Tire Upgrade Review- Toyo Extensa A/S 205/60R15

I'm curious what the car would be getting with a 185 or 195 LRR tire. The extra width of your new tire will lower MPG as will the non-LRR rating on the tire. From a performance and handling standpoint you made the right choice. A wider tire will stop better and generally corner better.

 

Thanks for the post! I'm looking for new tires myself. With your review and pictures I'm for sure getting 205/60R15

 

Agreed although you usually have to go pretty extreme to get to that point. Hydroplaning is also a potential issue.

I 'mstill skeptical about the mpg staying the same. Physics state there should be a decrease in efficiency but maybe the old tires were less efficient despite being smaller.

 

Not giving you a hard time, just asking:
Which is more likely to hydroplane, a 185/65R15 with no tread or a brand new 205/60R15?

I'll take my chances with the 205/60R15 because I'll try anything that possibly could be better than the stock OEM tires. I don't care about ride comfort, I care about road performance. I'd get 17" rims and tires, however I'm unable to afford the cost, so I have to settle for a tire upgrade. I'm hoping that the 205/60's are the answer.

 

I don't think that is a fair comparison and would never be a realistic decision onl would have to consider. A properly inflated 185/65/15 would be less likely to hydroplane than a properly inflated wider tire if all other factors were equal like tread design, tire compound etc..

D ifferenttire designs can change this general rule of thumb depending on whether the tire in question is a directional tire vs. a unidirectional tire. I plans on putting my 17s back on once the rains begin due to it's directional design, deeper tread depth and greater wet weather performance compared to my summer only tire despite the 15s being narrower. The most important factor is tread depth, design and proper inflation.

 

I agree with you. I just wonder how much grip you assume you are gaining vs. a LRR tire. I would like to see some thorough testing performed because my tires grip pretty darn well and they are LRR although not considered ultra high performance. They were designed for the Mercedes and BMW crowd. lol

Maybe I can find some tests on tirerack.com.

 

UPDATE:
I ordered my 205/60R15 General AltiMax HP tires from www.tireteam.com

http://www.tireteam.com/Tires/General/Altimax+HP/2056015/15480550000.html

They were $64 each and shipping was only $37 and were delivered UPS ground. Ordered on friday, and delivered on the following monday!
I took the tires to my local Wal-Mart in Waynesboro, PA and had ALL FOUR mounted, balanced, and installed on the car for only $27.56 Yes, that's all four!(I think they forgot to charge me something, cause I was expecting to pay much more.) I watched and they used a torque wrench to tighten down the lug nuts. I was so worried that they would hammer them on with the impact wrench and snap some studs (like so many garages do). I was really impressed with their service and would recommend the Waynesboro Wal-mart tire center to anyone that may live here locally.

After having the tires installed I went to the gas station and added more air, they set the tires to 32psi I took them up to 40 psi on all 4 tires.

Thank you skyswordsman for recommending the 205/60R15 size tires! If anyone is looking for good tires on a budget check out what tireteam.com has to offer.

 

Great writeup OP! I am running 195/60/15 and I may just go ahead and try 205's on my next purchase. I just got the Hankook H27 which I'm pretty pleased with. They do NOT come in 205/60/15 but I am going to try a different brand next time I need tires. I've read some decent reviews of the General Altimax HP, so I may go with those.

 

I dont think LRR matters much with a good tire like toyo, the compounds in toyos are harder therefor netting more mpg anyhow, i had 195 60 15 toyo spectrums on a saturn sl2 1999 and could get 42 mpg at 70 mph, i just got 205 60 15 toyo extensa a/s and the handling feels pretty good after 10 miles, Town fair tire matched tiresdirect.net cheap price on these 478$ installed

 

I had measure 45-47 mpg at 60 mph at one point.

 

also I agree 195 60 15s do not feel safe to normal people, maybe crazy old ladys i had spacers on mine to feel safe that why I went up a size, plus its 15 more revs per miles so I will run at lower rpms on the higway netting me more mpg

 

also had a classic saturn warm air intake and lightened by 100lbs stripped carpet, aerodynamic upgrades(based on modeling I found), and 36psi front 40 back

 

A

Are you sure it works that way? More revs/mile increases RPM at a given speed. The Prius and its eCVT acts a little different than a normal transmission with regards to RPM and tire-based gearing. A shorter tire also artificially increases the number of miles registered on the odometer.

*Edit* just realized I was in the GenII forum.

 

In the UK the Prius (gen2) comes as standard with 16 inch rims tyre size 195/55/16.

I cannot imagine how bad the US Prius must be with 185/60/15 tyres, not being impressed with the UK 195's.

I have gone to 205/55/16 and have not lost any mpg in fact I have gained about 3 to 4 mpg with much better handling and stability than the OEM Bridgestones.

My advice to anyone with a gen2 Prius is to go to the wider size tyres.

 

been running 205's on the '04 since sometime in '07. never noticed any loss of mpg, and the slightly taller tire corrected the speedo a bit. fortunately, when my bro had the car, he put the same size on it that i had, he never checked to see what the correct size was. the 205's just look right on the stock wheels. 185 looks too skinny. when my wife wears out the 185s on her car, she'll get 205s.

 

Having two Gen2 cars with different width tires you have a good comparison. What kind of difference if any do you find in handling, stability, ride, cornering, wandering, wind buffeting, etc between the widths of tires? What brand and air pressure?

 

well, since i've added better sway bars front and rear to the '04, its not really a fair comparison. however, other than the excessive body roll on the '05, it handles fine by me. the '05 has michelins from the previous owner, and they work good. i have yokohamas on the '04, and they are also good. i would say that any quality tire can be expected to perform well, assuming the alignment is correct and the tires are properly inflated. i don't consider the goodyear integrity to be a quality tire, btw. i had those on the '04 originally, and i flat spotted one of em by cornering too hard. they had plenty of tread left on em, but i couldn't take the flapflapflapflapflap on the highway. also, i would stay away from dunlop, or any chinese, korean or indonesian tires.
i run 40psi.