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Goodyear tire dilemma

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by mingoglia, Jul 3, 2012.

  1. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    Over the past 55,000 miles I've had the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tires. They were an improvement over the OEM tires in both wear and fuel economy. I'm not a fanatic about fuel economy, but like to make sure I break into the 50mpg range at each fill up. I typically barely achieve this, and I'm happy with that.

    I was heading out on a road trip on Thursday evening and went in for a quick oil change and they noticed my belts showing. I had them replace the tires so I could get on the road. After getting my car back, I noticed they put on the Goodyear Assurance Comforttred Touring, not the Fuel Max. I pointed this out, they admitted their mistake but didn't have the Fuel Max in stock. Since I was headed on a road trip, and my "old" tires would have been a liability to put back on they said to just go on my road trip and they'd replace the tires when I got back in town.

    Now that I'm back in town, I'm debating whether or not to just keep the Comfortred Touring. It's still too soon to compare fuel economy as the only numbers I have were on a road trip. My road trip MPG is usually all over the place due to it of course not being my typical commuting route so I can't really compare them to my Fuel Max. In addition the tires weren't broken in completely during the trip anyway. During my 1 trip to the office (today), they appear to be about the same as the Fuel Max, but that's only over a 20 mile sample.

    What would you do? I'm on borrowed tires so I need to make a decision soon. Should I stick with the Comfortred Touring and see how they do? Or have them swap them out for the Fuel Max? These tires sure do drive nice... but I'm going to be disappointed if I lose say 10% fuel economy.

    Mike
     
  2. mygen2

    mygen2 Junior Member

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    So far I'm getting 47.5 with my Comfotred tires. Though maybe not the best for fuel Econ, but I like the ride and handling. I think I could keep above 50mpg if I tried. My last fuel up and my comming next one, I ran AC a lot at idle causing the ICE to cycle on/off hurting my mileage
     
  3. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    Any estimation of how your MPG is compared to previous tires you may have had? Are they close to the same, or did you see a drop?
     
  4. mygen2

    mygen2 Junior Member

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    Can't speak to this one myself. I got new tires as part of package when buying my Prius. They didn't have the low rolling tires at time of purchase, so I got these instead. I was really worried at first that I wouldn't get good mileage, but I'm happy with my ride and mileage. Though I am curious too see how mileage works out for you now with the CT's too see how much change in mileage
     
  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    According to the TireRack test you are likely to be down 1.6mpg or so compared to the Fuel Max tire. I'd just have them swap tires with the Energy Saver A/S so you don't have to worry about breaking 50mpg anymore. The A/S is good for over 2mpg more than your old tires and they have the same treadwear warranty.

    When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green
     
  6. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    I tool a look at the Energy Saver A/S just now. Unfortunately since I wasn't looking for tires when I went in for that oil change I wasn't up to date on the latest tires. Since they already ordered (and they came in) the Fuel Max I'm either going to have to go that route or keep what I have. If I say I want a different tire I wouldn't feel right about it. Those Energy Saver tires have great reviews!
     
  7. jadziasman

    jadziasman Prius owner emeritus

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    I have put 42K miles on the Goodyear CT's on my 05. Except for handling in the winter, the CTs are quiet, don't wander on the pavement, and return decent FE (currently getting about 50 mpg).

    Unless your area of AZ gets a lot of snow, IMHO you will be fine keeping the CTs. They are premium tires that wear evenly and don't require a lot of TLC.

    But, if you just gotta have the fuel max tires, then switch back if the tire store will do it since it was their error in the first place.
     
  8. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    Yeah, right now I'm leaning towards keeping the CT. They really do ride nice, are quieter, and handle very well. I have an appt on Thursday to have them fix the wheel weights so I'll likely just tell them I'll keep them. The shop put the traditional hammer on weights so my outer ring has a bulge in it since it's over it. They're going to re-balance them with the stick on weights. I wasn't at all happy with this shop... but gave them an opportunity to make it all right and we've been mutually "cool" with each other thus far. I've never had this issue with Discount...
     
