calling on the prius community one more for :/ tires

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by GasSaver1, Aug 19, 2010.

  1. GasSaver1

    GasSaver1 Member

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    I do not want to beat the dead horse here or anything but I searched and cannot find any information on this- furthermore, as good as Tireracks testing is, they did not include what I am looking at.

    Here is my situation. I need new tires and was dead set on the Michelin Hydroedge due to the 90,000 miles rating. A few problems hit me: the national back order, and the dry rot problem that seems to be across all michelins. There is a lot that comes up when one searches dry rot and michelin, this would not be covered by road hazard, and all the tire stores kind of frown when I mention the name-

    So now I am down to two tires I am considering:

    The Assurance Fuel Max by Goodyear OR the Ecopia 422

    The fuel max has a tiretrack prius review so I do not really have any questions about it specifically. The Ecopia, on the other hand, does not have any reviews. I like the EP100s but they are summer tires and I am not staying in Florida. Soon I will be back in the snowy north.

    Ep100 tread wear 400 Traction A Temp B Sum 5 Years /50,000
    Bridgestone Ecopia EP100

    EP422 tread wear 400 Traction A Temp A MS 5 Years / 65,000 Miles
    (Bridgestone Ecopia EP422)

    Fuel Max tread wear 580 Traction A Temp A MS 6 Years / 65,000
    Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max

    The problem is there is no information on where the 422s stack up in the low resistance line up. Their cost is slightly more than the 100s and right in life with the fuel max. The tread of the 422s looks almost like snow tires.

    I dont know what I should do :(
     
    #1 GasSaver1, Aug 19, 2010
  2. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    If you're in Florida, you can use summer tires pretty much all year round. How about the Yokohama i3s? F8L seems to like his set. Personally, I swear by performance tires (I feel safer in a more agile car)
     
    #2 a_gray_prius, Aug 19, 2010
  3. marzprius

    marzprius Junior Member

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    Have you looked into Hankook 727? Great reviews, both Consumer Reports & owner, as well as V. good snow ratings, high mileage & good warranty/road damage. I just put a 185/65 set on my wife's Gen I yesterday, so no mileage impact info yet. Will report back in a few days with first impressions.
     
    #3 marzprius, Aug 19, 2010
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    tire buying is a diificult thing. so many different parameters and once you buy them, you own them. i wish there was a table with all the avaiable tires that fit all prius by model/year that had independently tested features and benefits. seems like something worthwhile because we all go through it at one point or another. the only thing you can't test is personal experience because we all see/feel/hear things differently. all the best with your decision!:)
     
    #4 bisco, Aug 19, 2010
  5. nerfer

    nerfer A young senior member

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    Dude, he's not staying in Florida, if you read the full post.

    I imagine you've seen this report:When round and black becomes lean and green - CleanMPG Forums

    I'm leaning towards the Michelin Energy Saver myself, which actually has better wet braking than the Hydroedge, but they are expensive.

    Dry rot is apparently a bigger problem in hot states and with underinflated tires, and parked in the sun for long periods. Never really had a problem with it on my daily driver cars.
     
    #5 nerfer, Aug 19, 2010
  6. GasSaver1

    GasSaver1 Member

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    yeah I saw that tire review. If I was staying in the heat I would go for the EP100s but I am surprised that they only have a B temp rating and yet are a summer tire. It is a downer that they did not review the EP422s.

    As far as braking distance that wasnt the big thing for me about the hydroedges, I liked the fact that they had such a huge tread life rating. I just got back from the good year place and took a look at the fuel max- the integrity tires are on sale for $67! but they are only an AB with 50k warranty. They cannot even prorate my current tires because they are oem and good year told me that they "come with no warranty unless you buy them after market".
     
    #6 GasSaver1, Aug 19, 2010
  7. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Not to make your pick more difficult but... with the new Tirerack test, I think ProContact with EcoPlus is a better deal at $72 per tire. LRR is as good as FuelMax so better than the stock Integrity. Wet braking is more consistent compared to the dry (10 ft difference). It has 600 tread wear with 6 yrs / 80,000 Miles warranty.

    This tire leads Ride and Noise comfort category.
     
    #7 usbseawolf2000, Aug 19, 2010
    1 person likes this.
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that does look like a great tire!
     
    #8 bisco, Aug 19, 2010
  9. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    What's interesting between the two eco tire reviews is the stopping distance between 2009 Prius (non-touring) and BMW 328i Coupe. The tire that is common in both tests is the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max. Prius tire size is 185/65R15 and 328i wears 205/55R16.

    Fuel Max 50-0 MPH Stopping Distance (Dry)
    - Prius: 99.1
    - 328i: 101.3 (2.2 feet longer)

    Fuel Max 50-0 MPH Stopping Distance (Wet)
    - Prius: 108.7
    - 328i: 118.3 (9.6 feet longer)

    When equipped with the same tire, Prius stops faster than BMW 328i Coupe! However if 328i wears ProContact EcoPlus, it stops shorter than the Prius. Imagine how fast the Prius would stop with the ProContact EcoPlus!

    ProContact with EcoPlus 50-0 MPH Stopping Distance (Dry)
    - 328i: 97.4

    ProContact with EcoPlus 50-0 MPH Stopping Distance (Wet)
    - 328i: 107.7
     
    #9 usbseawolf2000, Aug 19, 2010
  10. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Found more info about this tire.

    They are claiming
    1) 27.4% lower rolling resistance than Goodyear Assurance TripleTred
    2) Stops 52 feet shorter in wet than Michelin Energy Saver A/S
    3) 23% longer wear (65k vs. 80k miles warranty) than Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max



    [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cnZPWizfmY]YouTube - EcoPlus Wear video[/ame]
     
    #10 usbseawolf2000, Aug 19, 2010
  11. GasSaver1

    GasSaver1 Member

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    I am considering the procontact- I am actually having a ford dealership put together a quote for them, the hydroedge (if they can get them) and the fuelmax. Normally this would sound insane but the "big tire sale" that is going on for 11 more days says buy any 4 tires from goodyear, continental, yokohama, hankook or pirelli and get $100 cash rebate instantly.
     
    #11 GasSaver1, Aug 20, 2010
  12. GasSaver1

    GasSaver1 Member

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    Ok I am going with the procontacts. With the big tire sale, all included (except alignment) I am looking at $375 from ford. I will bring it to toyota to align after the fact.
     
    #12 GasSaver1, Aug 20, 2010
  13. jstack

    jstack New Member

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    I got goodyear viva2, that are low rolling resistance and seem to be American made. I'm in hot Arizona and some said michilen and others don't do well in the heat. The goodyears seem great.
     
    #13 jstack, Aug 20, 2010
  14. hybriddriveguy

    hybriddriveguy Member

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    Check out the Kumho KR22 Eco Solus. It has a really low rolling resistance and a treadware rating of 800 and a 100,000 mile warranty for about $57 per tire at treadepot.com
     
    #14 hybriddriveguy, Aug 21, 2010
  15. talonts

    talonts VFAQman

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    I got 80K out of my HydroEdge, and didn't have a dry rot problem. Then again, they "only" were on the car a little over 4 years.

    Since they still haven't produced the stock size (my last email from them said July/Aug), and the rebate was ending 8/9/10, I went with the HEs in 205/60-15. While I might lose a little mpg, the increased traction is well worth it. So far, I see a 1-2mpg hit over the stock tires (I had a spare set of take-offs I was using, hoping the HEs would come out in stock size), but they're brand new, once they get a few K on them, the hit will be almost nil.
     
    #15 talonts, Aug 22, 2010
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