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Need new sneakers for my Prius, looking for recommendations.

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by DrPepperholik, May 15, 2017.

  1. DrPepperholik

    DrPepperholik Active Member

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    I have a 2014 Prius III and it has less than 40k miles but the tires that came on it are balding. I bought this car New and I'm surprised that I need new tires this early but I need them none the less.

    What are recommended brands of tires? I live in upstate SC so we don't get snow but occasionally get ice during the winter and I avoid driving on it like the plague. My driving is done around town 99.9% of the time. The guy at Discount Tire told me their best tire for my car is a Yokohama and for 4 new ones is around $503, or was it $530...there's a 3 in there somewhere.


    iPhone ?
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if you want the quietest, smoothest, best riding, best mpg's, go with michelin energy saver a/s. they don't come cheap, but are fabulous. i replaced my oems around 45,000. only one was bad, but i'd been salivating over the michelins and swapped all four. all the best!(y)
     
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  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Michelin Premier A/S seems to be the current highly rated AS tire. Works well in the wet throughout its life (if you consistent get rain). A competitor to this tire will be the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus. Apparently the Pirelli is quiet and comfortable.

    If you want to maintain mpg, Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max is another option (I think several members here are running on that on their Gen 2s and 3s).

    For the occasional ice, Goodyear Assurance TripleTred?

    Other options include:

    Michelin Defender (long tread life and low rolling resistance)
    Yokohama Avid Ascend
    Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Good to hear your opinion on those. I had limitted opporunity, driving an 06 Civic Hybrid, from North Coquitlam out to YVR, with freshly put on Defenders, Costco's XT itereation. Was able to push the fuel consumption down impressively (for a near-knackered Civic Hybrid); the tires felt "well behaved", easy rolling, planted.

    I think we're all a little chauvinistic in our picks, depending on our purchases or current favourites. We like to think we made the "right" choice. I would peg the Defender as a "goldilocks" choice.
     
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  5. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    Nike sneakers are not bad :)
     
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  6. ePWR

    ePWR Member

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    Thanks to all for those recommendations. Just to be clear, are the Michelin "Energy Saver" AS and the Michelin "Premier" AS the same tire? Thank you.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    No.

    C' mon, being a resident of cyberspace, you should be able to check that out. :p
     
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  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    premier are a bit lower on the scale. we had to put them on my wife's hycam, cause they don't make the e/s in her size. a very nice tire nonetheless. quiet, smooth, and no drop in mpg's.
     
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  9. m.wynn

    m.wynn Senior Member

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    Yup to this. I've never been more satisfied with a tire. Except for maybe the x-Ice 2 and 3's in the winter!
     
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  10. ALS

    ALS Active Member

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    I love my Defenders. I had Michelin Energy A/S before the Defenders and didn't get 20K miles out of them. They road nice and were quiet but they didn't wear as well as they should have based on the price I paid for them.

    My recommendation is get a set of Defenders.
     
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  11. yeldogt

    yeldogt Active Member

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    My five came with Bridgestone 17" as OE .. we got almost 90k out of them .. replaced with Michelin Premier A/S. MPG dropped a bit after the switch. Just replaced them at 85+k.

    Both sets had not reached the bars.

    Have been using Continental tires recently on my cars -- Went with True Contact 215/45R-17 ... nice tire .. we have about 5k on them. I'm not thinking I need the tires to last 90k
     
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  12. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Umm, actually I got that off the net :(

    I've never ran a set of Defenders. So far, my experience has been with

    Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus (Gen 5 Camry stock - quiet, comfortable)
    Goodyear Integrity (Gen 2 stock - Avoid!!!!)
    Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 (Gen 3 stock. Pretty decent, very low RR)
    Nokian Hakkapeliita WR (Good)
    Nokian Hakkapeliita WRG2 (noisy > 60 mph)
    Nokian WRG3 (Good dry/snow grip. Wet grip seems a bit lacking)

    I have friends who ran on the Bridgestone Turanza EL400 (stock Matrix and Corolla) that said that it was "meh" or "ok". Also, the Uniroyal Tiger Paw is also decent. It's budget-priced and decent but again you get what you pay for and if that's all you need, then that's fine.
     
