When you say you lIke the aggressive tread pattern On the ENVigor that makes me think you plan on using the car for hard driving. Is this the case? Do you get much rain/snow in your area? What is the average winter temperature? If you compare the two tires at the Yokohama website, the Ascend is only 1 mark below the ENVigor in dry and wet traction but it is 5 marks above winter traction, 1 click above in noise and 3 marks above in longevity. The T rated Ascend comes with an 85,000 mile warranty vs. 60,000 on the ENVigor. I would lean towards the Ascend for mpg as well but I don't have any data to back this up. I can only go by my own results. A call to Yokohama could help you choose.
We live in South Dakota, our climate in the spring and summer gets as high as 90 F, mainly stays around 70 F. In the winter time we commonly get about 5 or 6 snowfalls, each producing 3-4 inches and stays there. Sometimes it melts and causes ice, and sometimes we have sheets of ice under the snow from freezing rain. The temperatures normally will go as low as -10 F but average temp is around 20 F. I work in a city that is 40 miles from where I live, all highway driving, so we are using the Prius for that. 281 seems to get treacherous in the winter time so I may end up using our Santa Fe to get to work during the winter months. My wife will still need to use the Prius in town to navigate. Right now we are looking at the ENVigors being $87 a tire, $348 for a set plus a $100 MIR from Ford. The Ascends will be $95 a tire, being $380 for a set and the $100 MIR from Ford. Then there's also the Yoko Touring S which are $69 at Tire Rack, would still be $100 MIR at Ford. Like I said, this prius does all highway driving probably in the temps that I've listed above. I've also heard of the Passenger Car Yokohamas start to get noisy after 20k or so. Thanks!
Bridgestone Ecopia 422s continued Did a fill earlier . Got 39.64 m.p.g. calculated ( 250.7 mis. / 6.324 gals. of 87/wE10 @ 1 click ) . The fill might of been more closer to the dispay of 40.2 if surface at pump had been more level . All mileage is with the Ecopia 422s' at 35 p.s.i.. Most was the 2 of us ( 90% ) , many steep hills , some head winds up to 15 , speeds up to 65 , and some city driving ( maybe 15% ) . The last few pics are when arrived home . 40+ seems to appear more on the display since the Ecopia 422 . If F.E. not better , same as the Dunlop SP 31 A/S . Can live with that at the price we paid for them . Handling is better and the cabin is quieter . Have to wait on the rain handling report .
I would lean towards the Ascend for mpg as well but I don't have any data to back this up. I can only go by my own results. A call to Yokohama could help you choose. [/QUOTE] Hi there - just a plug for the fuel efficiency of the Avid Ascends. I drive a standard civic rated at 34 mpg highway. Before putting these tires on the best mileage I EVER experienced in this car was 36 mpg. Last week drove a full tank over country roads/hwy and got almost 40 (39.7) at a 41 PSI. This just blows me away that I could, on a dime, improve my mileage by 10%. At this rate I will recover the cost of tires in gas savings alone in 2 years!
Interesting. I appreciate you non-Prius folks taking the time to report your experience with this tire. It appears it is significantly better than the non-LRR tires that come on Corollas and Civics. That's good news for everyone.
Interesting. Ascend is 3 lbs heavier than Ecopia 422 or Energy Saver. 4 lbs heavier than ProContact with EcoPlus. That to me suggests a bit less fuel economy.
I was worried about this when I was considering the purchase. I coud have went with the Energy Savers and played it safe but i wanted to test these out. I had a feeling few people would be willing to try them. There is a lot more to fuel economy than just weight. Many people have tried lightweight Wheels and observed no change in fuel economy. I used lightweight 17s and still observed a huge hit in mpg. In fact my mpg loss was equal to those running much heavier Scion tC wheels. The proof is in the pudding I guess. I'm sitting at 58.8mpg right now so they can't be all that bad. I was at 59.4 last night but the wind picked up quite a bit. I had a 59mpg (calculated) tank not long ago. for the record I don't pulse and glide unless it is between stoplights in town. I rarely drive in town much.
I really believe that the MPG king is the Michelin Energy Saver tire. I have noticed a true 2-3 mpg perhaps more with this tire over the Yoko Avid tire I replaced, we now have over 61,000 miles on the Energy Saver Tires and have about 10,000 miles of tread life left. (195x65x15) with 44 psi max pressure in all 4 tires / Costco Nitrogen. I believe that the Nokian Entyre is also as good but there is no real driver feed back on this tire. I would consider the Nokian tire but they are another $200.00 more for a set of 4 over the Energy Saver compared to Costco price with the $70.00 off program in effect now. Costco Price I believe is $113.00 / tire/ 195x65x15.