  9. AzWxGuy

    AzWxGuy Weather Guy

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    I am checking out the same tires (CT) here in southern AZ. Only had them on 5 days and just barely broke in. Nice and quiet, I mean really quiet, handle well in the wind, heat, rain, on trashed interstate highways. I reset my mpg calc and so far it's showing 48.1 with tire pressure 37/35lbs. I'll raise that up to 40/38 here in a bit. Literature says max pressure 51. I'll be driving them 700 miles a week until it's time for new again.

    UPDATE: Raised the pressure up to 40/38. Mileage today is 1184 so they are broke in. The higher pressure sure did stiffen them up and road noise ticked up a little too. Still sort of unstable in the wind and on irregular surfaces. I sure was hoping that would go away.

    UPDATE: I now have 22,417 miles on these tires and have completed four free rotations from the dealer. On the last rotation they said all tires are an even 10/32 and look sharp. I keep a close eye on pressures, maintaining 42/40 lbs. The overall vehicle stability seems to have improved. Either that or I have finally figured out how to respond to the sensation of road float that I have been over-correcting for. I force myself to just hold the wheel and allow what feels like body roll and upset directional stability to just do its thing. It's odd that the vehicle seems to turn "in" to the wind instead of being deflected in the opposite direction. Never had a car do that. When approaching semi traffic, the turbulent wake is easily negotiable now. I get plenty of opportunities to drive in windy conditions, sometimes 30 to 50 mph gusts, without any white knuckles. This stretch of road I drive every day also sees its share of weather, from 1/2 to 2 inches of standing water on the roadway and blinding downpours to near blizzard conditions and 1 to 2 inches of snow drifting across the roadway. These tires handle all of this beautifully. Of course, this being Arizona, most of the time the roads are dry and it is clear sailing. The mpg hit was nominal, dropping from a long-term average of 48 on pretty worn tires to maybe 47. Not an accurate figure but pretty close. They are still very quiet even with the higher pressures. Bottom line, I am very pleased and will most likely purchase these or similar again.
     
  10. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    In only 5days you have experienced extreme heat, wind and rain? Yikes!
     
  11. Three60guy

    Three60guy -->All around guy<-- (360 = round) get it?

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    In 2006 I purchased Goodyear Comfortreads for my Prius. I have used them in rain and snow with great traction both ways. Also, the tires are quiet and a very comfortable feeling. (just like the name)

    A few weeks ago I purchased a 2012 Prius Plug-in with the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tires. Yes, I am getting great mileage but with the tires at 42 front and 40 back the ride is stiff as heck. Haven't had any experience yet with rain or snow so I can't comment on that. But I really miss that quality feel I had with the Comfortreads. It is especially noticeable on roads with bumps in them. Even small bumps. I am wondering what to do too with mine.

    If I were you I would hold on to what you have. You have a dang good set of tires. At last look they also should last about 80,000 miles too. The Fuel Max tires are only good for around 60,000 miles. I will be checking back to see what you decide. I know if I had the Comfortreads I would certainly keep them. I just don't know if I want the hassle of switching them from the Fuel Max or not.

    Good luck
     
  12. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    I have the CT now 61k miles and the front tires due for replacement (did not rotate).
    MPG on the CT about equal to the OEM Integrities that were on there (47 avg w/ 50ish summer).
    I am struggling with same decision but may stick with CT.
     
  13. JKDheart

    JKDheart Junior Member

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    Got 63,000 miles from original Integrity tires. Replaced with CT. It made my 2009 Prius a new vehicle. Handling was so much better. It was easier to hold a conversation in vehicle without tire noise. MPG went down 1 MPG.
    Well worth the tradeoff. Lifetime average MPG is at 53 in Eastern PA and Northern NJ. Prius odometer turned 135,000 today. I expect another 15,000-20,000 miles from these tires. Stay with them. You will not regret it.
     
  14. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Update- I decided to give the Continental ProContact Eco a try instead of CT.
    Goodyear have a nice $80 rebate on 4 tires, but I only wanted 2 tires.
    The Continental was $82 per tire vs. $105 for CT at TireRack.com.
    Also I was slightly spooked by some negative comments on epinions re: CT, but I figure the comments must be coming from people with cars other than Prius, as they seem good for Prius.
     
  15. Three60guy

    Three60guy -->All around guy<-- (360 = round) get it?

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    I had Comfortreads on our Camry before we traded it in for our Plug-in Prius. I love those Comfortreads.