does it pay to use lrr tyres

Most people here notice a larger percentage and actual difference when using LRR vs non LRR tires (more along the lines of an 6 - 10% drop in fuel mileage). Thus, it is not unusual to see someone getting 50 mpg and suddenly wonder why their mileage has dropped to 46 mpg. The first set of questions people ask involve the tires (new tires, LRR tires, tire pressure, alignment/tire wear).

The number in your quotes seem low (1-2% error).

 

perhaps it depends on the non lrr tyres they compared, but most find as very large drop as codyroo stated.

 

Because LRR tires are close in price to quality non-LRR AND they have long tread life the answer is yes. In fact, the fuel savings could potentially pay for another set of tires. This is especially true in Europe where fuel prices are more than double the price of fuel in the U.S..

Total lifetime cost for fuel and tires over 150,000 miles | PriusChat

 

Read this test to see how LRR tires affect Prius fuel economy.
Tire Test Results : When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green

Their choice so baseline tires were actually quite fuel efficient. It would have been nice if they chose a performance tire which would have dropped fuel economy even further.

 

[opinion]
For much the same reason car magazines dislike the Prius, no car magazine has done a review of LRR tires. They are 'sensible', not 'exciting,' so we lack objective testing by unbiased experts.
[/opinion]
What we do have is a test by Tire Rack, who is in the business of selling tires. Take this with a grain of salt, but it is all we have.

Tire Test Results : When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green

The MPG chart is down the page.

 

Tire Rack has many tests that measured fuel efficiency of tires. Unfortunately it is usually with a BMW 3 Series so the numbers don't look very dramatic. But when used as a percentage you can extrapolate what the numbers would look like on a Prius. Click the LRR Tire Tests link in my signature.

 

In a word YES

though obviously depends on which tyre you get. My Bridgestones Ecopias were each £72 fully fitted, weighted and inc vat. The cheapest 'normal' branded tyre was about £55 and the cheapo unknown branded tyres were about £40. But why put £40 tyres on a new car!?!

The llr tyres do affect higher end economy as does having correct tyre pressures. You might also find NOT using the 0w20 oil in the gen3 Prius affects top end fuel economy too.

 

I use Michelin XM2+ because I have had great longevity from the Michelins and they handle quite well too.
I understand Toyota even fit these to the new 86 sports car! I would get 50,000km out of good quality non LRR tyres on my Camry before I got the Prius, I get 80,000km from the Michelins on the Prius. Both cars weigh about the same and both are front wheel drive. The LRR tyres cost about 20% more but I get over 50% more kilometres! The fuel saving is a bonus.

 

Are you kidding me? You sold your new tires for used Nankang, ever heard of safety?

Here is another interpretation of energy label rating:
Fuel efficiency

And savings from Bridgestone site:
Bridgestone -

In general we can say the A vs. C rating tyres will save you 45-70 € per 15.000 km, or €180 - €350 in a tyre life with Europe petrol prices. Also note that in a car that is burning fuel on traffic lights doesn't really mater what the rolling resistance of the tyre is. Or when you have a un-aerodinamic box of SUV, majority of the energy goes to wind resistance not to rolling resistance. So savings in a Prius with real low rolling resistance tyres is very close to a normal car that is burning 7 l/100 km.

 

I see, you never mentioned that you bought 15" rims, sorry.

I bought Ecopia EP001S (rated A/A.), because I got a great deal for €62. I must say that so far so good, very good in the wet, very good fuel economy, on par (or slightly better) with worn out OEM 15" Bridgestones. Dunlop and GoodYear are probably also great choices, especially if they are €10 per tyre cheaper if I look at normal prices.

 

My experience with LRR tires is that they don't seem to grip as well in the rain. I had this discussion with my local tire store manager when buying tires for my truck. I wanted Michelin Latitude Touring but they could only get Touring HP - which are lower priced and LRR. The manager said they are seeing automakers and tire companies moving toward LRR for better fuel economy but at the cost of longer braking distance and poorer wet handling.

 

Tire Rack only included one non-LRR tire in their test, but it was not superior to the LRR tires in the wet.
Tire Test Results : When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green

 

That has changed quite a bit in the last few years. With new compounds, many of the newest LRR tires also offer fantastic wet traction. The ProContact, PureContact, Turanza Serenity Plus, Primacy MXM4, Ecopia EP100, Ecopia EP001S etc. all offer excellent wet traction. The EU has a new rating system for rolling resistance and wet traction and the U.S. is working on a system. The Ecopia EP001S was the first tire to get an A rating for both rolling resistance and wet traction.

Braking distance is also on par with most passenger car tires.

 

My first set of Michelin Energy Saver AS lasted nearly 70,000 miles, with at least a 2-3 mpg increase over
the factory Yoko Avid tires. I am on my second set and they were in the same price range as other tires at Costco.
The extra 2-3 mpg will pay for themselves over their lifetime. To me LLR Energy Saver AS is worth it, otherwise
I would never have bought another set.....

 

How much more is paid for LRR tires? I didn't do a comparison but based on prices I saw vs regular tires, they seems within the relatively same price range. I think I'm so used paying for performance tires on BMW's, the 17" Prius tires are pretty cheap!

 

70,000 miles from a set of tyres? Your local roads must be like sheets of glass or something. Roads here are crushed rock and bitumen, no concrete. Makes me wonder if concrete roads reduce wear and reduce rolling resistance also?
I thought I was doing well getting 50,000 miles out of a set of tyres.

Regarding tyre grip and handling, I have hillclimb time trialed my Prius on LLR Michelin tyres and recorded better times than a turbo Nissan Pulsar running low profile high grip tyres in dry conditions. On the road I never notice a big increase in wet road stopping distance or grip on acceleration.

 

Most of the roads in this area are asphalt based. 70,000 miles on a 65,000 mile rated tire is not all that great but
it is sure nice to achieve. In the past I had a set of tires on my 1977 VW Rabbit Diesel last nearly 100,000 miles. I believe those tires were manufactured by Semperit, which I don't even know if they are still in business.