Touring Edition Tire Upgrade

[problemchild]

Keeping this thread on topic........

How much road noise?
How much MPG change +/- ?
How many miles for wear warranty?
What is the LRR rating?

I would think valve stems and tires mounting can be discussed in a general tire thread. That way people dont have to read 5 pages of fluff to find out the facts of the "thread specific" tire.

[Boo]

Originally Posted by problemchild

Keeping this thread on topic........

How much road noise?
How much MPG change +/- ?
How many miles for wear warranty?
What is the LRR rating?

I would think valve stems and tires mounting can be discussed in a general tire thread. That way people dont have to read 5 pages of fluff to find out the facts of the "thread specific" tire.

Re the Falken Ziex ze-912, the wear warranty for the 195/55/16 size is 40,000 miles, and the cost online at 1010Tires.com is $92). Don't know much else about them as I haven't found a car magazine or other professional review of them yet (but as I mentioned above, I believe there are lots of reviews of the Ziex ze-512).

Here's a link to the Falken webpage for the tire:

Falken Tire

And here's a link to the DiscountTireDirect.com webpage with customers' reviews of the tire:

Tire Reviews - Discount Tire Direct

[misslexi]

I bought the Falken Ziex ze-912's at OnlineTires.com - Buy Tires and Wheels Online. Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop, Bridgestone Tires. for $73 each. They are in California, shipping cost $42.64 to rural WA.

I wanted these shipped to the ranch which is a different shipping address from my credit card billing address. They were unable to accommodate that for some reason so I did a direct deposit to his bank account. For someone as jaded as myself concerning Internet security, I felt very comfortable after speaking with him on the phone. My instincts were correct in this case; tires delivered on time, correct size, brand new etc.

Highly recommended.

[Boo]

Wow, that OnlineTires.com price of $73 is cheap (it's $92 at 1010Tires.com and $96 at DiscountTireDirect.com). And their California location should be convenient (shipping costs wise) for all those West Coast Touring owners I see on this board.

[KandyRedCoi]

Originally Posted by Neicy

I would still like to know what pressure you're running them at and what the difference in mpg is if someone can post that information.

ditto

i dont find much wrong with the turanzas, but the fact that it wears out quite fast, and that it look "wussy" under the wheel wells of the prius

as far as looks 205-55-16 should look a bit more aggressive than the oem tires

just concerned of the tire psi and MPG hit it makes

[djkrs2]

Hello all!

I read in some of the other threads about the weight difference between tires, and wheels. Do the tires that everyone is recommending way close to what the stock tires weigh? I'm not trying to squeeze every MPG out of my Prius but I don't want to do too much to decrease it, especially since we're just about at $4 a gallon for regular here in lovely WA.

Also, does anyone have the weight of the stock Touring edition wheel and tire?

Thanks,

Dave

[Boo]

Bridgestone also makes the Potenza G019 Grid in the Touring OEM size of 195/55/16. See BelowTheCrowd's detailed post about them in the standard Tire Upgrade thread, which I've reprinted below:

Originally Posted by BelowTheCrowd

Just had to replace the tires on my 2007 Prius touring after an "incident" with a curb caused a sidewall tear on the stock Turanza EL400s.

I've always wanted to replace these tires, but the choices in 195/55-16 are limited and mostly consist of runflat tires for the Mini Cooper. While 205/55-16 remained a perfectly good alternative, the downside is that the stock 6" wide rims are a bit on the narow side for 205s. Still within tolerance, but hardly optimal. Here in southern California I have no weather issues to speak of, so there's been no real urgency to this. I figured I'd wait to see if anything better came along, but in this case my hand was forced.

Turned out to be OK though. Bridgestone has recently introduced the Potenza G019 Grid in 195/55-16. It's similar in many ways to directional all-season Potenzas (the old RE950s and the G009s) that I have used on other cars and really liked. Price was not awful either. Available for $92 on tire rack. I opted for a local dealer who I have had good experience with before. Probably paid an extra $10 per tire after allowing for shipping, installation and disposal of the old tires, but I got to work with a dealer who is really good, isn't going to screw up the TPMS sensors, and gives me free rotation and alignment checks every 5K miles once I've purchased from them.

