It was not quite time to replace my original Avid S33s when I got an irreparable flat. Going to my local tire shop, looking for fuel efficiency, good wet traction, and fairly quiet, I was steered toward Runway Enduro tires (sorry, I don't remember the number). I came back the following week when the tires were supposed to be in. They were not. I spoke to the manager who, based on my priorities, redirected me to Hankook Optimo H724. I have had Hankooks before and liked them, so I tried them. Hated them. Maybe they were LLR and had good wet traction, but the handling was awful! I felt like I was driving on tofu, soft and squishy. Changing lanes on the highway was frightening. Cornering felt like the tires were flat. Even with more pressure the handling was still soft and floppy. I went back to the shop and told the manager about my experiences. He took the Hankooks back (with 250 miles on them) which I really appreciated. I asked about Michelin Pirmacy MXV4 but his experience is that Michelins tend to have softer handling. They are a Consumer Reports top pick, but they were tested on Mercedes and BMWs, not Prius. The manager offered to let me try out a set of Falken Ziex 912. For the same price, too, if I liked them, and would take them back if I didn't. Wow, what a difference! The handling felt crisp and secure and my Prius was more fun to drive than ever. When it rained I found the wet traction great. The only issue was fuel economy; it went way down. I thought I was going to have a good handling car with moderate mileage. Then I inflated them to something slightly less than the 51 PSI max and my mileage is back up to normal. A success all around. Consumer Reports rated the Falken just under the Primacy, but was not a top pick due to tread wear. I can live with that.
Yes I agree. I replaced my OEM Yokohama's with the MXV4 when I could not get the Energy Saver A/S at the time. I love the quiteness, handling and comfort of these tires. Great improvement over the Yoko's. Michelin lists these tires as just below LRR. I took about a 4-5 mpg hit with the new tires. Now that they are approaching 30k miles the mpg hit is down to about 1-2 mpg. It looks like I am going to be able to get the 60k miles that the tires are warranted for. This is bittersweet in a way. I have always been able to get rated mileage from Michelin's and am glad that I am going to get my money's worth. On the other hand though, I look forward to replacing them with the ES A/S now that they are available again and get back to the high mpg of a true LRR tire.
Falken Ziex 912's, eh? Thank you for the tip! I'm on the original set, of course, and not sure that I like them, but they seem to handle the hard cornering ok but not great. I am still struggling somewhat with what tire pressure to maintain, particularly with the intermittent deep freeze and then warming spells in the midwest causing the air to exert different pressures on the tire wall.
Lemme guess -- Les Schwab? I've never worked with anyone who was so proud to carry so many no-name tires which nobody's heard of. Ohtsu. Chun King. Great Wall Happy. Toyo. According to Schwab, Toyos are the "holy grail" of tires. Pah. I wouldn't bother w/ Toyo unless I was Dick Cepek and, at that point, I'd have tires with my own name on them, IIRC.
Completely true. LOL. Les Schwab is just a mile from my house. Endemic in NW. They actually have a promo once a year with free beef with tire purchase! Wth, thought I had moved into Deliverance country. Only used them a couple of times. Once when my wife's minivan had a leak I could drive to them quickly. Downside was that they were spendy and offered some weird non-reviewed, no-name tires. "No Greasy Skid Demon Tire Corp." is not a name I trust.
Actually it wasn't Les Schwab. The first recommendation came from a young guy who didn't seem to know a lot about tires. After that I worked with the manager who knew more.
Update: After 20k miles the Falkens got slick. They had plenty of tread but any time it was wet they spun. The tire shop warrantied then and I am now using Nokian WR-G3's. I have not seen any difference in milage, and I have not had snow or slush to drive through but I am optimistic. I do miss the grip of the Falkens. though. The car is not quite as sporty since I had them removed.
Run flats would be a nice bonus, but wonder how the extra weight would affect fuel economy. Also, some people don't like the road noise that they tend to generate.
I was dispairing of good stopping on snow and ice with my original Bridgestones on my Prius 2011. I took it in twice to check the ABS, but they said it was OK. I replaced the tires early with Michelin Defenders. Problem solved! Much better ice/snow stopping. James H. Quoted: He took the Hankooks back (with 250 miles on them) which I really appreciated. I asked about Michelin Pirmacy MXV4 but his experience is that Michelins tend to have softer handling. They are a Consumer Reports top pick, but they were tested on Mercedes and BMWs, not Prius. The manager offered to let me try out a set of Falken Ziex 912. For the same price, too, if I liked them, and would take them back if I didn't. Wow, what a difference! The handling felt crisp and secure and my Prius was more fun to drive than ever. When it rained I found the wet traction great. The only issue was fuel economy; it went way down. I thought I was going to have a good handling car with moderate mileage. Then I inflated them to something slightly less than the 51 PSI max and my mileage is back up to normal. A success all around. Consumer Reports rated the Falken just under the Primacy, but was not a top pick due to tread wear. I can live with that.[/QUOTE]
Hi Jonathan! I would very much appreciate an update on your Nokian WR-G3's. They have had such great reviews, and I have read good reviews from other Prius drivers, but not on this site, which is my preferred way of getting info. Have you been happy with them? How do they do in the snow? Thanks!
i love my defenders (again). just had my tires replaced with michelin defenders. my old tires were in excellent shape but they just are not the same as my new defenders. the old ones were adequate hankook optimas. which are ok. but this is my second set of defenders ive owned. the first was on my past prius plug in and were great.these i just had put on my 2015 prius 3. the first thing i noticed is how deep the rain grooves are and how rugged looking the tires look overall. ive only had them a day so i cant really compare mileage but so far no noticeable difference except in much better cornering.
