What tires did your Prime come with?

So I guess I'll ask the million-dollar question, in a few parts:

In the USA, why did Toyota choose to put the well-established Ecopia EP422 on Prime Premium (mid-level trim), yet contract lesser-known Nanoenergy A29 on Prime Advance (most expensive trim)? Is there something that Toyota knows about the superiority of Nanoenergy A29 over Ecopia EP422? And if the issue is supply/demand, then I'd like to know why the lesser-known Nanoenergy A29 was not put on the lower trims and Ecopia EP422 not put on Advanced trim. Or why Toyota didn't put the Energy Savers on any of the trims.

 

The premise of your question is incorrect. Toyota has several tire suppliers for the Prime. Bridgestone, Toyo, and Dunlop among them. I have seen all three tires on Primes regardless of Plus, Premium or Advanced. Much like other parts of the supply chain, what is available is installed that day of production. Having several suppliers has advantages, which include cost. I had the dealer swap the Toyos on my Prime Premium to deliver it with Bridgestones with treadwear rating of 600, versus the Toyo 300.

 

Just editorial: the Bridgestone in question is Ecopia EP422 Plus. Also, it is a Japanese iteration, and there are couple more versions in north america, each with different tread pattern, wear numbers. It's enough to make you set your hair on fire, lol.

Also, "well established" vs "lesser known", meh: this is not a popularity contest, they're just tires, sink-or-swim on their merits. FWIW, I think both are rare as hens-teeth in north america, if you have a blow-out requiring replacement. Yes the Ecopia EP422 Plus name is available in north america, but it's a distinctly different tire than the Japanese tires that come on the car.

 

I’ve been wondering this now that I realize my nanocrappers aren’t even going to last me 20k. If I had gotten the tire hazard extra warranty from TFS, would my premature wear have been covered?

 

Yes I read through the saga about the three versions with pictures in the posts from 2015. It makes me wonder if Michelin does something similar with their ESAS, supplying stock variations to Chevy to put on their Volts, or as other companies are outsourcing LRR tires for their cars, if all of the tire manufacturers do the same for their tires, not exclusive to EP422. This is my speculation, so for all that I know, the A29 may be the designation for contracted Nanoenergy stock, whereas the “full” version would be Nanoenergy 3, but EP422 does not have its own stock designation nor does ESAS.

Well if pineprius is correct, then the 20k figure that you get sounds reasonable to me. You’re in a very warm sunny climate in a populated city, so the gas-and-break traffic pattern, coupled with some sharp turns, will wear out the tire quicker than steady highway travel.

 

[...one month later...]

Well the Nanos are back on and I'm calling it Spring. I just wish that the tires transferred less noise into the cabin.

 

Resurrecting an old thread.

So, I had my 2017 PRIME Premium traded in for a new 2020 PRIME LE recently. My old PRIME came with OEM Dunlop Enasave tires. They had ~30K miles on them but were down to 5/32 on all corners. They were getting loud and not very secure. I was planning to buy a new set of all season tires for summer comes spring. But, since I got a new car, I no longer need to shop for new tires.

My new 2020 PRIME came with Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus OEM tires. I had those tires on my previous Gen3, loved the smooth LRR ride and mileage they provided, but was not happy with thread-life and wet/snow gripping. Also, non-OEM version of EP422 Plus came in various different tread designs with 4 ribs made in USA or 5 ribs made in Mexico. The OEM EP422 Plus on my new PRIME are 4 ribs made in JAPAN. I'll see how long they will last.

 

Yeah it's likely tough to replace with same EP422 Plus, with them being the made in Japan version. Frustrating...

 

Yeah, but if everything works out the same way, I will just trade in this car for a new PRIME in 2+ years before even needing to replace the OEM tires, I hope.

 

And big pluses or minuses between your 17 and the 20 that stand out?

 

I downgraded trim to LE to get rid of dysfunctional 11.6" display and uncomfortable SofTex seats. Those two items alone were big pluses and saved me close to $2K compared to XLE. Other pluses are reachable heated seat buttons, gaining back physical buttons for AC and Audio, CD player, much better integrated infotainment system with Entune3.0 compared to Entune2.0 though that is the least of the concern for me. Visor extension and 5th rear seat are good to have, though again my needs for them are almost null. Oh, I also did gain Safety Connect and WiFi Connect on my new LE, but I am thinking of opting out without using the complementary services.

There are a few things I miss not having on 2020 LE trim compared to 2017 Premium trim. Auto headlight on/off and 3 doors SKS are the two things I miss. I also thought I will miss the power lumber support, but LE seat seem to have a firmer lumber support to begin with. Luck of power seat is not a problem for I almost never moved my seat position. I also lost Qi charger and charger lock on LE trim, but I don't miss them. I never used either functions anyway. Initially, I thought I liked the new all piano black trims on shift panel and steering wheel compared to the porcelain white trims on old PRIME, but I realized that it is now much harder to see the PARK button or wheel buttons on black trim especially when dark.

The biggest plus is that the car is brand new compared to almost 3 years old. It does drive smoother and quieter over all. And for all of this trade, my out of pocket cost was ~$5.5K which will be reduced to ~$1K after next year tax return with $4502 tax credit. Considering not having to buy a new set of tires that were needed on the 2017 PRIME and not having to pay for maintenance for next 2 years, I actually come out ahead with the trade.

 

That's all very helpful and interesting. All great observations from an actual owner. Thanks for taking the time to type it all out.

Physical buttons are nice. Sometimes you just HAVE to crank the volume up. Plus I don't ave to look at them to use them or in the dark.