I reached 40 K the other day on mine, and did my usual every 5 K rotation. I measured the remaining tread, 4/32", and did a little research, besides using my common sense. 2/32" of tread is the legal minimum, not that I will go that far necessarily. But these tires are wearing nice and even, the remaining tread is consistent, and they still work good on ice, and as much snow as a Prius can handle. And that's coming from someone who lives on a mountain near a ski area. My next rotation will come up mid summer, and I'll measure again and also use my common sense again, and see if I can safely make it to Fall, when buying a new set of winter tires makes perfect sense. I am quite pleased with these tires, and I have someone here to thank as I first heard about them here, something to the effect of : "I leave them on year round, and got 40 K out of them." BTW: I have run 45 PSI on all 4, since the day I got them.
Well having a prius is about having great MPGs, guess we'll never know much MPGs OP gets with these tires. Just wait for another IceX tire owner w/a review w/MPGs.
Agree with StarCaller, mpg is hard to see a difference to Energy Savers. In addition, I find the ride to be darn fine, too. They handle a bit like a typical snow, but just a bit, and are smooth and quiet enough to pass as a good all-season in warm and dry. Safety preachers aside, a good snow to run year round if that's your thing.
Have you been keeping Xice for year around? Or 40K exclusively during winter months? Glad to hear they make past the tread wear warranty. I have had Xice3 on my previous Gen3, and now on my Prime. I traded my Gen3 with Xice on it during second winter, so I could not tell the long term tread wear. My current set on PRIME is just seeing the second winter. Only 8K on them so far with still 8-9/32 left on them.
Yes, they are on year round, I forgot to specify that! It's a '13 PIP, though I don't think matters as to how the tires wear...... Summertime I consistently get mid 50's to low 60's MPG, winter high 40's to low 50's. I am not shy about starting it to warm before driving off, as my garage is unheated. Getting an easy 45 K out of these grippy tires makes me happy, don't know or care about how they measure up noise wise (that's what the radio is for) and the handling is good enough for my driving style.
That's impressive for winter tires driven during summer and lasting that long. My OEM all season Dunlap Enasave are not going to make 40K. About Xice, mileage, handling, comfort, I agree with you on all accounts. Not that I have had a lot of other winter tires I have tried before, maybe 3 or 4 other brands so far, but I have no reason to switch to anything else.
I'm running X-Ice2 through winter: put them on around the middle of November, take them off maybe mid-March. They do quite good for mpg, in particular comparing to our OEM's which are 215/45R17 size. They're a softer rubber than an all-season, and will wear faster if you're using them year 'round. If yours are down to 4/32" I would not consider them a "snow tire" anymore, would set the lower limit for that at 6/32". I got our set around a week after getting the car, in November 2010, and am still using them. The car has 85K kms, and maybe 1/3 of that was on the X-Ice. They're now around 7/32" tread depth. I'll likely be replacing them before next fall, both to get some more tread depth, and due to them being about 10 years old.
I bought a set of Xi2s and have used them for 8.5 years. They were driven for about 60,000 miles or so. Two tires were 4/32nd and the other two were 5/32nd when they were retired in 2017. The Xi2s were replaced due to age. Now I am using Michelin Xi3s which are 8/32nds after 2 years. The wear depends on how you drive. I inflate my tires at stock spec at 35psi (front) and 33psi rear. Higher psi would help in fuel economy, but wear the tire much faster. The higher psi makes it rougher on your suspension. The Michelin X-Ice tire is designed for ice. It generally has better fuel economy and comfort. I don't want to go into to much technical details, but it is because it has a center rib or stripe through the middle of the tire. Winter tires (such as the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80) that doesn't center rib will perform better in the snow sacrificing comfort/fuel economy.
X-ice fuel economy on Prius not noticeably different from LRR summer tires for us (we get 45 - 55 dashboard mpg in normal use). I have a similar experience with X-ice X12 on an 06 Highlander, where Blizzak DV-1M was great in snow, but awful to drive and instant -10% fuel economy. The X-ice is my current all around favorite Winter tire. It's pretty interesting to see 40K mile longevity in 12 month service (July in Idaho being about like February in FL, but still...).
Told this story before here I believe: about 10 years ago I was talking to an airport worker at West Yellowstone, and asked him what he did in the winter, when the airport is closed. He said the airport is used by a consortium of tire manufacturers to test tires, and he was one of the drivers. Asked what was the grippiest "best" ice tires, he promptly responded, "Blizzaks". Don't think I'd get 45 K out of a set though, and will stick with the Ice X's. Here's a pick from today, that sign past my driveway (and the dirtiest Prius most ever see) says "NO WINTER MAINTENANCE BEYOND THIS POINT". A number of people ignore it every winter and pay the price, it sucks them in by the first few hundred feet past the sign giving them encouragement, then on the lee side of a hill they hit the drifts and it's all over, AWD or not. A big storm today in my area, working in the valley I was unsure if the rain/sleet we were getting down there would be snow higher up, (usually is) making my bragging about my tires pretty funny if I had ended up walking the last mile or so, made it once again, real men drive Prius, as I tell my rural AWD driving neighbors.
I got 40K out of the Blizzak DV-1Ms on my Highlander (big surprise, unexpected). But that was with classic snow tire noise, ride, fuel economy, vague handling on dry pavement. The more common Blizzaks available for small cars might be a little better on ice. Their rubber is softer for sure. Felt like driving on pencil erasers. We burned up a set on a Honda Fit in about 20K miles.
Sounds like a good general purpose tire with good mpg (from later comments). What kind of road noise (on pavement) do they produce compared to the tires that were delivered with the vehicle?
The West Yellowstone guy noted their (Blizzaks) squeakiness and grip just dragging one out of a pickup bed! My situation is, I'm not looking for the ultimate winter tire, as no matter what, the low ground clearance after a bit of snow makes the type of tire almost irrelevant. This pic shows the PIP at one of its charging stations (the nearest standard outlet, handy that all it needs is a 15 amp 120 VAC circuit), and in effect this day's charge came directly off my wind turbine. I say in effect, as it is grid tied so hard to say what went where, and when...., but the turbine produced 15 KW that day, so much more then needed to recharge. I have yet to see another PIP here in Idaho, and I look every time I see another Prius, which I derisively refer to as gas hogs! Just kidding! My combo of free recharging, and downhill 13 mile commute, luckily falls into a pretty optimum situation for me. At the age of 70, this car is the most satisfying vehicle I've ever owned, all things considered, while I also really get a kick out of those who bad mouth them, and their drivers, making owning one somewhat of a secret club thing.
