LRR tires vs. Regular Tires. Is the extra cost worth it?

I got some 17" FRS wheels for my Prius. They will be installed today hopefully. For now, the wheels have some generic UHP tires on them. Two are almost new and the other two are almost completely worn (not beyond wear bars yet)

So I probably have a couple to a few weeks to drive on these. The sooner I can get new tires, the better.

I've pretty much decided I'll be getting 205-50-17s for my wheels. For a while I was looking at the P7 A/S LRR in that size or Michelin Primacy LRR in same size. Those two sets are around $600. For $350 or so I can get a set of "normal" Hankook V2 concept tires. They're also lighter by a pound each at 19 lbs than those other choices.

So they're cheaper short-term and they provide better grip.

So based on a 7% less fuel economy than "normal" tires, my calculations suggest that it would take 5 years to recoup the extra cost of LRR tires (about $51/yr x 5 years @ 12,000 miles) and by that time, you'll need new tires anyway. My #s assume a 50,000 mile lifespan.

The benefits to "normal" tires, is that you have increased safety by way of grip.

At this point I choose to go with 17" wheels, so any differences I am talking about are 17" wheel/tire to 17" wheel/tire. Not versus 15". Obviously by going 17", i'm taking a mileage hit altogether.

Is my thinking out of line?

Seems Toyota might stock the more expensive LRR tires from the factory but not at the benefit of saving money (per car) but achieving the magical 50mpg mark or higher. Basically to be able to brag about the highest FE #s possible for purposes of sales. But if the end result is to save money, are "normal" tires fine? (unless the cost of LRR tires go down)

 

Typically LRR tires are associated with less grip. Tire Rack (not user reviews) seems to agree with this in one of their articles. By the way, I'd prefer a summer tire over an a/s tire as I'm in SoCal.

That aside, the question remains. LRR tires cost more. Is it worth it? Even assuming grip is equal (I doubt it is) but lets say it is.

 

If gas goes up, that means oil goes up. And since oil products are used to make tires, that means tires go up too. It also costs more to transport those tires. Also with lower gas prices, people usually drive more. So if you're driving more, it might make sense to get the cheaper tires. Not knocking LRR tires, I think they're great. But it seems any return on investment you'd gain is minimal and would take many years to see.

All depends on what your priorities are. If you drive a full fledged high performance car, most concerns about economy go out the window.

 

Not this time. I got 52.1mpg indicated on my first commute. About the same # I got with the stock 15s. =) Driving normally. wasnt trying! pretty happy with that

 

Not in the size I wanted. Also not high performance all season. I did my research and weighed the costs, pros, and cons. It's not just about being cheap, but good value + quality + characteristics. So perfect combination of what I wanted =) The ones I got had great reviews and since LRR tires start at the higher end of the price scale, the "cheapest" LRR tires (in my size) tend to be the not so good/not-heard-of ones. The ones that claim "LRR" but not all LRR tires are created equal. I mentioned in another thread my set costs me total OTD $440 w/ a current ongoing rebate. Still 50+mpg and I'm happy.

 

Hi Bob. Are you referring to the black part of my bumper? It's standard. Is there another one I'm not aware of? Mine is a 2015. Looking at the pic though did make me want to mod my grill. Looks like a big area to create drag behind.. but I live in a hot climate so maybe I should not experiment with my new car haha

 

Good to hear you are getting 50+ with 17" tires. I was considering those tires as well. How much did a full set run you installed?

And FWIW, I checked on TireRack's website for my Hankook non-LRR and the description reads Hankook uses a special rubber compound for lower rolling resistance.. but they're not classified as LRR tires.