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Tires: AVID S33 vs Turanza Serenity Plus vs Ecopia EP422

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by sciguy125, Jun 11, 2014.

  1. sciguy125

    sciguy125 Junior Member

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    Before people get upset about beating a dead horse given the many tire threads, I have specific questions. My car currently has the OEM Yokohama AVID S33. The popular choice for mpg seems to be Bridgestone Ecopia EP422. I'm also looking at the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus. People give benchmarks with respect to the various popular tires, but I haven't found anyone that uses the OEM tires as a baseline. So:
    1. Everyone says that the EP422's have poor handling. But how are they compared to the AVID's? If it's the same or better than what I currently have, then I can live with that.
    2. What are people's opinions on the Serenity Plus? I was only able to find two people on here that tried it. They both said that handling was great but fuel economy was bad. One guy thought about returning them but decided the tradeoff was acceptable, the other did return them. Does anyone else want to chime in?
    I was hoping to have more time for research, but I ran over a screw today and I don't think it's worth patching since I was planning to get new ones in a couple weeks anyway. So, I'll be getting a new set tomorrow.
     
    #1 sciguy125, Jun 11, 2014
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  2. sciguy125

    sciguy125 Junior Member

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    I went with Turanza Serenity Plus because they happened to be on sale. So far, I love them. The ride is noticeably better and they seem quieter. I'll try to report back in a few weeks regarding fuel economy.
     
    #2 sciguy125, Jun 12, 2014
  3. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    I've been on the Serenity Plus since last August. They handle great, are very quiet on the road. They did account for a bit of a mileage hit... probably around 5%, which I consider a fine tradeoff since they feel way more competent than the OEMs.
     
    #3 burstaneurysm, Jun 13, 2014
  4. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    I had two sets of Avids on my car before switching to the EP422 from Costco a couple months ago at 65,000-ish miles. I would get 32k Miles out of a set of Avids with less than religious rotation or alignment and moderately hard cornering and acceleration.

    I can tell you the EP422 handles FAR worse than the Avid, and I won't consider the EP 422 again for that reason alone. Corners that the Avid S33 would handle w/o issue at the same speed cause the EP422 to howl and begin to slide under protest. I don't dislike them enough to get rid of them prematurely and the limits are easy to identify, but I hope that as the tread wears that the shorter tread-blocks will improve handling. When new, and with a less than perfect alignment, the tires also encourage the car to get rather darty on highways with rain grooves - much more so than the Avids, which requires more attentive tracking on long trips.

    The EP422 aren't all bad - they're MUCH quieter than the Avids at highway speeds, even at higher-than-OE tire pressures (42/40).

    The Avids will chunk away though if you're hard on them, such as high speed corner entry or hard departures into fast-moving traffic.
     
    #4 HTMLSpinnr, Jun 14, 2014
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  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    They pretty much covered it. :)

    The Serenity Plus is by far the better tire in all respects except fuel economy. The EP422 is a bit less fuel efficient than the S33D but it has better tread wear and is cheaper once you include the Bridgestone $70 rebate. The EP422 is a pretty sloppy tire in terms of handling but it's the best of those 3 for snow....
     
    #5 F8L, Jun 15, 2014
  6. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Just got myself a set of ep20 tires. Hopefully they'll be better than the ep422 I'm replacing

    SM-N900P ?
     
    #6 JC91006, Jun 15, 2014
  7. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    I'd also like to add that the Serenity is no slouch in the snow either. They took me through one of the worst winters I've experienced and never felt like they were unstable or otherwise up to the task.
     
    #7 burstaneurysm, Jun 16, 2014
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  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    The Serenity Plus is likely better than the OE tires in the snow but I don't think they will best the EP422. Since the two have never been tested together I can't say for sure. Regardless, your experience is helpful and shows they can work well in those conditions.

    Here is more information on the EP422 in the snow.
    Tire Test Results : Eco-Focused All-Season Tires: Do They Deliver on the Promise?
    Eco-Focused All-Season Tires: Do They Deliver on the Promise?

