What are y'all using for low rolling-resistance tires in the US? Doesn't look like there's much anymore besides the Bridgestone Ecopias and the Dunlop Ensaves. Anyone know anything about the Michelin Primacy all-seasons? They claim to be fuel efficient.
There are several options for LRR tires. My favorite is the WR line from Nokian (Currently WRg4). Their 195/65HR15 H-rated tire is an all weather tire (as good as many winter tires in bad weather), lasts more than 50k miles, handles well and is a very strong tire (Max PSI is 51 lbs/sq inch). You may have to research where they are available in your area. Only two tire stores in my area carry them. JeffD
At least in 215/45R17 size, I replaced the OEM Michelin Pilot HX MXM4, with Michelin Primacy MXM4, and subsequently mpg TANKED. Gradually coming back, but an uphill battle. Michelin's Green-X logo doesn't stand for much.
On our Rav4 hybrid I put on Continental crosscontact LX25 which continental says has "echoplus" tech and had a gas pump logo. MPG did take a big hit at first, took about 3-5k miles but now getting same mpg as original, around 40 mpg in mixed driving. We have about 35k miles on them with minimal wear. How many miles on your Michelins, Mendel? The comparable tire for Prius would be the Trucontact Tour, also ecoplus. I like it that Continental puts the letters D,W & S in their tread at different depths. When the S is worn down, it is no longer good in snow, W for wet, D for dry.
I'm in the same situation as the OP, looking for LRR tires in the 195/65R15 size. Some of the old choices in that size are gone. The Bridgestone Ecopia and Dunlop Enasave tires seem to be logical choices but I'm wondering if anybody has good data on the fuel economy with Kumho TA11 tires, hopefully with a direct comparison to one of the factory-supplied tires. The Kumho tires seem to be available but I haven't seen them discussed much lately. The TA11 is in a less expensive price band than some of the other choices. The factory Goodyear tires were replaced at 50,000 miles with General Altimax RT43 (91H). The RT43s have been a very good (and quieter) tire but I've lost at least 3 MPG, and maybe 4 MPG compared to the Goodyear Fuel Max (Japanese) tires. (I've tracked every mile and every gallon of gasoline with Fuelly). There's still some life left in the RT43s after 55,000 miles but I could pull the trigger on new tires as winter rolls in. I would like to get that last bit of fuel economy back. So, any long-term feedback on the Kumho TA11? I'll probably wait to see if Consumer Reports dispenses any year-end wisdom on newer tire models but that's often a frustrating dump of data requiring some interpretation. Maybe I would consider something like the new General Altimax RT45 or the Nokian One if they popped up with a good rolling resistance score.