The changeover gave me the opportunity to look over the stock tires carefully. To say that they're crappy would be an understatement. The sidewalls are extremely flimsy which probably explains how it tore so easily in a fairly routine curb encounter. The wear was also quite evident. I've got a little under 10K on the car and the front tires were already noticably worn. Probably would only go to 20K, or maybe 25K if I rotated them a bit more regularly and spread the wear around. I picked the best looking one and put it aside as a spare just in case I ever really need a tire RIGHT NOW and can't find anything in this slightly oddball size.

[The dealer pointed out that the Turanza EL400s in this size are a special OEM tire, that are most likely different from standard EL400s with which he has had decent experience. As noted in this link, Bridgestone doesn't even publish most specs for them. The dealer also noticed that this size differs from most EL400s in both wear rating -- extremely low at 260 -- and speed rating -- V rather than T or H. If you look at the spec sheets, it seems that Toyota does this same combo for a number of vehicles: Lower wear rating combined with a V speed rating on cars that really don't need it. There seem to be some odd tradeoffs going on in the world of Toyota OEM tires. I would have much prefered a better wear rating, a sturdier tire and a lower speed rating. After all, the Prius can only go 103mph, and as such doesn't even require a speed rating above "R"! I wonder if the Integrities on the standard Prius have the same issue?]

So far I've driven about 200 miles on the new tires and I'm very pleased. I'm currently running pressures at 5psi high, which is to say 40/38. This is the same as I was running on the stock Turanzas, but I think they may not handle (or need) the overpressure as much as the original tires which were overly squishy at the "normal" pressures, so adjustments will probably be made.

The first longish drive on these involved a trip through some of the Canyons north of Malibu to get to a business meeting then a 60-65mph drive back on southern California freeways with one big up/downhill along the way. For the drive up, I intentionally detoured onto some of the smaller, narrower and curvier roads. With these tires I was able to push through the curves without constantly slowing down. A huge change from the stock tires. The G019s hold the road wonderfully.

On smooth blacktop they are wonderfully silent. On concrete there is a bit more of a radial "hum" to them than with the stock Turanzas. The steering is far more sensitive and I get much better road feel. On city streets in LA you do feel the bumps. If you like squishy, maybe you'd consider them "harsh." Coming from Acuras and Audis I consider them pretty normal, but as noted I will probably play with pressures a bit to find the optimal "sweet spot" for my driving and my roads.

Mileage has not been all that different from before, maybe 1-2 mpg lower though I don't have much of a sample yet. For these 200 miles I've been about 50-51 on the highways and overall averaging about 46-47. As I said, a little low compared to what I've seen before but not by much. The changeover did coincide with a major heat wave so I've been running the AC full-time since the tires went on and that has probably had some impact on my overall efficiency. Obviously the tires are also not broken in yet. Going to monitor it over the next few weeks and will report back. I'm hopeful that after tire break-in, with the AC back to normal use levels, and after experimenting a bit with tire pressures, my efficiency won't be impacted much.

Looks are quite good. The G019s have a much straighter sidewall than the stock tires. They look quite good on the stock Touring wheels, which I use without the plastic wheel covers. It's a subtle but noticable difference and another reason I'm kind of happy I waited for a tire in 195 rather than 205, which I think would have made for a much more obvious "fat tire on narrow rim" look that I don't like.

One thing you snow-country folks should probably note is that I've never been crazy about any of the Potenzas on snow. While these are rated M+S, if they're anything like the G009s, they will be great wet/dry performers, which is all I really need in coastal California.

All-in-all, I'm quite happy with these. Will report as I have a few more miles on them and do a bit of pressure experimenting.

[BelowTheCrowd]

Tom, thanks for posting that. We appear to have two Prius Touring-related tire threads going right now in addition to the original tire thread.

A few comments after a couple more days of driving.

