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Best Alternate tires for the 2001 Prius?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by derowe, Aug 28, 2007.

  1. derowe

    derowe New Member

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    I have a 2001 Prius with about 140,000 miles on it. I have been using the Bridgestone Potenza RE92 which I hate because of the very low mile warranty.

    Can anyone recommend any alternative tires? Also, I have tried to call Costco regarding their Michelin tires as a possible replacement. But, they said they can sell the tires, but they can't put them on since they aren't specfied for the car. If you can buy alternative tires, who can I get to actually put them on the car?

    Thanks for any suggestions.
     
  2. jk450

    jk450 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(derowe @ Aug 28 2007, 08:04 PM) [snapback]503509[/snapback]</div>
    Just make sure the replacement tires are XL-rated (load rating). They need to be for this car.
     
  3. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jk450 @ Aug 29 2007, 12:48 AM) [snapback]503653[/snapback]</div>
    Thats only if you run them at 35 PSI. Using a higher tire-pressure eliminates that requirement.

    I had really good luck with a pair of non-XL tires that way. Of course, basically anything with a higher treadwear rating will work better than those factory tires.
     
  4. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    do not know what costco's problem is; just about any other indie tire place
    should be able to mount new tires on the existing rims. They've
    gotta be compatible with the *rims*, of course..
    .
    _H*
     
  5. alexstarfire

    alexstarfire New Member

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    Guess I'm the only one that liked the Potenzas. I never had a problem with them, except this weird tread wear issue that probably started with the last owner. I just got my tires replaced at 51k miles, tires weren't even fully worn out, with some Dunlop SP10 tires. Based on my experience of the Sam's Club putting these tires on, I highly don't recommend these tires. Took them damn near 45 minutes just to put the tires on the rims. It was something about the tire not wanting to hold air. I've been trying to make sure they are working right, but since I usually drive every couple of hours it hard to get an accurate tire pressure reading. I'd have done it this morning if the GF wasn't in such a hurry because she was late to work.

    I have some Goodyear Allegras on the back tires and they seem to be fine. They don't have a 50PSI tire pressure rating like the Dunlops on the Potenzas. It's 44PSI instead. I don't know how you guys figure out which tires are best. I've never had a tire screw up on me that wouldn't have screwed up on every other tire. Tire slipped once on a giant patch of pine straw and a few times on big patches of water, like a few inches deep. Was going too fast on the water, but it's a straight road at the bottom of a hill. Kinda expect it. It's not like I'm taking turns at 80+ MPH on the highway hoping that I don't hydroplane on a tiny patch of water.
     
  6. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    the Dunlop SP10's were the OEM tires on the Classic in Canada and I have them on mine and at 30,000 miles they are about 3/4 worn. But I drive it hard and expected that kind of mileage from them. Unfortunatly they are discontinued the next alternative is the Dunlop SP20FE which is the LLR tires on the Civic hybrid and are 50PSI tires. But only available one section size larger than the stock Prius size. So will probably use them next time. If I could find a new set of SP10's I'd buy and store them till these are worn out.