"CMA is non corrosive and biodegradable"

Slightly off topic, but as somebody who was looking at picking up a Leaf and has seen the prices go crazy, what's everybody's thoughts about the BYD cars now slated to turn up over the next 12 months?

It would seem to me that the value will may well fall out of the second hand Leaf (and even new Leaf) market pretty quickly, especially when the Atto 2 arrives (depending on the price it lands at).

At the moment it looks like there's about $5K - $8K margin per unit on the 2020 Leafs that are being sold here, from my back-of-envelope auction tracking, before accounting for local overheads and PDI.

Which auction site are you watching? 

Batman:

 

Which auction site are you watching? 

 

Pacific Coast JDM.

Ok thanks I'll take a look. I do look at some auction sites but the prices don't seem to be any cheaper than buying on trade me after you pay all the fees and freight to get it to my door. 

Batman:

 

Ok thanks I'll take a look. I do look at some auction sites but the prices don't seem to be any cheaper than buying on trade me after you pay all the fees and freight to get it to my door. 

 

I had a similar experience with buying my Mini. It looks like I can save about six grand doing the 40kw Leaf myself though over buying from a local yard, so I'm going to give it a go. 

Our Leaf needs a couple of new tyres. The car has done 88,000km and we changed out the original Bridgestone Ecopias at 48,000km with Kumho Wattruns back then. A minor mishap resulting in an alignment issue has reduced the life of the front tyres which failed a warrant yesterday. The rears look to have a good amount of tread remaining so should get 50,000+ out of them, so on par with Bridgestones.

The Wattruns were an exceptionally good deal 4 years ago at $110 each but our local supplier now suspects this was a run-out special as that tyre is no longer available. I've ordered a couple of Kumho Ecowings as replacements which at $190 each are still far cheaper than the BS Ecopias ($299). Anybody had any experience with Ecowings?

HarmLessSolutions:

 

Our Leaf needs a couple of new tyres. The car has done 88,000km and we changed out the original Bridgestone Ecopias at 48,000km with Kumho Wattruns back then. A minor mishap resulting in an alignment issue has reduced the life of the front tyres which failed a warrant yesterday. The rears look to have a good amount of tread remaining so should get 50,000+ out of them, so on par with Bridgestones.

 

The Wattruns were an exceptionally good deal 4 years ago at $110 each but our local supplier now suspects this was a run-out special as that tyre is no longer available. I've ordered a couple of Kumho Ecowings as replacements which at $190 each are still far cheaper than the BS Ecopias ($299). Anybody had any experience with Ecowings?

 

There's a good reason they're cheap. A quick look at some online reviews shows their wet handling and braking might be poor. Having said that the Wattruns may also be in the same territory.  I know some people might say it's only a Leaf BUT for me at least tyres are about the most critical consumable you put on a car. Good tyres are very cheap insurance.

I'd expect better tyre mileage than you're getting on the Leaf, though the types of road you drive on might be a factor.

Technofreak:

 

HarmLessSolutions:

 

Our Leaf needs a couple of new tyres. The car has done 88,000km and we changed out the original Bridgestone Ecopias at 48,000km with Kumho Wattruns back then. A minor mishap resulting in an alignment issue has reduced the life of the front tyres which failed a warrant yesterday. The rears look to have a good amount of tread remaining so should get 50,000+ out of them, so on par with Bridgestones.

 

The Wattruns were an exceptionally good deal 4 years ago at $110 each but our local supplier now suspects this was a run-out special as that tyre is no longer available. I've ordered a couple of Kumho Ecowings as replacements which at $190 each are still far cheaper than the BS Ecopias ($299). Anybody had any experience with Ecowings?

 

 

There's a good reason they're cheap. A quick look at some online reviews shows their wet handling and braking might be poor. Having said that the Wattruns may also be in the same territory.  I know some people might say it's only a Leaf BUT for me at least tyres are about the most critical consumable you put on a car. Good tyres are very cheap insurance.

 

I'd expect better tyre mileage than you're getting on the Leaf, though the types of road you drive on might be a factor.

 

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/Kumho/Ecowing-ES31.htm vs https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/Bridgestone/Ecopia-EP150.htm

https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/kumho-ecowing-es01 vs https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/ecopia-ep150

Both rate the Kumho slightly above the Bridgestone Ecopia OEM (The Ecowing ES31 has replaced the ES01 and rates significantly higher)

https://tirewheelguide.com/tires/compare/kumho-ecowing-es01-kh27/kumho-ecowing-es31/

The only review on the Kumho Wattrun I could easily find was out of the UK and rated them well too.

This one here. https://alltyretests.com/kumho-ecowing-es01-kh27-test-review/

These are the results from a group of expert testers. The reviews you link are from anonymous unverified people

9th out of 13 for wet braking

13th out of 13 for aquaplaning

7th out of 13 for wet handling

10th out of 13 for dry braking and dry handling.

