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Tire Review - Goodyear Viva Assurance Fuel Max

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by stevemcelroy, May 24, 2012.

  1. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

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    Hey all- Just got new tires so I figure that I would leave my opinion on the old ones for those in the market.

    The OEM Integrities got me through the first 44,142 miles. They still had a tiny bit of usable tread, but I decided to forgo the last little bit of tread as it was November and I wanted something decent for winter.

    I remember researching all of the LRR options and it seemed like Goodyear's Authority Fuel Max tires were a good option. There were a few different versions but I was told by a few sources that all had the same construction and materials and the only difference was the tread pattern. Given this I just went with the least expensive version - the Viva's which are sold through Walmart.

    At the beginning I was impressed - ride and handling were good as was traction in the rain and snow. I had then rotated every 5,000 miles or so when I had oil changes done. Mileage was about the same as with the OEM tires and I was happy with that.

    Everything was fine until recently - the tires were wearing much faster than anticipated - I went from 5mm to 3 over the course of 1 oil change. The final tally on miles driven was just 33,218 - just better than half of what the tires had been rated at.

    So - I was happy enough with mpg, ride and handling and traction, but based on just how quickly they wore out I would not recommend them.

    The new tires are Yokohama Avid Touring-S. I know that I will sacrifice a touch of mpg, but they seemed to be one of the best rated all around tired for under $100 each installed. So far, so good - the ride and handling are terrific, even with the tires inflated at 41/40.
     
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  2. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    I also have the Yokohama Avid Touring S's on my 01. I didn't sacrifice any mpgs but, be careful when it rains. I found that running higher pressure (42/40 for me), limits wet traction on them. If you deflate to 34, they get decent wet traction but that diminishes at higher pressures.
     
  3. sambojoho

    sambojoho Proud conservative

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    I got Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring tires on my 06. They were $75 each installed. They have been good in rain and snow, no MPG difference from previous tires. Have 30k miles on them so far, and still good amount of tread left.
     
  4. bstephens

    bstephens Junior Member

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    I had the same problem with goodyear assurance fuel max tires - did not last very long. Seems most of the tires I have used did the same, except for the tripltreds I had once, but those are not available in the size used normally in the US Prius, but they do fit.
     
  5. PA Prius

    PA Prius Active Member

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    Ditto on getting lower miles from my Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max than anticipated. They also started out nice and quiet and have gotten rather loud. My Integreties wore evenly at high pressure, the Fuel Max are wearing more in the center. Have any of you gotten or tried to get a prorated warranty reimbursement on the less than promised miles?

    PA P
     
  6. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

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    I did not even try - the way that I remember it, the prorated reimbursement was a credit towards a new set of Goodyears. Based on the OEM Integrities and the Assurances I really did not want to go down that road again.

     
  7. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

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    sorry - double post.
     
  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Sounds like it's time for a set of Energy Saver A/S or AVID Ascends. Or you can be the first to try out the new Michelin Defender with its 90,000 mile warranty. ;)
     
  9. Ophbalance

    Ophbalance Member

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    I've presently got 70k on my Energy Saver A/S, and even at high pressure, they're still great in dry and wet weather. They don't seem to tramline (or we just don't have many roads that are grooved in my area) and are wearing pretty evenly across all four tires. I'm going to replace them in 5-10k miles, which would be right around 100k miles on the car. They're right on the cusp of hitting the wear bars at the moment, but they should last me through the summer.
     
  10. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    I got about 35,000 miles on the Fuel Max, they seemed noisy as well. Not a bad tire, just a short lived tire.
     
  11. CharlesJ

    CharlesJ Member

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    Not on my Pri but once on an Avalon with michelin. A huge headache. they want to see all the tire rotations and alignments and even then made you feel like they are doing you a big favor:eek:
    Who makes those tires?
     
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  12. PA Prius

    PA Prius Active Member

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    Michelin.

    It's good to hear that Ophbalance got that many miles out of his EnergySavers. I didn't know they were running that long.

    PA P
     
  13. CharlesJ

    CharlesJ Member

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    Thanks, Yep, 75k miles is great but it is a smallish car;):D
    I'll try to keep it in mind as my originals may not last to 35k.
     
  14. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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  15. Ophbalance

    Ophbalance Member

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    Keep in mind I run the pressure at least as high as the max on the tire, and they've not seen a day under that max since I brought it home. I drive about 600 miles a week, 75% of it highway. And I wonder if the state I'm in (NC) makes any difference. I was truly hoping to hit 100k miles on these tires, but it wouldn't be safe based on how worn they presently are.
     
  16. PriusSport

    PriusSport senior member

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    Somehwre on here, I read Tirerack's test results on the Assurance, Integrity, Michelin's competitor (what's the name?), and one other tire.
    The Michelin tire came out on top--but it's the most expensive. The Integrity didn't fare all that badly against the other 3, and it's the cheapest--significantly. If I needed a tire, I would price out the Michelin vs the Integrity. For mild winter conditions, the Integrity is a decent tire for the money. And its low rolling resistance gives excellent gas mileage and a quiet ride--as long as you don't rotate your tires and mix up the cambers.
     
  17. PriusSport

    PriusSport senior member

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    What's with this new format? First I have to replace my avatar, then my signature.

    Then I write a post here, edit it, and promptly lose it !

    I hope nobody else is having this problem.

    Ok. I'll try again. Briefly, there's a Tirerack testing of these tires somewhere here on this website.
    The Michelin tire is the best--and the most pricey. The Assurance is more expensive than the Intergrity and not that much better. The Integrity is still the best value, but I would consider the Michelin as well. The Integrity has low rolling resistance, great gas mileage and is quiet. None of these tires are any good in snow. I would not recommend rotating the Integrities, as the camber differences make them noisey. They're cheap--just buy a new set every 40K miles.

    [ sorry, my edited post just appeared before this post. It wasn't there when I wrote this. :)]
     
  18. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    If you re-read the test results the Integrity rated poorly in every category except dry traction. Wet traction was downright scary! It is also wears out quickly which puts it near the bottom of the list of quality LRR tires and total cost per mile. With the ever present $70 rebate offered by Michelin the Energy Saver A/S is only $66 more than the Integrity, offers at least 2.7mpg more and 15,000 mile better warranty. :)

    When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green
     
  19. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

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    I just wanted to touch base now and let you all know what I think of the Yokahamas as i find myself here on Prius Chat less and less - I think that the combination of the new forums which I really do not like along with the influx of new members posting about the V and C I find that there are just way fewer threads that are of interest - oh well.

    So on to the tires - they drive very well in the dry and the rain - I have yet to drive in snow with them. I have a touch over 10k miles on them and they seem to be wearing well. All that is great, but the mileage hit that I have taken is way more than expected. Before buying the research that I saw estimated the hit to mileage as 2-4% between LRR tires and regular ones . What I'm actually observing is more along the lines of 8 t0 10 mpg so the hit is more than twice what I was expecting. I'm not thrilled about that, but I keep telling myself that I'm still getting better mileage than just about every other car on the road.

     
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  20. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Sorry to hear about the mileage hit Steve. As I said, I have the same tires and haven't taken a mileage hit. My only complaint is the wet traction when inflated to 44 psi (max sidewall). It may be just me but if I try to take off fast, the tires spin and traction control kicks in (wet pavement).