Putting "real" tires on my Prius

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Putting "real" tires on my Prius | PriusChat

Let me just say that in 20 years of driving, I never had punctured tires until I got the Prius. Thin, light, high-inflated tires and I've had 2 punctures... not really a surprise, but the punctures have both come at very bad times. This one yesterday can't be fixed.

I've got almost 40k on the OEM Yokohama's and had hoped to get through this summer, run my snows this winter again, then get 4 new tires in the spring but this latest puncure has accelerated that plan.

I didn't want an OEM tire this time. I do too much bad road/dirt road driving for those baloney skins again.

So I'm at the tire store and looking at the choices. I decided to go with 4, new ContiProContacts which I see well-reviewed on many forums. I considered the Eco+ version of that tire but they don't have them in stock so what the heck.

It's a 400AA tire, the Yoko's were 320BB... not that I really understand what that means. The EcoPlus Version of the Contis is 600AB.

These tires have MUCH more tread depth then the OEM's so I'm hoping for a bit better puncture resistance, wet handling, and bad road durability. I also got the road-hazard warranty ($10/tire) which I think will come in handy.

I'll be curious to see if they effect my overall MPG noticeably. I'm actually guessing the won't, but we'll see. I already get less then what most PriusChat members think is "good mpg" due to the area and conditions I drive in, but I'm extremely pleased with my overall which is 44mpg± (low 40's in winter, high 40's in summer). Any per tank average between 40 and 50 I'm very happy with.

 

With 300 miles on the tires I'm pretty confident I'm loosing 3mpg±. It's worth the trade off imo. Ride and handling is excellent. In particular, they are noticeably better in the rain at highway speeds as I experienced on a round trip to Burlington today. Not even a hint of hydroplaning in the trucker-rutts which was a real problem with the OEM tires, even when new.

The round trip to Burlington is a worst case scenario for my car, always has been. It's uphill both ways at 70+ mph. I generally saw 47-48 mpg for that trip. Today I got 45 exactly. "Around town" MPG seems less effected. Before I headed to Burlington today, my tank average (I filled up after getting the tires) was ± where it generally is this time of year (51ish).

I lose more like 5-6 mpg with the snow tires but rememeber that (at least for me) a big part of that is the very cold conditions as well. Anecdotally, I'd say that the winter TIRES lose me 3 mpg, the winter WEATHER loses me another 3.

These Conti's only have half of that negativity so the 3 mpg I saw so far makes sense.

Disclaimer: Anecdotal observations

 

Safe handling definitely trumps a few added MPG for me. I work from home, this is my wife and son's commuting car.

 

My first tank on these is actually pretty consistant with my first tank on the OEM tires (which I put on the car for the first time after having the car delivered with snow tires Dec. 10). That's one tank with a long, not-Prius-ideal, trip on it.

I just pumped them up to 40psi (sidewall says max is 51, tire place set them at 32) so that will help immensely. I'll be curious how these wear-in and effect MPG.

 

So after a few miles of wearing in, I'm getting average MPG's pretty much where I've always been. Maybe -1 to 2 mpg depending on the travel.

Handling is much improved. The grip on corners is noticeably better. Hydroplane resistance is massively improved. Ride is smooth and quiet. Very pleased.

This was a week ago….

And this was the most recent fillup vs. the same time period last year…

July 14th, 2011, 46.67 MPG​

July 17th, 2012 47.92 MPG​

Again, I realize you non-wintery flat landers do way way better then I do in general and that's fine. I think my lifetime 44 mpg average isn't going to change too much from the tire switch. I'm also switching to a smoother winter tire this year (Blizzaks, instead of the very aggressive iPikes) so I'm hoping to bring my winter average up a little to compensate.

 

Old thread, but I'm onto non-LLR tire #2. The Conti's wore our pretty quick, 2 of them wouldn't pass inspection this spring so it was necessary to replace them. Overall I was pleased with them, especially for the price. They got louder as they aged but the MPG came back up a bit as well. I'd say it was still 1-2mpg average less than the OEM Yoko LLR tires were.

After reading every thread on here about them I settled on the Michelin Defender. I considered the E/S but at this point I value durability over the extra couple of MPG. I got Town Fair Tire to match TireRack's online price and, along with the $70 Michelin rebate and all the "free" extras TFT offer (like snow tire swaps, flat repair, etc.) it was a good deal on a very high quality tire.

So, things I was looking for: High quality tire, deep tread and circumferential grooves for wet weather performance, long term durability.

The day after I got them I did an all-highway trip to Mass and back and averaged 49.5 for the tank. This was with pressures at 32 all around. That's about as good as I ever see for an all highway drive since much of it is very hilly up here in New England. ONce it flattens out in southern NH, MPG's come back up but then it's all uphill on the way home so it evens out.

I've set them at 40psi all around now and we'll see how it does on my wife's regular commute over a few weeks. I'm expecting to land somewhere pretty close to the OEM Yokos, and certainly better than the Contis for MPG.

All that in context of course, I know I get "bad" MPG by PriusChat standards. The car has pretty much always got around 49-50 in summer, and as low as 40-42 in winter on dedicated winter tires. Long cold winters, and very little "city" driving.... lots of hilly highway travel at 70mph.

Other than that, 85k miles in 3.5 years and we are very happy with the Prius. Great family commuter car, huge interior, no issues to speak of. Now that I've replaced my old 96 Accord with a 2005 4Runner we have a 2-car "fleet" that pretty much suits every need and want we have for our automobiles.

 

By OEM, I meant the OEM tires my car came with, which, in my opinion, were too "thin" and vulnerable on bad and dirt roads. A non-LLR tire (generally) has a deeper, thicker tread and is therefore, more durable for the kind of driving I need to do.

And that panned out exactly as I expected over the ensuing years.

 

Well, there IS a posted minimum of 55, but that's beside the point. I have no interest in traveling that slow. There's a whole lot of nothing between here and there and I like to cover it as quickly as possible within the confines of the local law enforcement.

Uphill both ways meaning there is constant uphill and downhill. Unlike, say, my home to Boston where its all basically down hill once I get past New London NH.

I know some of you guys take your hypermiling really seriously, I don't. High 40's driving normal speeds has always been fine with me and I've never complained otherwise.