Does anyone have any experience with Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tires? Or, for similar price ($110 installed) I can get Toyo Extensa or Yokohama Avid Touring S - what would be the best?
I put on a set of Fuel Max tires, on a warranty replacement from Good Year after 24K miles. They are an improvement over the Intregrity tires. There are better performing tires available, but the 45% savings made it worthwhile. I got the 185/65 x 15 OEM size, and the average MPH didn't take a hit or improved in some cases. They should wear longer and the handling is OK- better in cross-winds. I'm not familar with the Toyo tire. I did look at Yokohama tires for my RAV-4, some of the general comments on them were unfavorable. (Of course, it was a much larger size.)
Ditto what priusincc says. Better all around tire than the Integrity and its a P-Metric radial too to pump it up more. Just make sure you get the little gas gauge on the side or it'll be a normal Assurance tire. There are probably better tires out there but the difference is night and day from the Integrity. A lot quieter too as the road noise was down. I got an instant 2 MPG increase using just the standard tire pressure.
I bought them for my 07. Since buying them, I put over 20,000 miles and so far they show very little wear. Right now they are on tire rack for $76.00
I just picked up a set (4) of these yesterday evening (tire pressure 42/40) and ran them for 100 or so miles to break them in a bit right after. During the breakin, I was down about 10 mpg, but once that 30 or so mins of driving passed and I wore it down, I was getting +5-10 mpg. (over my norm, not over the -10 mpg :lol I ran them this morning to work (mostly aggressive 65-75 mph highway activity) and I was getting the same change in fuel economy. Very nice. As far as handling, it's much better than the integrity in my book. It feels much cleaner in steering, and while I haven't had any tire slide on either set... this set was just quieter and didn't transfer as much to the car cabin. I've only put 160 or so miles on them, so I can't say much about the longetivity. Mine was $104/tire at Discount Tire.
Then do a cost analysis over the lifetime of the tire compared to other LRR tires. The fuel saver max is a good tire for a great price. Unfortunately they get beat in price by the Bridgestone and Michelins because of the monthly $70 rebates.
The monthly rebate is only for "in stock" tires at tire-rack, and Michelin Energy Saver that I want is always out of stock. So I am thinking of going with Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max...
I have nearly 70K miles on my Goodyear FuelMax tires. They handle much better that the standard tires. They make a huge difference on wet pavement. I figure to get another 10-20K on these tires with regular rotation about every 7500 miles.
I'm very happy with mine. They're wearing much more slowly than the Integritys. Flying off on an old tangent: if you're willing to buy tires two at a time there's no need to rotate. Let the front pair wear out, move the rear pair to the front, put a new pair on the rear. Tires do not gain life by being rotated and there's no safety benefit in uniform wear. Non-rotation is if anything a bit safer than rotation and reduces bother.
didn't TireRack tested Fuel Max and found it inferior to B-stones and Miches in MPG and other categories?
It depends on what you consider inferior. It acheived slightly less mpg but the fact thr tire is less expensive than the Energy Saver A/S and has a better treadwear rating than the EP100 makes it a great economical choice. So it depends on personal choice and what is not on back order.
I have G/Y Assurance Fuel Max as OEM tires on my '10 Pri. and I will not buy them again as a replacement. I now have 36K on them, and I will be "pushing it" to make 40K! They were fine regards mpg, and ride, (?), but last several K have gotten noisy. There is wah-wah out of them on the highway. And the last time I rotated them I found a half inch cut in the center of the tread of one. G/Y tech told me, nothing to worry about just our #$%%^* roads. I have never had tires last this few miles since the days when 12K was all you could get out of any tire! So, I'm giving away my age there, but believe me I have not been hard on these tires. I'm retired, I have no "commute", miles have been racked up on trips, mostly long trips, and all the more why I think they should have lasted longer. Taking to what has been said here on the forum, I have run mostly 40-42 psi in them since early on. And all I feel I got for it was a "harsh" ride, although probably a few mpg as well. I doubt I will run the extra high pressures on the next set of "what-ever" brand. And speaking of that, what can anyone tell me of the Continental ProContact EcoPlus? It's either going to be that or the Nokian eNtire. Nobody out here in "Bubba land" knows what you are talking about when you mention these two tire brands! So Tire Rack will be my "go to place".
I don't believe the tires that manufactures put on new cars are the same quality we buy for replacements. They normally on get about 50% tire ware. I have noticed this on all my new cars! Hal
I have a 2007 Prius and only got 20,000 miles on the Integra tires. Purchased Michelin Harmony and now have 88,000 on the car. Figure I can get 70,000 out of them. Run 42/40 PSI, rotate every 5,000 miles (free with purchase) and get 53 MPG regularly on a 50 mile RT commute with a 1300 foot elevational change at speeds always above 45 MPH. The ride is a little harder (due to high PSI) but the MPG is worth it. Would buy these tires again.