Low Rolling Resistance replacement tires: Current List

So does anyone who went from the OE Yokohama Avid A33D to Michelin Energy Saver A/S notice any Fuel economy increase/decrease? Thanks

 

Yes any tire with 10 on fuel efficiency on the Michelin web site will get the GreenX label on the side of the tire which is thier trademark for LRR.

They might restrict the GreenX label to certain tire sizes, I don't see it listed yet. Or maybe they are retiring the GreenX designation. I notice they are using the Total Performance logo on the tire, it might replace the old GreenX logo.

 

I want to give an update on my 2010 Prius II. I now have 87k and now just purchased a set of 4 bridgestone ecopia 422's for the car. Before I had replaced original tires with a 2nd set of avid s33's. I decided to go with the ecopia 422's at costco because of price but was very afraid of a mileage drop. So far the only services I have had with this car are the driver door actuator stopped working at 75k. I replaced it myself after the dealer wanted $400. Cost me $75 for the part and replaced it myself after watching a few youtube videos. I also around 32k had a few engine misfires at startup. Took car under warranty to dealer and they replaced the intake manifold under service bulletin. Corrected issue. Other than that Oil changes 10k , tire rotations 5k, cabin and air filters every 25k and the car has been amazing. Now back to the tires. They have about 8k miles on them now. Before with the avid s33's I could easily pull 150 mile round trips around 53.5 mpg's. Best trips have been in range of 58.5 mpgs. My lifetime on the car is 47.6 mpgs. As I never reset the trip A. Only use trip B. Now with the ecopia 422's those same trips are around 43-46mpg. A severe drop off. I have been back to costco 3x. They think I am crazy. I am really unhappy as I think its obviously the tires. I understand new tires have to break in. But with the avids I did not have this issue at all. Thinking of just buying another set of avids at this point and selling the ecopias used and taking a loss. I read all the forums before deciding on my purchase. Obviously cost was a factor. One I regret. I tried to first buy the Michelin's Energy Saver but could not locate them anywhere. So I ask has anyone else suffered a severe drop off in mpg's from switching from the avids to the 422's? Any suggestions?

 

Mike I too suffered a MPG loss going from the Avids to the Pure Contact Continentals. I think i will also switch back to the Avid's even though they have terrible reviews on tire-rack and are expensive. I drive this car for fuel efficiency not for racing.

 

Im running yokohama yk580. 205/60R15. I get the same gas mileage as the avid s33. They also handle better in wet road conditions compared to the s33

 

How many miles do you have on the Pure Contact tires? They do seem to be a tire that needs a few miles to get the MPG back. I don't consider myself a "racer" but I do appreciate the traction of the Pure Contact tires, which includes great braking on wet pavement, which I consider a safety must.

 

Are you still able to swap them at Costco? I went shopping at Costco for Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 195/65R15. They almost had talked into getting EP422, but stepping back, and talking to my son, I decided to stick to my guns and get the EP20, which require special order. Strange because on their website they make no mention of EP422 in that size, for the car in question (Civic Hybrid).

The tires that were on the car are EP20, installed at Costco about 4 years back (again special order). They are one OEM choice for Prius, and for good reason I think: decent wearing, and good for RR. They come ONLY in 195/65R15.

Still I suspect the differences are subtle. FWIW, I'll likely get EP422 in 215/45R17 when our OEM Michelin Pilot (same size) wear down. If they ever do, we are low mileage, and using snows about 1/3 of the year.

 

sorry for the late reply. During my first 1000 mile break in period, i'd estimate my efficiency went down about 2%. Not too big a hit. Now that they're broken in, I'm back to my ol' hyper mile expectations, despite being in the cooler seasons.
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Am in need of new tires for my 2010 Prius. Am looking at the Michelin Energy Saver AS from Costco but it seems they only have them in 16". Will these work and if so will the bigger tire have an impact on MPGs?!


