17"Tires for a 2010 prius V???!! Help!

All tires are the same - they are black rubber doughnuts. Some manufacturers make fancy patterns on the side that touches pavement, and then claim superior wet or snow traction, or LRR. But we know its a scam

I recently got (15") Continentals with Eco something - they are Ok to me. Quiet and good on bumps. 17"-s should be even better.

- Alex

 

Manufacturers of tires offer many different builds, quality, performance and of course tread patterns. An LRR tire can give you some advantage over other tires when it comes to MPG, but note that there are compromises that are made in construction.

Tread patterns are designed and engineered for dry conditions, wet conditions, and snow conditions. Some manufacturers offer racing tires that have little or no tread, but vary rubber compounds for specific racing vehicles or tracks. So to say that all tires are the same because they are round and made from rubber isn't exactly accurate.

On TireRack's (tirerack.com) home page, you can enter the make, year, model, the additional model info that comes up (you need to specify Prius v so the correctly sized tires come up) in boxes and then click on tires. Select "view all tires this size" (the original 17" sized tires that come on your Prius v).

Once you see the tires available you can select a specific tire and the see customer reviews or the specifications... there's a lot there. A lot of tires come up, so if you want to see only the 10 to 14 LRR 17 inch tires that they have for your Prius v, there's a column on the left side of the screen... go down to the bottom of this column and click the dot in front of the "show only LRR tires" that filters out the non LRR tires that are available.

Other online tire stores abound. discounttiresdirect.com is also very good. You can call, chat or email a representative and they will give you additional useful info. I have used both of these companies for years and recommend them all the time!

Good luck!!

 

Michelin Primacy MXM4 Green X should get close to the OEM. The "wrong" tire can cost 10% of your fuel economy. F8L has started THE tire thread.

 

Presently using Michelin MXM4 Primacy from Costco. I will replace them with the same kind unless something better shows up.

 

I sure hope this is an attempt at humor.

 

For pure fuel economy I would look at the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 followed by the Continental PureContact, both in a 205/50/17 size instead of the smaller 215/45/17 (OE) size. Both are very fuel efficient tires. The EP422 is not great for handling and the PureContact is not great for comfort. You are going to have to make sacrifices for fuel economy.

Tire Test Results : Testing Grand Touring All-Season Tires
Tire Test Results : Eco-Focused All-Season Tires: Do They Deliver on the Promise?
Tire Test Results : Testing New Grand Touring All-Season Tires
Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Review - 17" Tire | PriusChat
Michelin Primacy MXM4 Review | PriusChat

The Primacy MXM4 is an awesome tire and does the best to walk the fine line between comfort, treadwear, performance and fuel economy. Unfortunately it doesn't come in a 205/50/17 which is my preferred size for the GenIII Prius because it more closely matches the OEM 15" tire diameter and helps fix the speedo error whereas the 215/45/17 is smaller than the 15" OE tire diameter and makes the speedo error worse if your car originally came with 15s.

Or you can read my threads:

New Tire Tests from Tirerack.com | PriusChat
Low Rolling Resistance replacement tires: Current List | PriusChat

 

Pretty bad humor, I can't see anything to laugh at.

My Michelin Energy XM2 + are great, good grip and cornering and very low rolling resistance. Can't comment on snow or ice performance. My last set of XM1+ got over 80,000km which is great for my driving style and Australian roads.

 

Good to hear from ya, Pat!

 

Good to be around but I can't be around much, too much to do here. Just finishing fixing up our second rental house. Tennant moves in tomorrow.

 

Did you miss a little thing in there?
- Alex

 

I wonder if Prius that come stock with 215/45R17 have had their odometers adjusted for the smaller OD, comparing to 195/65R15. The factor's roughly 1.5%.

(Our Canadian Touring model comes with the 17's.)

 

Good question, I have had three sets of tires on my 2010. The OEM Toyos, and two sets of Michelins. I didn't see any appreciable difference in fuel economy between them. The Toyo Proxis A20 tires are pretty good but I would not buy them because of the price. The Michelin Primacy MXM4 is just as good or better and sells for a reasonable price.

 

I just changed out our Goodyear ComfortTread. 33K miles and they were shot. Not good for an alleged 80K tire. Costco had a $70 off sale on the Ecopia P422 so I went for them. The moment I drove the car the difference was hugely apparent. Wow, what an improvement. They make the ComfortTreads seem like lead overshoes. The Ecopias require dramatically less turning effort. I felt this instantly in the parking lot. Once I had a chance to drive on them a bit it was clear that they are also quieter than the Goodyears. I had the car up to 70mph and they seemed to track fine. We live on winding country roads and the first thing my wife said after driving the car was how much nicer it handled. Big improvement!

 

My understanding is that the Toyo Proxes deliver the best fuel economy, but there are other 17" tires with better traction and wear characteristics and the Toyos have the reputation of weak side walls. F8l is the tire expert. Perhaps he'll add some more info.

 

Yes BUT the are not the most economical choice nor are they the safest choice.

The Toyos are very expensive and wear out quickly (also prone to failure) so any savings in fuel economy are eaten up by the higher cost and faster wear. I feel it is better to go with a better performing and safer tire and deal with the small mpg loss.

It's best to look at it from a cost per mile standpoint instead of simply which tire offers higher mpg. This is particularly true when the tire in question is a one note tune. I.e. it sucks at everything except fuel economy.

 

I'd like to resurrect this thread-- it's been about a year since any replies. Now it's my turn to shop for new tires on my 2010 Prius (trim V), so I'm looking specifically for 215/45 R17. Can anyone give an update on the tires they've used for a while or make recommendations on any of the tires currently available? Some tires mentioned earlier in this thread (and other threads) are not available. And, as we know, some not available in the 17".

Goals: MPG mostly, wet traction, but snow traction not required. I live near Seattle and use a 4wd truck in horrible snowy weather if/when that happens.

I'm using a search at tire rack for the size and LRR (only) selected. (Sorry it's not legal for me to post a link yet)


Thanks for any suggestions and experience you can share.

 

I'm using Continental Pro Contact with LRR currently in my 2005 and they are quiet and soft riding at 38 psi. Gas mileage is definitely better than with Falken Ziex 912 I had before. Dry traction is probably not as good as Ziex 912, but those were hi-performance summer only tires. For my wife's 2010 I just bought Continental Pure Contact with LRR, they are supposed to be even better, based on reviews. I have not installed them yet. They have slightly larger pattern of blocks, so I expect them to be slightly more noisy than Pro Contact, but that's just speculation. Buy them online and save!

- Alex

 

I don't know if my earlier recommendation is still valid.

You can see the fuel economy hit I took with my current tires. However, they make me happy one weekend a year when I rally and autocross in The 21st Century Automotive Challenge. Last year's fuel economy over the mountains of Pennsylvania was better than 2012's (on the old OEM tires) and higher than one of the biodiesel Jettas. I hope to repeat that performance this year.

How much of a FE hit do you want to take to improve the other factors? For me, the hit stings but it is the cheapest alternative.

Shop around. Usually there is a "Buy the 4th tire for $1" sale every other month.