MPG Drop With New Tires

Tire Tech Information - Tire Rolling Resistance Part 3: Changes to Expect When Switching from Worn-Out to New Tires
Why mileage gets worse in winter | PriusChat

 

I'm not a master mechanic but I would say check the obvious like pressure and I'm guessing you have already. Was the size identical or was that changed? Interested to hear what others say.

 

It'll be interesting to see how mileage is after 2-3K miles, at the 5 or 10K mile mark AND after the weather gets warmer. I have 2 EP422's and don't recall any mileage drop from them vs. the Integrities they replaced.

I also have two Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS which aren't really LRR.

 

I may be off base here but the more expensive tires sometimes do better with mileage, breaking and noise.

 

I'm almost certain there's some other factor at work. We used WRG2 as snow tires, on a previous Honda Civic Hybrid. The stock tires were Bridgestone Insignia SE200_02, and then replacement Ecopia EP20. Whenever I switched over to the WRG2 mileage got worse, by at least 10%. Even when the Ecopia EP20 were brand new.

The WRG2 are billed as LRR, but they are also an "all weather" tire, with aggressive tread and grippier rubber compound. For us they seemed to do best for mileage on highways, not so good in stop-and-go.

 

I recently sold my BMW after 7 years. The car came with Bridgestone run flats. Horrible tires. The ride was hard, noisy and just no grip. The dealer Evan's tire recommended Pirelli's. I read about them and decided to make the investment. The cost was more than the other tires from Michelin, Yokohama, Falken, Cooper etc. It was worth every penny. Not any people realize the difference great tires make in driver experience. Safety, reliability, comfort and other areas. Tires is perhaps the one area where you don't want to be penny wise and pound foolish. No trying to lecture since I have had my share of cheap tires.

 

Yeah... I'm no tire connoisseur and am not trying to buy the grippiest tires on my Prius but I can safely say the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040s that came on my former 350Z weren't that great. When the rear wore out, I replaced the rears w/Michelin PS2 tires and those were WAY better. I could take turns quicker w/o the rear-end sliding.

The stock tires that came w/my 02 Maxima GXE (Goodyear Eagle RS-A, IIRC) were also pretty crappy. They'd squeal very easily.

 

Ask the manager at the tire store for help. Maybe he can make a Deal to swap it out for something else. Not sure what are good tires for the Prius. I got Yokohama AVIV but I hear they are OEM tires and what is available on the resale market is a different tire but same name.

My friend had a similar experience with Michelan, she said her tires was a different size that the store put on and it through off all the measurements on the dash for MPH MPG speed etc. They took the tires back. The salesman tried to sell what he had rather than what was best.

 

I would give it a little time. Personally, I am a big enough fan of the WRg2 to pay the extra $, but even those tires need a short break in period to produce the max MPG. Report back after 2-3k.

 

I shop online for them and install myself. I usually use MK discount tire, 1 day ship to me in Jersey, and they will match the best price online for them. currently 113.00 + ship @ tire savings.com Certainly more expensive than the Ecopias, but in my opinion, worth it.