Low Rolling Resistance replacement tires: Current List

FYI, Yokohama Avid Ascend, with 85,000 Mile warranty, is only $78 a tire at - https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/yokohama-avid-ascend/p/43861

With installation cost, that work out to around half a cent per mile....time to start planning out traveling season

 

I just got a set of Michelin X-Tours when Costco had the super sweet $70 rebate and 1¢ installation for about $106/tire out the door. Driven for about 500 mi now. They're great, especially with the heavy rain we've been having. Handling way better than my balding OEM Yokohama S33D, a little slower to start from a stop because of the grip. I can actually floor it from a dead stop on wet pavement without spinning out. Noise is about the same. Haven't noticed any changes in MPG. I also mostly drive city, get about 40 MPG on average. I'm expecting to have these last for years.

 

Put Nokian WRG4 on about a week ago (day it was 25 below), they are great. Ill be sticking with these as long as they're available. Absolute best on snow and ice, mpg appears to have gone up and theyre quieter than stock.

 

I just picked up 2 Avid Ascends for my 2014 PiP. I was happy with my Defender A/Ses, and got about 67,000 miles out of them, but the Yokos were $30 cheaper with the same warranty. We'll see how my MPG holds up once they break in.

 

Ok, I’ve read sooooo much on here about LRR tires, what’s best for MPG, etc...

We have a 2014 Prius 5, with the 17’s, and on Tuesday (2/5/19) we bought 4 brand new Ecopia 422 plus’s from Discount Tire. Not cheap, but great so far, surely to get better.

Running them currently at 41/38, they’re getting better mpg NOW (when they shouldn’t) than the Toyo A20 Proxes (I think) that came from the factory.

We had only leased before, having 2- 2010 Prius 5’s, and a 2013 Prius Persona. The 2010’s came with the Michelin Fuel Savers, and the 2013 Persona never quite got the MPG’s as the 2010 5’s, don’t know why, sadly, don’t remember what tires the Persona had. I love Michelin, always have LTS’s on our 4-Runners, but they don’t make the fuel savers anymore, so I had to find something else.

Right now, less than a week old, I can get 60+ MPG on short trips around town, and my wife who has a longer commute with some 70+ MPH Interstate rides some days, is seeing 53-54mpg, up from a typical 48-49mpg for her in the past. This is all dash board, trip scorecard, not calculated.

Highway trip this weekend, going 75+ MPH at times, with my wife and kids, dropped to 46-47mpg, with not ideal driving speeds.

I’m not a hard core elite hyper miler, but I try some of the tricks. Never have I joined the 600 mile club, only in the 575 miles on a tank, dammit, I tried, club. LOL

These aren’t as plush as the old Michelin Fuel Savers, but they seem similar on rolling/MPG.

No snow, live in Coastal Florida, so the only hills we have are bridges, for you all with hills and snow.

 

Wondering if your previous set of tires were probably near end of life, what your getting now is normal which is a great thing. My commute is no snow and no hills either. I run all tires 44psi, makes no difference if front is 2psi more. Below was one of my commute on Friday, every tank always better than 600 calculated non computer miles.

 

Are you on 17’s, and with what tires?

I think my best trip ever in that 45-50 mile range was 72 mpg. It was all one direction, A1A, no traffic, with a tail wind. If only ALL my drives were like that!

I can get 60-70mpg for backroads and stuff, but getting on the highway always drops it, as I don’t go 60mph, in the right lane.

 

15" Michellin AS Greeen X, about 4 mm left. Have to replace them in next couple of months so this thread is on my radar, my commute is 100 miles a day so mpgs are important. Getting close to experimenting with aero improvements / mods like taking rear seats out, rear air difuser & covering up hood engine gaps. You can try those things also if 600 mile club is a place you want to be

 

The Toyo’s were done, and the 15’s you have are usually better than 17”s for MPG.

We have the factory (24lb?!) Toyota Prius 5 rims, for now. I have TRD springs to install when we get some lightweight Enkei/Volk wheels soon. Don’t think the lighter wheels will do too much to increase the MPG, but it can’t hurt and will look sweet!