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  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Your secret's safe with me. :ROFLMAO:
     
  14. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    :ROFLMAO:
     
  15. lewalcindor

    lewalcindor Junior Member

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    I recently switched from the original Bridgestone Ecopia EP20s to Bridgestone Turanza Serernity Plus. I wanted a quieter and better-riding tire that had decent wet/snow performance, and the Turanzas apparently fit the bill. The Ecopia EP420s had underwhelming reviews, and the Costco tire rep said that they were basically a replacement for the EP20s. Since I didn't really enjoy the EP20s overall, I ponied up a few more shekels for the Turanzas.

    So far, not bad.
    - They're definitely quieter on the highway. The Ecopias brought a roaring tire noise that didn't help the Prius' intrinsic lack of overall soundproofing. With the Turanzas, I only really hear wind noise and sounds from passing vehicles now.
    - Definite improvement ride-wise. Whereas the Ecopias tended to magnify the Prius' stiff suspension settings, the Turanzas provide a nice supple cushion, and turn the Prius into a true comfortable touring car over all but the worst roads (which we have plenty of in NYC area, unfortunately).
    - Handling-wise, I'm undecided. I actually enjoyed the Ecopias' handling, possibly because I was used to them after 40K miles. Breakaway slides for the Ecopias were predictable and controllable in dry conditions, and I could drive them quite sportily and enthusiastically (with some counter-steering too!). The only negative was the snow performance. The Turanzas, on the other hand, felt a bit too soft over the initial 200 miles, especially in terms of sidewall bend. I felt no confidence in pushing the Turanzas initially, but I am feeling more confident now. They do seem to have better initial bite than the Ecopias, which tended to understeer a bit. They're definitely not sports tires, that's for sure.

    Overall, I would say the Turanzas are a huge improvement. The only true negative is that the Turanzas supposedly contribute to lower mpgs, though I haven't found that to be the case so far.
     
  16. DrPepperholik

    DrPepperholik Active Member

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    I went with the Michelin Defender.


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  17. yeldogt

    yeldogt Active Member

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    What's the "claim to fame" with the defender ... they don't come in the 17" size. My ongoing problem with M tires is they are made with harder rubber and don't work as well in the rain. We get a lot of rain the the mid Atlantic
     
  18. DrPepperholik

    DrPepperholik Active Member

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    Long lasting. It's an 80k mile tire. Michelin Defender T+H Tires | Michelin USA

    I can't say about the rain yet as I haven't had them 24 hours but it will be raining this week/weekend so I will try to do some rain driving. I love the feel of them so far.
     
  19. acceleraptor

    acceleraptor Member

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    Replaced stock Goodyear Assurances (2014 PiP) with Michelin Energy Savers, which may be summers or A/Ss (hard to tell for reasons). I actually spent over 3 months hunting for the A/Ss but Michelin has had a shortage of them in my Prius size (195/65r15) for a looong time. For the longest time, Costco had the summers but I kept holding out for the A/Ss. I've always gotten Defenders in the past on our family's previous cars ('94 Camry, '97 Avalon, '98 Sienna), but since the Prius, wanted to try optimizing for MPG first this time instead of treadwear. (Wasn't impressed with the stocks which started wearing out around the 48k -50k mark for a 65k mi tire an' wasn't about to get the same for the warranties.)

    Finally did some research on the optimal temp ranges for the tire compounds and, given that I drive in weather/climate that's almost always above 45F (7C), I actually should've gone for the summer tires when they were available, which Costco had just sold out 2 weeks before my realization and even delisted for locations in my area. Pushed the Assurances to 52k and they were just past replacement depth and I was driving much more carefully as I started to notice a couple instances of tire slip indicator occasionally flashing in rain.

    Costco finally got what they listed as Energy Saver A/S but when I checked their Michelin ID numbers, were the same as for their summer (and all the other tire distributors were listing the same ID as summer), so got 'em, albeit at almost full retail during the period when Michelin's $70 off promotion had ended and the most recent one hadn't started.

    Put around 3k mi on 'em so far, so I need to do some calcs to see if both MPG has ticked up enough as some of the numbers I've heard and tread is wearing faster or slower than expected.