Recently told by my toyota dealer that I need new tires, again. First time at 23,000 and now at 58,000. They put Yokohama tires on last time. I sure am feeling like the dealer is only concerned about their bottom line! So, my question is.. What is the best tire for the 06 Prius? I live in Florida year round. Sould I buy tires from someone other than the dealer? I'm open to suggestions. I have looked at soo many web sites and no one can seem to come up with a definite answer. I would like quiet, LONG lasting, not really overly concerned about mpg- after all, it is a Prius.. Help!
What! Fuel efficient vehicles are all the more sensitive to variations in rolling resistance. That said, Low Rolling Resistance and long lasting often go hand in hand. I'd suggest to navigate over to TireRack, say you're looking for tires, list all that are available, and then start playing around with the exclusion filter. Personally, I'd exclude all but low rolling resistance, then look for some that also show good tread life (high UTQG value). Here's TireRack's page for 2006 Prius: Tire Search Results (Currently set to only show LRR, the exclusion settings are down the left side) I see you can also sort by UTQG, best (of LRR choices) to worst descending here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...Prius&autoModClar=&sortCode=37550&tireIndex=0
Check out Michelin Energy Savers, Hydro Edge and they have MP4? all give high mileage and are LRR design. I am a fan of Good Year Assurance Fuel Max. They are how-ever a All season which may not appeal to you being in Florida? Hal
Which Yokahamas did they put on. They make a ton of different tires. And please don't just say Avid since there are 11 of those. Extreme Performance Summer ADVAN Neova AD07 ADVAN Neova AD08 Max Performance Summer ADVAN Sport ADVAN Sport ZPS Ultra High Performance Summer A008 A022H0 ADVAN A046 ADVAN A10A ADVAN A10F ADVAN A13C AVS ES100 AVS S1 Parada Spec-2 S.drive Ultra High Performance All-Season ADVAN A82A ADVAN S.4. AVID ENVigor (W) AVID W4S High Performance All-Season AVID ENVigor (H&V) AVID H4S S32A High Performance Summer ADVAN A11A ADVAN A680 ADVAN A83A Grand Touring Summer dB Super E-Spec Standard Touring All-Season AVID TOURING-S AVID TRZ Y376B Y376M Y376R Passenger All-Season AVID C33 AVID S33 AVID S33B AVID S33D AVID S34B AVID S34D AVID S34F AVS EF1 E-102 AVS EF1 E-Spec E105 Y372 Track & Competition DOT ADVAN A048
At least he won't be worried about snow or ice with those Assurance Fuel Max tires. I'm more a fan of Yokohama Avid ENVigor or General Altimax HP which you can get cheaper. To the OP, be sure you look on tirerack.com and figure out the right size to get based on revs per mile. You want something close to 850 (lower is OK if you use high PSIs). The correct 15" Altimax HP for a Gen II Prius would be 195/60R15 at 850 RPM. The correct 15" Avid ENVigor for a Gen II Prius would be 185/65R15 at 850 RPM. I'd just call around to all the tire shops in your town and get prices for those including mounting, balancing, tire stems, tax and such and compare pricing. But if you see another tire you like feel free to consider it as well. LRR tires are fine in the south since you don't have to worry about snow/ice. edit: I haven't gotten used to it but the highest rated tire in this price range is the Hankook Optimo H727. You'll want the 195/65R15 which is 831 RPM (Revs Per Mile) with sidewal max of 44 psi. Tirerack says $74 per tire and it's the best rated "Standard Touring All-Season". I'm a fan of running higher PSI so I like that the Avid ENVigor and Altimax HP are 51 PSI marked but the Optimo H727 is very highly rated on tirerack so I guess I should get used to mentioning it.
No you don't have to go to the dealer for replacement tires, especially when they last 20k. Yes you should buy a Michelin tire, a hydro model as you are in a wet at times state, get a quote from tire wrack and then compare it to some local tire dealers, labor is 50$ or so for installation and look for a road hazard guarantee, make sure to inflate to 42f 40r and rotate them a few times a year.
If you buy from Discount Tire, you get lifetime free rotations. Just saying. Is it about the same price as Tire Rack when you add shipping. I am about to change my 2006 to Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max.
