 3 175/65 winter tires and one stock 165 Dunlop...
I’ve never actually tried a full set of stock size tires for an entire tank in either car. Yet.

I have something relevant to the thread title to add,
I replaced the roof mouldings yesterday. I pulled them off when I bought it. I Managed to get a couple off a wreck without breaking them.

For future referencery up on the inside(inboard) edge not the outside, start at one end and work your way to the other.

[Wolf]

Had my led fog lights installed and hooked up. They are great and bright.

[Dirk Diggler]

Damn, Dirk! You must be flogging it! I don't think I've ever gotten MPG like that before. Hoo-wee!

Be safe out there, my dude!

I also thinks some new spark plugs could help out, but it's rare in Atlanta for the speed limit to be 55mph. If it was and folks didn't drive like freaking idiots I could probably avg 36 or so. My engine is getting older too so that could be a factor. Still though it's way better than the 19 mpg combined I was getting in the ole Outback.

[7milesout]

Dirk - I've been cruising up I-85 (south of town), to I-285 (west side of town), to I-75 (north of town) all while holding the cruise control on 65 mph. I pretty much hang with the trucks.

Caveat, I do it on Fridays, leaving my house about 6:30 - 7:00 after the mayhem dies down. By the time I'm passing I-20 on I-85 it's 7:30 - 8:00 pm. I haven't felt in danger. However, I do get frequent invisible driver Impala fly-bys (at 90+ mph). By invisible I mean, they're ducking down real low or maybe to the left. Hard to say, going by too fast, all I hear is a big whoosh of wind going by.

But I guess at that time I'm in less danger. I'm finding it fun to cruise through town at that speed. Whatever, I'm a different kind of duck.