We're about ready for our 3rd set of tires on our 105k 2005 Prius, and wanted to see if anyone had mounted these yet? Since the availability of ProContacts seems to be dwindling, I'm thinking this must be the replacement? Our OEM Integritys managed to just barely eek out 55k down to the wear bars, but the car was driven mostly under 50mph during the first 40k miles. We went with the EP422s from Costco a little over 3 years back, and while we've been very happy with them in all conditions, they are down to about 3/32" at the 50k mark - so it doesn't look like they will make the 65k warranty. Regardless, they are much less safe in wet conditions at this point. We're looking for something that will actually last 60k on the Prius and still be safe to drive with 4/32" left at end of life. The Conti ProContact seems to be the higher mileage happy median between the Michelin Energy Savers and the Defenders for both gas mileage and all around performance, but it's very hard to find a place that has them in stock and has a strong national presence in most US cities to honour a road hazard warranty when we're actually out on the road. I'm wondering if the TrueContacts are the new tire to fill that niche, and I wonder when will they be widely available from a stocking brick and mortar national tire chain?
I had the Michelin Primacy (Not Energy) MXV4, size 205/60-15, and they were the best of 4 sets of tires I've had on the Prius. Easily exceeded 60,000. I expect they would have made over 80,000 before showing the wear bars. Careful to not get the "energy" MXV4, these will not last as long. I now have the defenders. You will lose 2-3 mpg with the defenders with no advantage I have seen. Wish I had got another set of the Primacy MXV4. Ignore all the sales hyperbole and the Green X marketing crap. On the Michelin website look at the bar ratings that have the 1-10 scale. These seem to be accurate. Look for a 10 in wear and gas mileage. Never owned a set of continentals. Owned 4 sets of Goodyear tires in my lifetime and had defects with 3 sets. Some people seem to have better luck with them. Have had defective Pep boys tires before and bad warranty experience with them and will not buy from them again. No problems with Falken, Hankook, Bridgestone/Firestone. If you want the tires to last, have your Prius aligned by an independent specialty alignment shop. Most Prius' need aftermarket shims on the rear for proper alignment. Toyota dealers will not recognize or correct rear alignment problems on these cars.
We have the lifetime alignment from Firestone Complete Care. It was off slightly and corrected after the 100k service. Could have contributed to the wear, but not by much as it was caught within a 10k service window. We do dealer service with tire rotation and alignment chk every 10k and have another rotation done on the 5k at Costco for free with the EP422s.
I agree with you on the bar rating scale on the Michelin website. I have the Michelin Defender on my 2011 Prius ( out of stock on the Michelin Energy Saver AS ); And I lost about 2.5 to 3 MPG. Good riding tire and road noise is low; my wife likes that.
Looks like Costco has the 205/60r15 Primacy MXV4s on special right now in my area for $389.96 plus installation and disposal fees. No problems or gas mileage drop running the wide tire on the Gen II? Here's some more info on the TrueContact: Continental USA Car / Light Truck / SUV -Continental Tire Introduces the TrueContact Continental USA Car / Light Truck / SUV -TrueContact™ Continental TrueContact
I was averaging 43 mpg with the 205/60r15 Primacy MXV4s. About 80% highway and no special efforts to improve mileage. Costco may not mount the tires if it is not the original tire size. That's their policy in my area. Most of the wholesale clubs have a similar policy. That's a good price even if you have to pay someone else to mount them. I use a larger size for cornering performance. I drive a lot of back roads and tend to wear the edges of the tires. The original size is fine for most people. All things the same you would lose maybe 1 mpg for the larger tire size. I am running 215/60r15 defenders. These are overkill and I will go down a size if I wear these out. Averaging 40 mpg with these. Good Luck.
I put on a set of Pro Contacts "Eco Plus" a year ago. Very disappointing. My mileage has dropped from 52 mpg to 48 mpg. I should have held out for the Michelin Energys.
Any updates on the True Contacts? The few reviews to date are very positive (see Tire Rack.com). Anyone know when TireRack is coming out with their full review? they had said later this year. I gotta put new tires on two cars so I hate to be an early adopter but I might be forced into it. I like quiet ride and great grip in wet/winter...winter is unknown for these but sounds good. Any sales?
I just replaced my integrity with truecontact at 50K. Its a lot better and smoother and quieter than the integrity (thats saying a new tire smoother and quieter than a worn tire!). The first 100 miles it was a little funny as there was some lubricant in the tire. After that it has been very pleasant. Mileage about 2 mpg less after replacement. My tire pressure is 42/40.
Thanks GMAccord; please keep us posted on your experience with the Truecontact, esp. on how the mileage goes, e.g., after break-in.
We ended up going with the ProContact Eco Plus in the wider/shorter 195 60 R15 size since we got a killer deal on them (under $300), and I couldn't find any reviews on the TrueContact yet. We have about 7500 miles on them with a rotation at 5000, so they're fairly well broken in now. Our summer mpg has gone down by about 2.5mpg - usually 42.5mpg this time of year, getting 40mpg. However, the grip, handling, and drive-ability has improved immensely. So far we are very happy with the trade-off. We'll see how the mpg changes during the fall here in Texas. I'm guessing 45mpg where we usually see 47.5mpg. Tread wear is non-existent so far, and 3500 of those were highway miles done when new - all the way to NY state and back through DC.
Worth mentioning too, 195 60 R15s are a harder ride, so we are running stock 35/33psi instead of the 40/38psi that we were running on the EP422s.
This is a 8000 mile 1 year later update on my Truecontact. At the same time last year I replaced my other car with Continental ProContact (Note: this one was without Ecoplus, the Eco ones are more similar to Truecontact) and could compare the 2 new tires. Having gone thru all climates in Chicago, the Truecontacts are superior in every way. They are very quiet, ride is smoother and it has very good traction. The traction control / ABS seem to kick in far fewer times in winter snow/ice. There seems to be hardly any wear at this time. The Procontact definitely is not as quiet. The procontacts have similar or slightly less traction in rain/snow traction. No noticeable mileage difference with Tuecontact at this time with the OEM tires. Both are good tires, my preference is for Truecontact.
I got True contacts now ...no complaints but we have not done my much highway driving to judge them. Got them from Tire Rack. For my minivan I went with Defenders, not wanting to put all my eggs in the TrueContact basket, and a few van drivers had complained about them. So I theorized maybe better for Prius than a van.
Just posted the review below on another thread where these tires are being discussed. I figured I would post here as well in case a future buyer was looking for more help. Just click towards the bottom of the box and you can read the full review.
I like them because they seem to be quiet compared the other tires we had. I do not see any MPG hit vs. the OEM Integrities we orig had, later the Goodyear Comfortred were about the same. Our driving style has changed as our grandkids moved 2 miles away and we stopped commuting to the office, so our MPG tends to be 40ish at best. But on the rare trip to NJ or PA it seems fine, supposed to be decent on snow and wet. Also putting less miles these days so even if tread life is not stellar we have probably 4 years, unless we swing for a "v".
