Yokohama AVID Ascend Review

help...

 

I wouldn't say direct replacement, they have a much higher Treadwear and deeper tread. I like them more than the S33 but they do have a rougher ride at higher PSI's vs the S33. I didn't get the TPMS kit because I mounted/balanced myself but some recommend to get it. It is generally new 0-ring seals for the sensor and thats about it.

 

I appreciate the review but I've taken a different approach to replacing the worn out Sumitomo T4s on our 2003 Prius. Our 2010 Prius tires remain in good shape but at 30,000 miles, nothing lasts forever. Fortunately, we have our first Prius, a 2003, NHW11, which has been our primary experimental vehicle.

I have been running 51 psi, Sumitomo T4s on our NHW11 since 2005:

Originally bought for low rolling resistance based upon a Consumer Reports article, sets of T4s have met my requirements over 110,000 miles. Experiments included 4-wheel alignment and the effect of tire pressure on tread temperature. But as the first set wore out, I experimented with larger T4 diameter, a tire-based overdrive and discovered the largest T4 that fit in the rear wheel wells dramatically improved 2003 straight-line stability on the front, drive wheels. The improvement was so dramatic, I kept them there until 'they wore out.'

So these are my requirements for the replacements for the Sumitomo T4s that are no longer available:

• 51 psi - testing revealed tire pressure makes a significant difference in tread temperature, the heat lost in rolling resistance: Equally important, higher pressure appears to equalize the temperatures across all treads.
• Lowest revolutions per mile (rev/mi) - the tire specifications P111/22R33 do not accurately report the true tread width nor tire diameter. But rev/mi is accurate as it also incorporates tread depth and actual geometry. Lower rev/mi on the drive wheels means lower spin rates that reduce lubricant stirring losses and more time to keep the tires cooler. Every revolution, the contact area flexes which generates the heat and drag loss so a slower turning tire has more time to dump this heat. It also slightly reduces the flex angle at the contact patch edges to reduces the amount of flex.
• Ignoring Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) - a term without metric or numbers, we do not see any sort of coefficient of drag. LLR applies only between tires of identical P111/22R33 specifications. In contrast, revs/mi and tire pressure do not 'guild the lilly' (i.e., lie.)

Eventually our 2010 Sumitomo T4s will wear out and have to be replaced but I had to make a decision for our NHW11 and found:

1. Yokohama still makes a 51 psi tire in 14" diameter needed for our NHW11. So I bought two for testing.
2. Yokohama P195/70R14 does not work in rear wheel wells that the Sumitomo T4 P195/70R14 do. The true size, wider tire tread hits the wheel well when driving over a local street dip at the posted 25 mph speed. The front wheel well has more space for steering and the Yokohama P195/70R14 works just fine even at speeds over 25 mph . . . uncomfortable speeds.
3. Yokohama P195/70R14 are 107.2% oversized, the slowest turning tires to date. The Sumitomo T4s are at 105.2%, down from 105.9% when new.
4. Untested, ordered Yokohama P185/70R14 for the rear tires.
5. After alignment, 4-wheel, will switch to left-right rotation with tread metrics every 10k miles. The P195/70R14 on the front and P185/70R14 on the rear makes front-rear rotation impractical.
6. Even at 35 psi and before alignment, the Yokohama P195/70R14s demonstrated an expected, true, 80 MPG, for 50 miles.

I appreciate F8L's review because it is fact based. He did the heavy lifting as purchasing and testing tires is not cheap and takes attention to detail. Just I have a different set of requirements and methodology so it is not surprising that results might differ. Add to that his posting dates from March 2012 and this post is September 2014 after the tire market has changed.

Bob Wilson

 

Well i just picked up 4 tires avid ascend from discount tire direct eBay.

4 tires w/certificates $412 - $100 instant rebate - $60 mail in rebate from Yokohama = $252 Not bad.

 

TireRack also has this deal right now. Wow! $252 after rebate, or $320 with shipping for four excellent tires.

I have 50,000 miles on a set of these -- Avid Ascend 195/65 R15, 91H -- and they are showing little sign of wear. Handling, fuel economy, noise have all been great. We have a drought so I can't comment on wet weather handling. Are Michelin EnergySaver A/S tires better? At TireRack, they cost $540 plus shipping for a set, which is more than double. I can't see how that makes sense.

 

I just installed a set of AVID ASCEND tires for my Prius C, the 175/65 15" model rated at 800 treadwear. You can visually see the depth of the tread vs other tires as it appears it should last longer with the extra material they've put on. I just hope that it does pan out.

I bought them because I've had a good experience with Yokohama tires in the past when I had a set on a Honda Accord from about 10 years ago, plus Yokohama is doing a $60 rebate right now (and the store I purchased from was doing an instant store rebate of an extra $40). I was able to get a new set with alignment and warranty and everything for $487, you factor in the instant $40 discount and the $60 rebate then I'm paying $387 plus the tax, was a tremendous deal.

With everything said, after a week of driving them I love them. The OEM Goodyear Assurance tires weren't terrible, but I had bad luck in that one got trashed only 5 months into ownership thanks to something in the road that left a gaping hole in the tire (replaced with a Dunlop SP31), and I had a large nail in another tire this summer where the patch job ended up creating a vibration.

So far I can report the following:

*Very smooth
*More quiet than the old set
*Handling is much improved. The Goodyears' felt like the car had to be guided more, the Yokohama tire feels in control more
*Fuel efficiency appears to be the same as I had before. I achieved 48mpg with fast 75-78mph highway driving for 70 miles, and the local in town trip for 10 miles I was able to achieve 58mpg by not driving aggressively. So the AVID ASCEND appears to promote good fuel efficiency.