I've backed off the pressures a couple of PSI (now 38/35) and have seen a bit less noise and a slightly more comfortable ride. As noted on the review, I'm coming from performance-oriented vehicles, so a bit or road noise and significant road feel are normal to me. I bought the Touring rather than the regular Prius because I wanted more of those than the standard Prius had. It now is clear that the tires make a huge difference.

Nobody, and I do mean nobody, has a clue what the full specs for the stock Turanzas on the Prius Touring are. See the link from my review above. Neither Bridgestone nor Toyota publishes them. My tire dealer speculates (based on inspection) that they are lighter and weaker than standard EL400s. They are also V rated rather than T rated (the norm for other sizes of this tire) and carry a much lower wear rating (260). As I said above, there appear to be some weird tradeoffs going on here, but the result is a lightweight and flimsy tire that easily blows up when you hit a curb or pothole a bit hard. The tire dealer tells me that is his general experience with the OEM Turanza EL400s (technically known as the EL400-02) which are clearly different from the tires designed and sold for the aftermarket.

What this means is that anybody who is wondering how they differ from OEM tires is going to just have to wonder. Weight, rolling resistance, etc. are just not published. They publish the minimum info required on the sidewall, that's it.

I hesitate to give a final number until I've hit 1000 miles or so, but so far it seems that I'm losing at worst 1-2 mpg compared to the original tires, or about 2-4%. If my experience with tires over the years is repeated, I'll get most or all of that back as the tires break in.

They look good on the touring rims minus the plastic covers. Will post a photo or two later.

[SureValla]

I have a 2007 Touring and after 50,000 miles on my original Bridgestone Turanza EL400's it was time for new tires. I probably should have gotten them earlier b/c i was right at the legal limit (3/16") or less when I replaced them. I am now at 4000 miles on the new tires.

Anyway I also got the Potenza G019 Grid in the 195/55/R16 size. I'm writing this b/c I found it almost impossible to get a actual review of any tires hit on mpg and change in other ways.

First off the tires handle way better then the Turanza's. I feel like im driving a sports car by comparison. I zoom around curves in ways that would probably kill me in the turanzas.

Secondly, I notice no deviation in road noise. I am running them at 40/38 and have been from the start.

Thirdly and most importantly mpgs are down. Since getting the tires in the middle of April I have filled up 11 times and have a mpg of 43.96. In comparison the previous 11 fillups before getting the tire (last 11 on turanzas) comes out to 46.46 mpg.

Summary:
11 fillups before New Tires: 46.46 mpg
11 fillups after New Tires: 43.96 mpg

The time period for the 46.46 mpg is Mid Feb to Mid April. The time period for the 43.96 mpg is Mid April to mid June. So a drop of 2.50 mpg is not the full story. I suspect the drop in mpg is actually larger because of the differences in temperture during these periods. One is in late winter to early spring and the second is early spring to early summer. So by comparison the 46.46 number would be higher if taken over the same time period. To prove I checked out my numbers on my Turanzas from last year from mid april to mid June. The number is: 47.39.

Conclusion: mpg drop of 2.5-3.5 mpg with Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid.

Hope this helps someone make a tire decision. Next time I buy tires I am going to try harder to get a tire that will bring me back to my old mpg's

Info about my driving:
I drive 95% highway at 60 mph. These #'s are done at a time of the year when a/c or heat was not needed.

[Lloyd9]

Originally Posted by Boo

Bridgestone also makes the Potenza G019 Grid in the Touring OEM size of 195/55/16. See BelowTheCrowd's detailed post about them in the standard Tire Upgrade thread, which I've reprinted below:

I realize your post on these tires is from June 08 - do you any further updates on your milage and preformance with these tires?
I am about to change the OEM tires and the Potenza G019 Grid in 195/55-16 have been suggested although I was leaning towards one of these.
#1 Michelin Hydroedge
#2 Michelin Energy Saver A/S
#3 Goodyear Assurance TripleTred


Also - winter driving involves mostly rain with the occaisional wet snow, nothing like the East coast. How are these in the snow?
thanks
Lloyd