 

We have 17" too, and I prefer somewhat lower pressures. I set them around 36 psi (all four, makes it simpler when you rotate them). I'll let them drop to 34 over months, before I intervene, raise them again.

The ride is smoother, and I found 36 vs 40 made little or no difference to mpg. Also, I'm concerned the higher pressures (especially with hard 17") is hard on wheel bearings and suspension.

 

We have a 2013 Plug In, 89k miles, fine machine, still seems brand new. It's about time to pull off the Nokian WRG4's, and we need new summer or A/S tires (normal 15" size). I've been reading on TireRack and here...and probably considering the same handful of tires most Prius owners do.

I kind of have it down to 2 categories, and I prefer the AA traction/temp rating regardless.

1. The higher UTGR 700, 740, 800 AA, and generally higher-satisfaction-rated overall like Conti TrueContact Tour, Yoko Avid Ascend GT, etc. These must be somewhat newer/updated models, as I don't see any TireRack ratings from anyone who has put a lot (90-100k) of miles on them (and those are the reviews I pay most attention to).

2. The tires mentioned more in Prius groups like Mich Energy Saver A/S, Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus, etc. Lower UTGRs and lower overall general satisfaction, versus the group above. Maybe a little more expensive, but that just depends on the deal/sale.

We rotate and inflate fastidiously, and have never been disappointed on any tire's longevity. Even the Yoko Avid S33D that came on the car originally, which were not well rated from what I saw...we got...maybe 55k.

I have a feeling that the tires in group 2 will achieve better MPG than group 1. Is this generally true? Also, among "high quality," "well rated" tires, can the mileage vary by a lot between all season tires? More than a few mpg? One person said they lost 10mpg!

I don't consider Prius to be a super-quiet car like a Lexus LS. But I definitely prefer quieter, smoother tires, both at the beginning of their life, and ideally, near the end as well. I've owned most major tire brands in my life, and they delivered as expected. But Michelins do stick out in my mind as lasting...so long. A set of A/S Michelin on my wife's old Honda Element had 55k on them, and I could not notice a tread depth difference from when they were new. It was crazy.

My question is primarily regarding MPG, longevity, and noise between the two groups I mentioned. Can observations be made? Some references get confusing, especially when opinion is stated as fact.

And yes...I did hesitate to post...another...tire question.

As always, thanks.

 

Long as you didn’t start an entire new tire question post to get attention to yourself, you’ll get great answers.

I agree that group 2 will yield best mpgs, the one person who lost 10 mpgs is an outlier so I wouldn’t be concern about his/her result of the new tires. Plus not all the results feedback are from Prius vehicles, this entire thread will give you just that

 

Are you expecting those tires (Conti TrueContact Tour, Yoko Avid Ascend GT) to last that long? 90-100K miles are well beyond their UTGR 700, 740, 800 AA rating and tread warranty miles. I had Conti TrueContact on my previous Gen3. The mpg did not change at all from Ecopia EP422 Plus I had on right before putting Conti. I did not keep the car long enough to tell you about the longevity or quietness at later years, but when new, they were quieter than Ecopia. I also had Yoko Avid Ascend on my even older HCH. It gave very good mileage, better than Ecopia EP422 Plus I put on later, but I can't say it was the quieter. Yoko lasted ~50K miles, which is less than what the tires are warranted.

 

Thanks, and good points, Grit and Salamander. -- In reading tire reviews, I see some people who barely manage 40k out of a set of tires, while others reach 110k on the same tires, and say they still had time left. So, obviously there are some "variables." No, I do not expect 100k out of any tires. But if a tire advertises 80k, it would be nice to get at least 60-65k of nice, quiet, smooth operation. Just my opinion.

The H-rated 800AA Conti TrueContact Tours promote an 80k warranty, and 65k for the Yoko Avid Ascend GT (740AA). Salamander, with your reference of no difference in fuel economy, I'm tempted to try this category versus the more Eco-promoted tires. And probably the Contis.

A final minor variable: We plan to move, and spend most of the year in the desert from now on ...(look for a set of (5) Nokian WRG4's with 3,000 miles on them coming up for sale I read an older article that said that LRR tires are "harder," which may not be true anymore. And I'm sure all of these 600-800 AA tires will be fine in hot temps. But is there any consideration or preference for specifying Prius tires in really hot temps?