I can't judge wet or snow traction yet as we haven't had rain in the week I've been driving on them, but early results are good. Like I said, I had Yokohama's a decade ago and they worked fantastic so I expect these to be smoother and last longer and will see if that is the case.

On another note, the Dunlop SP31 tire that I bought as a single replacement for the Goodyear that was trashed... It had smooth riding when it was put on in Nov 2013, but its treadwear was very poor. It was very worn after only 20,000 miles (which is the amount I drove the car since November as I have driven a lot). If I had kept the SP31, I would have likely gotten only 30k miles before needing to change it.

It may be preliminary since I've only owned them a week, but based on the price, treadwear, and how quiet these tires are I give them a highly recommend. I had such success with my old Yokohama's that I doubt these are going to be trashed at only 30-40k miles.

 

Do you guys really save by ordering online? I notice the online sites advertise super low prices, but when you add in the hefty shipping, taxes, and then the cost of a local shop to properly install and align the tire you're usually above the purchase price of a local shop. Then you have the added stress of warranty issues, if you have issues you have to send back to the online retailer and can't just go to a dealer and have them fix it.

I had a bad experience several years ago before buying the Prius, bought a set of Pirellis online, they offered a way rougher ride than is acceptable (something was wrong) and the tire shop I had install said I'd have to mail back to the web site I purchased from. Was a huge hassle, never going through that ever again. They happily reminded me that if I bought directly they would have replaced, since it had an obvious vibration problem.

 

To be honest, I never bought tires online. But I'm glad that you like the Yoko's. At 50,000 freeway miles, mine don't look halfway used. Because my car has no spare, I'll probably replace early, but I still have a lot of tread and little sign of wear like crowning or unevenly worn spots.

 

As of the last post I hadn't encountered rain, but since then (and especially yesterday) we had significant rain and I pushed the brakes hard to test it out.

Here is what I can report: I felt these tires were as stable as other tires, and I didn't have any stability issues with it hydroplaning or getting out of control. In regards to stopping, I did experience some slide, but I was really pushing the brakes hard from a high speed (exiting the interstate once from 70). HOWEVER, I don't have a reference to test from.

It is worth noting I didn't feel like I couldn't stop reasonably. The car's antilock brakes took over and the skidding really didn't make for any issues. I'm not sure why this tire has a poor rating in rain. It felt stable and stopped reasonably well.

The only way I could say its "bad" is if I had a car track using another Prius C on another brand of tires with water testing under the same conditions to see how far it took to stop. I wouldn't let rain performance keep you away from what I experienced, it stopped from 70 pressing the brake as hard as I could reasonably well. I don't see how another tire could have really done better, I don't see that its "bad" for wet performance.

 

Oh, and I should find a way to update my location, I no longer live in Buffalo, so I probably can't test the snow the same this coming winter.

 

As I have no objective way of comparing to another set of tires for stopping distance, I've got no reason to believe they're lying. It probably does take the Ascend tires more length to stop in wet situations. But in regards to stability, it didn't seem to have a problem. I didn't lose control anymore than I have with other tires.

If stopping in wet conditions at fast speeds are a top priority, I would probably say go with another tire. For me, I think I'll enjoy the extra tread life out of these and the quiet, smooth ride they provide.

 

Great information for me, thanks. I'm looking to replace my Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tires, which were great for mileage and relatively quiet, but only got 44,000 miles out of them. Just got off the phone with tire guy who was really pushing the Yokohama Avid Ascend tires over the Michelin Energy Savers, which I had planned to buy. Went straight to this site and was glad to read all of your comments. I was all set to go for the Yokohama's until I read about poor wet weather handling. Still not sure which way to go. We're in drought, but the wet weather in December and with intermittent crazy deluges don't want to risk.

 

I'm getting increasingly enamoured with Michelin Premier A/S (kind of weird statement I guess...). They've got "decent" rolling resistance, and scoring very high in Tirerack's survey for wet traction:

Consumer Survey Results By Category

They seem a good compromise tire. Not sure if it's available for second gen tire sizes, but very likely: they come in a slew of sizes.

 

I sold my 2012 Prius package Three about 6 months ago for a great deal. $23K in the Phoenix area. Now, I bought a 2007 "package 6" white exterior & tan interior. I don't think 2010-2015 is enough of a step up to justify the expensive. I got my 2007 package 6 for only $6,900 with 148,000 miles and a clean title. I don't like that the 2010-2015 Prius has no "real leather" option in the interior. But, I may buy the 2016 if I feel its more substantial on the improvements on technology, mileage, etc.

Now, I only use 185/65/15 Michelin Defender tires. They're hard to beat. You get a 90,000 mile warranty, rare "2-ply" sidewall, and they're still LRR without probably the least sacrifice on road performance for a LRR.

Also, coincidentally Prius 2010-2015 are 195/65/15 and for some reason Michelin Defender tires in that size are not 2-ply sidewall tires.

I prefer 2-ply sidewall tires like all truck or SUV tires cause they're more reliable. Like they say your car is only as reliable as your tires. I hate regular passenger car tires which most probably 90% have a 1-ply sidewall. You can read how many plies by reading the side of the tire. Typical 1-ply sidewall tires are unsafe in my opinion and seams like they pop almost as easy as a balloon from the side should anything hit the side of the tire.