With temps below 40F for much of the winter I would go with the Ascend or YK580 over the other choices you listed. You will get better winter performance and better fuel economy. Check the Yokohama site and look at wet and dry traction but winter rating as well.
Here is some driver feedback. 2004 Prius DATE__________ODO____INC_____AVG --- Nokian eNTYRE put on here 10/14/10____115205____644____69.0 (3.4) 11/03/10____115819____613____67.5 (3.5) 11/22/10____116381____561____64.9 (3.6) 12/11/10____116940____558____65.1 (3.6) -- Cold weather starts here 01/04/11____117516____575____62.0 (3.8) -- 23 F here 01/04/11____118047____530____62.3 (3.8) -- 13 F here plus ice days and snow days 02/09/11____118508____461____55.6 (4.2) -- 18 F here plus ice days and snow days 02/25/11____119029____520____64.8 (3.6) 03/15/11____119551____521____65.9 (3.6) 03/31/11____120138____587____68.1 (3.5) 04/21/11____120732____593____66.9 (3.5) 05/11/11____121347____614____67.6 (3.5) 05/31/11____121962____614____69.4 (3.4) -- High temperatures start here 06/22/11____122606____643____67.7 (3.5) 07/17/11____123251____644____69.1 (3.4) -- Flat tire here 08/10/11____123900____648____67.1 (3.5) 09/07/11____124533____633____70.2 (3.4) -- 12V battery changed here 09/27/11____125180____647____70.6 (3.3) 10/18/11____125708____614____69.7 (3.4) 11/07/11____126389____594____68.6 (3.4) -- Cold weather starts here 11/28/11____126991____601____67.3 (3.4) -- 27F here -- New commute route starts here -- Flat tire here 12/12/11____127535____543____66.2 (3.6) 12/31/11____128012____586____67.8 (3.5) --- Trip to NE starts here 01/07/12____128603____481____56.6 (4.2) -- 13 F here 01/12/12____129042____438____52.7 (4.5) 01/15/12____129420____378____50.3 (4.7) 01/20/12____129094____481____56.2 (4.2) --- Trip to NE ends here 01/31/12____130503____600____69.8 (3.4) 02/23/12____131050____546____69.4 (3.4) 03/07/12____131679____629____72.2 (3.3) 03/23/12____132319____638____71.3 (3.3) 04/12/12____132987____668____74.0 (3.2) 05/02/12____133647____659____74.3 (3.2)
Jerry, what is your data for the OE tires and how long is your commute, etc.. The data is great but without context it doesn't tell us much.
So interesting update/question...I recently lowered my tires to 30psi (factory recommending for the 06 Corolla) from 36 psi and the ride was definitely smoother, but not really quieter and mpg was MUCH lower. I increased them to 40psi today and they actually seem quieter than before and mpg was easily at 40+ on highway. It seems weird to me that the tires would be quieter at higher psi? What psi are people running their Ascends at? What are your comments on noise level? I've come to just accept the fact that most of my road noise is just because the Corolla has basically no insulation....anyway, I've decided that mpg is more important than comfort but I wish I could have both haha
I'm not really sure why they would have gotten louder with lower pressure. Have you repeated the test to see if you get the same outcome? This could rule out other environmental factors.
I have to give Yokohama major props for their customer service as well as my local America's Tire Company in Woodland, CA. I was disappointed in the mpg and the noise (both were similar to OE AVIDs) of the AVID Ascend so Yokohama gave me a full credit for the tires and America's Tire Company allowed me to swap to the Energy Saver A/S for just the cost of installation. Kudos to them both for being great companies. Despite my change of tires I still think these are a great deal for someone looking for OE mpg with amazing treadlife and better than OE handling. This is a great tire for someone who wants better handling without upsizing to larger wheels or sacrificing fuel efficiency.
Are you sure you did that claim for the model AVID Ascend for the OE S33D tire through Yokohama? I spoke today with the manager at Yokohama Karen Simmons. She said she's never even heard of anything like that. She told me to call Discount Tires or the dealer where I bought my car and they might be able to do something.
Yes. I set up the claim through Yokohama. They sent me to America's Tire and the manager there took care of the rest using my original claim number. The S33Ds were flat out unsafe on my roads where grooved cement is quite common. The car would track all over the place! The test drive at Americas Tire confirmed this so they were replaced.
I'm pretty set on getting the Ascends for my Gen 3. What about H vs T speed rating? They are the same price at the place I'm going. Since H are rated for higher speeds would they handle a little better/get better dry/wet traction etc, but sacrifice 1-2 mpg? If so, I would go with H over T.
