New tires for 2006 Prius (owned since 8/06)???

The Goodyear Integrity tires that come from the factory are not the longest-wearing in the world. A handful of owners have gotten considerably more mileage than you, but 25K is not surprising, especially if there's any hint of uneven wear from mechanical or inflation problems. Just like any tire, there are tradeoffs between handling, ride, tread life, and in this case, rolling resistance; Integritys are among the lowest rolling resistance tires on the market.

I'm not quite sure what "secondary rubber" means, though. I would take the car to a reputable tire shop for a second opinion. If you need new ones, they would likely charge less than the dealer anyway. Meanwhile, do a good search here for threads discussing tire options so you'll have a good handle on the best purchase for you.

Also, regardless of what tire you get, I strongly suggest keeping them at or close to their maximum specified sidewall pressure. It seems some of the poorer results with the Integritys come from those who keep pressures lower -- still within Toyota's specs but not the best for tread life. Higher pressure also helps with fuel economy.

Good luck!

 

Hi Betsy,

Here's the link to the excellent thread here about tires called "Tire Upgrade: Lessons Learned" started by nyprius. The thread is very long, but you should at minimum read nyprius' excellent initial post:

http://priuschat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20573&highlight=tire+upgrade

Other than the Integrities, I'm not familiar with the tires your dealer is offering. In any event, I can tell you that judging from his price for the Integrities, his prices seem too high (even though presumably they include installation and everything except tax).

I would recommend getting a high quality passenger all season tire. Here is some info on three of the favorites here at PriusChat:

Goodyear ComforTred: OEM Size 185/65/15: $78 each. Wider Size 195/60/15: $79 each

Goodyear TripleTred: OEM Size 185/65/15: (unavailable). Wider Size 195/60/15: $92 each

Michelin HydroEdge: OEM Size 185/65/15: $99 each. Wider Size 195/60/15: $106 each

All three of these tires are wear warranted for at least 80,000 miles. The prices listed above are from TireRack.com, and exclude tax, delivery (usually less than $40 for four), and installation (usually about $60 - $100 for four).

Good luck.

 

my 08 touring came standard with bridgestone turanza's, which i believe are michelin, and if they are as good as the bridgestone dueller's i had on my rav4, i'll stick with them next time around

 

Not likely/ While there have been some partnerships in tire world, Bridgestone and Michelin are still fierce rivals...

Also, unless you paid for a tire upgrade, the OEM tires on nearly all new cars are relatively, well, to be kind, somewhat "unique"....Mileage, traction, etc, are all sacrified for a smooth quiet test ride, and the lowest cost to obtain that ride.

The Turanza's you buy at the Firestone shop are a whole 'nother critter than the ones that probably came on your car....Case in point, the Potenza, which is a relatively OK tire normally, came OEM on my Camry...a total piece of .....well....I'll be kind, but poor wet traction, no snow and ice traction, mud scared it and it wore out at 17K.

In terms of a replacement, as the original question asked, The Goodyear ComfortTred and the TripleTred are really tops....probably one of the best if not the best all-season passenger car tires out there....But they go for About $115 a tire "out the door."

Surprisingly, and I don't want to sound too cheap, a number of the "off-brands" are doing tremendous things with their tires nowadays. Kumho and Nexen are making darn good tires for 2/3's to 1/2 the cost of the Goodyears/Michelins.

Indeed, since Kumho has now become known as a relatively good tire, they have decided to up the quality of their "secondary" brand, Marshal.

Several years ago, Marshal's were a relatively cheap tire with so-so traction and so-so durability. But I just bought a used Camry last year with a set of Marshals and have put "a few miles on them," and found ice and snow traction superb, mud "wallowing" pretty darn good, fanastic in the rain and the tires look like they'll go 40K, which considering the roads I drive is about 55-60K for most folks....

I've recently switched from the high-end, high-priced various incarnations of Toyo tires to Nexen and Kumho and am seeing little difference other than a much more reasonable price.....BTW, I'm in Oregon, where the Les Schwab chain of tire stores has a relative lock and Toyo is their premier tire...

 

I've had the Goodyear Integrity tires since April 2006 and have 42K miles on them. I was just told by the dealer at my oil change that they need to be replaced. The local tire place that I have gone to for years recommended Sumitomo HTR T4 for a good replacement, will run me about $400 mounted and balanced.

I would have gone for the replacement for the Michelin Arctic Alpins that I put on my old Camry for snows but here in the snowier-than-usual northeast they seem to be mostly out of snow tires this season. Besides, with the traction control I haven't had any problems at all getting around.

 

I just put on a set of Nokian WR G2's, in the stock size. They are excellent.

 

Have you noticed any milage drop with your Nokian tires? FishHawk

 

As you do your research... suggest you consider 205's.

We have two 2006 Prius' one Prius has the original 185. The other has
Comfort Tred 205's. We replaced 185's at 20k relalizing that 90 percent of tire problems occur in the last 10% of the wear left on the tires.

The 205 Prius has a heavyier car feel which we like as it handles potholes better. The 205's look like they belong on the car. The 185's look like someone was trying to cut corners to save money. The Prius can easily handle a larger tire upgrade.

When it comes time to replace the 185's on our other Prius we plan to replace them with 205's.

