Michelin Energy Tires / update

Thanks for the update, but:

Talked to the dealer service guy about the Mich ES tires last saturday. He does have a Prius too. He mentioned the same problem of tread life and also thinks that the higher price tag combined with lower tread life of Mich ES makes them more expensive than the OEM tires by the end of their lifetime despite of the better MPG.

 

Really I cant belive how some of you keep speaking about a few extra miles here and there. Remember that your tires are what keeps you on the road.

Imo change them after 4-5 years even if you have a lot of thread left.

Yes the michelin's are nice but the king on mpg these days are these tires: Goodyear Efficient Grip

Not sure if you have em in the us atm. But Im changing my oem Michelins to these next summer.

 

wierd, since its a us based company. I guess its a matter of beeing able to produce a sufficient amount.

 

I've been on the Michelin Energy for around 4 tanks, and left the recommended TP that Costco put, and have been getting a little over 57 mpg on my Gen II. On my original Integrities I ran 40/38, are the Michelins ok to up the inflation too? Shopping for a Gen III so I can give the kids the Gen II... My Gen II has averaged 57 since 2007, I assume the Gen III will get at least a few more mpg assuming you can use all the same tricks as in the Gen II.

 

Well first off you guys are nuts to be running your tires up at max cold inflation pressure IMO its way too far above the factory setting which should relate to the correct contact patch for the weight of the car. Now having said that on my 07 Prius I do run mine above factory but only up to 38/37 PSI F/R. To me safety with the correct contact patch and proper handling out weigh 1 or 2 MPG gain. I get most of the benefit from 38 that you guys get at 44 and I am not increasing my risk/safety from over inflated tires and distorted contact patch nearly as much.

Secondly if you look at the so called green tires with low rolling resistance on the tire rack, most that have any customer feedback indicate even the all season tires do not do as well in wet handling and other adverse weather conditions. Why, well to start off they usually have less tread depth new, often 8 or 9 32nd instead of the more common 11 or 12 32nd of an inch tread. So they not only wear out faster they do not handle snow well either. Commom pratice with snow tires is that they need to be replaced even earlier than summer tires because tread depth is paramount to good traction. I know I read it on the tire rack somewhere they said snow tire traction is reduced significantly when they are half worn out. They even said the 2/32" on summer tires is not a good rule bacause wet breaking is severely comprimized as the tread depth even starts to approach 4/32" and for safety while 2/32 is the legal limit we really should be getting new tires before that (more like 4/32).

In short less tread depth translates to reduced handling and breaking capabilities. So with the energy efficient so called green tires like the Avid, Bridgestone and Michelin are a bad joke on the publick. Since part of their advantage is derived by giving you less tread from the start (2 to 4/32 from the start).

Next are the rubber compounds used and here again many of these tires suffer in grip due to the compounds used to achieve lower rolling resistance numbers. The Goodyear Integrities were terrible even when new in the wet grip and stopping power catagories.

Look at the temperature and traction ratings of the tires, AA is better than A and A is better than B. Many of the green tires carry only single A or B ratings in either one or both traction and temperature categories.

I have a 07 Prius and I got rid of mine in the first 1000 miles.

Last of course is you pay more for the special green tires that wear out faster, dont grip as well, stop as good and are really only marginally decent at best as an all season tire if you have any snow driving to do at all.

Personally I like and run the Bridgestone RE960 Pole Position AS, and I run them because of the overall performance in all conditions and let the MPG issue fall where it may. I live in Ohio and they even do a decent job in the snow.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Agreed, running tires at their max cold inflation is just crazy. Plus they will be rock hard noisy and horrible to drive.