YOKOHAMA AVID TRZ 195/60TR-15

[nashville2]

YOKOHAMA AVID TRZ 195/60TR-15

These are great tires for the 2005 Prius!! Read on, there are lessons to be learned here. I had the tires balanced and installed at a used tire store for just $5 per tire, and at that price I watched them carefully to make sure it was done right, but when I got on the freeway I had terrible vibration, and had to pull over to see what was wrong. I saw that the labels had not worn off, so I kept driving. That vibration soon stopped, but a high frequency “chatter” started, where the tires felt like they were hitting the pavement and then bouncing slightly instead of rolling. My mileage dropped from 44 to 36 mpg. I was very worried, and called Tirerack, and Lynne, the very nice customer service representative, gave me extra time to try the tires, since I would be out of the country two weeks. After a while, they settled down. Probably the little hairy pieces of rubber on the surface where the rubber had been injected in the mold were causing the vibration and poor mileage, and they wore off within 500 miles. Still a vibration remained at high speeds, and I was about to send the tires back, but I went to my dealer, Beaman Toyota, where Kenny Norton has been my service representative for 20 years. I told him I was sure the tires were in balance because I had watched the bubble on the balance for all four tires. His eyes got really big and he said, “Oh no, you can’t bubble balance these modern tires, you’ve got to dynamically balance them,” and after the proper balance, they were perfect. Shortly after that, a small car skidded on a curve in water about 50 yards in front of me, and I never took my foot off the gas, and went through the puddle like it was dry ground. It may be that his tires were slick, but my tires held tight, and gave me a lot of confidence. I also believe that my car is now more stable behind trucks and in cross winds. This is subjective, but I think it feels better than the Goodyears that came with the car. Handling is very firm and the ride is great on smooth or rough surfaces. I keep the pressure at 37/35 front/rear, and am getting about 2 mpg better mileage than this time last year.

Mileage 4359

[uclabruins]

Thanks for the review of the Yokohama AVID TRZ tires. I am looking at those or the Goodyear TripleTred when I replace my stock tires. I'm planning to get the 195/60 15 size as well. On tirerack, the TRZ are the #1 rated tire for the standard touring all-season category and about $30 less per tire than the TripleTred. The TripleTreds are rated #1 in the all-season category.

Please update us on the TRZs when you get a chance.