Need to Decide on Tires for Gen 5

Hey guys, new to the forum. Wanted to ask what tires you guys are running on the Prius 5th Gen. I have a 2024 LE FWD and I live in Salt Lake City so mostly dry driving with a bit of wet and very mild winters.

Im trying to find tires that focus on fuel economy because so far my MPG has been excellent and Im wondering how much further I can push it, especially with the price of gas and insurance right now.

Currently, Im averaging 63-64 MPG each tank according to the Trip Computer. Napkin Math puts it closer to 62 MPG. Work is only 7 miles from home but I do take long trips once in a while such as going to Colorado once per year.

The car is at 35K miles and the Toyo Extensa Tires that came from the dealership are pretty much completely dead.

Since its the LE, the tire size is: 195/60R17. This oddball size does limit your options a fair bit.

Tires I am most interested in so far:

Top Pick - Bridgestone Ecopia EP422-Plus - Lowest Rolling resistance rating available in this tire size while still being a GT All-Season tire with decent grip in all conditions. 600 Treadwear Rating and known to last about 60K miles. Tires were released in 2015 so they are well-established. $195 Each

Hankook Kinergy XP - A much newer tire technology released early 2024. It doesn't have a specific eco or rolling-resistance certification like the bridgestone, but it does have a more modern and more advanced Silica compound, is known for decently low rolling resistance, has a 720 treadwear and a 75,000 mile warranty. They even cost less at $180 each, but they can't offer the same fuel economy as the Ecopias, so over time the Ecopias fuel savings would likely make up the cost difference.

Least Likely to buy - Goodyear Assurance Maxlife Gen 2 - Hugely Long lasting with an 820 Treadwear Rating and an 85,000 mile warranty, but its clearly compromised in exchange. The tires are known for sub-par heat dissipation and are known to be quite loud and firm. They also have the worst rolling resistance of the 3 options. They are also the most expensive at $200 each, but you can't help but be impressed by the tread life.

 

How has the fuel economy been on the Ecopias? Any noticable different versus anything else?

 

Thats decent but not all that impressive. Do you do mostly highway driving? Im mostly in town so my 62-64 MPG is because I can use EV Mode a lot when driving (40-55 MPH are my most used speeds). If you are averaging 58 MPG while mostly traveling at 70+ MPH where the car hardly ever uses EV Mode, then that is actually pretty impressive

 

I could but wouldn't 215mm width tires lower fuel economy, thus defeating the point of trying to find low rolling resistance tires?

 

Oh okay, thats insane. Sorry, didn't even realize it was a link, I thought it was just text.

Well with incredible figures like that, the choice is pretty obvious. Ecopias it is. With the price of gas now even an extra 5 MPG saves you so much money that you can effectively pay for the tires in a couple years if your mileage is high. Plus Tire Rack is offering an $80 prepaid debit card with the purchase of a set of four right now. So I think I will go ahead and pull the trigger, thanks

 

I didn't actually do the math, I just guessed savings over a 3-year period with high milage (20K Miles per year) for a total of 60K miles or the expected lifespan of the Ecopias.

You are right, the savings are not quite as huge as I expected, but thats because the percentages are different than what I am used to. This is the first car Ive ever owned with anything like this kind of fuel economy. Generally I drive cars that do typical 35 MPG or so figures on the highway. Because 35 MPG is so much less, adding an additional 5 MPG makes a bigger difference because 5 is a mich larger percentage of 35 than it is of 60. 5 is about 14% of 35 where as its only about 8% of 60. So ur only saving 8% on annual fuel costs rather than the much larger 14%.

14% Fuel savings over 60,000 miles with the current cost of gas is enormous. But thats why my estimate was off.

I did look at 215/55R17 and your right, there are a lot more to choose from. The Continental TrueContact 54 is an excellent low rolling resistance tire in that size. Plus I like contis. I had the ExtremeContact DWS 06-Plus legendary Ultra-High-Performance All-Seasons on my Civic Si for nearly 5 years. Incredible tire, but unfortunately the 215mm width plus the extra weight of the larger size (Ecopias in OEM size are 17 lbs per tire, Contact 54s in 215/55R17 are 24 lbs per tire) is very likely to impact fuel economy. So again the entire point of finding low rolling resistance tires is ruined. If I go 215/55R17 then I might as well go high performance to make the Prius more sporty rather than try to focus on low rolling resistance and weight to save fuel.