Also these comments here though too like the ones you linked are anonymous. https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/Kumho/Ecowing-ES01-KH27.htm 

....I had a pair of these put on the front of a front wheel drive Honda stream, they seemed ok so got some put on the back when needed. These are the worst tyre I have ever had. The back end slips on slightest corners, roundabouts, etc. and this is at normal speeds and even in dry conditions.....

.....These have to be the worst tyres I have ever owned. In the dry they are fantastic, low noise, good grip and great fuel economy. In the wet if you are cornering or pulling away they slip and slide all over the place. In a straight line they seem to disperse the water as there rating seems to suggest. I have no confidence in them when negotiating bends and if you push them at all when cornering you start to drift across the road rather disconcerting at motorway speeds.......

....Had them on Nissan Qashqai for 6 months during the summer (British summer). Have slid more times on these tyres than any literature ever. Been driving for 25years never slid until fitting these. Can't take a large roundabout at 30mph......

....I had these fitted to my VW Up and after the second skid on a damp roundabout, I replaced them with proper tyres. The tyres were dangerous. I have in 18 year never had a skid, except on ice due to driver error. About a month after replacing all my tyres, I was going acorss a very wide and damp roundabout, about to exit, and I lost control of the rear. The car spun 180 degrees and came off the road. I was going no faster than other cars, about 30mph, and the driving was smooth. By some miracle I did not hit another car, or a lamp post. Three weeks later, going round a smaller damp roundabout, at 20mph, the same speed as the car in front, I lost the rear again. This time I was able to regain control. Even on a dry road the steering felt wooly, and I had the sensation sometimes of the tyres sliding.

Technofreak:

 

This one here. https://alltyretests.com/kumho-ecowing-es01-kh27-test-review/

 

These are the results from a group of expert testers. The reviews you link are from anonymous unverified people.

 

Etc.

 

AllTyreTests seems a bit lacking in their competency levels and information in general and doesn't recognise the Bridgestone Ecopia so no comparison can be drawn in this regard.

Perhaps you'll find this comparison website more acceptable: https://tirewheelguide.com/tires/compare/bridgestone-ecopia-ep150/kumho-ecowing-es31/

HarmLessSolutions:

 

Technofreak:

 

This one here. https://alltyretests.com/kumho-ecowing-es01-kh27-test-review/

 

These are the results from a group of expert testers. The reviews you link are from anonymous unverified people.

 

Etc.

 

Your post refers to the ES01 Ecowing which as I mentioned has now been superceeded by the improved ES31 version.

 

AllTyreTests seems a bit lacking in their competency levels and information in general and doesn't recognise the Bridgestone Ecopia so no comparison can be drawn in this regard.

 

Perhaps you'll find this comparison website more acceptable: https://tirewheelguide.com/tires/compare/bridgestone-ecopia-ep150/kumho-ecowing-es31/

 

Fair comment on the new model being improved, I assume that you're getting the ES31 version.

What really got my interest was the comments I posted. If there was just one or two I'd be not too worried when I saw as many bad reviews as there was compared to the other comments that was a a red flag for me. Hopefully the new model is a lot better.

You've lost me with your lack of competency comment. That site gives a very good comparison of important characteristics between similar tyres unlike some sites that just rank tyres based on reviews from anonymous keyboard warriors. Some people only think of road noise, or mileage and the fact that you're more likely to slide off the road with that tyre is never considered yet they rank it high.

It's you that has to be happy with your choice. It is hard to find good reliable information without spending a lot of time doing it. From what I've read a lot of tyres that have been developed for EV's and or to give good rolling resistance generally give up road holding characteristics as trade off.

I'd say if you've been happy with the Watruns then you're probably going to be happy with the Ecowings. Good luck.

I would rate the tyres on a leaf that I test drove as dangerous as the piece of crap supercats that a tyreshop assured me were a good tyre yet appeard to have the grip of a non-stick frypan when on a wet road.

Technofreak:

 

You've lost me with your lack of competency comment. That site gives a very good comparison of important characteristics between similar tyres unlike some sites that just rank tyres based on reviews from anonymous keyboard warriors. Some people only think of road noise, or mileage and the fact that you're more likely to slide off the road with that tyre is never considered yet they rank it high.

 

As you say we've been satisfied with the Wattruns so expect the Ecowings will perform to expectations. After all the Leaf is our second car now with its main use being rural/urban road travel for shopping and the like so not a highway cruiser by any means and tyre performance expectations are based on that.

We've recently taken delivery of a Polestar2 so when that is up for tyre replacements we'll be more discerning in regard to what we fit to it, and expect a bigger bill to do so.