New Tire Tests from Tirerack.com

A quick little summary/analysis of the test data for LRR / MPG purposes

*(not sure how they got this as 581.4/574.7 and inverse don't give that percentage difference, same goes for 25.8/26.1 and inverse)

July 26, 2011 tirerack test 205/55/16
Michelin HydroEdge Green X ---
Hankook Optimo H727 -1.17%*
Goodyear Assurance TripleTred All-Season -3.17%
General Altimax HP -3.57%


July 9 2010 tirerack test 205/55/16
Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max ---
Continental ProContact w/EcoPlus -0.36%
Kumho eco Solus HM KR22 -1.44%
Michelin HydroEdge Green X -1.44%

Combining those two test sets into one comparison I get

Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max* ---
Continental ProContact w/EcoPlus* -0.36%
Kumho eco Solus HM KR22# -1.44%
Michelin HydroEdge Green X** -1.44%
Hankook Optimo H727*** -2.59%
Goodyear Assurance TripleTred All-Season## -4.56%
General Altimax HP**** -4.96%

# One tirerack review mentions this tire having very poor wet traction. Not a lot of reviews on tirerack. Probably worth avoiding.

## considerably more expensive than the Altimax HP.

* Good fuel economy at the cost of poor to average winter traction. Might be OK for summer tires in a Summer/Winter rotation.

** considerably more expensive than the Altimax HP but at least it gets better gas mileage and has good performance characteristics.

*** Superior winter performance and quiet / softer ride at the cost of a little bit of jiggle / slow steering response. Can be improved by running at higher PSI in the summer.

**** The Value choice for those who don't put a lot of miles on their car, strong performance at the cost of higher rolling resistance than the LRR crowd.

Sep 17 2010 tirerack test 205/55/16
Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring*
Continental ContiProContact
Michelin Primacy MXM4
Bridgestone Turanza Serenity

* Note this is NOT the same tire as tested in the July 9 2010 test. Both are 205/55/16 but one has a load/speed rating of 89H and the other has a load/speed rating of 91T and is LRR.

Since there is no overlap in these 4 tires vs the 7 tires above them we can't combine the data.

--------------


Aug 12 2009 tirerack test 185/65/15
Michelin Energy Saver A/S* +4.74%
Bridgestone Ecopia EP100*# +4.12%
Yokohama dB Super E-Spec# +2.81%
Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max +0.37%
Goodyear Integrity ---
Michelin HydroEdge Green X -0.59%
Goodyear Assurance ComforTred## -2.64%

note the Fuel Max vs Hydrodge are only 0.96% apart but we previously say they are 1.44% apart in the other test. That difference is primarily due to the differing tire sizes. Larger tires have more rolling resistance and generally weigh more.

Again we can't combine the data.

* Michelin Energy Saver A/S vs Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 seems to favor the Ecopia on it's lower price and similar test results.

# The Ecopia and dB Super E-Spec are listed as Summer tires. Might be OK for summer tires in a Summer/Winter rotation.

## No longer available on tirerack in a 15" size appropriate for the Prius. Look at the other LRR or non LRR tires instead.

 

Also, right now finding the Michelin Energy Saver A/S is essentially impossible. I managed to get my set in April, but had to get them shipped in from Indy through TireRack (else wait a few weeks until they got them at their warehouse here). I love the tires, though. Quieter, better grip, softer ride than the Yoko Avids that came on the car. I ran 40/38 with both tires, and the only time I get slippage is in the rain and on the paint lines on the road from a dead stop.

Justin, did you ever get a chance to follow up with Michelin to see if they had any updates on availability?

 

The Michelin A/S tires....are these the ones with a $75 rebate and have been back ordered forever?

I don't know when I'll have to replace my tires (likely around next spring), but if I wanted to go with these tires, how soon in advance should I order them to be able to have them put on the car.

I don't think the wife will be overly supportive of me ordering them now and having them hang around the garage for 6 months.....but then again, this is $75 we are talking about.....that will buy some flowers to go with the tires.

