Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

Hopefully, this info will come in handy to several readers. But it's my first post, so bear with me.

Like many users of this site, it came time for me to purchase new tires for my 2006 Prius. After 30,000 miles on the Goodyear Integrities they were getting worn down and just weren't suited for another winter driving season. Of course, I can't say they were ever well suited for winter driving.

My dilema was the same as I've seen posted numerous times, traction vs. mileage vs. tread wear vs. price. After much research I came to the same conclusion many of you had already arrived at, the Goodyear Integrity tires were excellent for Low Rolling Resistance, but not nearly as good in traction and treadwear as other tires available.

I ended up replacing them with Michelin's newest tire, the Primacy MXV4, introduced earlier this summer. This is the tire Michelin recommends for luxury performance touring vehicles. Not that the Prius qualifies for that, but just to let you know Michelin's target market for this tire. Due to a shortage in the OEM stock size, I went with P195/60/15. Here's my general impressions (non scientific of course).

• Mileage - After adjusting for tire size I figure I'm getting about 1.0-2.0 mpg less on these tires than the Goodyear Integrity. I've gone around 1000 miles on these new tires, so my figures should be fairly accurate. Normally I averaged about 53.0 mpg, now I'm around 51.5 mpg. FYI - The dia for 185/65/15 is 24.4', 24.2' for 195/60/15. Adjusting for 70% wear on my Goodyears that decreased the dia to slightly smaller than the new tires. I've adjusted my mileage figures accordingly and the numbers listed above reflect these changes.
• Noise - No comparison. The new Michelin's are much quieter on all types of pavement.
• Ride - Again, no comparison. The new tires ride much smoother than the Goodyears. It's amazing how much quieter and more comfortable these tires made the Prius. While it is not a luxury touring vehicle, I can probably consider it a luxury Prius.
• Traction- Improvement with dry traction. Able to corner faster with slightly less body roll in hard cornering (my stock car driving days are well past me, but I did test them out on a few clover leaf freeway entrances to see how they performed). Huge improvement in wet traction and stopping. Did I say huge? I meant H U G E. Haven't yet tested them in snow, but what snow in San Jose, CA.
• Price - Purchased the tires on sale for about $80 each. America's Tire had a sale for $100 off a set of 4.
• Pressure - I'm running 42psi front, 40psi rear.

My conclusion is the new Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires are an excellent replacement for the Goodyear's. Clearly superior in every facet except for mileage, but even that is close. I almost went with the Michelin HydroEdge, but some said they were noisier than the Primacy MXV4's so I opted for a quieter ride at the cost of a little less treadwear.

One thing I would do differently next time, however, is that I'd get the 185/65/15's instead of the 195/60/15's. The lighter weight and less rolling resistance would likely bring me back closer to my original mpg with the Integritys. Plus, the increased traction is so phenomenal with these tires I now believe it is unnecessary to increase tire width to improve traction (with these tires).

I hope this post helps some of you decide on your next set of tires. PS - I don't work for Michelin and I don't hate Goodyear, just my personal observations.

Your report sounds good. A lot of posts with new tires, report a bigger hit on mpg. Seems like a great replacement tire at a good price. Did you get any specs on Primacy's revs per mile to compare with Integrity?
(I think Intregrity is 855 rpm)

I did research similar to what you did, including Consumer Reports etc. Wound up buying Yokohama Avid TRZ tires, 195 size. After 5000 miles, they seem to be quite a good tire.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusincc @ Nov 15 2007, 08:17 PM) [snapback]540296[/snapback]</div>

According to the Michelin website it's as follows:
851 rpm at 45mph for 185/65/15
859 rpm at 45mph for 195/60/15

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

I note that you purchased 195/60/15. I wonder if anyone knows if the 185/65/15 might give slightly better gas mileage? I have decided on these tires but not sure of the best size to get. Any one have knowledge? I hate to cut my mileage. They also come in 195/65/15.

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

I'm running the 185/65/15 in last year's model, the MXV4+ Energy. I haven't noticed any drop in mileage, but ride, handling, noise, and traction are vastly improved. I use them for all of our seasons: nearly winter, winter, still winter, and August.

Tom

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

If you don't have a sense of humor in the UP, what do you have?

. . . winter.

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

I replaced my Integrities with Michellin Hydroedge in a 205 size tire. The hit on mileage with that much more tread on the ground is horrid!! I guess the tires plus winter has put about a 10 mpg hit on me.

I love the hydroedge, but as with any tire i suppose, dont put more tread on the ground, i.e. stay with the 185 size, or be prepared to take a mpg hit proportional to the size, or rather width of tire, you purchase.

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

Thanks, I agree that it may be better to stick with the 185/65/15 size for mileage. I will order them after the hollidays. My left side tires are slick on the outside edge with plenty of tread on the center.

