NON-snow tires for Prius

[divots]

I put Nokian WR G2's on our '08 the day after taking December delivery and could not be any happier with the results as it has easily handled a sampling of every winter weather condition imaginable...we just completed our return to Connecticut from Buffalo, NY which began with a light snowfall, turned into a 9" accumulation near Albany, a near-blinding whiteout in the Berkshires, freezing rain and sleet southeast of Hartford and finally black ice in the final leg as we headed towards Mystic and the Prius/Nokian combo was nothing short of amazing...for those unfamilar with Nokian tires, I would suggest that you check the WR G2 out at http://nokiantires.com/en/default.aspx ...this is an all-season tire that exceeds every criteria of a dedicated snow without the typical snow tire compromises and has a 50k warranty...I paid $424.00 out the door...we have the first generation Nokian WR's on both of our other cars and the G2's appear to be even more capable than what I thought was the best New England-friendly tire on the market...I cannot provide an mpg comparison with the Goodyear OEM tires since I had only 14 miles on the odometer when I made the change; however, we are currently averaging 48.2 mpg after nearly 1750 total miles logged...one other quick plug is for the black with blue dots cocomats that I put in our Spectra Blue Mica...check them out at www.cocomats.com ...they really take the Prius interior to a new level...a great year to all...

[HSDP]

Originally Posted by FishHawk

So as I see it the OEM tires give the best mileage for the Prius. If you get another tire you'll take a mileage hit of at least 5 to 10 MPG. I don't know if I want to take such a hit. Until the manufactures get on board and give us a choice I'll probably stick with the OEM tires. That is unless someone can convince me that there is a better alternative out there.
I average around 47 mpg so if I take a 10mpg hit I'm in the high thirty's .
On occasion I get in the 50 mpg range but not for the type of driving I do. Just my 02 FishHawk

I am not sure what you are basing this on but and I am not sure this is really true. Each tire will have a different rolling resistance depending on many factors but I don't think that the factory Integrity's are the best. Michelin claims they have the lowest resistance with the Hydroedge. I also have a hard time seeing how the rolling resistance of the tire can make anything close to a 10MPG difference, I would say maybe 1-3 at most.

FL_Prius, best summer tire really depends a bit on what criteria are important to you. Tires will have varying amounts of dry traction, different ride quality, different noise levels and different wear. For an overall tire that is good on everything and weak on none, I recommend the Michelin Hydroedge. It is an excellent tire, you can see it here.

Costco sells this tire at a great price.

[Ian MacDonald]

I contacted Michelin a few months back in preparation for replacing my tires. I still have a bit of tread left on the Integrities at 36K but found myself hydroplaning more than I liked on the freeway during the last heavy rain.

Michelin would not provide the actual RR coefficients for the tires that I was interested in (they told me that the RR data was proprietary). They initially recommended two models- the HydroEdges and the X Radial DT's. I then asked them to recommend one from the list of Michelin tires available at Costco if low RR was a primary factor. The Michelin rep came back recommending the X Radial DT. I've considered HydroEdges but was concerned about the noise issues as reported by others with these tires so I'm probably going to go with the X Radial DT's when it's time.

FYI, there's apparently a new LRR Michelin tire out but it's only available in Europe currently:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/09...n-for-the-peu/

I couldn't find any reference as to if/when they would be available in North America.

Cheers,

-- Ian

[FL_Prius_Driver]

Originally Posted by HSDP

FL_Prius, best summer tire really depends a bit on what criteria are important to you. ...

I was just pointing out to the OP the often overlooked UTQG values should be a primary consideration in evaluating tires. As for me, I have had very good life out of Michelin Tires with high wear ratings and the HydroEdge is as high as they get....but first I have to get the max life out of the Integrities...and this will not take that long.

