1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Tire Sidewall blown after psi raised to 34

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by gboss, Apr 4, 2022.

  1. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    That's one way to avoid the mismatched tires on a car. I have done two tires charge on my car, and when I do, the new tires ALWAYS goes on the rear as suggested by industry safety standard. This leaves half-worn tires on the front. On a front-wheel-drive car like Prius, the front tires always wear quicker than the rear tire. Thus this creates an issue of not being able to do the tire rotation to even out the wear. I did skip the tire rotation entirely and just bought two tires at a time when the front tires are down to the legal limit. But at some point, it becomes easier and even cheaper to buy a set of 4 tires and go back to a routine tire rotation schedule.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  2. johnHRP

    johnHRP Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2014
    417
    130
    0
    Location:
    tally, fl
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    It is all about available budget and how old the tires are. If yours are relatively new, still have 5 or 6 mm, your new tires is usually about 7.5-8 mm all seasons, or 8-9 winter. Besides that, in 3 or 4 years, many tires have road hazzard warranty and often you get replacement tires for free. At least that's what I had. My replacement tire is free from side puncture.

    If you have relatively old tires, 7y or olde, get 2 is better and you can do rotation. I prefer match brand all 4 but at least both sides are twin.

    As long as they are premium tires, not low rolling resistance garbage, the grip are similar and Prius cannot discriminate different brands that much since it is a slow cars, not for drifting or drag race.

    In winter you should put the higher tread on rear. But if it is more than 4mm, it does not really matter. The grip difference in soak wet 4 and 8mm is small. If it is 3mm, 2 tires makes sense.

    Some AAA like insurance cover 2 tires replacement each year in addition to lock smith, towing, and battery jump start, is also a good idea. I believe AllstateMotorclub premium have it.
     
    #42 johnHRP, Apr 10, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2022
  3. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2005
    3,831
    1,824
    1
    Location:
    Trumbull, CT
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius
    Model:
    LE AWD-e
    You can buy high quality, LRR tires. The Nokian WRg4 "All Weather" tires are strong H-rated tires with good traction and handling in all conditions. Nokian WRg4s also have a tread wear (mine normally last 55-60 thousand miles) as well as a road hazard warranty.

    JeffD
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  4. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I never bother with a road hazard warranty. If you got a free tire, then you were lucky. Or yours was not from the manufacturer but must be from a tire retailer with an extra fee paid when you purchased the tire. The shop offered road hazard costs of $10-$20/tire. Unless it is a local shop you always use, the process of claiming would be cumbersome. And I would have to buy for all 4 tires. But the chances of using it for more than one tire are rare. Not every tire manufacturers have a road hazard warranty on all model of tires. If it is offered by the manufacturer, it is usually very short 2/32-inch of treadwear, 12 months, and/or 12,000 miles whichever comes first. All in all, my experience has been that I could never use 4 tires all the way down to the legal limit even if I wanted.
     
  5. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I agree. I have bought only LRR tires for our cars. They are all high-quality known brand tires from Bridgestone, Michelin, Continentals, Yokohama, etc., and weren't cheap either.
     
  6. johnHRP

    johnHRP Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2014
    417
    130
    0
    Location:
    tally, fl
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Claimed LRR all seasons is probably better for some people but I am picky about ride comfort and grip in wet stormy winter. If you live in CA or south states, they are acceptable.
    Once I switch to summer tires and crossclimate micheline for winter, i never go back to LRR. They are too jarring as consequences from getting low rollng resistance with all seasons category
     
    #46 johnHRP, Apr 10, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2022
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,470
    38,103
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I don't think you can make LRR a category; lump them together: it's just one factor in a tire's spec, there's a wide variety of tires with LRR claims, and sometimes they have negligible improvements. Some tires that don't even make LRR claims can also be quite easy rolling.
     
