tire decision

so my OEM's are on there last leg and i am looking for replacements.below is the list i narrowed down to, any input is much appreciated. I did do some searches on the forum but figured i would ask anyway. Prices are on the rim out the door and the standard size (185/65/15). i drive mostly highway.

Yokohama Avid T4: $95

Pirelli P4 four seasons: $95(on sale), these get great reviews on tire rack, But the guy at the shop suggested against them due to them being a heavy tire and that would effect my mpg. dont know if i completely buy that reasoning.

Goodyear Assurance fuel max: $112 , This being a newer tire i cant find a lot of reviews on it.

I would like to stay around the $100 a tire mark.

 

Like i have said before, this is the list i narrowed it down to. I am familiar with that tire, but it obviously did not make it due to my preferences. thank you for your input.

As for going up in size, i cant really say i had any issues with handling on my old crappy OEM's. But i will take a look and see if it brings any new tires to the table.

to elaborate: i would prefer not to buy online(i live 5 minutes from like 5 tire shops), we don't get a ton of snow and if we do the prius is not the first choice to take out, i am looking for something around $100 on the rim

 

The fuel max is still a fairly new tire with not a lot of feedback on tire rack. I would be afraid they just took a tire and slapped fuel max on it to get people to buy it now that people are on the gas savings rave.

 

it would be nice if every tire had measured rolling resistance data, but we don't seem to be there yet. The pirelli is said to use silica in there tire tread compound, but who knows how low there actual rolling resistance is.

 

I think you missed what i was getting at. Just because Goodyear tells you this will yield you more mpg, doesn't mean it will. If there was data backing it up then i would consider them, but to my knowledge there is none. the proof is in the pudding. and since these are new, there is not a lot of pudding.

looking on Goodyear site they say they used a new compound (probably includes silica like the new pirelli's) to get better fuel savings.

 

i was referring to like tire rack's test data, or something from consumer report. but even opinions from you or others is more valuable (IMHO) then claims from Goodyear.

The only data i get from Goodyear is as compared to the standard Goodyear Assurance tire tested on P195/65R15 size — 2008 Honda Civic i should gain ~4% fuel economy improvement.

 

well i picked up the pirelli's on the way home from work today. i will post with some results later. the drive home felt nice.

On a side note i learned about the rear alignment issues today. He told me that the rear was off a little but he felt that the it would not effect the handling or the tire wear, but its something to keep and eye on. I have to go back tomorrow to get the print out because i forgot it there. he said he couldn't fix it there because they did not have the shim kit, but a dealer would be able to if the problem worsens (he said the dealer would charge me a lot in man hours). I did some searching and thought that dealers would not shim, maybe things changed? i hope its not to bad and still in spec.

 

so its been a little over a week and a couple hundred miles and so far i am very pleased with the pirelli p4 4 seasons. So far i am avg 47mpg(down from 50 ) which is to be expected. I am also still running at stock tire pressure. In the next couple weeks i may bump it up a couple. The only bad thing i could say is road noise may have gotten a little worse, but its not like i had db ratings with the old tires, so i cant say for sure. Everything else is a definite improvement.