Learn from my mistake, re. tires

That hurts. I hear ya though. We see it happen time and again. Someone buys a non-LRR tire and they lose a good chunk out of their average MPG. At least they are probably safe tires.

 

great to know. Will have to do more research but I'm about 29000mi from 30,000

 

This is unfortunately the case with many aftermarket non LRR tires. I put a set of Primacy MXV4s on and with my lead foot driving and the colder weather I have been averaging upper 30s.

MB860 ?

 

I recently got my Prius and previous owner put new cheap Goodyear Viva tires from Walmart on it. They had a crappy road feel and one pick up a nail in the side wall so I went lookingfor LRR tires. I went looking for Michlen Energy savers but could not find anywhere,of course I was offered all kinds of tires that were not LRR. I finally found the Bridgestone Ecopia tires at Costco . They even had $100 off a set. even with paying for Costco membership I saved $35 over other tire stores.I am very pleased with them so far.

 

I also installed the Michelin Primacy MXV4 since you could not find the Energy Saver A/S. I have lost 4 mpg from 48 mpg average down to 44 mpg (calculated).

Having said that the MXV4 is a superior tire to the OEM Yokohama Avid S33D. The MXV4 is much better in traction, comfort, handling and quietness. They also have a 60,000 mile warranty which is higher than most LRR.

So, there are definitely tradeoff's between LRR and non-LRR tires. I applaud this post for making others aware of this before they need to replace tires.

 

WOW Critic !!! That is just HORRIBLE. It would just about kill me, as I've gotten used to a solid 48 MPG (calculated) over the first 20K miles. It kills me when I lose a tenth. I don't hypermile, but I drive sensibly with an eye on mileage. I pretty much drive it like a normal car and am satisfied with 48 MPG overall.

Thank you for the input. I may actually stay with the Yokos that the car came with. At least they're a KNOWN given.

Unless of course someone can absolutely recommend something that is better but STILL MAINTAINS THE SAME MILEAGE. I'm at 20K and it looks llike my Yokos will also be dead right around 30K. I'm actually OK with 30K from a set of tires, and I don't really think they're THAT bad of a tire, like most do.

Any advice for a definite improvement in MPG that ALSO increases performance and wet handling ? Is there a 'standard' recommendation that has arisen out of everybody's analysis ?

REV

 

Wow, this just reinforces the decision I made to jump a tad early when energy savers were around! I had Costco mount them, even got $100 off. My milage is even better than the OEM Ecopias gave me! I can understand why many folk can not find these things, they roll off the shelf, pun intended, as soon as they come in!

 

Yes but they are hard to come by. Tire Rack estimates they will be available by the middle to end of the month.

Michelin Energy Saver A/S (best mpg that we know of and ok treadwear)
Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 (excellent wet grip and mpg, not so great treadwear)
Yokohama dB Super E-Spec (Excellent road manners and best handling of the group, great mpg just below the Energy Saver and EP100. Most enviro-friendly)
Continental ContiProContact with EcoPlus (not 100% sure about the mpg but they excel everywhere else and are cheap plus 80,000mile warranty. Luscious Garage's tire of choice)
Nokian enTyre no real test data but you can't go wrong with Nokian. very high treadwear and 80,000mile warranty.
Nokian i3 If they are still available these were great for mpg and handling. Treadwear was good and they looked nice!

Sooooo

If you need an all-season tire choose the Energy Saver A/S or the ContiProContact w/ EcoPlus, both Nokians

if you can get by with a summer tire (still pretty good in the rain just not good for snow) then go with the Ecopia EP100 or the dB Super E-Spec and Nokain i3.

My roomate had the Ecopias on his Corolla and liked them but they only lasted 35k miles. He drives like a maniac and has replaced them with the ContiProContact. I run the dB Super E-Spec and I really like them for handling and road feel to mpg. My only gripe is they are ugly (compared to my old Nokian i3) and have a treadwear good for maybe 45,000miles.

 

I was getting a calculated 43-44 with the Yokos with a mix of city/hwy. City only was 42. With the Michelins, city only, colder weather, the computer is reading 38 right now.

The Michelins are quiet at 35/33 but at 40/38 they are just as loud as the Yokos.

MB860 ?

 

Rev, keep in mind Mike's commute and his lead foot. I believe the last trip he made from Monterey to Sacramento he got 50mpg. I know he lost mpg due to the tires but the main reason he is stuck in the 30s is his type of driving conditions and he doesn't hypermile. Even with my 17s I can average 47mpg if I am careful but as soon as I let my lead foot take over I drop into the 39-42mpg range. :rockon:

I'm pretty confident that I could drive his car on my commute and still pull off high 40s or better despite my 1,200ft. elevation gain. This is not meant as a slam on Mike. I like the guy.

 

Update

I just talked to my ex-roomate and he said that the ContiProContact w/ EcoPlus is MUCH more grippy than his Ecopia EP100s.

 

Tire Rack listed the expected "in stock" date for these as mid-January as of yesterday afternoon:

Michelin Energy Saver A/S (best mpg that we know of and ok treadwear)

I wonder if they keep getting different expected dates from Michelin.

I do feel they are quieter and softer going over bumps than the Yoko Avid S33D tires were. I feel like gripping is better, but that could be me wanting them to be. MPG seems better to me, but I've altered my route to/from work a little bit over the last couple years, so it really is hard to say for certain.

I'm hoping over Christmas weekend to get my winter tires installed (If it's nice outside, I'll do it myself). That'll drop me about 3-5MPG from that alone.

 

Really. I run mine at 40/38 and they are much quieter than my Yokos

 

You're right...apples to apples the Primacy are quieter. I just remembered that I never ran the Yokos higher than 37/35.

MB860 ?

 

Thanks for the update. Michelin was helpful but all I got out of them was to paraphrase them "they'll be available again someday". lol

 

Thanks all for the great info !

Very informative.

REV

 

Glad we could help.

 

Hummm if i lost 15% mpg, over lets say 50k that would be over $500 in wasted fuel costs. Thats a new set of tires. I just got new tires today, had the bridgestone ecopia 20 and they still had tread left at 47k.