RT43 vs Defender: LRR Tire Recommendations

Hey guys,

I have a 2010 Prius I bought second hand that still had OEM tires... It's finally time (it's a low mileage car) to get the tires replaced and It seems the whole LRR thing has morphed quite a bit over the last few years...

So I've narrowed down the choices to:

Michelin Defender
General Altimax RT43

From what I can tell, the defenders are quite a good all around tire with a slight drop in MPG compared to older LRR tires. But they replaced the energy savers so they should be LRR?

The generals are a "hidden gem" with good MPG and super low cost. Since general tires is the "budget" wing of the continental line, they don't advertise to be LRR, but in real world testing, seem to perform as good as a LRR tire but at a deep discount.

The cost difference between the two is about ~$85 (CAD) after all the rebates this year.

Question to those with experience with aftermarket tires:

1) Are there any MPG differences between these two tires and the OEM tires? I mean with a ~5% (2-3 mpg) drop in MPG compared to OEMs from what I've seen on these threads means about $24 CAD/year in gas costs (averaged over the last two years worth of gas cost and mileage tracking). We dont' drive a lot but $24 over let's say another 7-8 years is nothing to sneeze at. Should I stick with OEM or some super LRR tire I haven't really considered?

FYI, I get ~5.5L/100km during summer and run Michelin X-Ice3's during winter that get about 6.5L/100km. Not really sure what that translates to in terms of MPG.

Thanks everyone!

 

No no.. the OEM tire is the original tire from Toyota.. The car's in the shop right now but for the life of me, I can't remember the brand of the stock tires. I think they're the bridgestone Ecopia EP100's? I mentioned they replaced the energy savers because from what I can tell, Michelin doesn't sell the Energy Savers anymore and the defender is the new SKU for LRR tires. Maybe I'm wrong.

Kinda disheartening to see a ICE Civic doing about the same MPG as my 2010 Prius.. lol... Granted my Prius is subjected to daily <1km commutes. On those long trips, it does go down to 3.2-3.8.

 

I was looking at all the tirerack reviews... I don't think the RT43's will be as bad (MPG wise) as you think...

They use the same car across the reviews so the numbers can be compared to each other:

Michelin Defender w/Green-X (LRR rated): 32.3
General Tire RT43 (T-rated): 32.3
Continental Purecontact w/ecoplus (LRR rated): 31.4

Continental's best LRR actually performs worse than the RT43 and Defender. and from what I've read, General Tire is the budget line of continental's brands.

So I think there's some pressure from continental to not advertise the RT43 as LRR because they'll undercut their own premium LRR Purecontact tires by a relatively large margin.

 

Btw, that is for the H/V rated RT43.. there's a T-rated review here where the RT43 gets 32.3 MPG.. not a huge difference but a slight increase. :

Tire Test Results : The Give and Take of All-Season Tires

 

Well, between having no data point and having the tirerack data point, i'm kinda taking tirerack numbers with a grain of salt. It's at least a place to start...

I think i"m going to just go with the defenders. it's mileage advantage is just too good to ignore. It'll cost less over the lifespan of the tires even with the additional gas cost.

 

Just an update... I went with the defenders... The tireshop ended up putting on Defender H+T's... Not sure if this is worse or better.

After ~a month of driving, we're averaging ~5.1L/100km. Up from ~4.8L/100km on my worn Bridgestone EP20's... We drive probably 90% city and short distances. So I expect that mileage to drop when I go on highways and further than 10km.

The car is noticably sluggish when on battery power. I could "feel" the acceleration when on all electric mode with the EP20's but now I don't feel anything anymore. The tires are also a lot mushier and "comfortable".

All in all, if these tires do last as long as they claim, I'll save a chunk of change. in the long run. But it does suck knowing the mileage and performance could be better. I'm also running stock tire pressure. Going to bump it up 3-5 PSI before a big roadtrip this weekend and see how much better the mileage will get.

 

Update 2:

So after the big road trip (was really only just ~400km worth of driving), I saw the mileage dip down to 4.2 L/100km on 99% highway driving. It probably could've been lower had I not tried to keep up with the flow of traffic at 120+ km/h for the first chunk of the trip. Once I settled down to 105-110km/h, I noticed the mileage improved quite a bit. I also overinflated the tires to 42/39 (+4 PSI).

the previous low I had on my EP20's during a previous roadtrip was 3.8 (though I will admit, the style and terrain of these trips were quite different (slower country backroads (3.8) vs. fast multilane highway (4.2)). The mileage eventually went back up to 4.8 after getting back to town and doing 99% city driving.

So I think it's fair to say, the defenders will reduce your mileage by ~10% over the EP20's. Which is actually more than I was expecting (I was thinking ~5%.

 

Update 3:

I finally did a drive identical to one I did on my worn EP20's...

EP20: 3.8L/100KM (61.9 mpg)
Defenders: 4.5L/100km (52.3 mpg)

This is 98% highway driving betwen 80-100km/h

my Defenders have been driven for ~4 months now so hopefuly any "break-in" period is over. both tires pressurized above the door sticker pressure.

As you can see, the drop in MPG is quite drastic. Much more than 10% as I was estimating before. this is more like 15%. I think in my calculations, 15% decrease in MPG still brings the Total cost of ownership below other tires (assuming they last as long as advertised). But It really comes down to the extra 2 years of mileage. if the defenders last 2 years longer, then it'll work out to be ~$20/year cheaper. If they last only 1 year longer, then it'll break even. If they last the same as other tires, then they'll cost $20/year more.

I certainly miss seeing the milage start with a "3". it's basically impossible for me to see that anymore. If that's important to you, steer clear of these tires.

 

It's only been a difference of a year between the drives. And weather was identical (sunny, no rain, low 20's C).

It pretty much agrees with my observed daily driving that's 99% city. I usually see a mileage of 5.2 -> 5.9 L/100km with the defenders while the EP20's ranged I was used to seeing a range of 4.8->5.4... This is with me not trying to hypermile. If I try hard to hypermile, I can know those values down an extra .2-.4 L/100km. but at that point, I'd be pissing off a lot of drivers