Dunlop Signature tires - has anyone tried them yet?

The Dunlop Signatures are new "performance touring" tires that fit the Prius (my dealer only carries the Integrities and the Signatures for the recommended size (185/65R15)). Has anybody tried them? The guy at the dealership said that they are "awesome". A quick search of the forums here turned up nothing, hence the new topic. Thanks for any help and comments!
Dave

Salsa Red 2005, no "pimping" yet, though considering the DICE for my iPOD

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pejohn @ Dec 13 2006, 08:50 PM) [snapback]362029[/snapback]</div>

So, I didn't get any response, but since I did need tires right away (I had a flat), I just went ahead and bought the signatures. So far, my experiences have been mixed. With these tires, the car definitely is more responsive than with the integrities, and is nicer to drive. But, I should point out that these are the first tires that I tried the higher pressures with, so that may explain some of the different feel of the tires.

In terms of fuel use, it has been dreadful so far. Before, I wasn't getting great mileage, around the lower 40's (my commute is five miles up and down a steep hill, so the car never really wams up and is worked hard the moment I pull out of my driveway, and I drive too fast), but now the mileage has plummetted to around 35 mpg. Maybe its my imagination, but I can feel higher friction of the tires on the road. I know some people have said to expect lower mileage with new tires, but I wasn't expecting that much of a decrease. I also didn't see any real increase in mpg when I went to the higher pressures.

One last comment is that the speedometer seems to be reading a little high. I havn't yet tested it - again, maybe its my imagination. But this would cause an inaccurate increase in the mpg, so my actual mpg may be worse than what is indicated. I hope this helps anyone looking at these tires. I'd still like to hear about anyone else's experience.

Dave

BTW Something that I couldn't find any where before I got the tires was the tread wear number. Once I got them, it was printed on the side wall. The number, 500, is not all that impressive (compare to 460 of the integrities, with a max of 800).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vincent @ Dec 24 2006, 02:29 AM) [snapback]366234[/snapback]</div>

My info has been updated (though I have no idea what package I have - its the top level package from 2005 with the nav system). The tires are listed in the Dunlop web page, though not much useful info is given. According to the site they are relatively new tires, first put out in the spring of 2006. Its not the fuel - there wasn't that much difference last year.