    Salamander_King and johnHRP like this.
  8. johnHRP

    johnHRP Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2014
    417
    130
    0
    Location:
    tally, fl
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Yes you are right. The problem is from the all seasons tires that claim to have low rolling resistance. Summer tires almost always have lower rolling resistance than all seasons but cannot be used in icy condition, they are still fine in wet winter like most western europe or north west coast.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  9. johnHRP

    johnHRP Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2014
    417
    130
    0
    Location:
    tally, fl
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    You can look for big chain stores like Samsclub. Their tires price are generally good and they are everywhere. Their tires choice are not many but they always have Michelin, goodyear, continental in their catalog. It has usually 4 years warranty and they do not mention about it has to be 4 sets. I believe we also can get it for individual tires just like Walmart. Check Firestone, tire plus, tire kingdom, etc. too. Sam's Club also offers free tire plug/repair for every member regardless of where you buy your tires.
    Tire Warranty
     
  10. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I do buy tires at Walmart and use their installation service. But as I said, I don't bother with the warranty. If the tire that was just installed had something wrong with it, yeah, I will bring it back to have it replaced. But 2-3 years down the road... Not much use. Although we do have a membership, Sam's club is 2 hours drive for us... not very useful for emergency tire repair. And the tire warranty you pointed out clearly states that it does not cover the road hazards.

    upload_2022-4-12_7-11-39.png
     
  11. johnHRP

    johnHRP Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2014
    417
    130
    0
    Location:
    tally, fl
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    You are right. I probably buy the additional road hazzard warranty. It was $10-15 per tires if I am not mistaken. But I did multiple of tire repairs/patch for free in Sam's club. The membership is not that expensive and I recover the membership fee within 1 month shopping compared to walmart price and even make money with additional deal like free stuffs for new members.
    If it is 2 hours, I won't go there for tires. Local Tireplus often give a good deal for Firestone or Falken Tires. They are decent and Tireplus are everywhere.
    I always have spare tire in all my cars. I always can wait for the next day.
     
    Salamander_King likes this.
  12. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I used to shop tires at a local tire shop exclusively, whatever the sales guy offered me, most of the time lower-priced budget tires, like Multi-Mile or Sumitomo, but sometimes more expensive Michelline or Goodyear. But I really did not pay much attention to the brand, model, or spec of the tire. Some were better than others in some aspects of tire characteristics, but they were all better than the tires that were replaced. New tires are always better than old worn tires in terms of noise, ride comfort, cornering, or stopping. But I never really had any problem and they always lasted longer than 4-5 years without road hazards or unexpected uneven wear. A set of 4 tires cost with installation was always below $300 total for most cars we owned.

    The only car I can remember paying arms and legs was the Dunlop run-flat tires I had to replace on our 2005 Sienna minivan. The van had no spare, and the run-flat tires were very rare back then, and Toyota required a set of all 4 to be changed at a time. The tread on those tires lasted only ~20K mile. The cost of a set of 4 new tires was over $1200. Well, this didn't go very well with many owners of Sienna, and someone started a class action lawsuit against Toyota and OEM tire manufacturers. In the end, Toyota agreed to replace prematurely worn tires under warrently for free. Yep, I was in that "class" and got a free set of brand new run-flat tires under warranty when the original set was all worn out in less than 2 years. But of course, the free replacement was with the same "defective" run-flat tires, so they too only lasted ~2 years less than 20K miles. At the end of the second set of run-flat, I ditched the idea of using them again, and bought a set of conventional tires, I think Good Year, for about half of the price of run-flat tires. That conventional tires lasted for over 8 years/60K miles until the van was decommissioned due to a major rust problem.

    It was not until I started driving a hybrid ~10 years ago that I started looking at different tires for different traits and got a bit picky about them. Still, I used our local tire shops or sometimes a dealer because they all had the "match the price" promotion. If I find the same tire cheaper anywhere, then I can get it at that price from my local tire shops. NTB, Tire America, VIP, Salivan, and Tire warehouse are some names of shops I used in the past. Plus they usually have a sale for buy 3 get 1 free. Combine that with free installation and winter change over service and other promotions, I always picked the best local shop offering. I once got 4 new Micheline X-ice3 winter tires (about ~$100/tire retail price tag then), for less than $200 installed. So, naturally, I tend to go to any of the local tire shops if I find the tire I want in stock. The only thing was that they don't always have the particular tire I want in stock.

