Prius V handling in the rain? And best replacement tires for the V.

Welcome. There hasn't been much rain here and I can't make a comparison to a IV. However, IMO the tires are woefully underinflated. Max. sidewall pressure is 51psi. At that pressure I have experienced zero handling problems and can take turns at 25mph.

 

Our V has approximately 4100 miles, and several of those have been in the rain. Our V is equipped with Mishlin's, which do a decent job in the rain. Remember that the V's tires are 215s vs. the IV's 195s, the larger size alone will provide better performance.

Keep in mind factory tires are general purpose tires, and are required to do multiple jobs, and do a decent job of compromising all of them. They must offer good dry, wet, cornering, stopping and some degree of performance, and do at least average, and preferably good to excellent in all of those catagories.

I would suggest to you NOT to inflate your tires to the maximum sidewall pressure if you do a medium to heavy amount of driving in the rain. Over inflating your tires will significantly reduce the contact patch area and dramatically lower your frictional coefficient, thus drastically impairing your ability to accelerate, stop and corner.

Road racing cars do NOT increase tire pressures when it comes time to run any perticular stint in the rain, this is just counter productive.

David (aka Blind Guy)

 

I have about 2800 miles on my V with Toyos. Rain performance is fine. I think the overall handling is very good, not substaintially different from my prior car, a Lincoln LS. I didn't drive a IV since I was only interested in a V, but my friend has a 2007 Prius. I'd say the ride is slightly better and noise level is a little less in his car. However, the ride is perfectly fine in my car, and it's only at highway speeds that my V is a little noiser than I'd like. I test drove a V with Michelins that I thought was a little quieter than the Toyos. I'll look for quieter tires (if possible) when it comes time to replace the Toyos. My tires are inflated to factory specs. As David notes above, don't overfill them. I'm really happy with my V and would buy it again in a second.

 

If you are going with the 17" I would recommend you take a good look at the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position. A very good tire all around.
For the 15" my two choices are Micheling HydroEdges, as they last forever and have fantastic levels of grip dry and wet. Then the Michelin Energy saver A/S, (what I'm buying to replace the factory Ecopia EP20's) simply for their outstanding fuel economy ratings.

 

We have a II and a V so perhaps I can offer an observation or two. The V with Toyo's handles well enough in rain, the overall feel is noticeably tighter and more responsive to steering input on the road than is our II. The V with Toyos is noisier on the road than our II, you really hear the pavement surfaces... I've driven them both at higher speeds and the V is no sports car... in spite of the road feel, at high speeds both cars feel a bit vague at 90+ mph... But for more modest driving, the V does deliver a markedly crisp driving experience that makes it refreshing to drive briskly at more moderate speeds. Useful for "rollercoasting" curves to retain speed/energy when hypermiling. BTW, those 17" wheels look great on the Prius! It turns heads more than our II, I notice numerous double takes...