Snow/Winter tires

Hi Nancy 8 mpg loss Ouch!! I havent put my snows on yet!still waiting for winter weather.I will put them on in a week or two and let you know my results.They broke one of your senors!Hope they paid for a new one.Thats one of the reasons i got my snows already mounted on rims!Dont have to worry about someone breaking a sensor.

 

I am using Green Diamond all-season tires on 2005 Corolla OEM alloy wheels. The hit seems to be 5-8 MPG.

Wayne

 

I have been using Nokian RSi's for the past two weeks, and have
not noticed any reduction in MPG (53.5)on our 50 mile round trip.
Since I will be only using them untill March, the expected 40,000
mile life is exceptable. They are handling our snowy 1200' uphill
driveway, and the parking lots at Okemo MT., VT just great!!

 

I put Michelin X Ice 185/65X15 with new alloys on my 2007 touring model. I saw maybe 1 mpg. I feel the touring was not getting the high mileage because of the 16" wheels and tires the touring package comes with. I have approx 2500 miles on the snow tires. My average mpg is 47.5 mpg for the last 2500 miles.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(msnancy61 @ Dec 9 2006, 10:34 PM) [snapback]359938[/snapback]</div>

Front are at 40 psi and rear at 38 psi......

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Downeaster @ Dec 9 2006, 08:49 PM) [snapback]359922[/snapback]</div>

Make sure that 1 mpg difference is not just the change in speedometer accuracy. When I added my snows I got a 2% false increase in speed comparing to my Garmin.

 

I put on Dunlop Graspic winter tires, NOT mud and snow, but real winter tires. I increase the tire press to about 42/40. They are great in the snow, at least compared to the regular tires. A big difference. I find a decrease in MPG of around 3-5 mpg.

 

This winter I'm running Goodyear Nordic studded snow tires, available at Canadian Tire. According to Canadian Tire, they are identical to the Goodyear Ultra Grip 500 available in the EU:

http://eu.goodyear.com/home_en/tires/repos...p?page=benefits

My previous winter tires - Dunlop Graspic DS/2 and Yokohama Ice Guard 10 - I lost around 5-7 MPG Imperial gallon on the highway, with no difference here in the city. With these studded tires, it's more like a 9 MPG loss.

So far these tires are the best I've had for winter traction on my Prius, so I don't mind the seasonal fuel economy hit. Sure beats sliding into a ditch or helpless at a green light.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tomdeimos @ Dec 10 2006, 03:58 PM) [snapback]360105[/snapback]</div>

In changing from the touring package 16" wheels and tires to the 15" winter tire package, I made sure I had the same overall diameter. I purchased from the Tire Rack and based on the specs for the tire sizes the diameters are the same. I have 4200 miles total on the car and never have averaged better than 49 mpg with the summer tires. Most of my driving is highway at speeds around 75 mph. The first 600 miles my average was 46.5 mpg. I am still learning all the tricks to achieve good average mpg's.

 

Hi Nancy Now that it may start feeling like winter next week!i put my snowtires on today.I will let you know about my mpg!right now its av in the upper 40s,I set tire psi to 42/40.

 

I just got 4 Bridgestone Blizzack WS-60 snowtires and put them on two days ago.

They set the tire pressures up as per the book 35/33- Front/Back. I had my summer tires (OEM) set to 42/40. I am going to raise up the tire pressures back to those levels. I don't know if it was the pressures or the way the tires perform, but I had a little "mushiness" to the steering on the way home from NTB.

Everything I've read about the OEM tires says that they stink and that the car felt so much more "solid" when they changed to a different tire. I am hoping that it's the lower pressures giving me the "mushy" feeling. I will say that the Prius felt and performed better in a light snow cover. Before even in just light snow on the ground, I would feel the traction give out and the TCS light would come on. Doesn't happen with these snow tires on!

By the way, the OEM tires had 31,000 miles on the and were wearing very well. I still had 5/32" left on them but I will not be putting them back on next summer. I will be getting a new set of wheels and a different set of tires to put on them.