Nitto Motivo AS Initial Review

[MerlintheMad]

My "fast ride" earlier this year was with the pilot summers; and I did my best to have the psi at the recommended 38/36. Today I was looking at the G meter as I accelerated on a cloverleaf, still inflated to 40 psi all around (the TPMS showed 40 psi, which means, near as I have been able to determine, closer to c. 42 psi, since the TPMS seem to read two to three pounds low); so of course I am running on tires that are a bit over inflated: deliberately so, as I want a bit more cushion in case of potholes. The G meter peaked at .8 G. I was impressed (new to this sort of thing): but at the same time I wondered if the Pilot summers would have taken the car right up to .9 G before making noise; at .8 G the Motivos were roaring (not howling). Everything still felt controlled, despite .8 G being the most I have felt against the seat bolster so far. What I took for "spirited" cornering before was not pushing very hard, it turns out.

(Btw, I've been driving with the G meter displayed for the first time, this past week, intent on seeing how close I can get to that reported .93 G on the 300' skid pad I read about. After this .8 G, and the amount of noise, I won't push for more unless I drop the psi down to the recommended 38/36: try it again, and then see if that makes the noise less at .8 G. If so, then I will try running a few pounds lower than recommended and see what that does noise-wise. I am going on the assumption that when the tires start to roar, we are very close to a "howl", which is at the break of adhesion. So lower tire noise should mean that higher cornering speed is still available. And if the G meter shows .8 with lower tire noise, I can push higher. Of course, the next step is to slap the Michelins back on in the spring and start at the recommended psi and go to .8 G and find out what noise, if any, the tires give off: and then go from there. My hypothesis is naturally that the Michelins will handle .9 handily, and possibly reach 1 G with a lot of noise: but only if that .93 was a "do this all day" G force? I don't know. I do know that my SCCA friend drove cars that pulled 4 Gs at over 150 mph. And that simply boggles my imagination. How can someone drive for a long time, or even a moderate amount of time, with such forces exerted on your arms? There has to be some serious bracing going on at those kinds of G forces. Feel free to enlighten me!)

 

[MisterMac]

I have nearly 8,000 miles on my Motivo tires now. I keep mine at 38psi all the way around. Just seems to offer the perfect balance. No snow here though. It was 64 f today....

 

[MerlintheMad]

I have nearly 8,000 miles on my Motivo tires now. I keep mine at 38psi all the way around. Just seems to offer the perfect balance. No snow here though. It was 64 f today....

Is that running 38 psi or standing cold?

 

[MisterMac]

38 psi cold

 

[MerlintheMad]

G meter update: I took the same cloverleaf today without hindrance. I think the line I took was more to the inside. The G meter was showing .7; and so I gave it a bit more accelerator to .8 G and instantly the tires started to roar and I got two quick stabs of understeer. Surface was dry like two days ago; the only difference that I could see was, as I said, a slightly tighter radius turn. The psi showed 38 all around; which I take to mean between 40 and 41 actual psi (with the handheld pressure gauge). That is 2 psi lower than what was showing two days ago; but would that make enough difference to produce the understeer?

On further reflection, last time I only barely touched .8 G, near the exit point at the top of the cloverleaf. Today I held .8 G long enough to produce the understeer. So duration at .8 G is probably the answer. With these tires at 40 to 42 psi, .8 G is pushing your luck/control. .7 G is the optimum sustained cornering speed. That's it for now.

 

[Waynerm002]

It's been fairly warm in my area the past or so days. I've checked the pressure in my garage, it shows 52, tire pressure with my gauge (in the garage) is 38 front 36 rear. By the time I drive for a bit, it shows 40 front 38 rear and the car is just so comfortable it's crazy! I've been doing a lot of local driving and using that Sport mode more and more and she is just a blast to drive! I just have to keep watching the speed as it exceeds it really fast. I went in to custom mode and changed the engine note to enhanced and have been driving in Smart mode the last day and man, the note is how you would expect a car with this much power to sound. Granted, it's only inside but now the noise matches the speed which keeps me a bit more inline with posted speeds.

