New Tires

TRZs are a good tire, but just not LRR.

If you're going to exchange to another LRR tire, I would ask for a set of the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422s or Michelin Energy Save A/S since the dealer should be able to get them from the tire warehouse and they are less noisy and deliver better fuel economy than the original tires. Price is equal or less.

 

I am not sure if anyone has done a really good objective study. If you have some accurate mileage numbers from your old tires you might be able to post some useful data.

Some have posted that they have vast improvements in mileage from switching to LRR tires. They may be right but people tend to like what they just bought also.

My only experience was on my Honda Accord, it came with Michelin MXV4 LRR tires. I replaced them with Bridgestone Potenza non-LRR tires, I didn't experience any significant difference in mileage.

I replaced the OEM Toyo Proxis tires on my Prius with Michelin Pilot Sport tires (which are non-LRR performance tires) about 10K miles back. I think I may have lost 1 or 2 mpg. I also think for me the increase in performance will be worth the loss.

 

Yes, see the tirerack test thread or the yokohama AVID ENVigor thread.

LRR might be 4% less fuel than a good tire or 7% less fuel than a bad tire.

My rule of thumb is LRR is a good deal if you drive more than 6000 miles per year and if the price per tire increase isn't more than the percentage of fuel savings.

And fwiw the base tire I compare against is the General Altimax HP which has good ratings on tirerack.com and is generally cheaper than LRR tires of equal traction/handling ability.

might as well paste the list here:

Tires I'm reccommending based on tirerack reviews and price and Gen II RPM of 845 and Gen III RPM of 835 are

General Altimax HP (not LRR, cheapest per tire that I recommend with excellent wet traction)
Gen II 15" choice $71 843 185/65/15 General Alimax HP
Gen II/III 15" choice $74 837 205/60/15 General Alimax HP
Gen III 15" choice $72 829 195/65/15 General Alimax HP

Hankook Optimo H727 (better than average RR, still good pricing and better snow/ice ratings, best rated "Standard Touring All-Season" on tirerack)
Gen II/III 15" choice $74 831 195/65/15 Hankook Optimo H727

Yokohama Avid ENVigor (better than average RR, the Hankook Optimo H727 is likely a better choice all the way around)
Gen II 15" choice $78 840 205/60/15 Yokohama AVID ENVigor
Gen III 15" choice $84 831 195/65/15 Yokohama AVID ENVigor

Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring (not LRR, don't confuse it for the Goodyear Assurance ComforTred (one says Touring the other doesn't) the non "touring" version isn't as good in the snow (among other differences). The touring version is the best rated "Grand Touring All-Season" on tirerack.
Gen II/III 15" choice $103 836 195/65/15 Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring

Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S (not LRR, rated as the best "High Performance All-Season" on tirerack.
Gen II/III 15" choice $101 832 195/65/15 Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S

So after all that no true LRR tires. What LRR tires would I recommend?

For 15" rims a LRR choice is the Michelin Energy Saver A/S (it's only "Passenger All-Season" but it's rated highly in that category)
Gen II/III 15" choice $95 832 195/65/15 Michelin Energy Saver A/S with Green X

If you have 16" rims the Michelin Primacy MXV4 is LRR in a size I'd recommend (not LRR at 15" sizes, rated just below the Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring in the "Grand Touring All-Season" category on tirerack.
Gen II/III 16" choice $138 837 205/55/16 Michelin Primacy MXV4 with Green X

Another LRR choice is the Michelen HydroEdge with Green X (it's only "Passenger All-Season", it has better wet/dry traction than the Michelin Energy Saver A/S but worse snow/ice traction). May be harder to find.
Gen II 15" choice 849 $105 205/60/15 Michelin HydroEdge w/ Green X
Gen II/III 15" choice 832 $104 215/60/15 Michelin HydroEdge w/ Green X

There are other LRR choices in the thread by F8L but they aren't All-Season, or aren't sold on Tirerack, or just don't have enough purchases on Tirerack to get survey data.

 

I apologize for sidetracking this thread, but where did you get the information that the 15" MXV4 tires are not LRR but the 16" ones are? They both show a rating of 10 for Fuel Efficiency on their website.

 

From tirerack.com see screenshot. Now if tirerack is in error then I'll have to go correct the spreading of misinformation in multiple threads so I'd like to know if I need to.

Similar situations are noticeable on tirerack for other tires being LRR at one size but not another.

 

Also note, you might have difficulty obtaining the Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires. They were also around $105/tire when I got them in March. A bit pricey compared to some other LRR options that I saw, but they got several good reviews on here and on TireRack so I went for them.

As for non-LRR to LRR difference, I noticed between 3-5 MPG based solely on the MFD. However, that's only specific to the tire that I have a comparison against (some Firestone branded one). Other non-LRR to LRR difference could be higher or it could be lower. I hand calculate each fill up but don't track them, and noticed the same 2-3 mpg difference between MFD vs Hand.

 

Primacy MXV4 | Michelin Tires

gives much data on the tire but doesn't list RR or LRR in any way. It does say that certain sizes are used as OEM tires but the OEM sizes don't match up with the LRR sizes on tirerack.

I can't see any info on that page that promises it's LRR though in marketing terms they want to call it 10 out of 10 for fuel efficiency.

In the how to read a sidewall elsewhere on the site it says "the MICHELIN® Green X® Marking is a guarantee that the tire provides a level of energy efficiency among the highest in the market for its category" so if you can find the Green X marking on a sidewall of a tire that isn't marked Green X on tirerack then we know tirerack data may be wrong.



If you had access to tires of each size all it would take is looking at the sidewalls to see if the data is right.

 

I found the same data as above when searching for a replacement tire. Michelin did not indicate that it was LRR but did list it as 10/10 on fuel efficiency. Also Consumer Report lists it as a top recommended tire with the top fuel efficiency rating.

I purchase my tires from Sam's and they did not have any Energy Savers in stock. The best tire they had in stock was the MXV4.

I am very happy with the tire in every way except for the roughly 4 mpg loss in fuel efficiency. I am disappointed in Michelin for playing marketing games with their tires and fuel efficiency.

I did notice today searching the Michelin website that if you list the Prius with a 17" tire they recommend the Primacy MXM4 that F8L bought. If you list the 15" tire they recommend the Energy Saver plus one other.

 

Thanks. I went to the Tirerack site and brought up the Primaxy MXV4 tire and looked at the spec sheet you displayed showing all of the different tire sizes. I did not do this when looking for replacement tires. I only looked for info on my tire size.

I see where only select sizes are listed as LRR. I also read about the Green X marking and how they come about only by testing the different tire sizes.

Not only is my tire not LRR it is also 5 lbs heavier than the OEM

 

I'm assuming you got the 195/65R15.

It's still a better tire than what is on my Prius and I dare say better than the average tire of priuschat members.

Just a shame it barely didn't make it into official LRR category. If you feel generous you can always drive over the mountain to east TN and give me your MXV4s and buy yourself another set of tires just to get that last 1% of RR reduction.

I sure wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Good tires, good car, minor detail.

 

Correct

I love the tire in every other way. The ride is so much better and typical Michelin. The next time I am over the mountain and headed your way I will think about dropping the tires off

No lost sleep. Thanks to F8L, you and others, the next time I know how to do a little better research. Thanks for your input.

 

I apologize one more time for highjacking your thread. I hope some of these discussions helped you some too.