And no, its not just about posting big numbers. It is about money. Fuel is expensive as hell right now. The Mid-Grade that the prius requires is literally just shy of $5.00 per gallon in my area. Can you imagine driving a big gas guzzling dually truck right now? Honestly, I don't think I could even afford it. Just going to the next major city and from my house would literally cost about $30 in fuel alone (90-mile round trip at 15 MPG).

So lets do the real math then and see how much money I could save with the Ecopias over their lifespan.

Currently, I average 62-64 MPG Per Tank. Lets go in the middle and call it 63. Now 72 MPG has been recorded on the Ecopias, but driving conditions are obviously different for each person. Tires alone are unlikely to make a 9 MPG difference. So lets say I begin driving a bit more economically plus combine that with the new tires and end up with slightly less economy at 70 MPG even, a 7 MPG difference. This also makes math pretty easy since 7 is 10% of 70.

So, at 70 MPG, 20K miles per year (gas is supposed to continue rising in price under Trump administration so I am going to say gas will cost on average $5 per gallon during this time) will cost a total of $1428.57. at 63 MPG it would cost $1587.30. Thats a total savings of $158.73 every 20K miles, or $476.19 over the expected lifespan of the tires.

Okay, so the savings aren't so incredible if you aren't talking about a standard 35 MPG car. Ya thats a bummer, but its still a decent amount of savings. The Contis in size 215/55R17 are $175 per tire so I wouldn't even save much money going with the Contis in the optional size anyways. The Larger, heavier tire will pretty much cancel out the low rolling resistance technology and Ill likely end up right back at the 63 MPG Im at right now on those. So the options are to save $100 while getting an overall better set of tires, or save about $475 on fuel, effectively cutting the cost of the Ecopias in half (Im buying 5 to have full size spare).

Overall, the Ecopias in OEM 195/60R17 size seem to be the most cost-effective option. And who knows, maybe now that 5th gen has been out for a few years, we might start seeing a few more options in this oddball tire size in the next couple years. We can only hope. Either way, for now the Ecopias are the obvious choice.

 

Ya, I too have not been a fan of the Toyo Extensas. Their grip in the one snowstorm we got this past winter was abysmal. Luckily, while the Ecopias are also not known to be the best in Winter either, they are known to be at least a bit better than the Toyos in the snow, you get what you pay for I guess. There is a reason why the Toyos are the cheapest tire you can even get in the 195/60R17 size from a reputable tire manufacturer.

60K Mile lifespan may be slightly pushing it, but actually it isn't all that unrealistic. Several owner reviews on the Ecopia come from larger vehicles such as Rav4 Hybrids and C-Max Hybrids. The Rav4 owner reported 45,000 miles with a bit of treadwear left, but decided to replace them as they were basically bald. The C-Max Owner reported about 52,000 miles and a noticeable increase in fuel economy, and the C-Max was never a very good hybrid.

Both of these vehicles are much larger and heavier than the Prius, meaning they will wear out the tires faster. However, some reports show as little as 30,000 miles before needing replacement, which is troubling to say the least. Looking into it, it turns out that any Ecopias that came from dealerships as the original tires on a brand new car, came with a softer rubber compound. Apparently, the first batch or early batches of Ecopias back in 2015-2016 when they first hit the market, had a defect in the compound that caused them to wear extremely quickly. Bridgestone of course immediately corrected the issue as soon as they caught onto it, but cars coming from dealerships for the next several years still had the issue since they ordered tires in such massive quantities.

Im buying my tires aftermarket from Tire Rack since they have the deal going on right now, so I am very unlikely to see the same wear issues that were noted in the early days of the tire. I too am a fan of lateral acceleration, but not in this car. In my old Civic Si that cornered flat on wonderful Continental ExtremeContact UHP 235/40R18 tires - absolutely. That thing is known for being the best handling FWD sports car on the planet. There is a reason why its bigger brother, the more powerful Civic Type-R literally holds several world records on race tracks. Anyways, the Civic Si also did about 40 MPG highway thanks to its very low weight, slippery 2-door coupe body, and super efficient 1.5L Turbocharged 4-Cylinder engine. But of course being a modern boosted engine, it also required Premium 91+ Octane fuel.

Buying new cars actually has no impact on economic significance. Well as long as you sell your old car and it doesn't go to a scrapyard. My Civic Si sold for $15,000 and went to someone new who is now owning it and loving it just as I once did. So there is no economic impact VIA the sale as the car is still being driven, its not like a car with barely 70K miles on it, and especially a Honda of all things, is going to a scrapyard anytime soon. Cars simply exchange hands in most cases, they aren't just wasted.

