Ecopia EP 20s

TireRack.com Tire Reviews

 

Our previous Honda Civic Hybrid (06) came with Bridgestone Insignia SE200_02. Look up that tire, and the Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 on Tirerack, and you will see near-identical tread pattern. I do believe it has been rebadged, or maybe the same moulds are being used, with revised rubber formulation. Anyway, with the Insignia's:

They were on the car through maybe 90,000 km's, minus 2 snow tire stints of maybe 15,000 total. That was in the 3rd and 4th winters we had the car, and was almost a necessity:

When new their snow traction was so-so, you could get around. But once they wore down to about 5~6/32'nds the traction became really bad. The day I got the snow tires installed there had just been a big dump (kind of unusual for our our area).

I barely made it past our downhill driveway and up to the main street. I really had no business being on the road: they were a menace. Anyway, got to the tire dealer in one piece and had Nokian WRG2 put on. Night and day diffference.

Around 90,000 km we went to Costco and had Ecopia EP20 put on to replace them. Apart from the badge they are dead-ringers, and the ride/feel very similar. I like them, good for roll-on, track nicely. A little noisy, especially as they wear, but not bad.

 

My guess: (90,000-15000)5/8 miles (maybe 50000 miles) will get you down to around 4~5/32" tread depth remaining.

For snows I went with 15" Corolla steel rims and Michelin X-Ice in 195/65R15. Got more or less the same mileage as our stock 215/45R17 Michelin Pilots. Maybe even better, LOL.

 

Would this be a good replacement tire for my 2004 prius? I know their slightly wider at 195 vs 185 goodyears. I want the tire that will give me good wear but also very good MPG.

 

I have the Ecopia EP 20 tires with 10k miles so far. These are the best new car tires I ever had. They are quiet, wearing well, and give great gas milage (55mpg avg so far).

 

I have 44,000 on mine at the moment. I plan to get at least 50k out of them. They have done alright in the snow. I did a few trips to MI over the winter. I rotate mine every 10k miles.

 

I'd disagree. Now this is assuming they behave similar to Ecopia SE200, which had/have identical tread pattern. New they're "ok" in snow. But I would not gamble on them once the tread's below 6/32". The shallow sipes will be gone, there's little left but longitudinal grooves, and they're more-or-less racing slicks.

 

Anyone know the answer to my question?

 

It depends on your specific needs...

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...esistance-replacement-tires-current-list.html

 

I simply wanted to know if the ecopia ep 20 that comes standard on the 2010 prius is compatible with a 2004 prius. Your list does not include that tire for 2004's. The ep 20 is obviously a LRR tire, and the one toyota decided to go with for optimum MPG. I just would like to know if I would get the same or similar mpg benefit if I put those on my 2004.

 

I'm not sure why they don't come up in a search fro LRR tires on the TireRack website. Regardless, yes you can use them but they are larger in diameter than your OEM tire size (185/65/15) so your speedometer will likely be dead on accurate now instead of 2mph too fast. Currently your car's speedometer is showing a faster speed than you are actually traveling. The 195/65/15 will likely slow the speedometer down. This may also affect your measured MPG since now you are turning the tires less revolutions per mile. I cannot confirm this but it's possible.

I would not recommend the EP20's based on their very low treadwear rating. You would be better served by picking something off my list with the much higher treadwear rating of 500+. The EP20s were only rated for 380.

You'll also get better fuel economy by staying with the OEM size tire but you may give up enhanced traction from the wider tire. It all really depends on what tire you buy.

I suggest the Goodyear Fuel Max, Michelin Energy Saver A/S, Continental ProContact with eco plus, Kumho eco Solus HM KR22, or the Nokian enTYRE.

 

Thanks for your reply. I'm surprised that your suggestions didn't include the Goodyear Comfort tread touring (185/65/15). This seems to be a very popular replacement tire for the GEN 2 Prius. They also have treadware rating of 740. But I understand your suggestions were a sampling, and you didn't include everything.

 

Those tires or at least the non-touring ones ranked lower in MPG and were not rated for LRR so I excluded them. I only suggested tires that I knew to have LRR charactistics and were not too pricey.

For a full sampling of LRR tires you can check my thread on the subject.

Here is how the Comfort treads stacked up against a small sampling of other LRR tires.

When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green

 

You could go for the Michelin Energy Saver tires, ours are going on 44,000 plus miles now and a true 2-3 MPG increase over factory Yoko Avid tire they replaced. Looks like they are still good for another 20,000 miles or so.

Another tire to look at is the Nokian entyre which I have no pesonal expierence with but it should be a great tire as well.

alfon

 

The problem with the Energy Saver A/S is the perpetual backorder.

 

Well, I would take a long look at the Nokian entyre. It would be my
next choice to the Energy Saver.

 

Thanks for the replies. I just had a new set of Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max's installed and balanced. This looks like a very good LRR tire, with a decent treadwear rating. OTD price, w/lifetime balance and rotation, was also very good, ($465) plus I'm getting a $50 rebate.

 

Are EP 20s relatively new tires from Bridgestone? I am asking since there is no test or survey data available on tirerack.com.

Survey data would have crucial information on how well tires perform in snow, etc.