Hey everyone, First, I'd like to thank everyone for taking a look at my post. I've been searching the web and this site for a few weeks and I've just been hitting dead ends. I currently drive a 2008 Prius touring with Michelin energy savers a/s 195. The only problem is I've had these tires since 2013 or damn near 100k miles. The Michelin ev=nergy savers and the primacy aren't made anymore so I'm trying to find equivalent tires from Michelin or another reputable company. The tires are really starting to go, I feel like if I hit another pothole, that tire is a goner. Any help is greatly appreciated. ps- I've checked other threads but as I mentioned earlier, most of those tires arent sold anymore. Thank you!
Ecopias by Bridgestone are almost identical in MPG as the Michelins... They're a lot less expensive too.
I’ve been looking into new tires as well, and I’m probably going to get General Tire Altimax RT43 tires. Consumer Reports loves them and they’re rated highly on TireRack. Yokohama Avid Ascend GT tires are also good. I would say those two are the best 2 all season tires currently made for Prius size wheels.
I got Michelin Defenders at Costco on sale recently. They’re often on sale there as they alternate deal brands each month. Great mpg with normal air pressure and I think they are quiet. $114 each I think with road hazard warranty and free rotations. Others may have other opinions, like Dirty Harry used to say, “Opinions are like a*holes, everybody’s got one.”
If the alignment is good and you mostly drive "in a straight line" (highway driving), then it should be possible. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
We liked those tires too. We put them on our Hyundai subcompact and the ride got a lot quieter and more comfortable when we did. I know other tires can score better for MPG but it's hard to characterize these as bringing a penalty. They are the first thing I'll look for once we've had our squeezins of the factory tires on our Prius.
The General Altimax RT43's are a wonderful all season tire. I have ran them on three different vehicles and I highly recommend them. However for the Prius I am currently running the 4 tread row variant of the Bridgestone Ecopia 422 and get very comparable mileage to the beloved Michelin Energy Savers.
Just about. I Purchased them a few months prior to driving cross country from south Florida to northern California. Since moving to north cal I only use my vehicle to drive short distances. 2 years ago a mechanic advised me to think about getting new tires, mentioned they are in good shape but because of their age I should switch em. The threading was good up until that time, then the car sat for a full year and the crackling got seriously worse.
The last set of Bridgestone Turanza Serenities I bought for our old 2010 had 80k miles on them with 6/32nds left. Ended up selling the Prius at that point so not sure how they fared after our ownership. If they only made the Serenities still.
Replace them fast, and the interim don’t drive in the rain. Make sure you’ve got good liability insurance; you might need it.
Sorry, but I think you should realize that driving a car also makes you responsible to keep it safe. 100k miles and 13 years is way past its due date, guess you are a lucky *** that they didn't fail on you yet... What if one of the tires blew and you hit (or kill) someone... . Wonder what he police or insurance will think about that!!! Take your responsibility here. Best regards, Nick Black 2007 Prius
JUst to confirm this from personal experience: I had Michelin Defenders and marveled at it's longevity. Replaced them around 100K not because they wore out, but rather they began cracking of age. Mostly highway ride. Also, had noticeably more tread left than on pictures above. Overall, Defenders were very good at everything, not perfect at anything. Unbelievable at longevity. A bit more noisy than I'd like, but not intruding. What usually omitted: -durability in the sense of withstanding abuse of scraping curb during parking (most other tires would get sidewall bulge = die -forgiving when you don't rotate tires as frequently, as recommended -admirable consistency manifested in smaller weights needed when balancing (once, (once EVER!) I had a Michelin not needing any weights at all!) -not resolved issue: regardless of brand, with age become stiffer therefore much less effective in braking (Defenders actually were less prone to this, but not immune) -fairly good as ALLSEASON, but nowhere ideal neither on snow, nor when extra hot. Marginally acceptable on ice -relatively more expensive than bargain brands, but unquestionably MUCH more cost effective in the long term (like4-6-8 yeasr), especially if you add mounting costs P.S. Not using Defenders any more, but stick with other Michelins BECAUSE of them. Simply seek higher end performance at specific tasks, not all around
On our 2010 the original Michelin Pilot hxMXM4's (17") had runaway cracking by the time I replaced them, around 9 years IIRC. Within two weeks of car purchase I picked up Michelin X-Ice (15") snow tires, and I'm still using them, coming up on 11 years this fall, and apart from some tread wear they still look like new: absolutely no cracking. Seems like different factories, rubber formulations or who knows what.
I am not a fan of those Nano tires Toyota put on our 2017 and 2021 Prius'. The 2017 tires only had 24,000 earlier this summer and after driving over a short gravel road, the front/left tire went flat. I replaced them all with General Altimax RT43 tires that are rated at lasting 65,000 miles. ($480 for all with free balancing and rotation for the life of the tires and also road insurance and free flat repairs.)