But ya no, I don't do hard cornering in the Prius. it wasn't made for that. I use cars as they are intended with their design. I drove the Si in a sporty manner, and I drive the Prius in an economical manner. Besides, the Prius has far too much body roll, I tried one hard corner and immediately did not like the feeling of it. The Prius is simply a quiet, comfortable ride that saves a ton of money at the pump. It is beyond excellent at what it does. And the Civic Si is beyond excellent at what it does too.

I actually have an idea for a sporty Prius in another thread. I mean think about it, the performance of a GTI, the Prius is of course already a very practical and quite spacious hatchback, plus probably about 50 MPG if you drive it slightly carefully? I Mean who wouldn't want that? Yes, CVT transmissions don't feel great but I would easily take that tradeoff to have a GTI competitor that has way better fuel economy and lower insurance costs. It is an epic Idea and I really hope Toyota takes my idea and runs with it someday: Idea for a Sporty GTI competitor for 6th Gen | PriusChat

 

Well we already have a Plug-In Prius and honestly, its not worth the money. Because the second you do any real mileage the battery pack drains, the engine fires up, and then you have LESS fuel economy than a standard Prius because you are carrying around a heavier battery pack.

So with my idea, Im talking about a non plug-in Prius, like the one I own now. Literally just take the LE, add a bit more power, lower and stiffen the ride a bit, give the steering a better feel, and maybe add a better stereo and the larger navigation screen for a more premium feel. Oh and then some 18x7" wheels on 215/50R18 or 225/45R18 tires. The end, nothing else. Just like Honda's new 2026 Prelude - an excellent idea, just Honda's execution and the price ended up being horrible. Ugh Honda, what I wouldn't give to have a 2026 Prelude at a reasonable price with just a bit more power... What a staggering disappointment...

 

And Steep depreciation? No. I bought my Civic Si for $19,000 and owned it for 5 years and 50K miles, then sold it for $15,000. They are EXTREMELY desirable and hold their value incredibly well. And make no mistake - the 5th Gen Prius us by far the most desirable Prius and it absolutely will hold its value, make no mistake about it. Well unless they start blowing up or something lol.

The new gen Prius is one of the most desirable vehicles on planet Earth right now, what makes you think it will depreciate so hard that you loose tons of money in the end. Theres just no way, its too good of a car.

What has happened is older generation Priuses are now plummeting in value, simply because gen 5 is so vastly superior in every single way and makes the older generations look like a waste of time, which of course they are lol.

 

Im not sure what ur talking about. In my area at least, used car prices are insanely high. People want insane amounts of money for anything considered reliable because so many new cars are so poorly built and have so many issues as they get made more and more of plastic.

Check this out. This is a 2020 bog-standard Civic. Not even an Si. And this dude wants $20,000 for his bog-standard civic with 88K miles on it. Its outrageous. And most peoples asking prices in this area, are similar to this guy. Its bonkers, you would have to be a moron to not just go buy a brand new civic. The non-hybrid base starts at $25,000. Who on earth is buying these outrageously priced used cars? Its beyond stupid. But I guess people are buying them because no used car has been a good deal in my area for years now: https://www.facebook.com/share/1P9fFXJTiN/

And ya, this is why Im a gear head and buy good cars. No car I have ever owned depreciates like a base model Elantra or whatever. You buy a sucky car, you get sucky depreciation, thats how it works. Check out the Price on this Si. Clean title examples of Si's demand extreme prices. Mine sold for $15,000 because it was a salvage title:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1B9ZnMhVyX/

The Honda Civic Si is a collectors car now, especially in the 2-Door Coupe version. They aren't depreciating at all. Every car I have ever owned holds its value because again - I only buy interesting and/or desirable, sporty cars. Hence why Im okay with owning the new-gen Prius. Obviously Im not usually a Prius kind of guy. But this new Prius is so different from the old gens that Im suprised it even still carries the name because lets be honest with ourselves - its not a Prius. Its a completely new car that just has the Prius name on it.

For legal reasons (its a very long and complicated story and a harsh one), Im actually only paying $15,000 for this Prius. Basically, my ex-fiance owes me $12,500 in a settlement outside of court and the way shes paying it is paying off the rest of my Prius Loan. Basically, I drive this car for free. Although there is still a loan on it technically, Im not paying any of it and havent paid anything on it since Aug 2025.

So ya know, since the Si sold for $15,000, I effective got this Prius for free, or you could call it a direct trade.