Prius MPG is a scam when compared to tire waste

Diode, you might want to go out to the Yahoo group for the previous generation Prius.

Indeed, there were problems with the low resistance tires installed on the 2001-2003 Prius. What I don't know off-hand is what they did about it.

Perhaps John1701a can give you some input as well.

As for the 2004 Prius, the Goodyear Integrity tires aren't great but after 11K miles at 40/38psi (front/year), they still look brand new. They do pick up a fair about of road noise.

Price

 

So just buy a different tire.

Long ago the classic Prius owners found alternative tires that last 40,000 to 50,000 miles... perhaps more, but not many have driven that far with them yet.

When I sold my 2001 Prius, my alternates were just shy of 30,000 miles. They looked fantastic still. Without any doubt, they would have easily exceeded 40,000 miles.

Buy a better tire. Here's a few (of many) suggestions...
http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-tires.htm

 

diode, did you have the alignment checked? If the toe is off you can have severe, premature tire wear.

Be sure to get a four wheel computerized alignment. Do it the same day you buy new tires.

Nate

 

Toyota replaced all 4 tires on my family's old Prius for free (about a year after it was bought). They mentioned that they found some sort of problem with the tire design.

 

Say, John, do you have a page of similar information for the '04 Prius? Specifically I'm wondering if I ought to change the tires on mine, and if so if I should go with an all-season or separate summer and winter tires. We generally get colder temps but less snow than you do.

 

Also my understanding was that the primary engineering goal of the Prius was not mileage but emissions. The MPG boost was a nice add-on benefit (and obviously more marketable in the US

 

If you still have OEM rubber on the classic Prius. Run the tire pressures at 44 front, and 42 rear. Ride quality is not affected, according to my seat of the pants feel, and I have almost 21k on mine. They are still looking great. My only problem with them is a bit of noise from when I ran it for a couple of days out of alignment, after hitting a dead dog or coyote in the middle of the road that I couldn't avoid.

 

> do you have a page of similar information for the '04 Prius?

Nope, and I likely won't either. There are so many choices available for the 2004, it simply isn't necessary.

With the classic, that was different. The reason is those tires were only 14", which is far less common than the 15" the 2004 uses.

As for my opinion on the tires, I've come to the conclusion that I'll be replacing my 2004 tires (right before the start of the 2005/2006 winter) with the same alternate tires I used on my classic... unless someone finds something better in the moderate price range. The rode a little better, were a little quieter, had deeper tread, and worked as if they were LRR (no MPG drop).

 

What makes you think used tires can't be recycled? It's done all the time.

 

Yes, but of these 15" tires how many are LRR tires?

Peter

 

In other words, you are satisfied with the OEM tires, if you do not plan on changing them for a year and a half. I guess that answers my question. Thanks.

 

If only the front tires were worn to the wear bars and not the rears, it is most likely toe in adjustment and the fact that nobody rotated the tires. I have had two classic Prius' and by running 44/42 tire pressures I have had no unusual tire wear problems. Diode, I hope you come back to read the replys to your post as tire wear on the classic is not that much of a problem. Enjoy your new car

 

I wouldn't take the "they still look great" at face value-- when my tires on my '01 went (at 28K), I'd been warned about the problem, but whenever I looked at the tires, they seemed ok as well.

My first indication that they weren't ok was when I realized I had a flat on my left rear tire, and when I looked at the others, they all needed replacing as well. Guy at the tire shop thought it was an alignment issue, which ticked me off because the car was at the dealer not a month earlier, and they were supposed to have rotated the tires, but when they put it on the machine, it checked out fine.

Moral of the story: first gen tires can go from fine to wrecked in around 1-2K miles.

The happy ending: got my '04 before I put more than 5K on the new tires

 

I dont/didnt have the classic prius but my sales exec mentioned the tire problem. because of the size, availability was the major complaint of owners, they are not readily available and need to be special ordered, hence the price. they resolved this with the '04 by using a more common tire.

 

John will you switch to the Nokian NRT2 for winter...if so will you use steel rims instead of the AL Wheels??

Mike