Hi all, Having spent several hours reading through a mountain of replacement tire posts, I have a few questions... We are making a move to a location about 1,200 miles away in a month. I had intended to wait until arriving so that I could get a balance/rotate/repair deal. Because of the new urgency (one tire showing threads), I now need to go with a national chain, so that I'll be able to buy here and get service there. Costco, Wal-Mart, and Sears appear to be the stores with locations in both places. The two primary candidates are: Michelin HydroEdge with Green X Michelin Energy Saver A/S There are an abundance of "HydroEdge" posts here. I believe that the "with Green X" is actually the same thing. If not, please let me know. Other than MPG, I'm most concerned about the noise. I consider the Prius cabin noise (with Goodyear Integrity) to be far too loud. Some have complained about the "HydroEdge" noise, so maybe that isn't the best option? So...considering that I need to buy these from one of the stores mentioned above, I don't want a (major) drop in MPG, and I don't want super-loud tires, what do you recommend? Thanks so much for your help! - Tim
While your at Wal-Mart you may want to check our the Goodyear Riva Fuel Max! If your hung up on Michelin then I think both your choices are good! Hal
Michelin Energy Saver A/S are very quiet.. handle reasonably well in dry/wet, really good MPG. Thing is if you can find them, they are on back order.
I agree with cyclopathic, the tires are quieter than the stock tires and my snow tires - even pumped to 40/38 and the bumps aren't nearly as bad as the other pumped up less. But as noted, hard to find. You might find them on TireRack, but when I ordered them a couple months ago, they had to ship from a different warehouse than the local one.
The Hydroedge is probably the worst choice if you want a quiet tire. I would look into the Primacy MXM4 (it rates very high in all categories) if you are stuck on Michelin and can't get the Energy Saver or go for the Ecopia EP100 or EP422. The Continental ContiProContact with eco rates pretty well too. The Goodyear Fuel Max tires get great reviews by owners on PC as well.
The MXM4 Primacy rides very, very stiff. It works best on heavier cars (like my Jag or Lincoln). The X-Radial is my choice after 300k miles in two Pris. Quiet, good handling, not as smooth as the crapola Integrities-but smoother than a BMW335, and available at Costco last year, and reasonably priced. I've also tried Goodrich (stiff, noisy after wear in) and Comfortreads (marginally better than Integrities).
Do your local stores have these in stock in your size? Both are in short supply. I have the Michelin X and would not recommend it because a floating feeling and a need to correct the steering on the freeways.
I am very happy with HydroEdge. We've put 40k miles on in the last 1.5 years and the tires still perform and look great. They are a bit noisy, but roll easily and hug the road. We average 50 mpg. You have to work with your local Costco to get them.
The Hydroedge rides and drives great, but it does sing a little on the road. Nowhere near as bad as the TripleTreads on my wife's car but if you are picky about noise you won't like them. Fuel economy is maybe 5% worse than stock now that they have broken-in (~30k miles on mine at the moment). I'm not sure "Green-X" means that they actually make the tire more efficient now than before. The Michelin website makes it sound like the tire just passes some benchmark in a test. Some sizes of the tire pass the mark, some don't. If I were buying I might try the Energy Saver A/S since it's pretty well-rated in addition to being more efficient. The only real downside is the 65k tread warranty vs. 90k for the Hydroedge.
Dumped the original Goodyear Integrity's for Michelin Energy Saver AS. I run 38 psi front and 36 psi rear. MPG varies from 52 - 56. Goodyear's NEVER got more than 49 to the gallon. I highly recommend the Michelins.