    Then maybe about 7 years ago, when I bought Gen3 new, I started buying tires online. Tire Rack, Discount Tire Direct, Simple Tire, or Walmart. They have far more selection of sizes and the model of tires that local shops do not usually have. If purchasing with wheels as a set, then the installation is basically free, and drop ship costs are also free. I once purchased the wheels and Micheline X-ice3 winter tires for my PP as a set from Discount Tire Direct for a total cost of less than $500 including mounting and balancing and shipping. Again, I could not find a price like that for that particle tire+wheel setup at any local brick-and-mortar shops. Walmart.com is convenient in that I can order tires online and have them delivered to the nearest Walmart tire shop. They then charge me $15/tire to mount/balance and install it on my car without needing to make an appointment. All and all, I am happy with the current setup of buying online or using our local shops. But, for the last 5 years, I have not bought tires for my PP, I just swap the car to a new model year, and got brand new tires that came with a brand new car. Amazingly, that swap did not cost me anything.
     
    #52 Salamander_King, Apr 12, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2022
  13. gboss

    gboss Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2021
    82
    31
    2
    Location:
    Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    Update on the Yokohama tires - after two weeks my gas mileage does seem to be better. I was also shocked to see a 70 mile stretch of highway average almost 51mpg… with the 17” wheels. Not bad!
    IMG_3464.jpg
     
  14. johnHRP

    johnHRP Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2014
    417
    130
    0
    Location:
    tally, fl
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I did experiment drifting behind semi truck at 60 mph. I got 68 mpg in about 20 miles on flat road. The wind drag is the main factor above 50mph. Basically the MPG drops rapidly above 70mph and the most efficient constant speed is about 40-50 mph in Prius. Even better at 30mph city zone without traffict lights or stop signs (main city road) without traffic jam.
     
  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,470
    38,103
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Just editorial; think you mean “drafting”? Drifting is Fast and Furious stuff? Maybe auto-correct hijack?
     
    Merkey likes this.
  16. MrPete

    MrPete Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2011
    390
    150
    20
    Location:
    Colorado, USA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    A few tire thoughts:
    * On pressure. The car mfg pressure is far more for comfort than tire safety. The listed sidewall pressure (usually higher than 50psi -- NOT your issue unless you have a horrible gauge!) is what the mfg feels comfortable guaranteeing. I've seen people run at 60+psi to get their best MPG. Not for me, thanks. ;)
    * On tires. Here at 7000ft in Colorado, with completely unpredictable weather, we need tires that handle almost anything. I've been happy with the LRR tires consistently rated best in TireRack surveys: Continental TrueContact.
     
    Merkey likes this.
  17. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,035
    10,010
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Past threads with measured MPG-vs-speed graphs (without dangerous drafting) show Gen2s getting about 55 MPG, and Gen3s getting about 60 MPG, at 60 MPH. Unfortunately, the original graph images have not kept up with website host and system migrations.
    The old graphs show MPG dropping rapidly at all speeds above 25 mph. The Prius's most efficient constant speed is about 15 mph from one empirical mathematical model, and "between 10 and 20" mph from some other tests.

    These figures are for all accessory loads are turned off. Various accessory loads push the max mpg speed upwards. Or rather, shrink low speed mpg faster than higher speed mpg.
     
  18. StarCaller

    StarCaller Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2014
    1,240
    692
    0
    Location:
    Cedar Crest, NM, USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Two
     
    #58 StarCaller, Apr 26, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2022
    fuzzy1 likes this.
  19. gboss

    gboss Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2021
    82
    31
    2
    Location:
    Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    68 mpg! That’s amazing. What’s your typical mpg? I can barely make it to 48mpg…am I really giving up ~10mpg with the 17” rims?
     
  20. PaulDM

    PaulDM Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2016
    616
    317
    2
    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    Above 70 ev mode does not kick in to maintain momentum so you will be purely in gas mode hence loss of mpg.