Replacement Tires

The 3G Prius with 15" wheels has Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 tires as standard equipment which are not bad, but nothing to write home about.
Ecopia EP20 Environmentally Friendly Tire | Bridgestone Tires

 

Last October I needed winter tires for my 2008 Prius and after some research I mounted a set of Nokian WRG3 "all year/all weather" tires on the factory rims. They are winter rated by the DOT. These may not be as good as a Michelin X-Ice for extreme winter driving, but for my driving needs the Nokian tires performed flawlessly on ice, over slush and snow. So I decided to live dangerously and keep them on all year. The WRG3s are considered low rolling resistance tires. While they are a bit rougher riders than the Ecopias I see very little or no impact on mileage. Of course I have no clue how well the rubber will stand up to the summer heat - if we finally get any. The tires are 100,000km rated so they should last for 80,000.

You might want to check them out.

 

I'm also looking for a set of new tires. I replaced the crap originals with TripleTreds, and found them to be wonderful tires, especially in the rain. The TrueContacts look even better, but I'm having trouble finding them. Tire Rack stocks them in the 195/60/15 size I want, but the shipping costs are a significant percentage of the purchase price. Perhaps a drive to Bellingham is in my near future. Can anyone recommend a good tire shop in that area? Or even better, one in Vancouver BC?

 

Take a weekend trip to Portland, do a pub crawl, buy tires, pay no sales tax. Buy a tank of gasoline that you can't pump yourself because of Oregon law -- Priceless.

 

Thanks, Cyber. No sales tax is an incentive, but the current exchange rate of 25% is a killer. I am actually heading to Portland this week for a family funeral...perhaps I should get tires while I'm there. Any recommendations for good places?

 

I used to use a little old tire place in the Oregon Coast range that mostly catered to log trucks and other such rigs. If he knew you, you might get a glass of blackberry wine (homemade) while you waited....

But, other than that, I have been very very bad and used Discount Tire several times and loved it, although never any in the actual Portland area. Les Schwab is always cited, but I have had nothing but poor experiences with dear old Les' stores in the past.

 

It's looking like Tire Rack, shipping to a local installer, is the way to go. I'd prefer to comparison shop, but so far they're the only place I've found that has any. Discount Tire's phone wait was too long, and the tires aren't listed on their site.

Given the general drought and the forecast, chances are good I won't be driving in heavy rain this week.

 

I've looked at TireRack once or twice, and invariably found after shipping and exchange it was at least slightly costlier than local. Is Costco out? Kal Tire's another good name. One thing with Costco, even if it's not in stock they will order tires if they can find them somewhere.

 

Costco's not keen on installing 'plus size' tires (195/60 instead of 185/65), so that counts them out. Neither KalTire or OK Tire have them in stock, and apparently don't want to order any. I'd go with replacing the TripleTreds I have now, which are more readily available, but they're about $175 each. The TrueContact is a significantly cheaper tire, and is rated more highly than the TripleTreds by both Tire Rack and Consumer Reports. The price I pay for being stubborn......

 

Yeah, they won't even put in extra air, never mind departing from stock size.

I'm not in love with Costco: just the devil I know, and they have screwed up royally with me.

 

There must be some liability issue there - dealerships also refuse to budge from the mandated figures. The last time I had the car serviced, the tire pressures were checked off on the form as 35/33, and I remarked to the agent that I'd given up requesting they be set at the 42/40 I prefer. When I stopped at a gas station on the way home to reset the pressures, I found to my surprise and delight that the pressures were 42/40. That explains the smirk on the clerk's face when I was complaining. It also means I've found a repair shop I'm happy with.

 

I had a dealer in Oregon tell me it was REQUIRED by all tire makers that I have the car aligned before I could buy tires. After I stopped laughing, I told him to XXXX Off (I actually did, later I was slightly ashamed...just slightly) and walked out.

That dealership had a horrid rep. It has been sold and from what I hear, the new owners are working hard to earn back trust....speaking of trust, I hate buying tires, besides having to wade through all the hype, I always have buyers remorse....I got a great deal on Goodyear FuelMax about 18 months ago -- all four, out of the door for $312 or so -- but now I am in Iowa and afraid to drive from November through March...

 

I am a cheap sob, so I bought the ecopias I wanted on ebay from used tire warehouses. I did find 2 new ones, and 2 with 8/32" tread. they're good so far. but I also am able to mount and balance them myself. any shop with a tire machine and dynamic balancer should be happy to put your tires on for you.

 

Well, I gave in and went with the 185/65. Canadian Tire had a 25% off sale, so that combined with the 30% 'on' of the exchange rate made the decision pretty easy. I'm still curious why they'd carry some sizes and not others. I'll report back when I've driven on them for awhile.

 

I absolutely agree with Continental TrueContacts option.
I have tried few tires, I think for Gen 2 Prius best option is Continental TrueContact. Have excellent traction in wet and dry, as well as decent traction in Ice and snow.

I also replaced my previous tire at half the thread life(still had 5/32") on my Hankook H727 (highly rated by Consumer reported). Previous car I tried Michelin Defender, I think Continental TrueContact is better than that at much better price. This tire is also highly rated by Consumer Reports.

Check the Tire Rack reviews for this, this has direct comparison with Defender

Tire Test Results : Testing Passenger and Standard Touring All-Season Tires: Which Are Truly More Than Just Round and Black?

I have Continental PureContacts on my BMW (replacing Bridgestones), and was impressed with traction and smoothness. That helped make decision to put Continental TrueContacts, and I think it is best decision. It has best smooth ride, quiet ride as well excellent traction in rain.

BTW, these gave best mileage also (LRR tires)