Mixing Tires Question

I agree with Tideland, different tires brands have different characteristics, as do different types. Mixing tires is a risky business.

 

Opinion from the bleachers:
Any tires or combination of tires is fine. The only problem you will find is if you regularly drive around curves at 180mph or at the limits of centripetal adhesion. Otherwise, don't worry.

 

Good tire shop there. Mainly a weight savings and thus mpg increase. Just keep in mind the basic idea in the Prius concept (less fuel usage, better for the environment, so each ounce of fuel saved…..). There MIGHT (and that’s a BIG MIGHT) be some other dynamics affected, (due to the added weight in the rear quadrant of the vehicle) but it would take some one with significant knowledge of the design characteristics to explain it.

 

Actual experience - no. I avoid mixed tires with few exceptions (front versus rear wear differently, so they'll never match from front to rear after driving for a few miles. I also had a bad wheel bearing which made it so half of the studs fell out of one of my winter tires after one season. I got two new studded tires and put these on the front, the year-old/same brand and type of tire went on the rear.)

This is a holdover from my early rear-wheel drive cars. If you mixed the tires between the left and right, you could overwork the differential, causing it to fail. At least that's what the old timers said. Maybe that also had something to do with the limited-slip differentials of the day too.

This also makes me want (okay compulsively need) to put tires with the same wear on the rear, because I know they'll eventually wind up on the front someday. Also, I don't want to have the handling go funky when I have to slam on the brakes (anymore than a Prius already does when you hit a bump during braking anyway.)

If it were just 100 miles, I'd probably still get a pair, then get another pair that matches the originals when I got home. I'd put the other pair in storage and either sell them, or get another pair to put in storage when I can to make a future set. (I've got three Prii now, and they all take the same size tires. two sets for each - studded for winter, and highway for summer.) It's not like I won't use them at some point. That's just me though.

 

Not my experience, but I’ve read where America’s Tire allowed a customer to “borrow” a tire in a pinch while the single replacement tire they wanted was on order. That way they didn’t have to buy and return a tire they didn’t really want and were going to return anyways.

 

How was it unrepairable, sidewall damaged, too close to edge of tread, just way too big, or?

Does "it looks like" mean you've tried it, or you've just read that it can? The simplest method to check is to take one of your wheels off and try it.

I tried this with a third gen (instead of the temp spare that does fit), and found the wider, stock tire was chafing the sides of the well, rode up about 2" higher., making it impossible to seat the hatch floor.

 

Function’s been broken going on two months now, since commencement of thread pinned at top of page. Very frustrating. There are some laborious workarounds. Simplest is to upload elsewhere, link here.

 

In other markets, a spare is available from the factory. One of the spare tire threads has the details and part numbers if have cash to spend. There is a foam piece that under the spare size tire. Mainly for the AWD model; there is a power cable that runs along the floor in them.

There is a bolt hole for the hold down piece. The factory piece is likely sized for a temporary sized rim though.