OEM tires skidding

Watch out for this tire size calculator the revolutions per mile seem to be off. For Prius (G2) size OEM tires, 185/65-15 it lists 824 rev per mile. I just checked 10 tires from 5 different manufacturers at tire Rack and they were all between 848 and 856 rev per mile, the Integritys are 855.

 

Tripp: what year's your Prius? I believe the 04 & 05's came stock with the 185 65 15's so I stuck with that size and Goodyear was 'kind' enough, at cost, to swap my Integrities with Comfortred's.
Here a user's eye view on TireRack of different All Season Passenger Tires (sorted by Rating Group): http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresult...lay.jsp?type=AS

Mind you, this is empirical info, from non-technical drivers, folks like you me posting their feedback. Consumer Reports (Nov. 05 if I remember right) just published reviews of tires including winter tires. On Tirerack.com you can also search winter only tires. I just did a quick search and found that the Michelin X-Ice (a winter-only tire) rated pretty highly with drivers. Go here for the results:
http://www.tirerack.com/survey/SurveyComme...tnum=865QR5XICE

You can do your own searching, just remember, "your mileage may vary!" Other people's reviews of the same tires being on different cars may not even come close to your experience with the same tires on a Prius. If you have a tire brand or tire dealer you have a good relationship with, see what they have to offer and what you can learn.

Tire Caveat Emptor. Tire Buyer Beware!

Enjoy the process.

KenYOregon

 

I assume you're saying your local places, because the proper +0 sizing is 195/60 R15 of Tripletreds is available at Tirerack, or if you just order from your local tire store.

Better than the "I feel" hand-waving "scientific" reporting of the Tirerack surveys. I do trust Tirerack's actual head-to-head road-tests.

So between random hand-waving, and actual tests by the same people on both tires for the purpose of testing, I go with CR's results, unless of course somebody here has done independent testing of more than the two tires also.

 

NuShrike:

My local tire guy, who's helped me out of some pretty good situations - (like the '01 Acura MDX OE tires - which were only available in 1 kind and size & basically were a Life Threatening Hazard! - until he pulled a rabbit out of his OEM had with Bridgestone - All Hail Jeff at Medford Expert Tire!), recommended against upsizing to the 195 size for my '05 Prius, in any brand or tire, for the Prius, due to possible clearance issues, so I went with his recommendation. Now, I'm no tire or car expert, so I do listen and try to read and educate myself, 'cause there's a whole lot to know. Perhaps someone on this board could educate us all as to the pros and cons of swapping from a 185 to a 195 size tire as regards clearance, ABS, steering, handling (emergency or other) then we could collectively get a little farther down the intelligence and wisdom road.

THnks,

KenYOregon

 

I just wanted to chime in on the original topic.

I've skidded once, while going across a wet intersection. Tires spun for a sec, so I let off the gas a bit and all was good.

I haven't found them to be a problem at all. Next rain, I'll have to go "experiment" in a parking lot. I'll be doing the same when it snows (after I put my snow tires on).

I'd hardly call the tires dangerous though.

 

got mine replaced with confor treds, but noticed they also used rim edge weights with your same problem---what's the fix?? do they place the weights differently or use something else----I'll go back to have mine fixed once I know the solution...

thanks
berkley

 

I took off my little plastic 'Toys 'R Us' vanity 'aero-style' wheel covers as I thought they looked hoky (and I couldn't find any research to indicate that they were really functional). No problem with wheel weights.

KenYOregon

 

Most modern cars use stick on weights that go on the inside of the rim, no need for ugly crimp on wheel weights anymore. They simply used the wrong weights, take it back and have them re balance the wheels with "stick on weights".

 

Off the cuff, they protect your rims from curb scratching, and do possibly have aerodynamic benefits.

 

Has anyone installed the Michelin X Radial? It was the second highly recommended tire in the 11/05 Consumer Reports. It is also available at Costco and it comes in the standard Prius tire size 185/65/15 (assuming Michelin X - Radial DT is the same tire).

http://www.costco.com/Tires/SearchResult.a...&cat=3962&MNo=0

Has anyone had experience with this tire?

 

not necessarily true. modern computer balancing is accurate enough that it will specify whether the weight needs to be added to the inside or outside of the wheel.

