Tires For a Prius

I thought this would be simple. Get new long lasting tires for the 2001 Prius (175/65 R14 84S). Nope, it's not. My only "official" choice is a Bridgestone P175/65R14 XL. Unfortunately this is the OEM tire with a wear rating of 160. These literially desolve on the road. (In fact Toyota replaced the first set as a recall they were so bad.)

Here is the story. (Note that the rotation interval for the 2001 was 7500 miles, not the 5000 of today. Dang things are wearing out by the rotation interval.) Toyota recall replaced the first set. Second Bridgestones lasted somewhat longer but I replaced them with Goodyear Regatta 2's with a much longer wear rating. These have lasted much longer. Front set wore out faster than rear set, but rear flat tire caused me to put two new tires on front and rotate slightly worn tires to back. (Yes, I know this is not recommended but I wanted to even the wear.) Now the rear tires have some cupping (discussed in different thread). Time to replace with best tire possible.

Now here is the rub. 175/65 R14 tires have a standard load rating of 81 (good for a Yaris). The Prius requires a load rating of 84. When I went to get Michelin Harmony's installed after much research, the tire store is not allowed to install these on a Prius. In fact, other than the Bridgestone, I have not found a tire with an 84 or better load rating. It turns out that the Regatta 2's do not have the 84 rating (which might explain the flat!).

I would like to get a long lasting tire of the right size and right load rating. No such tire has been found by me.

Advice welcome.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drifty'sDad @ Sep 5 2007, 09:46 PM) [snapback]507690[/snapback]</div>

I have an '07 as well as an '01. The 07 has a 15 inch rim and has many good tire choices, such as the Triple Tred. The reason for the transition from the 14 inch on the Classics to the 15 inch rims on the HSD Prius's is crystal clear to me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Sep 5 2007, 11:23 PM) [snapback]507743[/snapback]</div>

Excellent help like that is what I am after. The priorities are:
1) Stay with the same size. I only want ot replace the back pair right now. Operating with different sizes is not an experiment I want to run.
2) Stay with very high wear ratings. After 3 Camry's, two Corollas, and one Celica, I have finally connected the dots on how much money is saved with high wear ratings.
3) Operate within the Load rating of 84. This is the rub since 81 is the industry standard. It is accentuated by the present tire stores not wanting to use anything other than a tire of the right road rating (which is a good thing on their part). This leaves me with winter tire (in FL?) or the Bridgestones (fastest dissolving tire ever).

Obviously something has to give. I just wanted to do a good job of homework....like you have done.