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

Michelin tires are great tires, but don't expect to get a lot of miles out of them. They are also very pricey to me. I got a Prius to maximize my mpg. My days of modifying cars and adding fat tires on a car are over. When the time comes, I'll just stick with OEM size and benefit from that in the long run.

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

This is unscientific, but my impressions about mpg are that a balding tire will get better mpg than any new one with alot of tread.

With my Integrities, as my car got more and more miles on it, mpg seemed to improve. Then at 56K miles, the dealer changed the Integrities for the Yokohamas that they were pushing for the Prius, and my mpg dropped. As I drove, the mpg came back up slowly. I am now at 97K on the odometer, and thinking that I might have to change again at around 120K.

By the way, those Integrities were rotated at every 5K oil change, which I think helped them reach 56K before I saw the wear bars exposed.

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

Not sure what kind of Michelin's you've had experience with.....

My 98 Outback came with stock Michelin X radial's.... 70k on those rotating the tires every....... 30k or so..... Suffice it to say, that I put another pair on the car, and when I traded it in at 100k, the tires looked like new. So new, the dealership commented on "brand new" tires being on the car... "Michelin's" no less.

I'll throw Michelin's on the Prius as soon as these wretched Goodyear's fall to pieces. I'm at 18k and they are already starting to look ragged..... Including a slow leak in my Front passenger tire...... Who takes care of that anyway? The dealership, or my neighborhood Crapyear dealer?

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

Tire repair is almost always handled by a tire shop. A good dealership will take your car there during normal service if you ask them to do so, but some will just say "Take it to a tire shop."

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

My ovm goodyears are fine in the right side but outer edge on the driverside are worn badly. I was told by the Toyota dealer not to X rotate but go from back to front. I did as they said but don't understand the reasoning. If I had xed the rotation I feel I should have been able to get another 10 M. I will probably get the alinement done but not sure this is the problem. I will order Primacy mxv4 tomorrow and ask the tire dealer this question.
Anyone have this problem?

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

My guess would be that maybe the stealership is getting a kickback from the tire store? An X'd rotation would certainly have resulted in at least another 10K of life.

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

Try Michelin Energy XM1 in 195-60R 15. this is the OEM tyre in Australia and returns good mileage. I think mine are the original tyres still looking great at 71,000km

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

I've always thought that radials should not be X-rotated. That turns out to date back to early radials. I just searched and found that indeed we can X-rotate with modern radials.

From now on I will. Actually, that makes the process complicated enough that I'll have it done at a shop; I don't want to be moving the jack and stands around that much!

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

I just exchanged my stock Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02's (195/55/R16) for the Primacy MXV4 (205/55/R16 V rating vs H. V rating is $20 more). Being a 3 week old 08 Prius touring owner, I thought the ride of the car with the Turanza's was a little harsh and at times loud over rougher paved surfaces. However, the Turanza's are decently quiet on very smooth roads, but in the Southeast "smooth" roads are few and far between. For me, the Primacy MXV4 solved this "rougher surfaced roads / harsh ride" and then some.

The Michelin handles better on dry (have yet to ride in wet as the South is in a terrible drought), track better, are quieter on ALL road surfaces, and MOST OF ALL provide a much! softer ride even at TP 40/38.

It was a little nerve racking dropping $540 after purchasing a brand new car, but I'm more than satisfied after 200 miles on the Michelins. It's early I know, but MPG is, so far, the exact same on these vs the Bridgestones (44'ish avg mpg). The Primacy MXV4 imo is an excellent replacement for the Turanza's if your not satisfied with the Bridgetones ride quality and got the extra $$.

Thanks OP for the info

EDIT: w00t!! GA is now getting much needed rain and I wanted to update about the wet handling of the Primacy...It is outstanding. w00t again for the rain in the Southeast!!

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

I now have 500 + miles on the change from Goodyear Integregies. I was impressed with the handling and noise reduction on rough pavement but my mileage is off about 5 mpg - however the weather has gone from mild to cold and my recent driving has been trips of about 5 miles.
I did increase the air from 38/36 to 42/40 because I was not getting the stearing "wabble" with the new Michelin Primacy MXV4's. I hope the mileage go back up as weather gets back to normal for upstate SC.

Re: Michelin's New Primacy MXV4 Tire - General Impressions

I've had my Prius about 2 years now and I've noticed that winter weather, even in San Jose, CA where winter is more like spring, takes a significant toll on mpg. In speaking with my chemist friends, batteries don't hold nearly as much charge in cold weather. Plus, the ICE has to run a lot longer to sufficiently heat up. Add in that some states use oxygenated fuel during winter months and mpg can drop a 5-10.

I'd expect your mileage to go back up once warm weather returns. IMHO.