New Tires for 2006 prius

[Walker1]

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I'd like everyone to see this post. I posted here a few months ago regarding what might be the best tires to put on my 2006 Prius in So. FL. After reading many posts it seems that if 10 people respond there are 10 different tire types, brands, and opinions. Many times there is a general agreement what is the best way to go, but in this case I don't see that.

I live in a tropical climate & 95% of my miles logged are city miles. I have no qualms with the stock tires except for their short life span. I have no problem with the ride or road noise and my #1 concern is milege. I am getting a solid 53-54 MPG all year round @ 27,000 miles and do not want to lose any of it. I have no other factors to contend with other than the above mentioned.

Can anyone answer this post with info that will help me? I want a longer lasting tire if possible. To me, 30,000 miles is absolutely ridiculous for a tire's life span. I will buy the stock tires again if I can't get the answer I need for this application.

All feedback is welcome. Thanks all.

[JimboK]

[Deleted - duplicate.]

[JimboK]

Last summer, I was starting to plan my tire replacement to occur sometime before winter. I was leaning toward one of the Continentals. Can't remember off hand which model, but it was one that Consumer Reports had graded fairly low (ie, good) in rolling resistance. Like you, fuel mileage was one of my top priorities. IIRC, it was middle of the pack in terms of other attributes: ride, handling, noise, expected tread life, etc. It was considerably less expensive than many of the others.

Unfortunately I couldn't follow up on those plans. I awoke to a unrepairable flat one Saturday morning in June. Though all tires had a little tread life left in them, it wasn't enough to justify buying just one new tire. Of the tire dealers that were even open on Saturday, most said they could get the Continentals, but it would take a week or more. I couldn't be running with the space saver spare that long, so my hand was forced. I ended up with Michelin Hydroedges and an estimated 5-10% MPG hit.

[cnschult]

my michelin harmony's have an 85K warranty & wear very evenly. they get me just over 50mpg in the summer, I don't use any hypermilling techniques.

i just checked discounttire.com and all the 185/65-15 michelins are over $105/tire. They may be the best but they may not be the best tire for the money.

their cheapest tire was actually pirelli p3000 which was $71/tire and also carried a 85K warranty, this may be the best tire for the money.

i googled pirelli p3000 and went to the epinions page & the first 15 customer reviews basically had no complaints from any customers, they all loved the pirelli p3000, so put them at the top of your shopping list.

[BlackPri08]

Originally Posted by cnschult

my michelin harmony's have an 85K warranty & wear very evenly. they get me just over 50mpg in the summer, I don't use any hypermilling techniques.

i just checked discounttire.com and all the 185/65-15 michelins are over $105/tire. They may be the best but they may not be the best tire for the money.

their cheapest tire was actually pirelli p3000 which was $71/tire and also carried a 85K warranty, this may be the best tire for the money.

i googled pirelli p3000 and went to the epinions page & the first 15 customer reviews basically had no complaints from any customers, they all loved the pirelli p3000, so put them at the top of your shopping list.

I'm considering the Harmonies; how are they in the snow? the rain? how quiet/noisy? Thanks

[subarutoo]

My original Goodyears have just passed 51,000 miles, and have at least 5-10,000 left. The horizontal tread sipes near the edges look worn from cornering, but overall thay have held up well. I run about 40/38 TP and have never had it aligned. Most of my driving is freeway commuting, 90+ miles a day, but I think the OEMs have held up pretty well. Can't justify getting new ones yet. They have never seen snow, and not much rain. I get over 50 mpgs without even trying. It may not work for your driving, but the OEMs have been fine for me, as for tread life. I don't notice them being any noiser than other tires I've had.

[hyo silver]

Yeah, you're bound to get different answers for something like this. I think we're mostly agreed that the stock Integrities really aren't very good, but there are differing opinions. I've relied on both TireRack and Consumer Reports for information, and the highest rated all-season passenger tires seem to be the TripleTred and the HydroEdge. If you've got specific desires, then you can use the ratings to pick the tires that are best for where you live and what your priorities are.

[Walker1]

Originally Posted by JimboK

Last summer, I was starting to plan my tire replacement to occur sometime before winter. I was leaning toward one of the Continentals. Can't remember off hand which model, but it was one that Consumer Reports had graded fairly low (ie, good) in rolling resistance. Like you, fuel mileage was one of my top priorities. IIRC, it was middle of the pack in terms of other attributes: ride, handling, noise, expected tread life, etc. It was considerably less expensive than many of the others.

Unfortunately I couldn't follow up on those plans. I awoke to a unrepairable flat one Saturday morning in June. Though all tires had a little tread life left in them, it wasn't enough to justify buying just one new tire. Of the tire dealers that were even open on Saturday, most said they could get the Continentals, but it would take a week or more. I couldn't be running with the space saver spare that long, so my hand was forced. I ended up with Michelin Hydroedges and an estimated 5-10% MPG hit.

Bummer. I will not take a milege loss as I still have an Accord that only gets a paltry 25 MPG. The original Michelin tires on the Honda only lasted 30,000 miles and I ended up getting Yokohamas that are rated for 75,000 miles. It cost me $625.00 out the door. I'm so glad our cars have 15" wheels as the tires are much cheaper. Do you have any idea where I can look for the cheapest price for the factory originals on my Prius?

[Walker1]

Originally Posted by cnschult

my michelin harmony's have an 85K warranty & wear very evenly. they get me just over 50mpg in the summer, I don't use any hypermilling techniques.

i just checked discounttire.com and all the 185/65-15 michelins are over $105/tire. They may be the best but they may not be the best tire for the money.

their cheapest tire was actually pirelli p3000 which was $71/tire and also carried a 85K warranty, this may be the best tire for the money.

i googled pirelli p3000 and went to the epinions page & the first 15 customer reviews basically had no complaints from any customers, they all loved the pirelli p3000, so put them at the top of your shopping list.

What were you averaging overall with the factory tires vs. the Pirelli's?

[Walker1]

Originally Posted by subarutoo

My original Goodyears have just passed 51,000 miles, and have at least 5-10,000 left. The horizontal tread sipes near the edges look worn from cornering, but overall thay have held up well. I run about 40/38 TP and have never had it aligned. Most of my driving is freeway commuting, 90+ miles a day, but I think the OEMs have held up pretty well. Can't justify getting new ones yet. They have never seen snow, and not much rain. I get over 50 mpgs without even trying. It may not work for your driving, but the OEMs have been fine for me, as for tread life. I don't notice them being any noiser than other tires I've had.

I'm amazed @ the miles you're getting out of the stock tires. Mine are getting thin and I think when they hit 30,000 miles it will be time to replace them. Here in FL they build the roads with materials that are rough on tires and the roads are always hot, which adds to the beating they take. I also run 42/40 TP as recommended on this forum and I also took off those cheesy trim rings after about 1 month. I actually found the beginnings of corrosion under the trim rings. They were nothing but junk.