2010 tire life?

I picked up my new Prius yesterday, and when I checked the cars on the lot, they had Yokahama, Bridgestone, and Michelin rubber. Looks like they use all three suppliers.

 

Since you have the Bridgestones it doesn't directly apply, but I started a Yokohama Avid thread here:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-yokohama-avid-s33d-assessments-new-post.html

Someone already hast 15K on their tires, with 7/32 / 9/32 left. He (cossie1600) thinks he might even get 50k on them.

 

I have the bridgestones, i have 15k on them and they have 7/32 on both fronts, and 8/32 on both rears. I would think i can get around 50k on them.

 

I think 50K might be pushing it, especially if you have to use the car in the snow. I just rotated my backs to the fronts, let me see what I will be at at 25K.

 

Just replaced a front set at 12k! Those winter potholes have done their worst. Trouble is, despite replacing with like for like tyres I've taken quite a mileage hit I'm down about 3-4 mpg on the new tyres!

So, word of warning - the Bridgestone replacements (same model of tyre) don't appear as good as the stock tyres.

 

Did you damage the front tires?

 

Yes

As our economy is stalling over here, so are road repairs and I appeared to have knocked my allignment right out on one of the many pot-holes. There was still about 3mm on the outside edge but the inner edge was worn right down. The Police are very keen on having legal tyres here so I had to get rid prematurely.

In my job I don't expect more than 17k miles max but remember, the streets are narrow here, so its almost impossible to do a U turn. Lots of very short starts, stops, turns etc which wears the tyres quickly. Even 12k miles isn't too bad compared to some of my colleagues with big engined diesel cars (heavy engine), some of whom get about 10k a set of front tyres.

 

I got the Michilin Primacy HP so hopefully they will last over 30k miles.

 

The conventional wisdom on another site is that all tires produce lower mpg when new than when a bit worn.

Can you compare your mileage now to what you received when the original tires were new? Or does differing weather corrupt such a comparison?

 

I'm not entirely sure, but am keeping a close eye on things. I do believe the mpg is slowly improving as the tyres bed in. They do make a bit more tyre noise than I remembered but like you say, perhaps I comparing to the old bedded in tyres.

I am due another fuel up tonight so will see how things have gone. Whatever happens my car is still using seriously less fuel than my colleagues

 

My car came with Toyo Proxis A20 tires and I like them a lot, good traction in snow and good in the rain. They are a bit noisy but that doesn't bother me at all. I think I may get about 40K miles out of them, at least I hope so.

 

Do think your mileage on the new tires just appears worse because the circumferance of the unworn new tires is slightly larger? To test this, you could check the indicated mileage on your new tires for a known route that you previously measured near the end of the life of your old tires. OMG; if true, this could make a Cabbie grumpy. Driving the same distance with slightly larger tires means your indicated distance traveled and fare will be down, while actual distance traveled and fuel costs will remain unchanged.

 

LOL you do have a point. But i'm thinking it would amount to maybe a couple of feet over a mile.

 

I can't speak to longevity of the Yokohama's that came with my car. I junked them at just over 5k for better tires. I've got some Firestone Affinity touring tires on there now (they were buy 3, get 1 free - Around $370 for all 4, including road hazard warranty). They make the ride 1000% better than the Yoko's did. Quieter, softer with bumps, better handling. It doesn't appear that I've taken much of a hit from the Yoko's, but I've removed my grill block already and was a little premature on doing that I think. I'll have a better idea in a few months on a comparison.

 

How to make GrumpyCabbie a HappyCamper: Using rough assumptions about tire radius (1.5 feet), one-quarter inch in reduced tire radius due to wear from new to bald will translate to between 2 and 3% reduction in the number of tire rotations per unit distance traveled. If the fuel efficiency required to rotate the new tire remains identical to that for the old tire, wouldn't this give the artifactual appearance of about a 2 to 3% reduction in mileage?

Perhaps I'm missing something, although my rough calculations are in line with a 2 to 3% reduction in number of tire rotations for the same distance traveled and fuel burned using the new tires. If my assumptions and calculations are correct, this would represent a couple of hundred feet per mile. I believe that the missing mileage with the new tires may be an artifact because the new tires are slightly larger, making the tripodometer reading and fare about 2-3% lower than that produced by the old tires. Maybe GrumpyCabbie should shave the tread on those tires to the steel-belts and rack-up the profit on those fares, although I know he's an English Gentleman and will opt for safety and lost fare instead.

 

Arguments I've seen elsewhere suggest that tire rolling circumference is determined mostly by the length of the steel belts underneath the tread. Changes in tread depth change the effective circumference much less than expected from this calculation.

I don't have experimental data to verify or debunk this argument, but do know that rolling circumference is less than the true circumference of an unloaded tire.

 

I hope not

I got my meter calibrated when the last tyres were new so things can only improve as the tyres wear

Oh, and it's almost Christmas for me - our meters get a 5% increase on April 1st. Trouble is, petrol has gone up 25% in the last year but the Prius has taken care of fuel cost worries.

 

The amount gained would be small compared to the tips I get for my charm and friendly disposition



Oh, and I am finding that the Prius is proving very popular with my passengers - and more importantly, the right kind of passengers! The area I live and work in is quite an affluent area and has quite a scattering of very wealthy people and it is these people who comment on and actually like the Prius. I am getting many repeat bookings and requests for me because of the car (or is it my charm? hmmm).

 

34,000 miles so far and they are still ok!