Thanks Again.

 

A little help regarding the Yoko Avid Ascend GT, I am looking on Tire Rack and they have these listed under the ECO section but when I look at them on Yoko's site they do not mention LLR/ECO. I am looking at 215/45/17.

 

If driving for longer periods of time then pick tires that has a temp rating that won’t be affected by hot temps, perhaps summer tires if you have the budget. But you’ll be fine with all season.

I air tires to 44psi cold AMs, which is side wall max psi. During summers, they increase or expand to 52psi after 1/2 hour drive on hwy in 105 F. I’ve ran over curbs and nothing happened either. After every 5Kmi rotation, the front wears off 1mm evenly no matter the season, they’re green x by the way.

 

I thought both Conti TrueContact Tours EcoPlus+Technology and Yoko Avid Ascend GT BlueEarth are LRR tires. TireRack no longer uses LRR as a category, instead use "Eco Focus" whatever that means. I am in search for new set of tires to replace my OEM Dunlop Enasave 01 A/S on my PRIME. The tire is rated 340AA, but will not likely to go more than 30k miles. For me, if tires really last 80k miles, they will be more than 10 years old by the time it gets down to the last tread. (I drive half of year with winter tires and other half with all season). Average 15 k miles/year. My experience have been even with very long tread life warranty, tires are usually shot by 5 years old one reason or another. So, tires that will last 40-50 k miles will be just fine. Right now I am kinda interested in this dart cheep Turkish tire called Waterfall tires, no particular reason other than the lowest price I have ever seen on market. lol


.: Waterfall Tyres:.

 

Need suggestion, 2010 17" either Pirelli Cinturato P7 Plus qty4 $460 at Sam's Club or Yokohama Avid Ascends at Discount Tire for $304?
Sam's is going to have a special this Saturday only that will include installation free on certain tires and the Pirelli P7 is on the list.
So the Avids would be $435 installed inc tax and the Pirelli's would be $500 complete out the door. It seems the Avid Ascend had a great run in this thread but are older now and maybe the P7's would outperform them now.

 

After reading and discussing here (thank you) and on Tire Rack, I decided to try a new set of the 91H 800AA Continental TrueContact Tour (the Yokohama Avid Ascend GT, and others, I believe would also be a great choice). They were purchased from Tire Rack, and installed by a friend who works at Costco.

By the way, my understanding is that Costco just decided that it will no longer install tires not purchased from Costco. I'm not 100% clear if they will no longer service "outside" tires in any way, flat repairs, rotation, etc. And what if say, a winter set was bought from Costco, and a summer set elsewhere? Will Costco still do the seasonal swaps? Or if they had been servicing customers who bought elsewhere previously, are those customers cut off? Or are they just rejecting new customers who bought elsewhere moving forward? I think they are still sorting out the details. I'm also not sure if this is a national policy or regional.

Anyway, my friend said the Contis balanced up very nicely. The tire appears well made, although when uninflated, the side wall struck me as kind of soft; subjective.

The ride is remarkably smooth and quiet on smooth roads. In EV mode, the car is almost silent.

However, in my opinion, they do not take more than minor roads imperfections/bumps particularly well when up-pressured (and I just swapped off Winter tires). After winter, our roads are pretty bad, and under repair. My observation could just be the sharp contrast between how incredibly smooth they are on smooth sections of road. And/or there may have been some tradeoff going with the H rated, and being 91 load. I chose the H rated version (over the T) for the A temp rating, versus B temp rating for the T-rated...imagining (rightly or wrongly) that the A temp rating might be better when we are in the hot desert. -- I just deflated them back to +1 PSI, from + 3-4, and they are significantly better. If you have smooth roads all year, these are highly recommended. If you have bumpy roads, and intend to up-pressure significantly, I would look for another option.

Overall though, I'm very happy with the decision. Again, thanks for the help.

 

@Grit, "green x" is not a Michelin Tire name, just their Low Rolling Resistance "badge". Maybe post a picture of your tire and we'll get this figured out?