Of course yesterday when it was almost 60 and actually over in a couple of spots, the pressure was 42/40 but she still felt great, even in Sport mode. Starting to feel a wobble on the wheel I curbed when braking, going to take her in to get checked to see if all she needs is a bit of a balance. Still no snow yet, not complaining as I could do without it but at least want to see how these do in snow to do a full review on them.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I did my first snow driving a few days ago. About 2" on already wet, starting to freeze surface. I let the car skid around a corner at low speed, and counter-steered as it slowed down. Felt fine to me, very familiar, very "A/S" behavior. The next corner I kept it under power and the AWD made a huge difference. Higher speed driving in the snow has not happened yet. It's snowing now, but will it amount to anything?

 

[Waynerm002]

Well, had the wheel checked, they said cosmetic damage only, balance is fine, wheel isn’t bent. Oddly enough, after getting the car back and driving it, the wobble was gone. Wondering if the weights probably fell off and they replaced them. Same shop I had install the tires. Oh well. Don’t want to spend anything more on the car for now, want to get the sways and install them for the spring/summer timeframe.

So how did your show turn out? Any amounts to really test the tires?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Yeah, it was considerable for a very brief time; laid down c. 2" of sticky stuff. (Heh! Right when I needed to load up the hatch with tables and chairs to take to our son's house for a family dinner; I had to go out of my driveway and back into the carport to keep snow from laying down in my hatch. As soon as I had the hatch unloaded and the tables and chairs in my son's garage, the snowfall quit.)

I didn't push the tires at all. It was really hazardous going. Everyone on the highway were driving very carefully. The subdivision where our son lives was pure white, you could hardly see where the curbs were. So I went gingerly. Each time I accelerated the car was instantly responsive, ready to give more. AWD on these tires are several magnitudes more secure feeling than what I am used to.

 

[Waynerm002]

First drive of the New Year of note, my 30+ mile commute to work and the car was the smoothest I have ever recalled it being. Had a bit of vibration the first mile or so due to some flat spotting, but after that it was just feeling so good! No vibration, no wobble, just new car smoothness! That all came to an end after having to do some hard braking as traffic practically came to a halt, for no good reason that I could see, other than merging roads. Then the vibration started again, only while braking though, for a bit after that incident. I'll look into some rotors and pads closer to summer unless it gets worse before then.

With the car feeling so good, I switched to my custom setting, which firms up the suspension an even on the bad roads it was doing well. Temps started out at 42 with tire pressure registering at 39/37 (F/R) and the temps rose to 45 with the highest tire pressure registering 42/40. This setting with the Nittos feels the best so far.

 

[Ucinn]

We had some major rain Monday going home with some nice puddling on the streets, ran my regular speeds and had no hydroplaning issues at all. I'm really liking these tires more and more. Still no significant snow here to talk about, so still can't comment on it. Running 38/36 on them and heated up runs up to 40/38

 

[MerlintheMad]

This afternoon provided a good winter driving test. The snowdrop was heavy, the roads treacherous and unplowed as it came down all at once. The only two things missing to make this storm as bad as possible were white out conditions and accumulation to the bottom of the car. Between the lanes on the freeway the snow was several inches deep and very wet and heavy. Most people were sticking to the lane they found themselves in and driving under forty MPH. In the heavy traffic very little maneuvering occurred; except by me.

I changed lanes passing people more in c. 21 miles than I remember ever doing before.

This car is a plow. C. 4100 lbs of low center of gravity, wide, planted AWD momentum had no difficulty whatsoever changing lanes and passing everybody. Where the traffic opened up I found myself doing 55 to 60 MPH. Nearly everyone else were doing ten under that.

The Nitto Motivos were up to the challenge. They are secure enough to make the drive very low stress (but then, I am a very good winter driver). I didn't try to find the limits on cornering or turning to change lanes: my braking was moderate and I kept my distance from the next vehicle in front. The ABS never activated as it wasn't required. I signaled early and let the car drift across the lanes rather than turn across: the sound of slush impacting the bottom of the car was almost continuous, and doubled or tripled in volume as I plowed across the deeper places between lanes.

Off the freeway, at intersections, I was easily the first away when the lights turned green. No incidents of starting to lose it took place. As I said, I didn't push to test the limits of these tires. It was that kind of snow storm: the kind that fills you with respect and makes you go carefully.

