TIRES: the 2010 Prius needs new shoes
 

like the title says,

I've got a 2010 Prius that needs new tires
I'm a Michelin fan, (but I don't have to have them)
so I'm looking at the DEFENDER, PREMIER, and ENERGY series (all in A/S trim)

I drive 110 miles/day (mostly going 55-70mph on 2 lane highway) on my commute in the Pacific NorthWest and often encounter heavy RAIN, light Snow, and sometimes a little ice.

I'd like tires that will last a long time, be quiet, fuel efficient, and have good traction :thumbup:

I'd prefer to purchase my tires thru Discount Tire Company (America's Tire Co.)

does anyone have any good info for me?





btw,
I put this in the Hybrid section because of the platform
I didn't see a section for equipment/accessories/tires

PREMIER $120
https://www.michelinman.com/tire/mic...&zipCode=98382

DEFENDER $119
https://www.michelinman.com/tire/mic...&zipCode=98382

ENERGY
https://www.michelinman.com/tire/mic...&zipCode=98382

I personally think I'd probably go with a Bridgestone Ecopia EP422. Its what they have on the Leaf. But, I'd look at other EVs and high MPG cars for options as well.

I like the Continental ProContact with EcoPlus.

But of the above, I'd go with the Energysavers

I put these on the Prius in January: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...utoModClar=Two

I had similar Continentals, but a discontinued model, on my Civic and was quite happy with them, especially in rain and snow. So far, these have been great, and I expect to get 80,000+ miles out of them.

+1, but they're now called EP422 Plus.

Love these things.

Ditto on the Bridgestones. Costco had a crazy good sale on them a while back. I think we paid $260 out the door for a set.

Been big on recommending Nokian's Entryes can be had pretty cheap at simple tires, but I have a front tire thumping like a drummer after 25,000 miles. WRG2 or 3's no issues other than cost.

Maybe I'm too aggressive on the throttle, but I'd spin a ecopias in 3rd gear on wet pavement (and others) IMO if a cobalt can spin them not good wet traction.

I work at Discount Tire. It sucks.(to have to work there...) Otherwise its a great company.

I'm rocking the bridgestone ecopia EP422+es as suggested above. I made the change the same time as a wheel change, resulting in a 12 lb per assembly drop in weight, and switched from a 215/50/17 down to 205/60/16. Even with the width decrease and switch to a more dedicated LRR tire, it appears to have maintained hard corner traction. Straight line traction is slightly reduced. I don't recall how traction is in the rain, but haven't had any hairy situations with them yet. They are not noisy, except when cornering. The higher profile sidewall definitely contributes to corner noise.

I had Ecopia EP422's on my Prius (still do on the front). I can't say I was too impressed by them. Traction and fuel economy were fine, but they seemed to wear way too fast. I swapped back to them from snow tires in May and had to replace 2 because they were down to the wear bars and it'll probably be the same for the other 2 next spring. The first 2 had less than 30k miles and the other 2 will be about 35k miles; I ran about 40-44PSI in them. I replaced the first 2 with Continental Control Contact Touring's, too soon to tell how they'll last.

I would go with whatever has the best wet traction.

I am partial to the Continental True Contacts if you can find in your size, I have had nothing but awesome luck out of mine, and I run mine at 55PSI on a P195/65/15 tire...just my 2 cents!

I ended up with the Michelin Michelin - X Tour A/S T + H (Costco version of the Defender T+H) 80,000 mile all season tires

got them out the door for about $350


I decided to go with these due to the weather I've got to drive in and the long lasting tread. (and not really consider the fuel economy)

now I'm noticing a 5-8mpg drop
(but the weather has gotten cold as well)

we'll see how they do once it warms back up

Didn't see if it was mentioned, but even with LRR tires, there's an mpg hit when new. It seems to take 1-2K miles of break-in before they're optimal.

The cold is probably the lion's share of the change in your situation.

Not only are new tires less fuel efficient, but the increased tread diameter means the wheel spins less revolutions for any given speed. New tires will report less miles driven than worn tires.

well,

they have been on for close to 2K miles now
still getting 5+ less mpg than normal
I had the shop air them up to 38 all around (they were 36F/34R I think)
the best I've seen on my 110 mile round trip to work since the new tires was 46mpg (normally about 49-51 everey trip (and 53-54 in the summer))

I've always loved Goodrich TA RWL, but they are not long tread or low roll resistance. Wish I could find good low rolling resistance long tread life Raised White Letter tires to fit my Prius.

I have these on mine. Very happy with them. I got mine at Costco and am able to get free nitro inflation and balancing.

It was funny because right off the bat the tire technicians recommended inflating them to 50psi, said they wear better at the higher psi than what the manufacturer recommended. I was surprised that they would do this but was glad I didn't have to top off after they finished my car. haha. "Hey wait why are you back? "

The techs at Costco, or at Bridgestone? I always heard over-inflated tires would wear the center of the treads. I kept my tires at 42 lbs/sq in. but my headlight bulbs kept popping off. Guess it was from the harsher ride. Better mileage, though.

Well, it's sort of true. There are things that have a greater effect on evenness of wear than inflation pressure, so it's not only hard to sort out what is causing a tire to wear unevenly, but it's also possible to get even wear in spite of over inflating the tires.

Continental True Contact is my choice. They are quiet with excellent handling. These continental tires are less expensive than Michelin, though I'm not expecting the best tread life out of them.

The techs at costco. The OEM has them set at 44psi so its not a huge stretch. I'm in southern california so we basically don't have weather. Just wild fires, wind, and the occasional cloud.

I've found that running the factory pressure (posted inside the door) ALWAYS gives me uneven shoulder wear (underinflated)

I go 4-8psi over recommended pressure in all my cars
and typically get good even wear

but I'm surprised they'd go to 50lbs for you (I believe that's above the MAX pressure for the tires)