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2012 Prius C Tires.

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by flyman01, Apr 9, 2014.

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  1. flyman01

    flyman01 Junior Member

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    Hello all. I have a 2012 Prius C. My commute is quite long. I drive 172 miles a day. It's a curvy ride and I have a bit of a heavy foot. Because of this I am coming up to the 50,000 mark. I am noticing that the tires that came with my Prius are starting to look worn. I am looking for a good all year tire that handles curves well. I am willing to spend a little more to get a good product. Just for the record I have done forum searches for "Tire", "The Best Tires", "Tire Selection", and "Tires Prius C" and not found anything.

    [​IMG]

    You can see on the sides the tread is starting to go bald. What do you all think?
     
    #1 flyman01, Apr 9, 2014
  2. ChinchillaGirl

    ChinchillaGirl OrcaCar

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    My OEM tires only lasted 30k! I do have a curvy mountain road to do twice a day though. I replaced mine with Michelin EnergySavers; they originally put on Bridgestones, but I returned those for these instead because my mileage dropped way too far on a 100 mi/day commute. The Michelins handle the curves very well and the mileage is nearly as good as the old well-broken in tires were.
     
    #2 ChinchillaGirl, Apr 9, 2014
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  3. flyman01

    flyman01 Junior Member

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    I am in the NYC/CT area. Is it worth my while to switch tires in the winter? I feel like this year was a very white winter. The Prius did ok in the snow. I am just wondering.
     
    #3 flyman01, Apr 9, 2014
  4. ChinchillaGirl

    ChinchillaGirl OrcaCar

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    Sorry, I'm a CA girl, so I can't speak to the snow aspect. I did forget to mention that the Michelins are also nice and quiet!
     
    #4 ChinchillaGirl, Apr 9, 2014
  5. ChinchillaGirl

    ChinchillaGirl OrcaCar

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    Sorry, I'm a CA girl, so I can't speak to the snow aspect. I did forget to mention that the Michelins are also nice and quiet!
     
    #5 ChinchillaGirl, Apr 9, 2014
  6. flyman01

    flyman01 Junior Member

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    Hopefully this thread will fill up with some Northeast people responding. Thank you for your response.
     
    #6 flyman01, Apr 9, 2014
  7. DKTVAV

    DKTVAV Active Member

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    There's a thread in Prius III about tires that will apply for PC:

    Low Rolling Resistance replacement tires: Current List | PriusChat

    I just bought whole set of Ecopia EP422 at Costco for less than $400 after tax and installed. I don't know the mileage yet but still waiting for break in period, not see much of the difference though.
     
    #7 DKTVAV, Apr 10, 2014
  8. citroenjohn

    citroenjohn Active Member

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    Flyman--Winter tires are, in my opinion, worth the expense. Your C will handle snow and ice covered roads so much better you will be astonished. You will not only be making your driving in the C safer for you, but, for all of the other people sharing the road with you. I've been driving for 54 years and as a youth participated in ice racing when we lived in New England. I've always had winter tires and never regretted it. As a bonus modern winter tires are incredible in the snow when compared to early design winter tires and to regular or all season tires.
     
    #8 citroenjohn, Apr 10, 2014
  9. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    There are several threads about tires, and F8L has provided quite a bit helpful research on various tires. I would stick with a LRR tire, and if winter traction is important, likely stay away from Michelin Energy Savers. The Bridgestone EP 422's are good tires, bought them to replace on my previous 2010 IV. They should have decent snow/ice traction, maybe even a bit better than your OE tires. For you, a true winter tire may not be necessary since you got through this past winter with no problem.
     
    #9 jhinsc, Apr 10, 2014
  10. DKTVAV

    DKTVAV Active Member

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    You mentioned F8L on this thread but I didn't see his post here. If you can link to the post I will bookmark it because before I bought my tires I haven't seen much after searching about tires.
     
    #10 DKTVAV, Apr 10, 2014
  11. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

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    In general, I've noticed the tires recommended on this forum tend to favor high fuel economy or LRR. Unfortunately, most of the time, this is contrary to what you want in a tire: better handling.

    My anecdotal conclusion from this forum is that if you want fuel economy, you get the Michelin energy saver or the OEM Bridgestone Ecopia 422 or EP20. If you prefer handling, the only recommended tire I've read about is the Michelin Defender which drops your fuel economy 2-3 mpg from OEM but offers superior handing and long life.


    iPhone ?
     
    #11 mmmodem, Apr 10, 2014
  12. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    #12 jhinsc, Apr 10, 2014
  13. DKTVAV

    DKTVAV Active Member

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    #13 DKTVAV, Apr 10, 2014
  14. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    Sorry, I see that now. I guess I misunderstood. F8L has not posted in this thread, but he's been helpful to many, many people on PC in regards to tires.
     
    #14 jhinsc, Apr 10, 2014
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  15. flyman01

    flyman01 Junior Member

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    After reading the posts here and the GIANT tire thread, I am leaning toward the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 (All-Season). It is listed as "poor handling tire but lacking in dry braking and cornering ability"
    My question is what are my OEM tires considered? Are they considered poor handling?
     
    #15 flyman01, Apr 10, 2014
  16. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

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    I had the Bridgestone EP422's and thought they were better than OEM tires. They are great LRR tires, with better traction, longer tread life, and handled great on wet roads. Not the greatest handling tire, but neither were the OEM tires. If you're looking for a better handling tire, F8L recommends one of the Michelin's, I think the Primacy if I recall correctly. My personal opinion is Toyota and Honda are known for spec'ing tires on their vehicle that last roughly 30-35k miles for the typical driver because they lease so many of their vehicles. They would prefer the original driver replace the tires, or at least get dinged for the replacement cost when they turn in their vehicles.
     
    #16 jhinsc, Apr 11, 2014
  17. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    The EP422s are better than the OEM bridgestone tires.
     
    #17 ztanos, Apr 14, 2014
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  18. flyman01

    flyman01 Junior Member

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    Thank you all. Here is the picture of the new tire.

    [​IMG]
     
    #18 flyman01, Apr 15, 2014
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  19. Stevie

    Stevie Junior Member

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    don't forget to let us know how they go
     
    #19 Stevie, Apr 16, 2014
  20. flyman01

    flyman01 Junior Member

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    So. It's been about 1000 miles on the new tires. I have to say these new tires are great. They handle better. They are better in the rain. I wanted to wait till I got till 1000 miles so I would have a really good idea. For people searching Tire threads, I highly recommend the Bridgestone EP422's. If anything changes I will be sure to add it here. I will also do an update at the 10,000 mile mark. Which won't be long since I do 650 miles a week. Thank you all again.
     
    #20 flyman01, Apr 25, 2014
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