Costco.com - Shop for Tires

 

I hope you aren't saying there are two different tires with the same part number? As if I'm not confused enough already.

 

It's definately confusing but they aren't the same part number

Bridgestone = company name
Ecopia = trademark for LRR passenger tire tech
EP422 = general identifier for a tire style

Items that will vary with all that the same

OEM vs Retail
Speed rating (you might see a tire in 1, 2, or 3 speed ratings, might affect other stats on the tire)
Load rating (you might see a tire with 1 or 2 load ratings not always tied to a different speed rating)

Somewhere the tire store, tire warehouse, and tire manufacturer have part numbers for these tires but you as a consumer are likely to never see the actual part numbers.

 

On my former 2010 Prius IV, I replace the original Yoko tires with the Bridgestone EP422 and I was happy with them. Had some balancing issue at first that Costco ironed out and had the alignment done within 100 miles at the dealer. Mileage barely changed - within 1 mpg. I did note the ride was a bit softer at the same psi's I was running.

 

Called my local Costco today and they'll be stocking the Michelin Premier A/S tires in April with the $70 off a set of 4 sale going on in May. They're higher rated than the Energy Savers and I'm seriously considering making a purchase. Sounds like they'll be $125 / tire ($2 more than the Energy Savers), according to my local Costco.

Premier A/S | Michelin Tires

 

I wonder how the Michelin Premier's will stack up against their Energy Savers A/S. Their both rated 10 for fuel efficiency, but they're not in the same category of tires. Plus Michelin doesn't really say much about fuel efficiency in their highlights. But I do like that that it's safety characteristics are better over the longer term than another tire. But if I was in the market right now, I would still go for the Energy Savers since it's been proven and reviewed so much. I guess time will tell if the Premiers will do as well.

 

Agreed jhinsc. I'm only apprehensive b/c they're new and they don't tote the MPG savings as much, but so far they SOUND like a quality tire. I'm hoping some reviews will come piling in in April before I buy in May. What do you mean about them not being in the same category of tires?

 

There are some reviews of the Premiere on the web, but they only talk about the adaptive tread, not the fuel
efficiency. I wonder why. I 'm not an aggressive driver, so the 10 rating for the ES A/S in fuel efficiency and comfort (quietness) concerned me more. Oh well, only another 60,000 miles and I'll be looking for a new set of tires

 

According to the Michelin site, the Premier are rated at 10 in fuel efficiency as well. But agreed, all the reviews I've read have focused on the tires' ability to shed water well and have good tread throughout the lifespan, but not the fuel efficiency.

 

I asked Michelin's Facebook to compare the fuel efficiency of the Energy Savers vs. the Premiers. Got an answer today and, although it sounds kind of canned and unsure of actual data, here's what they said: The Premier A/S and the Energy Saver are very comparable in fuel efficiency. However, all things being equal, the Energy Saver may have a slight advantage.

 

Yeah if you beleive the marketing scores the tires compare as

48 points Premier® A/S WL 10, FE 10, HA 8, BR 10, CO 10
47 points Defender WL 10, FE 8, HA 10, BR 10, CO 9
43 points Energy Saver A/S WL 7, FE 10, HA 8, BR 8, CO 10

but if you care about fuel efficiency more than treadwear you'll toss the Defender from the list.

But then when you look at treadwear warranties the Energy Saver A/S gets 65,000 and the Premier A/S gets 60,000 so I don't know why they didn't give the same WL rating for both tires. Change the WL to 8 for both and you get

46 points Premier® A/S WL 8, FE 10, HA 8, BR 10, CO 10
44 points Energy Saver A/S WL 8, FE 10, HA 8, BR 8, CO 10

I'm willing to believe the Premier A/S is a better design being so many years newer and I'm willing to pick it over the Defender, I'm just not willing to say it's 5 points better on that scale than the Energy Saver A/S based on it having a lower tread wear warranty.