Goodyear Fuel Max tires

I'm planning on going in to Discount Tire on Monday 6/22/2009 to get a set of Fuel Max tires for the stock wheels. Can anyone else who's bought a set share what they spent for pricing? I saw someone said they got a $20 rebate from Goodyear and Discount matched at $20 off? I just called in today and they quoted me at $87 per tire. Any other suggestions before I go in and have them installed? The only thing I can think of is I'm going to mention the tire pressure sensors in the wheels to make sure they don't damage those taking the tires off and mounting the new ones. Thanks! Looking forward to these tires though, I'll likely start off at stock PSI in the tires and report back on any discernable differences. I still have the stock Goodyear Integrities and about to roll over 40K miles now, tread is very low and typically averaging around 53~54 MPG.

 

TireRack.com sells them for (prices exclude shipping):

Standard Prius OEM size 185/65R15: $75

Standard Prius Alternate size 195/60R15: $81

Touring Prius OEM size 195/55R16: Not Available

Touring Prius Alternate size 205/55R16: $99

 

$85.64 after shipping from TireRack, road hazard not included, then I'd have to take them to Discount tire and pay them to mount and balance the tires... I'd rather just go directly to Discount Tire to start with, they already have the tires in stock and include the road hazard.

I just noticed the $20 Goodyear mail-in rebate offer on TireRack. I wonder if this will also be available through Discount Tire.

 

I would think so because it's a manufacturer's, not a store's, rebate offer.

 

I got these tires a few weeks ago. Ordered online from Tire Rack and had delivered to my auto shop. Very pleased with them. First couple tanks of gas the car got 50 - 52 MPG. Previous tires, Yokohama, when new dropped MPG down to 44, but by the time they were balding were getting 50 - 54 MPG.

They drive fine, but I'm not one to notice performance things.

I am very satisfied with the tires and am glad they live up to the fuel max name.

 

First, thanks for all the previous reports on this forum about the Fuel Max Tires.

I bought four GoodYear Assurance Fuel Max tires at American Tires (Discount Tire outside of California) in Pasadena today. $91 each before tax, title, fees, balancing, disposal, certificates, et al. The Integrities had about 25K on them and were worn enough that there was slippage on wet pavement at acceleration and they were a bit loose on the freeway. Four new tires is cheaper than a hospital stay.

The tire installer told me that he had pumped them up to 35/33 and sent me on my way. First thing I noticed was that my Prius rolled very free and long. Second thing I noticed was that I was feeling the road a good deal more than I had expected. Once home, I checked the PSI with my compressor and found the tires at 42 in the front and 40 and 38 in the rear. This was OK because I was going to pump them up to 42/40 in any event. However comma it is also good to note that everything should be checked no matter how trusted or competent seeming the installers.

Noted that "Fuel Max" on the tires is denoted by a little gas gauge symbol with "Fuel Max" in tiny letters. Looking forward to driving these and reporting the results.

PasPrius

 

Thanks for the report on how they felt. User reports have been so favorable that when the OEM's go, this is the tire I'm likely to try.

Just one note on the above your tire pressure should be set when cold ("cold" as in not-recently-driven.) You probably know this, but others might not. If checking it in the first half hour or so after driving the rubber and air inside will be warmer than ambient and they will read higher by a few pounds or so. It's still okay to check pressures just to make sure everything is in a safe range and to approximately set the pressure.

The impact of this is that as winter approaches tire pressures begin to decline even without any air loss...and as summer approaches the tire pressure will increase unless air losses offset it. I've not had to add any air for the past several months as the average daily temps have increased by around 50 F. For the remainder of the summer though I expect to lose about 1 psi/tire per month which seems to be a fairly normal loss rate.

 

Ditto that. The best time to measure is in the morning, or before starting the day's driving. This should be done at least once per month.

PasPrius, how much did you pay including all that other stuff?

 

After getting 52,000 on my original Goodyear Integrities, I put the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max on my Prius last week. In the summers I get on average 51mpg, and in the winter (using the heater) it drops to 46-48mpg. I will post if the mileage changes with the new tires.

 

Richard-

Here's the full breakdown of the cost:
$364 4 Fuel Max Tires
$ 52 4 replacement certificates
$ 7 Environmental Fee
$ 9 Waste Disposal Fee
$ 60 Lifetime spin balancing
$ 32 TPMS Rebuild
$ 37.46 Tax

$561.46 Total


Shawn-

I took the TP about 2 hours after I got home. Checked again this morning.

PasPrius

 

Hi! I've been reading this thread and have a couple questions...

We're replacing the tires for the first time on our 07 baby. The original Goodyears lasted us 40K miles.

In calling around I've gotten a couple of suggestions from tire people and I want to know what you all think.

One guy says he recommends Goodyear LS2's in 195 65 R15 size, and says the car handles better with the bigger tire. The other guy says GT Radials in the original size are the best for the prius, he swears the car gets better mileage and that the tires last at least 50k miles. Of course, the GT Radials are about 1/3 higher in price than the Goodyear LS2's.

Or should we just go with the Fuel Max tires?

Any opinions/information/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

In my opinion:

1. Lose the one guy that recommends any tire in the 195/65R15 size. Your OEM size is 185/65R15. If you want to go with a 195mm width tire, the size to get is 195/60R15 as that is the size closest in diameter to the OEM size.

2. There are lots of good passenger all season tires out there. I personally like and have the Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds. But the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max sounds good too. If I didn't need the better snow traction of the TripleTreds, I'd probably try the Fuel Max.

According to Goodyear, the Fuel Max should be better than your OEM Integrity tire in every respect except snow traction performance (according to Goodyear, the Fuel Max and Integrity are equal in snow traction performance).

Note that the Fuel Max is available in both the OEM size of 185/65R15 and the wider size of 195/60R15. Personally, I would get them in the wider 195/60R15 size because the 10mm greater width promises better handling and braking.

Good luck.

 

I'm in the same boat: 07 with 40K miles probably needing new tires soon.
I run and like Goodyear Assurance Triple Tread on my 2000 Subaru Outback: I was considering them for the Prius, but then I saw the Fuel Max option.
Is the tradeoff as simple as better efficiency for the Fuel Max and better snow traction for the Triple Tread? Is there something else I'm missing?

 

Here's how Goodyear rates the performance of TripleTred, Fuel Max, ComforTred and OEM Integrity in different categories other than fuel economy:

Goodyear Tires | Car And Minivan Tires | Compare Tires

I'm assuming that the Fuel Max has better fuel economy than TripleTred, ComforTred and Integrity.

 

My wife is driving her 2005 Prius across South Dakota & Montana st Interstate speeds (80 MPH) and reports 43.5 MPG with her new Fuel Max tires.
That is up from the normal 38 MPG doing the same Interstate drive with her old worn out tires.
The old tires were a muttly mix of Big O & Goodyear due to flats and upsell by Toyota mechanics.

I can't wait to see what the MPG is in town.

BTW air pressure is 42psi F/40psi R