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Tires...Bridgestone Ecopia vs. Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Rupert B Puppenstein, Feb 14, 2014.

  1. Rupert B Puppenstein

    Rupert B Puppenstein Active Member

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    Yes, I know that tire questions are asked...a lot! :D

    I have the Bridgestone Ecopia tires on the car and am at nearly 67,000 miles and I think it is time for new tires. Even with that mileage, my car did great during the couple inch snow storm/icy road fiasco here in Atlanta a couple weeks ago during my extremely long drive only triggering the traction control three times, and did well this past week during our great ice storm.

    I had the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tires with my 2006 Civic previously and honestly never noticed any significant difference in gas mileage with them, and typically am most loyal to Goodyear in the past.

    Is there really any difference between the two? Does it all just come down to brand preference? I want to get as much or better mileage and if Atlanta keeps this up, tires that do decently in the snow.

    Thanks for your help.
     
  2. anixon92

    anixon92 Junior Member

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    just my 2 cents. I just brought 2012 3 which had ecopia tires on it and I just replace all 4 with purecontacts with ecoplus. I only got about 900 miles on them so far, but the ride is better and no problems in snow up here nj.
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Were those the Ecopia EP20? Considering the miles you got out of them, and their good rolling resistance values, maybe just replace with the same?
     
  4. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Rupert you can go to TireRack.com and look at reviews of the FuelMax and Ecopia.
    Pick your vechile and check out "reviews".
    The Bridgestone Ecopia 422 seems to be more popular here vs. FuelMax, but they seem closely rated. I guess anytime you go for top tier improved MPG, you sacrifice a little traction/snow handling. In Georia, this is probably good trade-off.
    Myself I may try Ecopia or stick with the Goodyear ComforTred which are superb traction but MPG is not as high the top LRR tires.
     
  5. Rupert B Puppenstein

    Rupert B Puppenstein Active Member

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    Thanks for the input. (y) Yes, they are the EP20 and the most expensive option it looks like. I am not sure why they are more expensive than the 422, but for the most part, all other options are all very similar in price. The Comfort Tread and Triple Tread Goodyear tires are in the $112 range. Tire shopping is just as much work as shopping for the car! :)
     
  6. Jon Hagen

    Jon Hagen Active Member

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    I have no experience with the Ecopia tires, but some with the Goodyear Assurance fuel max.

    My 2010 Prius came with Yokohama Avid S33 LRR tires which when worn out,(25,000 miles) were replaced with the Goodyears.

    The Goodyears have much better snow traction, run with much less noise and vibration but initially made less MPG. Now with 15,000 on the Goodyears, they are wearing out at at less that 1/2 the rate of the the original Yohohama's. With 15,000 on them the Goodyears are producing very near the same mileage as the original tires did.
    If this performance continues, the next set will also be Goodyear Asurance Fuel Max . Interesting to me that the Goodyear Assurance Fuel max sidewall is marked "Made in Japan".
     
  7. 2010 prius in PA

    2010 prius in PA Junior Member

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    Have been happy with Fuel Max (65K mile rated, A temp A traction) on our 2010 Prius as replacement for factory Ecopia tires around 40K. We have put 60K on them, they still have tread and are still quiet and have good traction in rain, and good enough in snow. Fuel economy stayed same upon replacement, despite the bump in tire diameter from going from worn to new tread, so it actually probably went up a hair. Just put the Fuel Max on our Civic, ($375 at NTB for set of 4 after $40 rebate, including all fees and installation). Haven't seen yet if it helped fuel economy. Have read that OEM tires for most cars (not just super high MPG) are low rolling resistance to help the sticker MPG, so most folks see fuel economy drop when they replace OEM tires with a non LRR tire...
     
  8. bokone

    bokone Junior Member

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    I went with the Michelin Energy Saver A/S and saw a 1 or 2 mpg increase over the stock Bridgestones
     
  9. paprius4030

    paprius4030 My first Prius

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    I'm happy with my Goodyear Fuel Max tires but usually they only last around 50k. mi. for me. Check prices at www.discounttiredirect.com sometimes they have a really good sale and rebates.
     
  10. Rupert B Puppenstein

    Rupert B Puppenstein Active Member

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    Is there any difference with road noise?
     
  11. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    Probably made under contract for Goodyear by one of the Japanese manufacturers.
     
  12. strike3

    strike3 Junior Member

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    I just replaced my OEM tires with Ecopia 422 on my 2011. My mileage dropped immediately from 48-50 mpg down to 42.5 in the 600 miles since. I'm planning on returning them to Costco and replacing the with Michelin Energy Savers A/S.
     
  13. MaggieMay

    MaggieMay Active Member

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    Time for me to tire shop for my 2010. Thanks as always to all the posters for their help! I'll post my choice and outcome.
     
  14. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...maybe I will give FuelMax more serious consideration too based on the positives noted above...I want something good MPG but I don't want to be sorry next winter (....seen one too many polar vortexes this year!)