Better tire choices for the Prius, quite and comfort

have you looked at the goodyear assurance comfortreds? they provide superior noise level and ride and they come in that size. They are also only 74 dollars on tirerack

 

i wish i did, but i refer to http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresult...lay.jsp?type=AS for that information

 

There are several people using the HydroEdge. John1701A and Daniel among them. Search the forum.

Looking at the tread, I don't think any of them other than the HydroEdge would be decent in snow, despite the "All season" claim. The Energys don't even claim to be All Season so they don't fit your requirements. The OEMs are "All season" too, just not all seasons in all places. ;-)

I didn't find the OEMs noisy so it probably depends on the roads you drive. I think you would do well asking people you know that drive the same roads and are using tires you are considering.

 

Have changed tires to Toyo Spectums. The road noice is somewhat higher than the OEMs but the handling and traction is so much improved its off the scale. I also changed size too; 65s at 35psi all around. The OEMs are just too narrow now its like driving a go cart even in the snow. Will run out the OEMs out in the spring, summer and fall and eventually use the Toyos full time.

 

For me, safety is far more important than noise.

 

You bet they are. If possible, it's a good idea to "minus size" the tire.

For example, my parents drive a 2003 Buick LeSabre Celebration Edition. The factory tire is P225 60R16. For winter they run a P205 70R 15.

This also helps plow through deep snow and slush better. A wider tire tends to float and lose traction.

 

8) Robert Taylor,

Goodyear Assurance ComforTred work great in the snow. I had put them on my 04 Prius in December 04. I have no complaints.

Ben

 

8) Robert,

I have not been able to see any reduction in my overall gas mileage as of yet. Maybe once the temperature is able to get above freezing, I will be able to determine, what if any, impact these new tires have on my cars gas mileage. From the current weather reports I might be able to find out next week. They are calling for temps in the upper forties and lower fifties for Monday and Tuesday of next week.

Ben

 

Costco has $60 off this month (thru Oct31) and even though at 30K miles my tires have some tread left, I was thinking before the real rain hits the pacific NorthWest of replacing them.

They list
Michelin HydroEdge $110), Michelin Energy Mxv4 ($106), Michelin XRadial DT ($95) and Michelin X-Ice ($87).

I have had good luck with Michelin's but we have a lot of cement roads here and I'd rather opt for the quietest tire possible.

There have been a number of posts here, but none of them seem to relate any personal experiences with these tires.

Has anyone else taken the Costco deal and the Michelin plunge ?

http://www.costco.com/Tires/SearchResult.a...&cat=3961&MNo=0

I'm looking for Comments for or against any of these.
Thanks
Gw

 

Any idea why Costco doesn't list tires available for the '05 Prius? -- although, I assume it is the same as the '04 as far as tire specs.

 

Has anyone encountered problems getting tires installed at Costco or anywhere other than the Toyota Dealer? I'm due for tires as well, and if I don't get it from Costco, I'll probably opt for Tire Rack. Any suggestions? I saw the Goodyear Comfortreds others mentioned above. Any others?

 

I bought my Hydroedges from Costco before the sale. They use nitrogen which is a plus for me although I had to demand 42/40 pressue. They made a note of it on the receipt and put the recommended pressure on the window sticker to cover themselves. The manager assured me that the Prius is too light for that pressure. I chose to follow the advice from this site.

Tires are great; noise is not a problem; and they really grip wet roads. If they deliver the advertised 85K I'll be very happy. I can't see any difference in mpg.

 

Has anyone installed the Michelin X Radial DT tire that is available at Costco? Is this the same Michelin X Radial recommended in the 11/05 Consumer Reports (page 60)? If you installed them, what did you think of them?

Thanks,

 

I replaced my OEM (Goodyear Integrity 185/65SR15) tires at 45,000 on my 2004 Prius with Michelin MXV4+ 185/65HR15 tires about a month ago. The OEMs still had a little life left but tended to hydroplane easily so I made the switch to get ready for the winter.

The Michelins seemed to have a little harder ride (OEMs and MXV4+ at 42/40 psi) but since my first car was a Triumph TR4, I guess that won't bother me much .

They appear to get slightly lower MPG, but that may be bad data as the new tires are somewhat larger diameter (~.5%) even without taking the wear on the OEMs into account and I need to get more data to be certain and this will take some time.

I'll get my first real data on hydroplaning (none in light rain to date) and possibly snow performance as I am going up to Boston (from CT) for Thanksgiving.

So far I am quite pleased with the new tires.

JeffD