The tires on my 2013 are basic tires, at least that's what I was told when I bought up from the dealer. I live in Connecticut so the winters can be brutal. I'm looking now for all season tires, because I don't want to swap my tires on and off throughout the year. What's a good set of tires that can handle snow on the ground, but won't hurt my gas mileage? Bonus points if they actually IMPROVE my MPG! I'm currently hitting between 40-50 on most drives.
In my opinion there are no all season tires that can handle a "brutal" winter. I suggest Michelin X-Ice for winter. They are quiet, good ride, excellent gas mileage and 40,000 mile warranty. They are even Green and Eco rated. Be safe. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
The miracle tire! Anyway, you've made it this far, maybe just carry on. I do not know, Michelin Defenders?
Michelin seems to be the brand I see tossed around a lot. I'm definitely going to look into that X-Ice brand. I heard Michelin even has a brand of tire good for the rest of the year with getting good MPG, Eco-something or other? I have some quotes from various tire shops around, what am I looking at for the cost of four of those tires plus installation so I don't get hosed?
Michelins are splendid tyres and have a great reputation! When it came time to replace my last set of Energy Savers, I found that Michelin no longer made them in my size! The set I had were about 60% worn out, and I noticed they'd become just about useless in snow and ice, as well as starting to develop micro-cracks on the sidewalls as well as starting to get rather noisy, so at that point I went with a set of Blizzak snows on steel rims, and squeezed another season out of the Michelins the following summer before replacing them with a set of Antares Ingens at about ½ the price of the equivalent Michelins. As one tyre expert told me, Michelins are very nice, but their tread tends to outlast the rest of the tyre! BTW: I agree with @CNYhybrid re. "All Season" tyres being "Jack-of-all-trades", "Master-of-none". Get a spare set of rims shod with some decent snows and change them with the seasons. Good Luck!
I typed this out at work, I have to check out my car at lunch and get back to you, but I believe they're Bridgestone brand. Not sure the type until I get out there.
Akira, I've run on all-seasons on every car except my pick-up for 36 years in Maine. We get snow. And ice. We just drive accordingly. I've been running Michelins on my 2007 Prius for a few years and am about to replace the cheap Yokohamas I'm running on my 2014 Prius...probably with Michelin Premier A/S tires, as they are rated as some of the best all-seasons for snow and ice at Tire Rack. If you haven't gone to Tire Rack, I highly recommend it as you can find tires in all configurations that are tailored to your car and see how others rate them. tirerack.com
I did a search and it looks like they're Cooper brand, they actually are all-season and have decent ratings. I might just hang onto them for now because tires are a paycheck and a half for me, I just don't want to be screwed when the snow starts.
I'd say Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus. It's as good as OEM when it comes to MPG. Traction is pretty good too but my current EP422s are only 16k miles old.
Put on winter tires, safety should top your mileage concern between December and March. After that go back to low roll resistance tires. Heck, a used set of wheels is cheap, just get one set and keep winter tires on them. Any shop will swap them for you in minutes when seasons chance.
I'd add Ecopia EP20, if you can still get them: they only come in 195/65R15, and there's ONLY one version AFAIK. the EP422+ have iterations at last count. They're good for rolling resistance, decent road feel, get moderately noisy as they age (don't we all) and are a menace in snow when worn.
