New Tires, MPG Takes a Hit...Normal?

Yeah there's nothing wrong with that ct89. For some people having the lowest rolling resistance and best MPG is the most important thing while for others it's worth a small sacrifice in MPG for better handling (especially in icy climates). As long as they know what they're doing and understand the trade-off it's all good.

Fortunately these days they seem to be making a lot improvement in LRR tires, and the trade-off's for longevity and handling seem to be getting less

 

I also have a 2005 and replaced the original G'year Integrities at about 30k with Michelin HydroEdges. I needed to replace one recently and also ran into the "not in stock anywhere at all in Prius size" problem. (I wound up with, um, other tires.)

I would buy the HydroEdge again. The handling, especially on wet roads, was terrific. I noticed a very small drop in mpg but it seems to have been a short term thing (long since back to the same mpg).

 

I have a 2009 also replaced tires with Uniroyals, took a 10 MPG hit. Raised pressure to 42 front 40 rear made up about 1/2 of loss. Ran them about 8000 miles did not get any better. Traded them back in for Goodyear Assurance Fuelmax. Now back to normal. Tire dealer gave me all but $20 per tire back on Goodyears.