Tire replacement dilemma.

[FishHawk]

Well, I 'm not sure what replacement tires I'll get after the OEM's wear out but I just might stick with them. I don't want to take the 5 to 10 mph hit.
The Goodyear comfort tread seems the closest to the originals.
Any suggestions? Thanks FishHawk

[jdenenberg]

Read the Rolling Resistance Rating thread

JeffD

[LRP114]

I spent much too much time trying to determine which replacement tire to buy, however, I just ordered Michelin PRIMACY MSV4's.

Both my wife and I HATED the Goodyear Integrity OEMs because they were very very noisey at highway speeds; at the Toyota recommended PSI they gave a very harsh ride; and they wore poorly. In fact, the only two complaints which I have had with the 2004 Prius is the noisey tires (even with windows up and A/C on) and the difficulty in starting and completing fueling-up. Otherwise I just love it, especially now that gasolene prices are so high!

In case you are interested in why I bought one of the more expensive "Deluxe Touring All-Season" tires, believe me, it was not an easy decision. I think one of these new tires installed will cost me as much as the four tires I last bought for another car!

I wanted the following key capabilities: 1) quiet and smooth riding, even over moderate road blemishes; 2) low rolling resistance; 3) very safe handling & braking in all dry and wet conditions; 4) long lasting; and 5) acceptable performance in light snow or ice. I read the information carefully in Consumer Reports, on-line tire shops, and on some Prius chatrooms. Every time I thought that I was ready to pick one, I realized that it was weak in one or more of the previous selection criteria. I spent a lot of my research concentrating on "performance" tires, and on over-sized tires to have a larger selection, before I realized that "performance" tires would likely fail in my first criteria, "quiet and smooth handling", and two Toyota dealerships really disuaded me from buying over-sized tires. As a result, I had to go back to the drawing board. That brought me to researching "Touring" tires in the original. When I read that the Michelin PRIMACY MXV4 tires were rated the "premier tire among premier tires", and studied the test results, I decided that I had to buy them.

By the way, if one buys them (or other Michelin tires, between 1/7 & 2/3/08 at a Costco's, you can save a lot of money, including a month-long discount. We don't have one close enough, and we never shop there, so I ended up ordering them from a highly rated local tire store.

Sorry for the long story, but I felt that you might benefit from reading all the details and thus be able to skip some of the steps in your own search.

[qbee42]

I like the Michilin MXV4+ tires in the stock size. We have last year's version, but they are basically the same. They are good all-season tires, and much better all around than the OEM tires. We haven't noticed any drop in mileage.

Tom

[Pinan]

Originally Posted by LRP114

Michelin PRIMACY MSV4's.

S or X?

[Pinan]

Originally Posted by qbee42

I like the Michilin MXV4+ tires in the stock size.

Tom. You have the Energy's, right? I note that on the Michelin site it show yours as being "EnergySaver Construction". It does not state the same for the Primacy. Hmmmm

[200Volts]

I have a set of Primacy MXV4+ on order at Costco. They should be in this week (stock size).
It'll be tuff for me to compare right now, since we are deluged with rain. My mileage dropped 5mpg (down to 45 mpg) last week due to enough rain on the freeway to create a "bow wave" from everyone's tires.
I will have them broken in within one week (1k miles) and I'll report back in a couple of weeks.
I have CTs now and got 67k out of them.

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by Pinan

Tom. You have the Energy's, right? I note that on the Michelin site it show yours as being "EnergySaver Construction". It does not state the same for the Primacy. Hmmmm

The MXV4+ Energy tires were replaced this year by the Primacy, which is basically the same time with some improvements.

Tom

[ceric]

I think there is a bit confusion here.
There still are Michelin Energy MXV4 (Plus, S8) tires available, but only the wider ones (195, 205+).
See this link:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes....ergy+MXV4+Plus

[konakahuna]

if you can hold on till february, i've heard that michelin will be releasing their new "energy saver" tire in the U.S. it debuted at the frankfurt motor show exclusively on the new peugeot 704 and claims a 20% - 4MPG increase in mileage due to lower rolling resistance.