Prius Prime - My Decision on Tires.....

Why all year round? The rubber on the Michelin’s is very soft and won’t last nearly as long as all seasons.

 

How much do you expect to get?

 

Are you aware that using them year round voids the mileage warranty? Read the fine print.

 

Get extra rims for the X-Ice, use them winter only.

 

Have you tried doing this before? Winter tires in summer tend to be more squiggly and stops longer. Not only that, in a heat wave you can actually damage your winter tire tread so bad they become unbearably noisy. I've driven friends cars with damaged tires I couldn't bear the noise at all.

If saving money is your intent, why not buy those all weather tires from Hankook? They are good enough to have the snowflake and mountain symbol on the tire wall yet are designed to survive summer driving. Nokian WRGs are also the other tire the works for both, but they are more expensive.

When I was younger, I totalled my car trying to drive on bald summer tires in winter. That taught me nickel diming on tires are the most expensive way to save money.

 

You know what I might do in your shoes, especially considering you're in the States, with stringent tpms reg's: return the X-Ice and get something like Nokian WRG3, what's billed as "all-weather" tires. Basically a tire somewhere between an all-season and a full-blown snow tire, with the snowflake/mountain symbol.

Edit: Just noticed @Starship_Enterprius is suggesting more-or-less the same thing.

 

Instead of relying on unproven internet reviews, why not try what you have first. Then if they're not good, do something different.

 

Agree with others - I wouldn't run snow tires in the other 3 seasons of the year. I find the performance of all season tires okay in the snow when they're new. Once they're down to about 70% the loss of performance in snow becomes evident. So you could consider running all seasons for this winter, and then buy a set of snows in a year or two when the all seasons are worn down.

Look into Continental True Contacts or Michelin Premiers. Both are all season tires that are well rated (for all season's) in the snow. The True Contacts are a good value too, less than $350 for a set of 4 if you have 15s.

Those X-Ice tires won't last 3 years if you drive them in the summer. After a single summer, the tread on them will be so low that you'll need to buy another set next winter.

 

Around here I've noticed more than a few instances, of people just slamming on snow tires. It's not for me though, for all the reasons in the post above. I run the OEM for 2.5 seasons, and Michelin X-Ice (currently on Corolla rims) through 1.5 seasons. I just have regular valves with the snow tires, no TPMS.

The current TPMS regs in the States have people in more of a bind though. It's a little ironic, that enforcement of a safety feature is driving people away from separate rims with snow tires. Enforcement of the TPMS reg's varies State-by-State. Maine, you might be in luck:

Tire Tech Information - State TPMS Regulations

Well, yes and no. For annual motor vehicle inspection, they don't (apparently) check for functional TPMS. But there federal reg's for tireshops installing tires, they have to have TPMS if the car came with such. Maybe you can dodge if you bring in loose rims?

Some info on rims that work:

Corolla steel rim, part no: 42611-02471 (2003-2008 corolla or matrix, CE, LS, S)
steel rim lug nuts, part no: 90942-01007 (plain, open-ended, galvanized)

This is the funky setup, but at least it works. I got those rims for $70 (canadian) apiece, about 7 years back, and the lug nuts were $31 for the lot.

 

Will confirm that you do not run "snows" year round. They will be worn out within the year...for how much? Follow Mendel's advice getting a set of "take-offs" for the winter "without TPMS". Worked for me. Keep it simple.

 

I just made this video about my winter tire selection. I also considered the Michelin X-ice tires - my wife has those, they're pretty good. I ended up going with Nokian's Hakkapeliitta 9 studded tires. I love them on icy roads so far.

 

I do what chargedup does, winter studded Nokians and in my case summer defenders, just get the tpms for 22.50$ each and have the tire jobber match them to the car, yes another set of wheels.
The Michelin ice have sipes and are soft, they would be loud and not make it through the first summer.

Studs stop you on ice, studs save lives, lives saved with studs matter

 

I used to run studs on my VW Rabbit back in the 1980s, but found them wikkid noisy. The winter steelies on my 2009 Gen II Prius are shod with Bridgestone Blizzak WS80s and they're just starting their third snow season. Terrific tyres in the snow and they're brilliant in the wet too! Next April I'll swap back to the OEM 16" rims shod with Antares Ingens A1s for the summer...

 

Are you able to to dodge the tpms issues? Not that hard, tire dealers aren't Nazis yet? You're in Maine?

 

When I had the local TownFairTires do the swap, I asked them about TPMS and was told that (for the moment) NH don't mandate TPMS, but that might change in the future. In the meantime, as mentioned elsewhere, I have a set of these which are so simple to change with the wheels:

…and so far, they're working perfectly (pressures and temps in the same display)



BTW some Black GafferTape has reduced the stark white of the case (very distracting reflection in the windscreen)
…actually, this pic was taken before I put on the winter steelies (which I run at 41F/39R) - so the pressures shown are on the summer Antares.

 

I'm a tough guy, live with the baleful glare of the warning light.

 

…but Black GafferTape can be your friend (even 1cm x 1cm)

 

ChargedUp,

I know that Nokian has been working on Eco Stud 9, and that is why I was *nearly* going to purchase the studded tire, but didn't like that they're still noisy. How quickly do you expect the studs to wear?

Also, how much do the tires skip on tarmac when pulling out to make a turn or getting up to speed?