 

[Jimmer]

This afternoon provided a good winter driving test. The snowdrop was heavy, the roads treacherous and unplowed as it came down all at once. The only two things missing to make this storm as bad as possible were white out conditions and accumulation to the bottom of the car. Between the lanes on the freeway the snow was several inches deep and very wet and heavy. Most people were sticking to the lane they found themselves in and driving under forty MPH. In the heavy traffic very little maneuvering occurred; except by me.

I changed lanes passing people more in c. 21 miles than I remember ever doing before.

This car is a plow. C. 4100 lbs of low center of gravity, wide, planted AWD momentum had no difficulty whatsoever changing lanes and passing everybody. Where the traffic opened up I found myself doing 55 to 60 MPH. Nearly everyone else were doing ten under that.

The Nitto Motivos were up to the challenge. They are secure enough to make the drive very low stress (but then, I am a very good winter driver). I didn't try to find the limits on cornering or turning to change lanes: my braking was moderate and I kept my distance from the next vehicle in front. The ABS never activated as it wasn't required. I signaled early and let the car drift across the lanes rather than turn across: the sound of slush impacting the bottom of the car was almost continuous, and doubled or tripled in volume as I plowed across the deeper places between lanes.

Off the freeway, at intersections, I was easily the first away when the lights turned green. No incidents of starting to lose it took place. As I said, I didn't push to test the limits of these tires. It was that kind of snow storm: the kind that fills you with respect and makes you go carefully.

Yeah, I took mine out in it today too. It was fun. Supposed to get more tonight, probably very slippery driving to work tomorrow.

 

[UtahStinger]

Yeah today was a good test of the motivo’s. I didn’t get to go very far, but the car was steady and well planted. Crossing traffic on a left turn, I felt confident, and was almost like driving on dry road. The AWD system in the stinger performs great. I’m certainly more nervous of the drivers around me...

 

[Waynerm002]

Good to hear some winter experience from those that gave this brand a shot. I just love how it makes the car feels everyday.

 

[Waynerm002]

Snow forecasted for Saturday into Sunday, hopefully there will be enough during the waking hours for me to go test out my Motivos.

 

[Ucinn]

We are supposed to have the same here. We shall see

 

[Waynerm002]

The white stuff is here! Took the car out for a bit and even before clearing the driveway when I braked, the ABS kicked in. Going down the road, any braking caused the ABS to kick in. Drove around for a bit at slow speed to while the tires get acclimated to the outdoor temps, the going was fine but you had to bring the speed way down to go around corners or it would push way wide. This reminded me of how the OEM tires on my first hybrid was before I swapped them for the Pirelli P7 AS+, the Pirelli's felt more like snow tires in the cold and snow. Going and stopping was no problem for them. The Motivos can use some improvements for inclement weather. I have now found the weakness of these tires, less snow grip than I would have expected. Getting underway wasn't much of an issue, no slipping or sliding, just some issues with cornering and long stopping distance.

This snow was the fine, shaved ice type, not big fluffy flakes, which makes it feel like stopping on ice. The stability system did well to keep things together when cornering and applying some power to slide the rear, then again, I didn't apply too much power to avoid a spin. I would be afraid to be going downhill in weather like this with these tires with any amount of speed and need to stop short. Even at a crawl, you will have to plan to brake much earlier that you think. Slow and steady is the only way to go.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Slow and steady is the only way to go.

Well, yes of course; that is how I drive in snow. It's relative, of course. On the freeway last weekend forty to sixty was fine, allowing for traffic or relative lack thereof. Pretty much straight ahead going; not trying to negotiate corners in subdivisions, etc. My son lives on the bench. Before this winter is over I am going to be taking this car up and down that hill. Stay tuned ...

 

[GRStinger]

even before clearing the driveway when I braked, the ABS kicked in.

My experience in the snow so far is that the ABS does dig in a lot. I have AWD with the 18". Comes with Bridgesone Potenza's which I knew from previous experience that they stink in the snow. I put winter tires on in mid-November - Michelin Ice X. They're good, but I think with this car with any decent winter tire or good AS in light snow that in take-off, straight-line driving, etc. you can get "lulled" when it comes handling vs. stopping/hitting the brakes. The laws of physics are still in effect, and this is not a light car. I found myself coming in too "hot" at stops, with ABS kicking it. Takes some getting used to. (As a "seasoned" winter driver, I will down-shift when coming to a stop. That left-side paddle is handy for that.) My 2 cents.