Energy Saver A/S to be replaced by Defender

Well hoping that in 30k or so some new tire will come up as being a good equal to the EnergySaver's

From a purely economic standpoint the Defender and AVID Ascend should be pretty close. They get worse fuel economy but the long tire life makes up the difference.

italy? good for you! forget the tires man. my daughter just got back a couple weeks ago from a 10 day trip and loved it.

Crappers! I was hoping to upgrade to the Energy Savers for my summer tires, I don't put a lot of miles on them, so a 65k life would've been plenty! Oh well!

Ok, long story. I went to local Sears. They told me the Michelin Energy A/S were no longer available and had been replaced back in April of this year with the Defender. I went to Michelin web site and sent them an email and told them what Sears told me. They replied back with the note I posted, telling me that in July this Prius size tire would be replaced with Defender.
There is a Dealer here in NC called Thomas Tire Company, they have several stores in different towns, this is where I purchased the tires or will this Wednesday if they can get them. They said it would take a few day for them to come in. They suppose to be in tomorrow and I'll get them put on Wednesday morning hopefully.

Well, the Michelin rate the Defender with an 8 in mpg category with 10 being the highest, and of course the Energy Saver A/S is rated 10 for mpg.

Ok, I see someone has already posted the tire rating above this post. The Defender tire is rated high in tread wear category.

I could have pasted my whole email to Michelin telling them about Sears not being able to get the tires. I told Michelin that if this information was incorrect, they needed to let Sears know because they were not selling this particular time anymore. I knew the tire was being sold cause had read reviews on here where forum members had bought them in the last month.

The troubling part about the Defender fuel economy rating 0f 8 is that the MXV4 had a 10 (out of 10) rating, the same as the EAS, but most of us with these tires have taken about a 4 mpg hit.

Last week I had the Michelin Energy Saver A/S installed on my 2010 Prius. I only have 3oo miles on them so far so I don't know exactly how the mileage is. After 1k miles I will start to track mileage. I bought the tires from BJ's and they had to order them for me.

I bought these tires based on reviews by Tirerack.com. I wouldn't trust the manufacturers rating of their tires.

I am glad I got mine before the change!

Exactly! The Primacy MXM4 also rated fairly high. I think they rate them compared to other tires in their class and not against the whole field. The rating is unreliable to say the least.

Will the Defender's be cheaper?

Also, you would think Michelin would eventually have a new LRR tire that would be 9 or 10 on the FE scale. Probably just a matter of time.

No. The Defender is (currently available) slightly more expensive than the Energy Saver A/S. Will they have another ultimate FE tire in the future? Probably but who knows when. They have poured a lot of investment money into the Defender and it costs a lot of money to keep tire machines working to produce a low quantity tire.

The rating is likely relative to the category.


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FWIW I have have a feeling the Defender will be very much like the AVID Ascend but lighter so they may have a small edge in mpg but it is tough to say for sure.

This morning I tried hard to best the Energy Saver A/S's mpg on my morning commute and I came up short at 50.8mpg. My two commutes with the Energy Saver produced 53.?mpg and 54.5mpg. My best with the Ascend is 51.3mpg.

Yes, it is hard to beat the Michelin Energy Saver tires when it comes
to MPG's. The Nokian Entyre is probably as efficient, but
Costco does not carry them and they are a good $150.00
more for a set of 4.

I just got back from Costco. They couldn't order the Energy Saver A/S tire from Michelin for me (It was listed as "unavailable" or something like that). Michelin was recommending I wait for the Defender Tire. My search will expand to other places.

I didn't get a call today from the salesman that was going to get the Energy Saver A/S for me. I bet they can't get them. I sent him an email this evening but hes not responded yet. He said they would come in today and we would put them on tomorrow but sort of doubt this is going to happen.

America's tire company is scheduled to get my tires in no later than 6/15 (friday). Likely I will have a Saturday install. Hopefully you will be able to secure your tires too.

Or Tirerack it is!

Is the A/S being discontinued in just the Prius OEM 15" size or all sizes?