First impressions of my new Yokohama Avid Ascends

What pressure are you running?

 

Tires usually take 500 miles to wear off the mold release compound. Before the compound is worn off, the tires can be slippery. Did the incident on the highway occur before or after 500 miles were accumulated?

 

That's interesting. I have ran these tires in heavy downpours and through large puddles on the freeway at 60mph and they performed excellently. I am as curious as The Critic about when this experience occurred.

The insecure feeling on a windy day at highway speed is normal for the Prius. I have not found a tire that fixes that. Lowering and larger wheels did help quite a bit, however.

I agree with the loudness when encountering expansion joints and such.

What was the pressure set at?

 

hmm interesting
especially since they don't seem to be making Integrity's available in Prius sizes here anymore, and I intend on fitting new tyres before the winter season hits.

 

Eyow!

You describe a dangerous tire and vehicle. I have the OEM Yokohama S33, tons of rain and wind, lower end of Columbia Gorge, highway and hilly, and the car and tire are very secure.

 

And yet the Ascend is more stable and less likely to tramline than the S33D. Ive had both tires.

 

So did Prius 2012 fix the described very dangerous handling conditions? The driving behavior described would result in safety recall for car and/or tires.

Consumer Reports, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety would be flashing big warnings and "Don't Buy" signs.

Interesting that a fairly solid 3,000 lb car with arguably the most aerodynamic shape, least susceptible to wind is described as incapable of going 55 mph on wet, windy freeway.

I find the car well behaved and safe on wet, windy (very windy) freeways with standard OEM tires. Didn't see any handling warnings from Consumers, IIHS, US DOT for the Prius when I was researching buying it.

 

No doubt tyres are a factor in dirctional stability in instances like tramlining that F8L describes. Mass certainly helps, but it is the position of the centre of that mass in relation to the profile shape which matters, particularly in a side buffet.

 

You still have not checked the pressure or had the installer take the car for a test drive?

The problem is not with the model of tires. The problem is with your installation, defective tire, or perception. My tires do not exhibit this problem nor should any tire. So take it back to the installer and express your concerns. If they duplicate the problem then a claim will be issued with Yokohama and the tires will be replaced.

Your claims are concerning so please take it in ASAP before you or your wife are hurt.

 

I found similar twitchiness immediately upon getting up to highway speeds on my new Ascends. After thinking about it for awhile, I raised the tire pressures to 37 all the way around (factory is 35f, 33r). It made a noticeable difference in straight line stability, especially in crosswinds. The aerodynamic stability is tested every day as I commute across a high bridge over the Houston ship channel and crosswinds are murder.

 

How worn were your previous tires? I wonder if the twitchiness is due to a large difference between a set of worn tires with 3/32 tread and the new Ascends with 12/32 tread.

 

I'm going to stick up for the OP here. My 2005 came with Yokohama tires on it. I bought it in February, the height of the Portland monsoon season. The tires scared the willies out of me. Seriously. Hydroplaning was definitely an issue. And they just felt... twitchy.

I made it through that first winter. But before the second, I swapped out the P185/65/R15 Yokos for a set of P195/60/R15 Goodyear Assurance Comfortreds. Much, much better. I took a 4 - 5 MPG hit, from 53 down to 48, but it was worth it.

I realize that the OEM tires on my 2005 are not the same as the tires the OP bought. But, at least in my case, size did matter.

 

He is not talking about the OE Yokohama AVID S33Ds. These are Yokohama AVID Ascend tires.

 

Wait. How did your 2005 come ith Yokohamas? Did you buy it used? The OE tires were Goodyear Integritys.

 

My 2005 had 3 miles on the odometer when I drove it off the lot brand new. The tires were Yokohamas, which at that time I had never heard of. Sorry I have no pictures to prove it.

And, yes, I said in my first post that I know the tires the OP bought were not the same. The point of my post was that the tires that came on my 2005 were scary, and I went to a wider tire to help with hydroplaning, etc. And it did help a lot. There was some discussion about it in PC back then and I was not alone.

 

No need to prove it. I've never heard of a Prius in the U.S. using Yokohamas for OE tires that year but there is a lot I don't know. My point is your situation bears no resemblance to the OP's situation other than you at one point had tires you disliked and they were from the same manufacturer.

We are simply trying to figure out what the problem is and so far have not received any answers. I do not like to recommend tires that are not safe but it seems odd that my tires were fine, albeit they were one size larger than his, yet his we're dangerous. There has been one other person who complained that these tires cause wandering but he only replaced the rears and I have n other I formation. Far too often people do things and they blame a product before making sure user error is not at fault. After 15yrs in retail I've seen it all. LOL

 

I'm in IT and I know that most errors occur between the keyboard and the chair. The same is true of any user-operated piece of equipment.

But, forget I ever said anything about tire brands, because it really wasn't relevant. Didn't you have larger wheels on your 2005? I had the OEM wheels, and they were 15x6 with P185/65/R15 tires. In a downpour, hydroplaning was a real issue and the traction control was sort of twitchy to say the least. There's one big curve on my daily commute where I slid every single day it was wet. Every. Day. Both directions. I hunted around in the PC forums, this was back in the fall of 2005, and there were a number of people with the same issue. Some were suggesting trying P195/60/R15 tires. When my OEM tires reached the ends of their short lives, I put on some P195/60/R15 tires. Problem solved - or at least greatly alleviated.

If your wheels were larger and your tires were larger, you may never have seen this issue with your 2005.

The OP bought his 2005 recently, and may not have driven in the rain with it before. He doesn't say what size his Yokohamas are, or what size the tires that were on there before were. So I just tried to offer a different perspective. Really it was about wheels and traction control and 2005 Prii much more than tire brands. You know way more about brands than I do.

 

I hear ya. I drove the OE Goodyear Integritys until they were toast. They were horrible little tires. I then went to Nokian i3s and then Yokohama dB Super E-Spec tires. All were OE sized 185/65/15s. I agree they were too small for the GenII. That car would have handled much better with the wider tire like the GenIII has. I did run a set of 17s as well but most of my 158,000 miles were on the little 15s. I never had issues with hydroplaning except with the Integritys. You did the right thing by upgrading to a wider tire for safety reasons.

I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this issue the OP has but as you can see there is not much to go on and very little feedback.