    Here is more information on the Serenity Plus and PureContact in the snow.
    Tire Test Results : Testing Grand Touring All-Season Tires
    Testing Grand Touring All-Season Tires
     
    #8 F8L, Jun 16, 2014
  9. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    Although, in the end user survey, the Serenity and EP422 are pretty much dead matched in snow/ice, but the Serenity beats the 422 in every other category.
    [​IMG]
     
    #9 burstaneurysm, Jun 16, 2014
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  10. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I am always careful not to put too much stock in consumer reviews but when there are enough reporting it is a very useful tool. Just be careful about cheerleading for a tire or product just because you own it. People have a tendency to want to validate their purchases. ;)
     
    #10 F8L, Jun 16, 2014
  11. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    I take them with a grain of salt too, but those surveys have helped me decide between options a few times and I've always been happy with the end decisions.
     
    #11 burstaneurysm, Jun 16, 2014
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  12. BardManY2k

    BardManY2k Junior Member

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    This was just the thread I was looking for. Getting ready to replace my Michelin Defenders with something else. They have been an OK tire, but have gotten very noisy and are not going to last their advertised mileage - I currently only have 55k (90k tire) on them and they are already down to 3-4 32nds... at least I'll get some warranty credit.

    I have been looking at the Turanza Serenity Plus as the likely replacement and was hoping to get some more feedback regarding fuel economy hits and any other input from folks that have had them for a while. I drive well over 100 miles per day, so MPG is a consideration, but as others have noted I wouldn't want to give up safety or handling for a minimal gain. I should note that I took a pretty good hit for the first 20-30k miles on the Defenders too, I am just now getting back to the low 50s as they are almost worn out. I am in Michigan so winter traction is a consideration and a quiet tire is always welcome when spending so much time in the car. Thanks in advance for any additional input you can provide.
     
    #12 BardManY2k, Aug 12, 2014
  13. energyandair

    energyandair Active Member

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    Why are you limiting consideration to those 3 tires?
     
    #13 energyandair, Aug 12, 2014
  14. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    The Serenity Plus is not a very fuel efficient tire when compared to others in this class. It's a good tire at an affordable price, however. I would consider the Continental TrueContact instead. It is overall a better tire and should provide what you are looking for. Obviously, the Energy Saver A/S is the overall winner but I don't trust it in the snow as much as I would the TrueContact or the EP422.
     
    #14 F8L, Aug 13, 2014
  15. gsnnc

    gsnnc Junior Member

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    I tried a set of Serenity Plus tires on my 2011 Prius, but returned them to Firestone because the whined at 55 and 60 MPH. I had them install a set of Goodyear Comforted Touring tires which have quiet at all speeds and also provide a softer ride. I'm not so concerned about handling or even MPG at this point, only noise and soft ride. The Prius is not a Lexus, but the Goodyear tires are the best I've had on the car.
     
    #15 gsnnc, Aug 9, 2016
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  16. gsnnc

    gsnnc Junior Member

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    I tried a set of Serenity Plus tires on my 2011 Prius, but returned them to Firestone because the whined at 55 and 60 MPH. I had them install a set of Goodyear Comforted Touring tires which have quiet at all speeds and also provide a softer ride. I'm not so concerned about handling or even MPG at this point, only noise and soft ride. The Prius is not a Lexus, but the Goodyear tires are the best I've had on the car.
     
    #16 gsnnc, Aug 9, 2016
  17. rj250

    rj250 Junior Member

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    After a lot of reading I chose the Turanza Serenity Plus tires for my 2011 (15" wheels) to replace the OEM Bridgestone EP high mileage tires
    Handling far superior
    Great ride, and quit on the SoCal concrete freeways.
    At 24000 miles less than 1/2 worn, 80% freeway driving.
    MPG cost, 2-3 mpg. Enjoyment increase driving the car, well worth it.
     
    #17 rj250, Aug 12, 2016
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