There is a small hit on the milage with the 205's. This is a big deal for those who think the Prius is all about milage and saving money.

Basically, the Prius is a great car that deserves a top notch tire. Saving money on tires, for some, may be faulty math.

What's great about Prius Chat is there are so many great people out there that are willing to spend their valuable time and effort to help one another.

Good luck with your research and choice.

aloha, richard

 

The Nokian WRs (and the WRg2) are LRR tires which will, in general, improve your MPG. The attached excel file shows my experience with WRs for 7,000 miles (2.5 months) and compares them to the original GY Integrity (not LRR, but good MPG in warm weather) and Michelin MXV4+ (LRR) tires. The Michelin and Nokian tires produce much better handling and dry traction than the Integrity tires. The Nokians WRs are also great in wet/snow/ice!

JeffD

 

I haven't had the new tires long enough to see any mileage change. But on dry pavement, wet pavement, and slushy conditions the nokians are wonderful. The integs were just horrible. In addition, the nokians are much quieter.

 

Having been a service manager at a Toyota dealership, I've seen countless sets of Goodyear Integrities wear prematurely >30k. Owners were at a conundrum as what to replace the Junktegrities.

It wasn't until I purchases my '08 Prius in November, that I really became in tune with the Prius and its community. I joined Yahoo groups Prius 2G and found that many members were switching over to Nokian WR tires. Curious, and with only 800 miles on my car, I made the switch.

I couldn't be happier! The ride is exponentially better (even at 42/40psi), the handling is far superior, and the traction is phenomenal. The snows that we've had haven't phased my Prius at all, even going through snow deep enough to use my front end as a plow.

When my customers come in wanting tires, I enthusiastically bend their ear to the Nokian WR tires. They're far superior to anything that I've seen installed on a Prius. And the price is decent as well. Go with Nokian.

Erick Faust
Asst. Service Manager
O'Brien Toyota/Scion
Indianapolis, IN

2008 #2, Barcelona Red, EV switch, Scion Tc auto-dimming mirror with homelink, foamed grille, mud guards, exactmats - EBH (when it arrives)

 

It looks like MXV4+ gives better MPG in cold weather but less MPG during hot weather than Integrity. You don't have data for the WR in hot weather yet. Keep us posted how it compares for May, June and July.

Another thing that may've skew your data is grill blocking. Did you start blocking the grill recently?

 

Yes, the Integrity tires had good MPG in warm weather (The rubber compound and sidewalls in the Integrity are very soft at elevated temperatures, but harden in cold weather). Note that you have to do a little correction for the difference in revolutions/mile to compare different tire MPGs. If you do the correction, then the MXV4+ match the Integrity in warm weather and beat them in the winter (about 0.5 MPG better overall for 12 months - saved me about $30 in gas over the life of the tires).

Original (new tires, all 185/65R15 at 42/40 psi) revs/mile:

Integrity: 855, MXV4+: 847, Nokian WR: 850

And watch out for increasing revs/mile as tires wear down in any comparison.

I have never done grill blocking and don't have an engine block heater (My Subaru has one, it has never been plugged in). My driving characteristics have been reasonably consistent over the last 4 years, so comparisons between these tires over 12 month periods should be valid (we still need to wait for a complete year on the Nokians - November 2008, but they show promise).

JeffD

 

My integritys have made it 47K on both my cars with a little tread to spare.. however.. I popped my Right rear this morning when I slipped off the road on wet icy conditions and it hit a small abrupt chuck hole.... looks like this is my window to upgrade!

I'm wondering if the toyo spectrum is a good choice over the michelin hydroedge.... I don't want to take any more of a mileage hit than I have to.

 

Why not consider the Nokians (WR or WRg2) since they are likely to improve your MPG? Besides, you probably would not have slipped off the road with one of the Nokian all-weather tires.

JeffD

 

Those sound like pretty nice tires..... its pretty rare we have that kind of weather here in Central Texas.

I struggled between the prirelli 3000's and the toyo's.....

After talking with someone I trust thats been in tires the last 40 years... pursuaded me of a few things...
Michelin are good tires, but allot of their higher prices involved is due to the heavy advertising they do and many discounts offered from time to time.

Pirelli are good tires all around but mostly only if you get the high end racing type tires....

Toyo also makes high end tires but you tend to get better bang for the buck on their low end stuff because they use similar rubber composition as their high end tires.
They rate then lower as to not compete with their high end stuff thats rated for higher speeds, but all in all, you will get more than the rated mileage.

In fact when I balanced my tires "two" of them didn't even need weights!!!
Thats pretty rare that the tire and the wheel both together are so balanced that they need no weights!

Anyway.... so far I now feel like a cat with claws on the road the traction is so much better... I don't notice any mileage hit at all yet... but I've only got about 50 miles on them so far.
I chose the 195/60/15's... they had 854 revs per mile and cost about 69.00 bucks a piece.
About 1/2 inch more width and look much more attractive.... hopefully the mpg won't be hit enough to sweat it.

Generally speaking... the more traction you have, the more your mileage is likely to drop..... its quite a challenge to "grab" the road without that same drag affecting mileage.


I did find a 100.00 off coupon for 4 michelins, but I knew that amounted to 25.00 a tire and the cost would be a wash with the higher prices.