Best MPG Tires for 2009 Prius

What is your current mpg? Any Low drag tires Think it's personal preference I read the reviews on the tires find what features you're intrested in most Mpg on the low drag are about the same the side walls (ride) and the stopping are different and grip

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Here's the most recent suggestion list I've seen that comments about what each tire is good at:

Best Tires for Prius Owners | Twelfth Round Auto

 

IIRC it's 185/65R15?

You can browse here:

Tire Search Results
(For some reason it won't let me filter out all but LRR right now, not sure what's up with that. Maybe they're calling it "eco focus" now??)

For a decent, long lasting tire with pretty low rolling resistance, you can't go far wrong with Michelin Defender, my 2 cents.

 

The Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires are hard to find and expensive at the moment in the 185/65R15 size (stock Prius size). However if you're comfortable going up a size I see them here for just over $100/tire: Michelin Tires Energy Saver AS 195/65R15 91T

They're reported to have good durability, 55k warranty. Run a little bit higher tire pressure and they'll last longer too (eg. 40 front, 38 rear).

The stock tire size for the 2nd gen Prius is 185/65R15, however the car will fit 195/65R15 tires so long as you don't need to use snow chains (the larger tire "uses up" the space left for the chains). The 195 tire also corrects the speedometer to be accurate (instead of over-rating by ~2%, something to watch if you regularly cruise at 9mph over the limit...).

Michelin Defenders are a good choice as Mendel pointed out. 90k treadlife warranty (in right tire rating) , but will take a few percent hit for sure in fuel economy versus the Energy Saver A/S. Michelin Defenders had 1% lower fuel economy versus Continental True Contacts in the test at Tire Rack. They also have a 90k warranty (in right tire rating), but probably won't last quite as long as the Defenders. Look at Pirelli P4 Four Seasons Plus for a tire with outstanding tread life.

The Continental True Contacts are one of the best all around all-season tire on the market right now. That includes handling, braking, wet, and snow performance.

 

I can confirm that the Michelin Energy Saver A/S tyres are truly outstanding, as I use these in an R16 configuration on my 2008 Prius T-Spirit.

They seem to be as over engineered as the Prius Gen 2. True, I chose tyres rated for 150mph max (I'll never go that fast anyway), but their performance in the dry and wet is entirely dependable. The ride is relatively soft - even at 40F/38R and I'm getting high mpg readings for every trip, even in winter. Well worth the price I paid for them in the UK.

SM-G900F ?

 

I used the Energy Saver (not sure what A/S means (Edit: I had the normal/summer version, not the All Season, they are not available in Europe last time I checked, makes my post mute if A/S is what you are looking for)). But I found them lacking in the wet department. I switched to the Michelin Primacy's and they have (imho) clearly better in-the-wet-performance. While being rated the same in noise, longevity, dry-grip, etc. (This is just going by a European symbol-picture that lists these specs by A,B,C,... so not sure if the ES last for 50k and the Primacy's just 35k which might still be an "A").

I have the 16" rims though and changed from 195 to 205 some years back due to the immense price difference (iirc something in the range of 130$ vs 80$ a tire!!!)

 

@Patka There should be a decal in the driver's door jamb, with the correct tire size.

I get the sense the Michelin Defenders may be on the cusp of replacement, not sure. There's a new itteration Defender T+H, and TireRack lists the regular Defenders as "selling out" or something like that. There's also Defender XT, which is Costco's (and other big box tire retailers?) version, more-or-less the same but with slightly different tread?

@Kevin_Denver Thanks for the tips. I've added Continental True Contact to my burgeoning list. It's always a moving target, new tire prospects.

What about "PureContact with EcoPlus Tech"? I sometimes think they are just trying to stun consumers with terminology, so we buy in desperate confusion, lol.

 

42 mpg isn't too far off from where most of the 2nd generation Prii are. Fuelly.com has the 2009s at a 43.9 average; there's no way to filter out the cars no longer being reported in order to get what the 2009s are averaging in 2017. Of the two 2009 Prii still being reported at fueleconomy.gov one is averaging 44.9 and the other is averaging 37.1. Another thing to consider is that if your 12v battery hasn't been changed it's about 8 years old. An old 12v can affect the gas mileage negatively. You might be due for a new one.

 

Increasing the amount of tread on the road does affect fuel economy. The first number in the tire rating (eg. 195) is how wide the tires are. If you have more tread on the road, you have more friction, which results in lower fuel economy. A 195 tire is about 5% wider than a 185 tire, however the rolling resistance won't increase by a whole 5%. The physics get really complicated, but generally wider tires = better grip (in dry conditions, especially cornering) = lower fuel economy.

Speedometers in virtually all cars made today will show a higher speed by a few percent than you are traveling. I have only heard about it, but from what I understand, someone sued a major car manufacturer over their speeding tickets. So to prevent themselves from being liable, and account for the worst case differences in tire sizes between different manufacturers (185/65R15 tires are not all the same size, but within a percent or two of each other!), cars display a higher speed than you are actually traveling with stock size tires. Obviously, the only way a car "knows" how fast you are traveling is by how many rotations the tires are making. So if you install bigger tires, it will under-rate the speed, and over-rate for smaller tires. In the case of the Prius, going from 185 to 195 tires, just corrects for the few percent over-rating of speed the car does in its stock form. Also important to note that the odometer will roll over more slowly in this case, so it will seem your fuel economy has gotten worse, even if it hasn't changed.

 

Thanks. You make me almost wish I was shopping for new tires.

 

Definitely feels like it! If you look at the tread pattern of the PureContact compared with the TrueContact, the PureContact looks like it's more geared toward dry road performance versus the TrueContact (you can see that it has more contact patch on the outside of the tire, where the weight shifts in extreme cornering, especially when dry). However according to the ratings on TireRack.com, the TrueContact outperforms it in almost every way, so I'm not sure why I would ever choose the PureContact over the TrueContact.

 

Other things I done to boost mpg. spark plug (nkg), fuel injectors (rebuilt on ebay), bottom engine mount, PCV, cleaning the Traction battery fan, up grade 12v battery in air filter, 0-30 full synthetic oil change every other light. Tire. Just got the jig to hook my car to my pc to check my battery at full charge and full drain to find a weak one.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Michelin wants everyone to like the premiers, touting all it's benefits, but I don't know: I'm wary of that tire. There's a lot of priuschatters reporting mpg drop, and this is a tire that STARTS at 8.5/32" tread depth: there's reports in various forums that that tread depth drops faster than expected.

 

The A/S designation on my Energy Saver tyres likely denotes a better capability tread compared to the standard ES.

I have never found these wanting in the wet, considering I use them in the rather perpetually damp United Kingdom.

They're also not wearing - which I find somewhat astounding. I must have done around 30,000 miles on them at least, and wear is somewhat barely perceptible. I'd expect to get at least 55,000 miles out of them - maybe even much more.

I'd be happy to have another set of these particular tyres when the time comes.

SM-G900F ?

 

I don't think so. I think you're looking at ~1% difference in fuel economy to go from a 185 to 195, but more like a ~4-5% difference to go to the Premiers from the Energy Savers.

Some data on the topic (though they mostly saw the effects of wheel weight): Effects of Upsized Wheels and Tires Tested - Tech Dept. - Car and Driver