TRD Lowering Springs?

The Motivo is supposed to be a decent tire. I used to run the NT555s on my Trans Am and Corvette. Because it is designed as an ultra high performance tire and it is W rated I wouldn't expect it to be as comfortable as the MXM4 which is a grand touring tire designed for car like Lexus and Mercedes. Interestingly they are even shorter than the MXM4 too so fuel economy improvements with these smaller than OE tires is likely an illusion. The OE 15" tire is 25". The MXM4 is 24.7" and the Motivo is 24.61".

Have you tried running less pressure? I don't see any reason why you can't try 35psi in them.

 

your a tire pro

I'm running all 4 wheels on 35 psi right now

 

I'm no pro. I just try and learn as much as I can so I can help. In reality I just confuse people and I spend too much money testing crap.

 

hey F8L, are Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 similar or different than the Michelin Primacy Mxm4 ?

also, what's the positives and negatives of the 205/50/15 tires as oppose to the 215/45/17


also, how will 225/50/17 fit ? will it be compatible on my 17 PP wheels ?

thanks

 

I don't have any good comparative reviews for the Pilot HX MXM4. It is an older design. I think for the price I would stick with the Primacy. Wet traction and traction in cold weather is likely better in the Primacy because of the newer silica and sunflower oil compound. I am not certain of this, however.

The only negative to the 205/50/17 is the slight reduction in ride comfort because most of the decent models available are XL (extra load) rated. They are more robust than the SL (standard load) tires. They may be more puncture/rapture resistant. There are some that are not XL rated and I would be very curious how they ride in comparison. The Goodyear comforTread is a very good tire that has a very long treadlife and is pretty fuel efficient. In tests using 16" tires, the ComforTread was more fuel efficient than the Primacy MXM4. It could be a good choice in the 205/50/17 size. For total cost effectiveness the Continental PureContact or Bridgestone Serenity Plus are great for LRR tires. As always, try and wait for those killer rebates to come around! There are other good tires out there that are less expensive but are not labeled LRR so I don't have much experience with them. The Nitto Motivo is one of those. Pereli makes good tires as well.

The 225/50/17 is much too large (25.9") for our cars. The 225/45/17 will fit perfectly (25") but it is quite wide. It would look good on a 7.5" or 8" wheel.

How hard do you like to push your car? You don't drive in wet or cold conditions much right? NM, I thought you were in SoCal for some reason. LOL

 

My 09 Corolla came standard with the same 195/65R15 tire on some models that the Prius does. Mine came with a plus 1 size of 205/55R16 which I'm surprised that more people don't use on the Prius. I went +1 with my Corolla & am running 225/45R17 tires which work great. I do think though that the added width will hurt a Prius in the mpg area so I would use a 205/50R17 size too. I asked about that a long time ago as I noticed that nobody was using it & it was the perfect 17" size. The worst part about it is the XL rating, to bad they don't make a nice selection with a normal load rating too.

 

I agree. I didn't have a GenIII at the time you mentioned it and no one seemed interested in trying them except austingreen. I feel your choice is a great compromise between style handling and fuel economy. I really wish the A/S was made in that size. If it were we would have the perfect package!

 

Considering all the info F8L has given about tires and other members on the forum. I would rather have the OE 15s due to a lower cost of upkeep, softer and more comfortable ride and better MPGs. When I get TRD springs installed, do you guys think the OE 15's would look decent? Or would ya'll spend the extra $$$ to upgrade the wheels/tires to 17s?

Here's my prius with no drop and w/ OE 15s

 

Nice try!
sdtundra's car is a perfect example of how you can still look nice without 17s. Silver and red seem able to pull this off. The other idea is to try a set of the 2012 wheel covers on the older wheels. I thought it looked kinda neat.


2011 wheels with 2012 covers.

 

If you decide to upgrade to 17s either wait for a forum member to sell theirs or wait until a place like Discount Tire has their big $100 rebate sales. In a situation like that you could purchase a set of tires with the $100 rebate plus the $70-$80 Michelin/Bridgestone/Goodyear rebate then sneakily buy a set of wheels and get another $100 rebate off those. A couple of members have done that and saved a bundle. Even the Geico lizard would be impressed.

 

I'll take some pics after I install my winter 15" wheels on my Prius to see how it looks since I have a PB lowered on Eibach springs.

 

I wish they made the ESAS in the 205/55R16 too. I don't understand why Michelin makes it in so few sizes. I would also like to know how much difference it would make compared to the ES summer tires that I have.

 

I REALLY like that. Off to find some 2012 hubcaps! Thanks for posting that.

 

Nice! looks pretty clean.. the bottom one is the one with the 15s and drop right? I might just do that for now.. I saw these Michelin Defenders 90k warranty for 118 a tire w/ a rebate. Has anyone tried those vs the ESAS?

 

Fuel economy will be lower but the Defender is a better tire in other respects. I would anticipate a 3-4mpg difference between the two. Because the Defender may last a lot longer the difference may be a wash. I prefer the ESAS because I am more familiar with it.

 

You're right... with a treadlife of 90k I'm a little skeptical of how much advantage the Defenders have vs ESAS, I'd probably go with the ES from all the positive feedback I've heard on MPGs. It would probably take me about 4 years to hit the 65k mark, which is what the energy savers are rated for. And on the michelin website they give it a 10 on comfort

Thanks again!

 

That is another important aspect to consider. After 5yrs or so, tires tend to dry out and performance/traction is reduced. You don't want to drive around on dry rotted tires. LOL

 

I end up recycling old tires with lots of tread as I don't drive my own cars so much Old hard snow tires used to work great for doing burn outs in my '70 C-10 back in high school

Mike

 

For drivers like you, a lower treadlife but super high efficiency tire (Energy Saver A/S or Ecopia EP100) would be a better option than a higher treadlife but lower efficiency tire (Defender).