Tires

Obviously, the depths are 8.5/32" and 10/32". The widths are from Tire Rack specs and I thought they were wrong too, probably 2 different tires, but I couldn't find them elsewhere, including the Michelin site. They weren't really a significant item in my deliberation, I was just noting the differences that Tire Rack shows.

 

Premier A/S does start with 8.5/32" tread depth, and has grooves that widen as the tire wears, and some that only "surface" after some wear.

 

Yes, Mendel, I read up on that and it's how they are able to maintain performance as the tire wears. I think he was commenting on my referring to the tread in inches as many tire sites do vs in 32nds of an inch. The disparity though is in the 5.5" vs 7.4" tread width and I suspect Tire Rack may have accidently used the rim width for the Premier vs the tread width. I've since looked at their specs for the individual tires rather than their comparison summary and they list both correctly as 7.4" wide in those.

 

That will be a full time job

 

The Defenders are the best tire I have ever bought...well surpassing anything in over 40 years experience buying then. I too did the math and while the Energy Savers were a wash on cost per mile with mpg as part of the equation they lacked the safety and ride. The Premiers, while improving the safety and ride over the ES, even approaching the Defenders, loses cost valuation because they currently cost more and do less mile. But what this really boils down to is what you want from a tire and want to pay. Like everything else it's a choice.

 

mind to go into the details here?

 

Sorry...punctuation...corrected. As for the Energy Savers, they had/have reported inferior ride quality and traction as compared.

 

These tires are also driver specific as many of us love the EP20s so there is more to the equation than MPG.

Been driving (9) hybrids since 2002 and have tried many tires and tire pressures to max out my MPG (51PSI). Seem to remember the Dunlap OEM was OK and another brand (maybe Yokohama/need some help here). Maybe another MIJ OEM brand. Way Back machine is broke this morning. Tried US versions of several brands and was disappointed in either the ride (at 42 PSI), the MPG, or the tread wear. EP 20s MIJ OEMs have been consistent so far but will drop them and the new EP 422 MIJ OEMs on the two new 2016s if they have ever start giving me poor wear, ride, and MPG. I drive like and 120 year old man BTW so my tire wear will be different than you young folks that drive like a hunter in a SUV with a deer on the roof. I slow down when it rains and drive like death waits for me around the bin. I figure if I die while driving that maybe the car will stop and stay in the right lane with all these safety features. I cannot wait for the fully self driving cars..

I bought Hybrids starting in 2002 and even considered the original Insight back then. Test drove it and it made me feel sick/like stuck in a rolling ship. I did not buy the Gen 1 Prius because of the poor driving characteristics. The Honda was a real Civic back then and drove like a car. The Gen 2 drove very nice so I dumped my Hondas forever. Also poor quality and MPG in the Hondas (strange but true as the Honda was always my favorite car). That is when I discovered that all tires are not the same for LRR. Made many serious buying errors before LRR became popular. And even then not all LRRs are equal. Only a handful deliver top MPG.

I bought Hybrids for MPG and now I am slowly adopting all the safety features.
If I get 40K on true LRR high MPG tire then I am happy. So far at 67K they still had significant tread left when I traded. Never vibrated or road rough the entire time.

 

Originally I wanted the Energy Saver A/S until I looked at more tires and the Tire Rack comparison charts. Defender is by far the longest lasting, but I've read so many complaints about the mpg loss. As I pointed out earlier, the higher cost and shorter wear period for the Premier can be offset by the mpg difference and the higher the price of fuel, the greater the advantage for the Premier, if the assumption I mentioned about mpg is correct. Maybe it's just a psychological thing where people like the idea of 90k miles (who doesn't?) and lower price, but then don't like seeing their mpg drop by 4. And while I have no doubt the Defender is a fine tire with regard to ride, etc., unless someone road tests both, there is no way to tell which is actually better. If I were getting new tires for our old van, I'd probably go with the cheaper Defender because I don't think I'd notice the mpg hit, if there was one. The Prius is different though because it is more easily affected when it comes to mpg.

 

YRMV/LOL

 

i used to buy tires based on tirerack ratings and stopped doing so after a few disappointments. those ratings are so subjective, they are totally worthless.

 

Can't say I disagree because until I joined PriusChat I never knew about Tire Rack. I'm leery about the Defender because of the return rate at Costco due to the mileage hit and I can't seem to find anyone who has experience with the Premier, probably because of the higher cost. Costco didn't steer me toward the Premier, that was me asking about them. They didn't really push any tire, but noted the return problem with the Defender when I asked about them. Discount recommended the Premier, but when they were so much higher than Costco on price, I kind of decided I was going to buy from Costco this time and didn't pursue the subject. Larry H Miller Toyota is pushing the OEM Goodyear Assurance and I'm not happy with them on the car now. Personally, I think it's a coin flip. And FWIW, the ratings on the Discount Tire site are somewhat different, but still favor the Premier in all categories except tread life, which is obvious.

 

As bad as sugar on the brain.

Some are accurate and some aren't. I have to use my own experience which cost lot of money over the years. Sam club reviews are a little better. If you take care of the OEM tires (42 PSI, alignment and balance when needed) and they give you good service then you have a great answer.The EP 20s are better than the GY fuel max on some cars. Got the fuel max for two vans and they are ok but are wearing slightly faster than average. It is hard to find a good tire in stock when you walk into a store. If they had Bridgestone LRR in my size I would have jumped on it for the vans.

Worst tire for MPG was Goodrich and Michelin not far behind. Unfortunately the Goodrich refused to wear out.

 

Well at least we agree on this. Ratings provided by retailers are always biased on profit, inventory and contracts.

 

Hi to all and sorry if I will make mistakes, still learning English.
Im an Uber and Lyft driver in New York with terrible road condition.. I bought 2013 Prius, just for this job and this is perfect car but not here in NY... the most popular here is new Camry... and now I understand why... way to bumpy here..
So I decide change my cheap 195/65/15 tires... Did some research and put 205/65/15 Michelin premier AS, they are not recommend and really not cheap but my God... I can not describe how my Prius is smoother now... It still not Camry but ride is much much better...
I have Goodyear triple thread on my old car... but Michelin is just the best..

 

Thanks for joining the discussion Ashim123 and thanks for the vote of confidence for the Premier. I'm still leaning toward the Premier and think it would be a wash with either the Premier or Defender, assuming I keep the car another 180,000 miles.

 

My MPG felt down from 52 to 47 with this tires but thanks to this Forum I figure out that transmission oil need be changed every 30,000 miles my had 68000... When I changed it was really black... After: smoother ride, small vibration from 10 to 30 gone and MPG went up to 50.

 

That's not good to hear.

 

yes, it is not good but it can be because this tires are 205/65/15 so they are bigger and wider than 195/65/15

 

FWIW, 195 vs 205 -- weight 19 vs 21 lbs, tread width 5.5" vs 5.8", revs/mi 832 vs 818 (possibly the biggest factor).