Tire question

Not a great handling tire in the wet, nor are they long lasting.

When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green

 

I vote bad. They get progressively less pleasant as time goes on. It would be difficult to find a worse tire as a replacement.

 

A little confused here, Smirv asked about Goodyear's, however this is a Prius III forum so the 15's don't normally come with a Goodyear tire. And everyone answering him seems to own a Prius II, not Prius III.

Unless he means a Prius II, in which case he is posting in the wrong forum.

 

Sorry, can't help you : mine was coming with Michelin Primacy

 

So far as I know, those are the only Goodyears it could come with.

[Edit: it might come with these Goodyears, same TireRack test]

Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max

 

Don't know about the Goodyears. My OEMs are Yokohama brand 15s. Only gripe I had was the dealer left 60 psi in them at delivery.

 

For US cars, there are 3 OEM tire choices on the 15" wheel - Goodyear, Bridgestone, and Yokohama.

I would place them in this order:

-Bridgestones [Ecopia 20]: Best ride, best for low noise, mediocre handling and traction.

-Yokohamas: Better handling than the Bridgestones, but more noise and sharper ride.

-Goodyears [Fuel Max, or whatever they call them]: Inferior in every respect - avoid these things if you have a choice. I deliberately passed over any car on our dealer's lot with these tires.

So far, at 3k miles, the Bridgestones are smooth, wearing evenly, and are reasonably quiet. Given a choice, I would swap them for Michelins in a heartbeat, but right now have chosen not to spend the money. If the only choice had been the Goodyears, they would already be gone, no matter the cost.