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New tires, drop in mileage by 8 mpg

Discussion in 'Prius v Fuel Economy' started by ElizabethVA, Aug 5, 2017.

  1. ElizabethVA

    ElizabethVA New Member

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    new poster here. I have a 2014 Prius v Two that I bought in 2015. Orig tires were Sumitomo Avid S33. Car had 6k miles on it when I bought it. I was getting average 52 mpg except in high summer, when I ran the a/c (dropped to 49), and winter (dropped to avg 45 mpg). I live in the mountains of Virginia. Normal commute of 20 miles roundtrip, combo of 2 lane and 4 lane. On some trips from town to home, I'll get 63 mpg or better. I'm not a heavy breaker and use Eco mode 99.9% of the time. At 43k or so, one tire had tread depth rating of 2 (according to Toyota dealer service tech) but other three were at 3. He recommended not replacing just 2. I ended up getting 4 Bridgestone Rcopia 422 Plus at the local Firestone. Alignment is fine. I haven't noticed an imbalance. Mpg has dropped to 45 or 46 and it was slightly worse on a roadtrip this week. I haven't checked the cold tire pressure but hot was around 36. I know new tires will cause a drop in mileage but even the manager at Firestone said it shouldn't be that much. I bought the Ecopias for their LRR but at this rate, they aren't doing any good. Any ideas on what's happening or tire recommendations? A lot of what I've found online are old reviews or for older models. Firestone guy said he'll swap these for another set and recommended Firestone Fuel Fighters but I don't think they have good wet/snow traction, which I need here. I'm also going to call the Toyota tech for his opinion. They changed the oil the day before I got the tires but didn't say they found anything odd.
     
    #1 ElizabethVA, Aug 5, 2017
  2. ElizabethVA

    ElizabethVA New Member

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    Note: my phone sucks. More typos than I normally type, lol.
     
    #2 ElizabethVA, Aug 5, 2017
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would ask if you can put a few thousand on them before they switch them out. also, new tires have a larger radius, affecting your odometer.
    definitely set the cold pressure the same as your old ones.
     
    #3 bisco, Aug 5, 2017
  4. ElizabethVA

    ElizabethVA New Member

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    Unfortunately they only have a 30 day "try and buy" period, which is almost up.
     
    #4 ElizabethVA, Aug 5, 2017
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    what do they do with the returns?
     
    #5 bisco, Aug 5, 2017
  6. ElizabethVA

    ElizabethVA New Member

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    do not know. I'll ask when I call on Monday.
     
    #6 ElizabethVA, Aug 5, 2017
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    do you get another 30 day free trial after you switch?
     
    #7 bisco, Aug 5, 2017
  8. mikefocke

    mikefocke Prius v Three 2012, Avalon 2011

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    I potential of difference in tire pressures. Your tire pressure was tested cold (or as cold as it can get in this weather)? Many run higher pressures. I'm at 42/38 now.

    Your 50+ MPG was extraordinarily high with the first set of tires. Especially with you living in the mountains. You must drive mostly on 55 MPH or lower roads.

    Your tires wore out sooner than many. I've experienced only minimal wear at 42k miles on Michelins. I've seen 80-100k reports. I presume you rotate the tires. Have you ever seen the alignment numbers? Alignment can wears tire, mostly does not cause wobble/thump.

    What oil was used? Condition engine of air filter?

    Is the MPG reading calculated of off the display (display known to be optimistic)?
     
    #8 mikefocke, Aug 5, 2017
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  9. ElizabethVA

    ElizabethVA New Member

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    XD probably only get one 30 day trial but I was wondering the same thing.
     
    #9 ElizabethVA, Aug 5, 2017
  10. hchu1

    hchu1 Active Member

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    We have a prius v two 2014 and a 2006, got a new set of Ecopia at Costco for both cars, around 6000 miles ago. Recently had the v rotated and balanced, we are getting around 49-50mpg per the gauge in Houston urban/suburban/freeway driving. I have always had tire pressure at 44/42psi, the 2006 we have gets about 54-56mpg per the gauge and is due for rotation and balance soon.

    I would say increase your tire pressure and give the tires more mileage. Unfortunately, you have a limit as to how long you can test the tires before returning them. I would suggest that if you decide to give the Ecopia another try, get them at Costco, they have a virtual unlimited test of the tires. Contact them for further details.


    2006 Gen 2
    2014 Gen 3 v wagon
     
    #10 hchu1, Aug 5, 2017
  11. ElizabethVA

    ElizabethVA New Member

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    Tested the tire pressure this morning before going to work. It was around 37/38 on all four so I got it as close to 40 as I could with my 15-year-old pump. It was also very early and the pump is very loud. I'll try getting some more in later today before going home.

    Yes, most of my driving around here is 25-55 mph, although every other week I'll have a 20-minute commute on the interstate at 70 mph. But even then the mileage stays around 50.

    Tires were rotated every what, 3000 or 5000? However often Toyota schedules checkups. The tires were balanced when they were put on but not aligned, at least not that the workorder shows. No idea what type of oil Toyota used. Engine filter probably needs to be changed but they didn't bring it to me for permission to do so.

    MPG is the average, which is usually very close to actual miles driven. So if 52 was optimistic, and it's 46/47 now, then I hate to know what realistic is.
     
    #11 ElizabethVA, Aug 7, 2017
  12. ElizabethVA

    ElizabethVA New Member

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    Unfortunately, we have no Costco stores nearby. I'll probably end up sticking with these since they're better than the Firestone tires the manager suggested.
     
    #12 ElizabethVA, Aug 7, 2017
  13. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    49-46=3mpg

    49-47=2mpg

    It's the peak of summer, so you need to compare apples to apples. Wait till fall and see if it goes back up (it will).

    Also at a 15k miles per year average, the difference between 52 and 47 mpg is about 0.5 gal a week.
     
    #13 fotomoto, Aug 7, 2017
  14. catgic

    catgic Mastr & Commandr Hybrid Guru

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    ElizabethVA - You need to raise your "Cold" tire pressures up into the 40s PSI range. The higher you go, the better will be your results as regards Per Tank-Full MPG Fuel Economy. Max Manufacture's "Cold PSI" Side-Wall is as high as you can go. I run my Michelin Premier A/S's@ 45F/44R. My wife just tolerates the road-ride-feel with my keeping this Up-Pressured Level of "Hardness."

    My current Michelin Premier A/S's replaced the OEM 215/50R17 Toyo Proxes. I used to run my OEM Toyo Proxes @ 51F/50R. At the time the OEM Toyo Proxes were replaced at 45,000-miles, my Prius v5 was running at 51+ Lifetime MPG-FE. With the 215/50R17 Michelin Premier A/S replacements on her running @ 45F/44R, my Lifetime MPG-FE has crept down to 49+ with 67,500+ miles on the clock.
     
    #14 catgic, Aug 8, 2017
  15. catgic

    catgic Mastr & Commandr Hybrid Guru

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    Gathered Prius Vee'erz - FWIW FYI: the original of the above post was made-addressed to Seeker-Of-Higher Prius v MPG, ElizabethVA. That original "Reply" post I made this morning, which referenced a post made by a User Named "Coast???XYZ" had more content, and has since been "Truncated, Whacked, Hacked & Heavily Edited" by some "Mystery Editor." The referenced post "Coast???XYZ" made, along with it the text of mine associated with it, has vanished in the few hours since...as has the PriusChat "Coast???XYZ" User.

    What up with that? Just saying...
     
    #15 catgic, Aug 8, 2017
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