Stock tires ok tires?

[Bob Allen]

I know we've been here before, but I'm curious about the standard tires that come with the Prius and the desire of many, it seems, to replace them. Any consensus about replacing tires? If so, are there favored brands with which to replace them? I hate junking nearly new tires because it's bad for the environment which is supposedly what we are all about protecting, unless there is a demonstrated deficiency and/or need to replace them.
We have relatively mild winters here in Seattle; I have chains for the snow if it comes. We do get lots of rain, but not the murderous downpours of the mid western states.
The stock tires seem to grip the road well enough; I just finished a 2000 mile trip and HUMU handled well. I did notice a fair amount of road noise on some types of concrete; on many roads, however, the tires and the car were very quiet.
Lastly, is there some program offered by Toyota for tire replacement if it is done within a certain mileage/time frame?
Bob

[john1701a]

The Integrity tires work fine.

I did like the Allegras on my 2001 Prius a little better though. So that's what I plan on switching to the fall of 2005. By then I would have exceeded 40,000 miles and will be desiring fresh tread for the upcoming Minnesota winter.

Until then, I'll keep using the OEMs.

[petteri]

I'm not sure these are low rolling resistance tires but they do souind interesting from a enviromental stand-point.

http://www.nokiantyres.com/passengercars_p...me=NOKIAN+NRHi#

I sure wish car companies would offer those of us living in a "non-winter" local an option to avoid "all season" tires also.

[Frank Hudon]

Most dealers are open to the swapping of tires from what you consider the "wrong" tires to what you want. They are in the service business and will give you what you want.

[bookrats]

There are two threads about stock tires for the Prius that might be of interest: one recent one by our own RobertO, and an older one with a lot of details about various tires which should fit.

[Danny]

If/when everyone decides to purchase tires in the future I'd appreciate it if you take a look at [url=http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=37919709&siteid=40847186&bfpage=tires]Tirerack.com - they are able to beat most of the prices you'll find at your local B&M stores, even with shipping prices, and a % of your purchase goes back to PriusChat to help pay for the site you use everyday if you follow the link above, the one in my signature, or the banner on the Sponsors page.