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Learn from my mistake, re. tires

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Skoorbmax, Dec 8, 2011.

  1. revhigh

    revhigh MPG Enthusiast

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    What new ones did you get ? More ecopia's ?

    REV
     
  2. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    kumho ecowings
     
  3. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    As a change from my usual positive opinion of the Primacy MXV4s, I called my tire shop today to initiate an exchange of my Primacy MXV4 for the Energy Saver A/S under the Michelin Promise Plan. I will just wait until they become available.

    I did the math and the MPG loss was just too great considering that these tires are no longer the day and night difference that I thought they would be. Also, one of the front tires has a conicity issue-- my steering wheel is off center despite a perfect front end alignment.

    Sorry to hijack this thread...
     
  4. revhigh

    revhigh MPG Enthusiast

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    Glad to hear you swapped (or are going to) them out critic.

    I sure would have as well.

    REV
     
  5. revhigh

    revhigh MPG Enthusiast

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    Do you like them ?

    I only had ONE experience with Kumho tires ... and it wasn't a good one .... matter of fact ... it was the worst tire experience I ever had in over 600,000 miles of driving.

    Hope you fare better ! :D

    REV
     
  6. CPSDarren

    CPSDarren CPS Technician

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    Put these on in November. It hasn't been enough time to say anything for certain, especially with dropping mpgs in the cold weather, but they seem pretty similar to the OEM Bridgestone tires in terms of fuel economy, ride, noise, etc. The price was certainly right and hopefully the treadlife will be better.
     
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  7. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    To be honest, I have sort of given up on this car in terms of attaining good mpg. It is quite irritating that I can drive my mother's 2010 Altima V6 like a maniac and still beat the EPA estimates. I took the family on a trip to SF a few weekends ago (4 people), A/C on, 70 mph cruising with hard braking and acceleration...and still got 30.5. This was with the OEM tire pressures, and the EPA rating is 20/28.

    So, my tire swap (if it works out at all) will be because I may as well get the extra mileage because these Primacys aren't that much better than the OEM tires anyway, as I've learned after some time.
     
  8. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    Yes they seem fine. After i got them put on i went and put the same air pressure that i had in my old tires. They ride a little bit better than the old ones. They are just as quiet, except on concrete there a little bit louder than the old ones. And after about 100 miles of driving the car said 58 mpg so it doesn't look like i will loose any mpg.
     
  9. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    Is the hand clalc at the pump or just what the altima says?
     
  10. SmellyTofu

    SmellyTofu Average punter

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    If they are safer tyres and stop/turn quicker/better than LRR, then I'd say it's worth it. Even if it stops you 3 feet quicker than LRR, that's 3 feet less you're into the object you're trying to avoid. I think in that situation, you couldn't care less about how much fuel you've saved and more about being able to not hit an object. Having been in a fairly big accident myself (and survived unscratched), safety comes first before saving the world and at the end of the day, the Prius does fine to save on fuel as it is when you compare it to a Corolla.

    I run Bridgestone RE002 in 215/45R17 (Updated version of the US's RE760) and they are heavy (91 weight rating to remain legal here) but they perform many times better than standard albeit a bit rougher given it's stiffer sidewalls.
    [​IMG]
     
  11. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    Comparing fuel economy drop as all due to the model tyre when weather is getting colder and the tyres have different tread-ware amounts is going to lead to wrong conclusions.

    My new 200h easily has a 10% fuel economy penalty compared to our '04 Prius with nicely worn Michelin Hydroedges. I plan to shave off some of the penalty by keeping the CT's tyres at max sidewall PSI, and when winter driving is over I'll think about buying a 16" set of wheels that take a narrower tyre from the top of the LRR pick. So long as initial alighnment is ok, I'm fine with buying a lifelong alignment from Firestone to use each time I rotate the wheels.
     
  12. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    I just wanted to update, I have no MPG drop on my first full tank with the new tires. They handle good, and i happy with them all around.
     
  13. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    Computer, but computer is always 5% off. So I was still at over 28 mpg.
     
  14. reidhester

    reidhester New Member

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    Hi all,
    Has anyone tried the Michelin HydroEdge tires on their 2010+? I put a set on our 05 Prius a couple years ago and did not notice any decline in mpg compared to the OEM tires. And the stiffer sidewall and deeper tread made the car less susceptible to crosswinds and the grip was much better.

    We've now got a 2010 Prius w/3mm tread depth left after 24k mi. so it's time to get some new rubber for it. So any comments on your experience with the HydroEdge tires on the new Prii would be appreciated.
     
  15. Skoorbmax

    Skoorbmax Senior Member

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    We're doing about 38 mpg a tank now (so 36 mpg real), temps pretty much constantly in the 32-25 range. These tires have seemingly removed ~6-7mpg. It makes me a little leery frankly of Toyota's mileage claims--specifically, if they are clearly relying on LRR to tweak their numbers I wonder how many other cars without LRR would get a benefit if they swapped in as well. If the only way to maximize mileage is to use LRR tires that have extremely short tread lives (as the OEM tires do), it's not really a fair comparison to say the Prius gets 50 but some other car without LRR gets such and such.

    Car is obviously extremely finicky for the tires it's given that's for darn sure.

    It would if I were not including these variables. The first winter I had the Prius (so, tires were still relatively new) the mileage dropped to around mid-40s in the winter, maybe 44, but still that's a good 6 less than what I have now.

    Definitely will be interested to see how these tires perform this summer...

    Yep, I can concur that that car will do 30-31 all day on the highway even with AC on, which is 3-4 more than EPA rating.

    Anyway, lease is up on this car in 13 months and chances are reasonably good that I'll get rid of it (possibly get another Prius), so at this point there's no use in replacing new tires just to get better mileage over the next 20,000 miles.
     
  16. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Skorb, most cars claiming high mpg or EPA ratings are now using LRR tires. Manufactures are using them on every vehicle they can to increase their fleet average mpg. I see a lot of non-hy rids running tires like the Goodyear FuelMax and Continental ProContact or Energy Saver A/S.
     
  17. Skoorbmax

    Skoorbmax Senior Member

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    Yep I'm sure that's true--I've seen a lot of advancements in fuel ratings in past few years. I wonder what percentage of this can be attributed to LRRs...
     
  18. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I'm going to guess at least 2-3mpg on the cars over 30mpg. Below that the effect of LRR tires becomes harder to measure but we know it is there. That is where "gallonage" becomes important to measure instead of mpg. :)
     
  19. LTZR1

    LTZR1 Member

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    FWIW...we spoke with a friend of ours over the weekend who lives in Hemet CA and commutes daily to Riverside. He owns a 2010 Prius 3
    with about 41K miles on it.

    He replaced his Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 tires ( 195 65 15 ) about 4K ago with the Continental ProContact EcoPlus+ tires and said that
    he's getting better mileage with them than he was with the worn Bridgestones.. He stated his calculated mileage went from 47-50 to 49-52 and occasionally 53 with regular easy driving habits. He hates a hard ride so he keeps he tires at 37 psi front and 35 rear.

    He also stated they're much quieter than the Bridgestones were and much less prone to aquaplaning in the infrequent hard rains out his way. He aslo stated he looked at the Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires but bought the Continentals because he felt they were a much better value overall.
     
  20. SuperchargedMR2

    SuperchargedMR2 Diehard Rams Fan

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    Is the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 a replacement for the EP100? On Tirerack the EP100 is a closeout. The Michelin Energy Saver is not even listed & neither is the Yokohama dB Super e-spec. I was looking at the 205/55R16 size.