[rudiger]

Originally Posted by jayman

I like the Michelin Harmony on my car as an "all season" tire. For winter I run my aggressive snow tread Goodyear Nordic studded tires

The Michelin Harmony is also sold as the Sams Club/Costco X-Radial, Sears Agility, and Discount Tire Destiny. The tread patterns are different but the construction and tread wear is identical.

Although certain performance characteristics might not be quite as high as some other tires, the mpg penalty isn't as great, either. It's a good, general purpose tire that's done well in Consumer Reports tire comparisons.

[HSDP]

Originally Posted by FL_Prius_Driver

I was just pointing out to the OP the often overlooked UTQG values should be a primary consideration in evaluating tires. As for me, I have had very good life out of Michelin Tires with high wear ratings and the HydroEdge is as high as they get....but first I have to get the max life out of the Integrities...and this will not take that long.

I apologize, I meant to point my paragraph towards the OP, not you. I don't know why I put your name on there instead. Anyway I guess UTQG is important if your primary concern is wear. I think the wear rating on the tires of my NSX are like 75. LOL...

What I am dissapointed at is that there don't seem to be too many performance tires available for the Prius. Just all seasons for the most part, and what I found in the 195/55/16 of the Touring, mostly run-flats (which have their own issues) I think mainly because this size fits the Mini Cooper. The best I found was a set of Falkens that were real summer tires, but that was it. If anyone knows of another please tell. I don't like the idea of all seasons... not in New England. I need dedicated snows and a good summer performance tire for my Touring.

[HSDP]

I also had the Hydroedge on my 06 Prius, there is a hair more noise but it really is not that bad... I don't know I haven't been on this forum long enough to know all the threads about that tire and noise but I think we definitely have some pretty sensitive people here if that slight bit of extra noise is bothering them. I hardly notice it, and would easily give it up for the better performance of the hydroedge.

[LRP114]

I recently bought Michelin Primacy MXVN's which appeared to be even better than the Energy MXVNs. They DO come in the standard 185/65/HR15 too. They are rated excellent on dry and wet roads, rolling resistance, noise and hydroplaning, AND pretty darn good in light snow too. Also, it rated 10/10 regarding its wear.

Check out Consumer Reports (tire comparisons): ConsumerReports.org - Consumer Reports Cars: Tires Ratings and recommendations at ConsumerReports.org

Test Results on TireRack
(the Best of Touring):
Even Grander Grand Touring Tires

(a List of ALL Michelin Test Results): Tire Testing Search

I was looking to replace the OEM tires with one which were quieter, better all-weather grip, safety and handling, and longer lasting. At least, based on test data, the Primacy seemed to have all these characteristics, and plenty expensive too!!

Originally Posted by galaxee

big fan of the michelin energy mxv4+ but they don't make them in stock size anymore. i don't know what we'll get when these wear out, but after 12k miles it looks like we've got quite a while to decide.

[Boo]

Personally, I'm a big fan of Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds. My Prius is the third car I've had them on. They're Consumer Reports', Tire Rack's and Tire Rack's customers' highest rated passenger all season tire. They run a little cheaper than the slightly lower rated (a very close 2nd) Michelin HydroEdges. The TTs are warranted for 80,000 miles (the HEs are warranted for 90,000 miles). But if you go with the TTs, you'll have to go with the wider 195/60/15 size --- which gets you even better traction --- as it does not come in the US Prius OEM 185/65/15 size.

Anyway, a good read on the subject is the thread entitled "Tire Upgrade: Lessons Learned" started by nyprius. It's an excellent, but long thread. If you're short on time you should at least read nyprius' excellent initial post. Here's a link:

Tire Upgrade

[Boo]

Originally Posted by LRP114

Check out Consumer Reports (tire comparisons): ConsumerReports.org - Consumer Reports Cars: Tires Ratings and recommendations at ConsumerReports.org

Test Results on TireRack
(the Best of Touring):
Even Grander Grand Touring Tires

Note that these are performance passenger all seasons, the best of which will generally be more costly than the best standard passenger all seasons.