Need tire advice (poll)

Take a look at what is available and prices in the 205/55/16 size. This is a much more popular size and there is a greater choice of tyres at surprisingly cheaper prices. This size is fine for the Prius with no clearance problems. In the UK and EU all gen2 Prius come with 16 inch wheels.

This applies to both summer and winter tyres.

John (Britprius)

 

GenII traction is abysmal -- or should I say the fact that loss of traction causes the car to shut down is horrifying -- so my vote would be to get dedicated winter tires and run them from November to April. Run all seasons for the rest of the year.

Since I don't agree with summer tires, I abstain from the voting.

 

Can you be a bit more specific than "up north"? Exact street address not needed, LOL, but what region?

FWIW, our Canadian 3rd Gen Touring came stock with 17" aluminum rims, but for snows we're using steel Corolla rims with Michelin X-Ice in 15".

 

The 205/55/16's (tyres) will go strait on your existing rims. The extra width improves traction and makes the car much more stable at speed. I run this size as do many people over here. Strange as it may seem the rolling resistance of this size is lower than the 195's so you get better fuel economy.

If you fit the 205's you will not go back to 195's.

John (Britprius)

 

Extra width with snow tires gives less traction. Narrow tires give better traction on ice and snow. H

 

Sorry Harold I disagree else why would you lower tyre pressures for ice and snow if not to put more tread on the surface. For water on the road I would agree as this helps reduce aquaplaning.

John (Britprius)

 

Hi john. More weight per square. Inch. Skinny tires are best for snow and ice. Goggle it. Winter rally cars do not use fat tires. You may be corrrect John?. H

 

Trust the Canuks....they know of what they speak when it comes to ice and snow....and trust an Oregonian when it comes to rain, wind, fog....

I read mucha paginas of info when I was trying to figure out my best bet for ice/snow work.....Harold's observation is dead-on. I finally gave up the hassle though and have just gone to tire chains. When you know how to put them on, it really is not that big of a deal (and I only need them a dozen or so times a winter...).

 

Look in the handbook it tells you what rating tyres you should fit, but higher rated tyres are not any more expensive.

John (Britprius)

 

First, in Minnesota, you might need chains often enough that you DON'T want to hassle them.

Secondly, the higher the speed rating within a particular line of tires the more they will cost -- $$$$ -- sorry John, that's the case here in the U.S. Only makes sense, more cost in testing, materials, etc.

Third, it is NOT illegal to put tires with a lower speed rating than called for on your car in the UNITED STATES.

It may be different in merry Olde England, Austria, Spain, or Nigeria... Maybe even Canada, they do crazy things in the land of Canada.

The problem with buying lower rated tires is two-fold -- the tire dealers make more money on V-rated tires than T-rated tires and thus want to sell more V-rated. Also, there is the whole liability issue. If your car calls for V-rated, they put on T-rated and there is some sort of failure they might face some sort of liability.

I dealt with this whole issue when I had my Mustang as a teen. I worked hard to earn the cash, bought the car and when I needed new tires the tire shop tired to stick me with high-performance tires I could not afford. They claimed it was a safety issue.

I talked to my family's mechanic as well as the Ford dealer (O.K., my father did) and they all established that it was perfectly safe to put a lower rated tire on the Mustang. Just had to find a tire shop that would do it. We did. Drove that car with the "inferior" rated tires for a couple of years with no troubles.

 

No it is not against the law to put lower rated tyres on the car ,but the insurance company will refuse to pay out in case of an accident if they spot usage of the wrong tyres even if the tyres had nothing to do with the accident.

The speed rating of tyres unless very high performance in Europe does not greatly affect the price. The price is more affected by production costs, mainly the numbers produced. This also affects the price of tyres by size.

A larger tyre is not always more money than a smaller one of the same make and rating. The 195/55/16 is more expensive by a good margin than a 205/55/16 because many more of the 205's are sold even though they contain more materials and molds ect have to be bigger.

Again numbers sold also affects the choice of tyres. At the last count there were less than 35 different 195/55/16 tyres available our largest tyre retailer, there were over 120 different tyres in the 205/55/16 size.

The difficulty arises that in the UK we have a 70 mph max speed limit however if we go over to mainland Europe there are roads with no maximum limit so tyres have to be rated at minimum for the car insurance wise.

John (Britprius)

 

Pdq, have a look at Nokian WR g2 as they are a all weather tire. I run them 100%, and think they are great. They make my Prius a very compfortable auto. A bit pricie but one good tire. Check out thier Web Page. Oh and they are LRR. H

 

Not true in the USA.

 

The 205's actually improve (make more accurate) both speedo, and the MFD fuel consumption figures. As I've said before many people in the UK, and on PC from the US with touring versions of the Prius use this size.

As far as confusing computers this is pure BS, as long as you fit a full set of 4.

John (Britprius)