Road noise want quiet tires???

There were apparently 3 different tire manufacturer used on Pip.

I've got the Yokohama Avid s33 42 psi front and 40 psi rear.

The tire noise isnt too bad for me.

I was Navy as well.

 

i hear the mich energy savers are pretty quiet, with good mpg's and handling as well.

 

I have Goodyear Assurance Comfortread these are supposed to be quiet.

 

but are they?

 

I just bought a set of Energy Saver A/S for my '09 Prius. My PiP came with Goodyear's Assurance - Can't tell if they're ComforTred or Fuel Max.

I can't tell any difference between the two (Michelin and Goodyear) as far as noise goes. Both sets are better than the OEM Integrity tires that came with the '09.

Even though it's 3 years old, the article and video below does a pretty good job of explaining the differences among the tires:

When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green

 

I 100% agree ... had a Camry Hybrid 07 with michellin energy tires, always ... way quieter than the pip ... i'm going to get 16'' nice rims and tires very soon ... i'll let u know if it's much quieter ... considering investing in sound proofing my pip, since i love the car otherwise

blake

 

I replaced the OEM Yokohama Avid S33D's with Michelin MXV4's and noticed an immediate reduction in road noise to the point that I was able to lower my radio volume by 5 points. I also took about a 4 mpg hit due to not being LRR.

Now that I have about 15k miles on the tires and the tread has been reduced from 11/32 to 9/32 the road noise is slowly beginning to increase again.

If road noise is your main criteria and you are not concerned about taking a mpg hit I would recommend the MXV4's.

 

It's not your tires- it's the Oregon roads. Oregon still allows studded snow tires and Oregon has the roughest roads in the USA! I travel to Oregon routinely and rent cars at the Portland airport, as soon as I get on the freeway the noise is amazing, regardless of what car I rent! I lived in Arizona and they are using a "rubberized" asphalt and it is extremely smooth and very quiet! Currently I live in Georgia and drive to North/South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee, none of those states creat the noise the Oregon roads do.

 

I'd like quiet tires, but 4mpg is a bit much to lose plus according to you the quietness only lasts for the first 15K miles??? Doesn't sound worth it if they start getting noticeably noisier well before they are due to be replaced.

 

The Energy Saver A/S is quieter than the FuelMax, lasts longer and provides better mpg. The MXV4s are a nice tire but think of it this way, you lose 3+mpg vs. the OE tire or you can gain 2-3mpg vs. the OE tire using the Energy Saver A/S.

 

Let me clarify the increase noise statement. The noise level has begun to increase at 15k miles but it is still well below the noise level of the OEM's when they were new. I would think the noise level will increase as the tread depth goes down on most any tire. I know it did significantly with the Avid S33D's.

The mileage hit for the MXV4 is significant. The mpg loss in now in the 2-3 mpg range with the 15k miles however and I hope will continue to improve as the mileage increases. I really like the MXV4's in every other way.

For a noise reduction and improvement in mpg I would definitely go with the Energy Savers now. They were not available at the time I bought the MXV4's.

 

My PIP has Yokohama Avid s33, and I find the car very quiet! From what I read before I bought the Prius I expected it to be noisy, but it isn't. I think it has more to do with the roads you drive on then the tires.

 

It does BUT the Energy Saver A/S is still quieter than the AVID S33D. Even good roads will cause tire noise so it boils down to what is acceptable to you.

 

I had experienced with significantly less road noise going from Goodyear Integrity to Goodyear Assurance ComforTred in my 2004. Because of that, I switched from the Yokohama Avid S33 to Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring, even though the S33 seemed pretty quiet. I'll admit the road noise hasn't changed significantly this time, but I suspect with the S33 are quiet by trading away treadlife. TireRack has a couple reviews that indicate it lasts 16-30K miles. Also, the Prius owner I sold my S33's to had balding S33's after 20-25K miles.

 

My Avid S33D's were relatively quiet when new but increased in noise as the tread wore down. By the time I replaced them with 4/32" tread depth the road noise was quite loud. You are correct that the road conditions make a lot of difference with the road noise.

Of course it is hard to remember what the S33D's road noise was like when new but I am quite sure that the MXV4's were much quieter. From what I understand from F8L and The Critic the Energy Savers are also much quieter than the S33D's when both are new.

 

it's a difficult decision based on reviews. $3-500. to find out you can't really hear much difference is a tough pill to swallow. too bad there isn't a better method for choosing tires.

 

I just bought the 2012 PIP. My 2010 Prius had Michelin Hydra Edge. Are these suitable for the PIP?