Low Rolling Resistance replacement tires: Current List

Let us know if any increase in F.E.. Then the ride , noise , and handling too . Thanks and enjoy .

 

Last weekend drove couple hundred miles to see my folks and while there hoped to get Michelin Energy Saver a/s put on as not available in my home area. Everywhere was sold out. Had Michelin Defenders put on instead. 185/65/15 Put about 600 miles on them so far. Been running all over for work in the last week on a variety of road surfaces. MPG increased about 4-5 mpg over the cheap junk all season tires I previously had on last spring/summer/fall. Initially had the Defender's at 35 psi. I increased it to 40/38 and they were quieter, handled great, braked great, an overall improvement. Did fine in the rain. They feel really "solid" for lack of a better word. I know they are suppossed to be quieter at lower psi but I swear they are quieter since I increased to 40/38. Did notice slight difference in "comfort" however but not enough to go back to 35 psi. Haven't had them at higher pressure long enough to determine if that helped with mpg. Nice tire. Satisfied so far with purchase.

 

Good to see and keep us up to date with the gas mileage .

 

Anyone have pics of a Gen3 (non-lowered) on 215/50/17 tires? Just wondering what that looks like.

 

Are the Ecopia 422s quiet on the freeway? I think the commercial is impressive, with Steve Nash dribbling the basketball made with the tire compound. Thanks.

 

Yes , seem quiet to us .

 

My OE Goodyear Assurance Fuelmax lasted a bit over 46,000 miles (well, maybe I should have traded them in 1 or 2K ago). I thought they were pretty good.

On the basis of some of the things said in this forum, and the alleged 80K tread life, today I got 4
Continental ProContact with EcoPlus tires
same standard as my OE tires 195/65/15 91T (who would have thought Prius would need a speed rating of 118 mph??)
We will see how well they work for us.

 

I'll let you know.
I am not one of the mpg champs on this website--only 47.0 for the life of the FuelMax tires (though some of that was the break in period plus learning to drive the Prius). Mostly, it's because I drive too fast--I can see a huge difference between mpg at 60 and 75 mph, but still drive a bit over 70 when conditions permit.

 

Hello mates,

I am planning to get either a Continental ContiPro Contact, 225/40/18 for my Prius... now based on suggestion from this thread, 225/40/18 are best size for prius and I am also planning to get a FiveAD S6 18" wheels for my car. I am not much concerned about MPG Drop but I want a better handling and traction.... BUT I am also interested in the Michelin Energy Saver or the Defender.. BUT then the Michelin MXM4 also looks good... I am confused... any suggestions are welcome...

PS: My tires will wear out in approx 2 months based on my usage... I am planning to sell them since my Mechanic has agreed to get me a good deal on them.. i can use the money to do something else....

 

For maximum mpg I believe the Michelin Energy Saver AS tire is the most fuel efficient tire
in the world. Mine lasted 68,000 miles I could have probably got another 3-5 thousand out
of them but they were getting pretty close to the base of the wear bar indicators.

I kept all 4 at 44 psi which is maximum sidewall pressure listed on the side of the tire, and
rotated every 7,500 miles at Costco where I bought them. Rotations are free for the life
of the tire there.

I replaced them at Costco with Bridgestone Ecopia EP 422, same size and 44 psi on all 4 tires,
195x65x15. They were about $150.00 cheaper than the Michelin Energy Saver AS tires.

The Bridgestone tires are quiet but I did take a 2-4 mpg hit in mpg's over the Michelin's.

I have less than 1,000 miles on them. Maybe when they get a few more miles they will
get better mpg's.

 

Has anyone tried the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus yet? They claim to be a LRR tire, but I'm curious on how they compare to other tires? The only review I found is against a Michelin Primacy MXV4:


Bridgestone/Firestone Tire Test - Motor Trend


Unfortunately, there is no MPG comparison but the performance appears to be promising.

 

I've just been doing some calculating to help me make the best economic decision for my next set of tires. I'm at 59,000 on my stock Toyos (215/45R17). Given current gas prices and my lifetime mileage (right at 50 MPG), anything that will cause me a 1 MPG drop in performance across the next 60,000 miles had better be at least $93 less than the replacement that would keep me at 50 MPG (assuming $3.80/gallon, which would be a bargain if I could find it -- gas hasn't been under $4 for a while!). So a 2-4 MPG hit would mean $186 to $372. If the Bridgestone tires are quieter, then the dollar hit is close to the range (for me), I may be hesitant, but it could be enough.

As much as I want to increase fuel economy, and I know gas prices are unlikely to drop dramatically across the next 40 months, I'll take a noticeably quieter ride with those economics -- assuming there aren't other performance losses.

 

F8L, it is great to hear these opinions from you. I've been very pleased with the Toyos in every respect, except that there is a good bit of road noise. Perhaps most tires will be noisy given the construction of the Prius, but I was hoping to find a somewhat quieter tire that didn't cause too much of a drop in MPGs.

The 215 tread and the 17" wheels provided such an improvement in road handling and driving comfort that I would be pleased with about any tire in comparison to the stock wheel/tire combo on my 2007!

What would the 205/50/17 do for me? Does it have a similar circumference? Would it offer a more comfortable ride? Any performance loss?

 

I just got a LRR Continental ProContact with ECOplus. I'd be interested in knowing why you are going for the ContiProContact instead. So far I like them, but it's too early to evaluate their MPG effect vs. my old Goodyear Assurance FuelMax (the Orig. Equip.). I haven't had any real emergency manuevers with them yet, but they generally seem pretty good on how they feel.