1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

New shoes - crap mileage!

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Zipy, Jun 7, 2022.

  1. Zipy

    Zipy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2013
    22
    11
    0
    Location:
    Independence, MO
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Well she (2016) needed new shoes at 60k plus. Bought Michelin X Tour A/S. My average went from 57-58 mpg to 50! . With gas prices where they are now this isn’t what I expected. I know they aren’t LLR tires, but dang! 7-8 mpg less? They are the 15’s on a “two”. I want to take them back!!!! SORRY, rant complete.
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,693
    48,945
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    yeah, it should improve a little with break in. hopefully just a loss of 3-5mpg. i think costco takes tires back, maybe others do?
     
  3. The Professor

    The Professor Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    598
    809
    0
    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    You can mitigate this somewhat by adding extra pressure to them. Some people on here are regularly using 40PSI for example. Just remember that with both low rolling resistance tyres and increasing the pressure, one important attribute that's you're also reducing is the friction (grip) between your vehicle and the road.
     
    Doug McC likes this.
  4. paprius4030

    paprius4030 My first Prius

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2004
    2,077
    295
    0
    Location:
    Ormond Beach,Fl.
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Sorry but you should always get LRR tires.
     
    Doug McC likes this.
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,662
    38,207
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I would hang onto them, be patient. The mpg will "almost" come back, eventually. Getting something else may be an exercise in frustration. I've had similar experience.

    The X-Tours are rebranded Defender T+H, a pretty decent tire.
     
  6. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,862
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Any new tire drops MPG for the first n thousand miles, that will recover.

    A non LRR tire is a drop untill replaced. Sadly, in the US there is no measurement of how LRR a tire is.
     
    Doug McC likes this.
  7. The Professor

    The Professor Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    598
    809
    0
    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    Why?

    Michelin claim around a 7% reduction in fuel economy. A set of Michelin Primacy LRR tyres costs around £500 here in the UK. Comparable non-LRR Michelin tires cost around £300. So based on current fuel prices it would take around 4 years of driving 12,000 miles per year for them to break even, assuming they last 48,000 miles, which I'd be very surprised at. Independent tests put this saving at 3% in real world tests, not the 7% claimed, so you'd have to be sure of getting 100,000 miles out of them for them to break even... That's not going to happen.

    Now I know there are other tyres with different costs etc, but Michelin are the tyres I use and am familiar with so I'm using them as an example.

    The only remaining advantage is that they're a bit quieter.

    The biggest disadvantage is they have less grip and hence increased a stopping distances.

    So the bottom line is you're paying more in the long run, for quieter tyres that are less safe.
     
    #7 The Professor, Jun 8, 2022
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2022
    FreeFly likes this.
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,662
    38,207
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    And you have to take the LRR claims with a grain of salt. We went from orignal Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 to Michelin Primacy MXM4, both in 215/45R17, and both say "Green-X", Michelin's LRR moniker. Mpg TANKED with the new tires. The Primacy's are still on the car, and mpg is picking up, but I doubt I'll ever get back to the Pilot rolling resistance.

    OTOH, with a previous Civic hybrid, we went from Bridgestone Insignia SE200 to Bridgestone Ecopia EP20, both in 195/65R15. The EP20 had a LRR badge (terminology escapes me), while the Insignia said nothing specific (but were reputed to be LRR). Anyway, with the new EP20, mpg didn't skip a beat.
     
  9. PaulDM

    PaulDM Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2016
    616
    317
    2
    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    Not necessarily. if you check the “euro tyre rating” which shows A-E each step is a 3% loss of economy. I have changed an A rated tyre for a B rated tyre as it’s we t performance is 6 metres better in braking (2 car lengths better) I stuck up the 5 mpg loss..
     
  10. Zipy

    Zipy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2013
    22
    11
    0
    Location:
    Independence, MO
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Well after consulting with Costco about my MPG loss, they are going to switch me to the Ecopia EP22Plus. No hassle at all! Good old Costco. We shall see. My originals were Toyo Nanoenergy.
     
    Doug McC and tucatz like this.
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,693
    48,945
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    good deal, i hope it works out for you. so many costco compliments
     
  12. Billy56

    Billy56 Member

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2019
    64
    58
    0
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius
    Model:
    L Eco
    Many have told you over & over....buy the OEM tires!! Unless, of course, you WANT lower efficiency...
     
  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,662
    38,207
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    That's more'n likely a made-in-Japan iteration of Bridgestone Ecopia 422 Plus, rare as hen's teeth in North America. There are 2 more physically different versions, with the same name, one from Mexico and one USA.
     
  14. PaulDM

    PaulDM Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2016
    616
    317
    2
    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    Same with the rareness of the EC300+ in the UK. When you can find them they are £200 each
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  15. Mambo Dave

    Mambo Dave Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2019
    640
    305
    0
    Location:
    33312
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius
    Model:
    L Eco
    So you went 60k miles on tires, wore them down to nothing - which made them lighter than any proper tire would be - and now you complain about inertial losses from having safe, proper tread depth, tires.

    Got it.
     
  16. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    499
    412
    0
    Location:
    Manzanita, Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Last year at 50k I replaced the OEM with Goodyear assurance. Fabulous so far - quieter and my mileage is hangin in there around 50mpg on a 2016 touring.
     
  17. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,848
    3,102
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Assurance ComfortTred?

    Last set of Goodyear Assurance FuelMax tires we got for our 2011 were hard to come by. They told me they were phasing out the FuelMax line. Don't know if they told me that so I'd settle on something that was in stock or not.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  18. Bentriderken

    Bentriderken New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2023
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Cincinnati OH
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I have just had the same experience with Michelin Defender T & H. Mileage dropped about 6 mpg. Michelin states that they have a satisfaction guarantee for 6 months. I intend to take them up on that. I am considering switching to Bridgestone Ecopia EP 422's. Any feedback on those? Thanks.
     
  19. Doug McC

    Doug McC Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2022
    951
    347
    0
    Location:
    Midwest
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius
    Model:
    XLE
    That’s what is on my ‘22 and I am really happy with them. MPG’s at >55 overall (based on computer read out (sorry, I have better things to do with my life than creating spreadsheets for calculating “real world” mpg)). Ride is fine, too early to determine longevity. If I needed new ones I would go with these (I kind of figure “if it’s good enough for Toyota, it’s good enough for me”, sorry. I live by the KISS principle: Keep It Simple Stupid).
     
  20. sclevine

    sclevine Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2016
    112
    135
    2
    Location:
    Northeast Florida, USA
    Vehicle:
    2024 Prius
    Model:
    XLE
    My 2nd set of tires was the Ecopia and my 3rd and 4th are the Defender. The Ecopias had better mileage than the Defender, but in my experience the Defender handles the road better especially in wet conditions as the tires age, so I've accepted the even lower mileage. For me, the Ecopia's were about in the middle between the Defenders and the OEM tires.
     
    SCdave and Bentriderken like this.