Michelin Hydroedge in 205/65/15 or wait for Energy Saver A/S in 195 65 15?

The HydroEdge is a good tire. I've had them on two other vehicles, but they are not a low rolling resistance tire. There is another similar thread running right now on alternatives to the Michelin Energy Saver A/S. I'll see if I can get you a link. Try this thread.

 

I am sort of in the same boat, waiting on the Energy Saver production line to fire up again. Tire Rack shows an expected stocking date of early March. But, I don't know if that is a real date or some made up one. If I finally run out of patience, I'm probably going to buy the Nokian eNTYRE.

Be aware that Michelin is going to be releasing a new line, the Defender, that replaces the Hydroedge line (and Michelin Harmony line, too). Michelin says that the Defender will be available on April 1st.

 

I called the Tire Rack on this last week. They said it would be at least three months until we see the Michelin Energy Saver A/S again.

The Defender does not appear to be a Low Rolling Resistance Tire. Note how they compare its efficiency to a Yokohama Avid TRZ, which is also not a LRR tire.

 

If you want long tread wear and higher mpg than the ProContact with EcoPlus then the Nokian enTYRE may be the next best choice. I wish we had reliable test data that showed the enTYRE was worth the high price.

Either way,I wouldn't go with the Hydroedge. It's a great tire but losing mpg is not good and you're bound to take another hit from the wider size. If you can hold on another month the Yokohama Blue Earth 1 may be available.

 

I was wondering what had happened to the Energy Saver A/S. I recall seeing it on costco.com on 195/65/15 and now only the x-radial shows up, which from reviews seems to initially lower mpg by 2-4mpg for the first few thousand miles.

 

Isn't 205/65/15 wrong size for Gen 3?

I thought 195/65/15 or 205/60/15 are correct size for Gen 3.

 

My mistake, 195/65/15 is correct for G3.

 

I've had the Hydroedge and the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred on the same car (1999 DeVille) The Goodyear had better snow and ice traction and was quieter. I'm more concerned with safety and reliability over LRR.

At this time, I have the Michelin Hydroedge on my G3, as the factory tires were shot around 30k. My wife has the car today, so I'll have to see what size I have on it, but I believe it was the stock/recommended size.

 

Now with well over 55,000 miles on Michelin Energy Saver tires
the only tire that will probably match its fuel economy, 2-3 mpg increase over the factory Yoko Avid tires it replaced, is
the Nokian Entyre which has a longer tread life as well.

If I could not buy the Energy Saver tires my next choice
would be the Nokian's.

 

Any tire with the "GreenX" logo on the sidewall is LRR.

http://michelinman.com/tire-selector/name/hydroedge-tires makes it appear there is a hydroedge that is not LRR.

But looking on tirerack.com all the hydroedges have GreenX.

I don't know if there is such a thing as a hydroedge without GreenX but if so it wouldn't be a good replacement for the Energy Saver A/S.

However if you are looking for something now HydroEdge with GreenX is available in

Gen II 15" choice 849 205/60/15 Michelin HydroEdge w/ Green X
Gen II/III 15" choice 832 215/60/15 Michelin HydroEdge w/ Green X

 

I don't know about the noise factor but on the size it'll affect the speedometer/odometer more than anything and the choices are

HydroEdge with Green X(Passenger All-Season) for Gen III Prius Choices
-----------------
15" Rims
205/65R15 822 (1.5% slow)
205/60R15 849 (1.5% fast)
215/60R15 832 (best match)

note the numbers will be different for other model tires and especially other brands.

 

The GreenX label is a bit loose IMO. I wouldn't expect all tires with the label are equal in terms of RR. The Hydroedge probably just made the cut because it is a hard tire hence then long wear and loudness of the tire.