okashira

I had 60% of my top grille tapped but ran into some issue when I needed to add water to my windshield washer... :-D

Ok. Thanks for you concern, but it will be OK. I promise. I will be using the maximum pressure on the sidewall, of course - 44psi cold. If something happens I will update... :-) Don't forget I'll be running with about 120lbs of weight reduction. Thanks for linking to the extra technical information on load ratings. I also understand this is a consumer product, and safety factors are well higher what I use for oil & gas applications which are pretty conservative. When it comes to rubber products, nothing is black and white when it comes to hard numbers because the there is a large element of uncertainty due to the nature of the rubber mechanical properties and the mixing & molding process. If I need to take the family on a trip with 700 lbs of extra load I will think twice about the situation. You indirectly do make a good point - a thinner tire will require a higher pressure, and it did concern me that the N Blue EV tire had a max sidewall pressure label of only 44psi. I wonder why it is so low..

Didn't really learn anything there. Guy installs garbage cheap tires on his car three load ratings below the original spec and he has tire problems. Michelin says don't use tires rated lower then OEM. Do you expect them to say "it's ok to lower the load rating if it's only a little bit." ? ;-) You're not technically minded. Ok. But this is not a pissing match nor is it high school debate session. But to play along, let's address at some of your points: The Kia Soul's load rating and factory weight is 100% irrelevant. All that matters is the tire I want to use has a load rating of 92. Let me note that you've mentioned the Kia Soul multiple times now like it makes any difference here.You discussed the Nexen N Blue tires (and their 91 load rating) yet nowhere did I suggest I would be using such tire.You pointed out that I used 92 instead of 93 when I mentioned the factory tire load rings, and suggested that might have something to do with my understanding of the situation. Okay. Yet, what really matters is the difference in load rating, which will match what I posted. Mind taking the time to point out the difference since you might have the time?You came to your conclusion that I have poor understanding and poor judgement without knowing anything about me except random irrelevant tidbits. Now, I am technically minded on the other hand. In fact, I've worked as a mechanical engineer for my career and I design safety equipment for billion dollar projects. I've also done just about everything you can imagine to a car, including engine, suspension, and tires. I also design rubber products for a living. I know a few things about safety factors. Please try to be specific and technical when you make any arguments or draw any conclusions. More random things for other poster: It's not really relevant that the hybrid has a 2.5 gear ratio an the energi has a 2.9 ratio. They were originally designed like that. Ford does analyze these things you know.Putting larger tires on the car will increase ride height and thus drag, this is pretty much a fact when it comes to automobiles.Anecdotes of people saying their mileage increased when they installed larger tires should generally be ignored since these sorts of things are famously affected by the placebo effectPutting larger tires will increase torque load on ALL components including CV joints, splines, transmission gears, engine and motors. I'm not saying this would not actually be okay, it would probably be fine, but the stock tires are already large to begin with. I don't want to use larger tires. Here is a basic example of how you make a technical argument. Note that actual numbers are used and the poster is specific and to the point. The energi has a load rating of 4720. N Blue EV tires have a load rating of 5556. Factory tires have a load rating of 5732. Both are comfortably above the factory load rating. And he's correct that generally, excess extreme load would be in the center of the car (rear passengers) and the rear of the car (hatchback) /had a bad day rant.

I saw that FORScan can log knock sensor readings and timing retard to due to detected knock. I'm going to log them and see if anything shows up with 87. Knock timing retard on 87 would be the ONLY reason that the car may show better fuel mileage on 93

I guess both of you have good intentions, but you're both kind of misinformed. I'll be reducing the load rating by 3%, from 5908 to 5732 total, combined with weight reduction. It's a non-issue and we can move on. One quick note: increasing tire diameter in reduce final drive ratio is not a good way to improve FE... you raise the ride height (aero) and do nothing to reduce the transmission losses causes by the higher drive ratio - in fact you may make the losses worse and put more wear on the transmission due to increased torque demand.

Picked up some wheels from a 2014 or 2015 FF for $150, and they are pristine. 500 miles. 205/60/16 N Blue EV tires are about $90 a pop, and 225/50/17 Michelen Eco tires are about $90, so $400-$150 = $250 saved on next tire install. But I should be able to sell the stock 17's for at least $250 with the crap tires on there, so I come out ahead $500

YEs this is exactly what I am looking for, some OEM wheels for cheap. I think they need to be Ford, Jaguar or Volvo. They have matching bolt pattern and centerbore. I am gonna consider 2012+ Focus SE wheels. They are 16x7, should be able to handle 205/60/16 okay.

I'd like to change my Energi factory wheels to a set of 16x6.5 wheels. Here's why: 205/60/16 tires are WAY cheaper and more common, and they are the same size for odometer/gear ratioThe new Nexen N Blue EV tires are only available in this size, and they are supposed to be the best for ULRR (and they're like 1/2 the price of comparable 225/50/17 tires)Overall better and cheaper tire availabilityLess rolling resistance and drag due to smaller (thinner) tireSlightly better ride quality, NVH and vehicle wear due to a larger sidewall tireFactory C-MAX wheels are +55 offset and 63.4mm/63.5mm center bore and 5x108mm bolt pattern. This means we need wheels with these specs or close to. I understand the downsides of a thinner tire. I don't carry much weight and I'll be doing weight reduction on my Energi so it's a non-issue for me. The problem is, finding the wheels for CHEAP and reasonably lightweight (i.e. OEM used, or really common used) Any ideas or comments?

70-80 my 2013 energi would have gotten 35mpg at 70F.

Thx Paul - will mail check tomorrow

Yup, I'll post when I finish. Could be ~2 weeks

I am pissed I did not see the XHP50 LED's cree released. Would have been a better choice all around with small modification to the mount.

Ordered these LED's to replace the ones that came: http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=XMLBWT-00-0000-000LT60E4virtualkey57280000virtualkey941-XMLBWT000LT60E4 4500k, 280 lumen at 700mA. Should be good for 1600 lumen each since the driver does about 2.6A and 2 LED each. Hopefully I can desolder/solder these...

You are awesome. Do you mean push to left? Will try now.. Got them... thanks. The back is now 100% LED on my car. :-D And mirrors. Headlights, side markers, front turns next. Going to order some different CREE XM-L2 LED's from Mouser and solder to the chinese HL's I got. I fried one of the XM-L2's that camr on it. I measured them at about 2.6A through two XM-L2 LED's each. So they are good for about 1600LM each and 17W each.

Get a chance to make a video? BTW, I have found I needed 500 ohm on the brake bright side (2 1k in parallel). Otherwise, it's still a little bright when HL are on and brakes off. 1000 ohm makes them much dimmer then nothing, but 500 ohm brings them down another notch and they are perfect. Also needed 1000 ohm on the dim (HL on) side on the right side, but not the left side. Kinda weird. Prob variations between the two LED's