 

I have to say I have very few problems, Most in the rain with leaves on the road. We have a lot of Big Leaf Maples in this area. They are apply named. The size of these leaves is two to three times larger than the Maples I grew up with in Ohio. Bigger than your hand with out stretched fingers. Add these wet soggy leaves to a wet road. Other than those conditions I have done well with the OEM tires. We did not get much snow last year.

 

If someone has cold hard facts about the actual improved fuel savings (over a normal speed range) while having these 'baby moons' installed then I may consider keeping them on, however as far as depending on them for wheel protectors go, I must admit that I drove my '94 525 BMW for over 10 years and scraped a wheel or two, and cringed when I did, but mind you, the BMW wheels were $1400 ea.

Nope, I likes my wheels naked thanks. To each their own. Some times you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. In the modern vernacular, "It's all good."

KennYOregon

 

Hi David:

We also have to contrast between static and dynamic balancing. It's entirely possible to perfectly balance a square object, but then try driving on it.

Some of the better tire shops have the new and very expensive Hunter GSP9700:

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/features/how.cfm

Most standard digital wheel balancers can tell the technician the weight and location of the correction.

jay

 

I found the OEMs were acceptable until the snow started to stick last winter. Once moving, they were OK but slid at stop signs and the TC kicked in starting on any sort of incline. The final straw was trying to go up a fairly steep, recently plowed driveway from a dead stop. It got up a little, then the TC stopped the tires and the car slid, yes SLID - my foot was still on the accelerator - back to where it had traction and started up again. Sort of 2 feet forward, one back until the hill flattened out a bit. I got the TripleTreds later that week and went up fine in the same conditions.

I did have a bit of trouble on that hill when I tested the TTs from a dead stop with about 6" of unplowed snow. Similar to the OEMs with little snow, except the TTs didn't slide down the hill. I had to remove my foot from the acclerator and roll back a bit, then go up a bit more and repeat. With about an 8 MPH start, the TC kicked in a bit but up I went just fine. This was similar to the OEMs on the PLOWED driveway with an 8-10 MPH start.

I'm not sure how much of a mileage hit the TTs caused. I had occasion to drive to Manchester, NH - all interstate- in early April and got 47.5 MPG round trip (by MFD). When I rented a Prius before buying, I drove to Boston and got 49 MPG so I figured I had lost some mileage. Of course the rental was in July of 2004 so maybe there was a temp difference. PLUS, I didn't think to check the tire pressures on the TTs before I went to Manchester. I put the OEMs back on later that week, setting the pressure to 40 & 38 (as I had set the TTs when I put them on) and went to SW N.H. on the weekend, again all interstate. The mileage was about 48 so maybe the TTs didn't make an appreciable mileage hit. They are going back on today for the winter so we'll see. I don't know how the extra 8 Revs/mile affect the MFD mileage calc.

I think C.R. showed the ComfotTreds as BETTER in snow than the TTs but I can't believe it. I put CTs on my wife's Subaru this spring and while the central grooves are wide and would probably do well steering and turning in snow, the perpendicular grooves are not very wide. I don't think they would be nearly as good at start and stop gripping.

 

Wow. this is a concern to me, as I live in the Santa Cruz mountains (N.CA) and must take twisty roads to get to work. I've actually skidded in my all wheel drive Subaru outback (with the original type white-letter Michelins)...
Since I don't have the Prius yet, should I try to do a deal at the dealership to change them out?? What do y'all think?
Thanks,
Judy

 

You're right, but you missed my point.

Most modern wheels are designed in such a way that "crimp on" weights cannot be used on the outside edge of the wheel, my Lexus is this way as are most modern wheel designs because they don't have a "lip" around the edge of the wheel. The inside edge of the wheel has a lip and crimp on weights are used as normal.

The balancing machine still specifies whether the balancing correction needs to be done on the inside edge or the outside edge, but on the outside edge a "stick on" weight is used on the inside of the wheel instead of a weight crimped onto the outside lip.

The Prius DOES HAVE a lip underneath those plastic covers, but stick on weights are still used since the cover won't sit flush with crimp on wheel weights installed.

These are stick on wheel weights:

http://www.alltiresupply.com/Merchant2/mer...gory_Code=WW_SW

These are crimp on wheel weights:

http://www.alltiresupply.com/Merchant2/mer...ry_Code=WW_IAWC