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Tires

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by daniel, Sep 25, 2004.

  1. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Not sure if this should be in Care & Maintenance, Performance Mods, or here in Main.

    Since reading what John1701a has to say about his Michelin Hydroedge tires, I've been wondering if I should switch. Of course, John was nudged by a destroyed tire. And my OEM tires did perfectly okay last winter. But you never know what better tires might feel like, or if they'd make a really significant difference in the winter driving experience. So I visited the tire store where I've gotten my tires since buying my first car, some 30-odd years ago. Fargo Tire, in, you guessed it, Fargo ND. They are honest, fast, and do good work.

    I was concerned about two things: would my nearly-new tires go to a landfill and waste resources and space? And do I really need better tires?

    Point 1: No problem: They'd buy my nearly-new tires from me, and re-sell them. I would not get much for them, but they'd get used, not thrown away.

    Point 2: The salesman is familiar with the OEM tires (they sell them) and with the Michelin Hydroedge. The Hydroedge has not been around for a winter yet, so there's no definitive winter experience with them yet. He expects them to do very well. But he also said the OEM tires are no slouch either. (And they did okay for me last winter.)

    His recommendation: Stay with the tires I've got. He doesn't think the improvement would be great enough to make the switch, considering the like-new condition of mine.

    He also said that if I really want the best possible winter performance, the way to go would be to buy a set of snow tires, and use those in winter, and save my OEM tires for summer. They will store the off-season set for free. Of course I'd pay for balancing and mounting twice a year. (This was what I did with my Civic, since I used studded tires on it in winter.)

    I'm pondering.
     
    #1 daniel, Sep 25, 2004
  2. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    I have always had two sets of tires for my non 4WD cars. I have never regretted it. Extends the life of both tires and gives me security when it snows. Plowing of roads it a rare commodity around western Washington. You have to be ready to drive on bad roads. My daughter has a set and made a cover with a round piece of wood for a top. She piles the tires up, sets the wood on top and throws the fabric cover over the whole thing and uses it for a table in her apartment. She is a graphic designer. What can I say, but she has studded snow tires in the winter. I have not made a decision on Belle. I have the Beast to drive in the snow and if you take it easy you do fairly well.
     
    #2 hdrygas, Sep 25, 2004
  3. TCD

    TCD Junior Member

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    Hdyrgas,

    Your daughter is clearly a woman for whom practical is an art!
     
    #3 TCD, Sep 26, 2004
  4. mikeslavis

    mikeslavis New Member

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    Daniel,

    I've already started doing the research for winter tires even though I don't have my car yet. What I found is that official snow tires are rated the best for snow conditions but often the are among the worst for wet conditions. Where I am, near Rochester, NY, we get our share of snow but most of the winter we're salted and the snow quickly melts so you're actually driving on cold water.

    Looking at the "percentages" I figured the Hydroedge tires, which are much better in wet conditions, and still rated better than the stock Integrity tires for snow, would serve us best and mean we could have 1 tires for "all seasons"...

    That, at any rate, is the route we plan to go...

    [email protected]
     
    #4 mikeslavis, Sep 26, 2004
  5. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Mike: That's very interesting. It's an argument for putting the snow tires on later and taking them off earlier than I might otherwise do. Here in Fargo there's no water in winter. Some time in November or December the snow stays, and does not melt until March or April.

    But since the OEM tires are okay, I might wait for John1701a's report on how the Hydroedge tires do in snow.
     
    #5 daniel, Sep 27, 2004
  6. mycroft

    mycroft New Member

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    Just to expand the market a bit, I've recently noticed advertisements from Goodyear for their new "Assurance" line of tires. The claims made about them seem similar to the Michelin Hydroedge. Has anyone tried those?
     
    #6 mycroft, Sep 27, 2004
  7. djasonw

    djasonw Active Member

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    I don't think the Assurance tires come in the size for the Prius. You can go to 195's but I actually prefer the OEM size for slicing through snow (narrower). I think the Hydroedge is an excellent tire choice for the Prius.
     
    #7 djasonw, Sep 27, 2004
  8. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    used the OEM's in the snow we had last winter, typical wet slop/west coast type snow and didn't experience any real difficulty getting around. My thoughts are try the OEM's for a while and if you find they don't work in your kind of snow, then spend the bucks and buy some other type. Studded if they are required, to match your snow/ice conditions. The snow we get here turns to wet ice when you compact it by driving on it, the kind of stuff you open the car door and step out onto and fall flat on your butt, no body laughs at you because they all have wet butts too.
     
    #8 Frank Hudon, Sep 27, 2004
  9. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    As I said in my original post, I drove on the OEM tires for half of last winter, having gotten my car in mid-January, and they did okay. But without making the comparison, I'll never know if the Hydroedge would do even better.

    But I think I've made my decision. The tire salesman recommended staying with the OEM tires, which he thinks are pretty good. So I'm going to wait for John1701a's report. He is sure to have an entry in his log about his Hydroedge tires when Minneapolis gets its first snow, and I'd expect another follow-up entry after he's had a few more days. Then I'll reconsider.

    I really don't drive in snow much. I wait for the roads to get plowed. So my bigger concern is ice. My Prius, with the OEM tires, handles better on ice than my '89 Civic did with studded tires. But again, I'd pay for improvement.
     
    #9 daniel, Sep 28, 2004
  10. wwblues

    wwblues New Member

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    Was in the Goodyear store today, and they referred me to their customer service line at the factory. I asked about rolling resistance differences between the Integrity, Assurance Tripltred and the Assurance Comfortred. The Tripltred is not out yet in Prius sizes, but she said their official line is "check back in a month". It is their flagship tire, and they will be releasing lots of mold sizes. 185-65-15 is a very popular size, used on Saturns and Neons. They want that business.

    Anyway, the Comfortred is available in our size. It is rated better than the Integrity for wet traction and ice traction, and rated as a lot quieter and smoother ride because of a layer of padding within the tire. She didn't have rolling resistance numbers for any of the tires, but thought the Comfortred would be a little better than the Integrity, and the Tripltred has more rolling resistance, and is probably very similar in that respect to the Hydroedge.

    I was considering getting new tires for the coming winter, too, but will probably hang on to the OEM tires unless the snow and ice change my mind.

    Anyone know where one can get rolling resistance numbers on current tires? The only thing I have found is from Greenseal, and the report is pretty long of tooth.

    BillG
    Minneapolis
     
    #10 wwblues, Sep 28, 2004
  11. djasonw

    djasonw Active Member

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    I believe you can find this information on tirerack.
     
    #11 djasonw, Sep 29, 2004
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