 

Thanks for doing the leg work. I tend to not want to talk to anyone on the phone anytime I'm not at work lol. I've slowly regressed into the non-verbal communication forms.

I'm skeptical about the demand out stripping supply thing. It's not like they were selling and gone within a few weeks. I wonder if they're having production issues, because if it was such a hot selling tire they would find a way to get them to the distributors. Even more so considering the price they were selling at. I won't need tires for quite awhile, since mine are only about 6 months old. I'll probably re-evaluate based upon price next time I need tires. I got stuck between the rebate periods when I got mine, though.

 

I would LOVE to order them now and wait. But I can't figure out how. Every place locally I've talked to say that the back order is longer than they're willing to hold the order for. Costco won't do it. Les Schwabe won't do it. How do we demonstrate to Goodyear that we want the tire if we can't order it????

I don't need them this minute, but I'm getting close, and would like something new on there before the rains *really* start up again.

 

Oops. Never mind.

 

F8L,

If you can, check on the LRR qualities of your Primacy MXM4 and my MXV4 if you don't mind.

Dwight

 

Please, please tell me by "AVIDs that came on the car" do you mean:

1. That it is a 2010 or newer Prius
2. 195/65/15 tire size
3. Yokohama AVID S33D

I see so many people on Priuschat say "the Yokohama that came with my Prius" or "the Avids that came with my Prius" and I've yet to find one that will reply to confirm which of the 10+ possible Yokohama AVIDs out of this list

Ultra High Performance All-Season
AVID ENVigor (W)
AVID W4S

High Performance All-Season
AVID ENVigor (H&V)
AVID H4S

Standard Touring All-Season
AVID TOURING-S
AVID TRZ

Passenger All-Season
AVID C33
AVID S33
AVID S33B
AVID S33D
AVID S34B
AVID S34D
AVID S34F

It'd be nice to confirm which it really is.

edit: for the record I have the AVID ENVigor (H) 185/65/15 on my 2005 Prius bought retail from a "Freeservice Tire Store" locally. It makes it hard to discuss my tires on Priuschat when the average PC member doesn't know there are so many Yokohama AVID possibilities. I have to think there will be plenty of people that assume all "Yokohama AVID"s will be as bad as the "Yokohama AVID" they got with their Prius.

 

Yes, the OEM is the Yokohama Avid S33D. I was only able to get about 33K out of my tires and they were very noisy, especially at the lower tread depths.

 

My Yokohama Avid S33D seemed noisy from day one. At 40/38 psi they were also a bit rough on the bumps. I got rid of them after a year and had some cheap Firestone tires put on. They were a little quieter, had what seemed to be better grip, but gave me a whoopin on the fuel economy. I then took several recommendations and got the Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires when I got my new wheels. I know, it was wasteful on my part with the tires and money, but I did sell the OEM wheels w/ the Firestone tires on them to someone. I'm much happier now with the Michelin, and with FE around 50 (even for a 5 mile commute) it's hard to complain.

 

That is correct. I should have been more specific, esp for the PCers that aren't as familiar with what we are discussing in detail.

I've had other Yokohama tires in the past on other vehicles and were quite happy with them. Granted, those tires were on a different vehicle, and too long ago for me to remember anything about them. I have seen/heard in the past that Yokohama overall makes pretty good tires.

 

I love my Continental ProContact with EcoPlus tires. I agree with their real world testing. The ride comfort, low noise and smoothness is amazing. I have over 10k miles on it. Will see how things goes as I rack up more miles.

They gave it 2nd place because the dry traction is less than the competition. The way I look at it, it provides the best traction on wet surface and the lowest delta (consistent performance) between dry and wet (10 feet in stopping). The worse offender has a delta of 37 feet!

 

Nope, I have not. I would write a review on TireRack once I have a full year with them. I have not driven it in NY snow. That'll be in March 2012.

For Prius size, ProContact EcoPlus is also the lightest tire. The price isn't the lowest vs. competition but it beats Michelin. Due to the price, it doesn't meet the free GPS offer.