Do I really need "special" tires

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Any tire will work

 

Your profile indicates that you have a Touring. If true, then it does not use Goodyear tires.

If you have a non-Touring Prius, then the Goodyear tires that are original equipment are not special except to the extent that they are especially mediocre. Should you wish to buy more of the same, you can buy them from Tire Rack for $71 each plus shipping and installation.
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Or you can buy them from America's Tire for $80 plus sales tax and installation.
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There may also be local tire places offering free life time balance, rotation and puncture repair that seem worth looking into. Good luck!

 

"Priuses" do not eat tires like crazy. Do anyone check the alignment? Sounds like he is trying to upsell you. Get the warning light problem fixed at the dealer and inflate your tires.

 

I think it would if you kept feeding your Prius with same type of tire that it was originally fitted with from the factory...

 

It sounds like this service guy was trying to tell you something about the tires and didn't have enough knowledge on the subject.

He was pushing the OEM tires because they are lrr tires, "low rolling resistance". Whatever tires you buy, you will want to aim for this type of tire as this will greatly affect your mpg. You don't want a high traction tire, as this will accomplish the opposite.
Key in tires and questions about tires in the searches in this forum and you will get a great deal of good info on pros and cons of many types of tires, before you buy anything.

:nod:

 

The Prius does not use LRR tires. That was the first generation Honda Insight that used them.

 

The Classic Prius did, but it wasn't necessary to stick with them. I switched to regular tires. The increased traction/handling and longer life came with little MPG difference.

On my Iconic Prius, I upgraded to high-traction tires. There is a difference in MPG, but the benefits are more pronounced.
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I think the Gen II Prius' OEM Goodyear Integrities are considered low rolling resistance tires -- see this list from Wikipedia:

"Some tires available in 2003 ranked by coefficient from lowest (least wasteful), according to the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Academy_of_Sciences"]United States National Academy of Sciences[/ame] [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Research_Board"]Transportation Research Board[/ame] Special Report 286[4] and the March 2003 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Seal"]Green Seal[/ame] report on the topic[6].

• 0.00615 Bridgestone B381 P185/70R14
• 0.00650 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin"]Michelin[/ame] SYMMETRY P225/60R16
• 0.00683 Michelin TIGER PAW AWP P225/60R16
• 0.00700 Bridgestone DUELER H/T 113S P265/70R17
• 0.00709 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFGoodrich"]BFGoodrich[/ame] RUGGED TRAIL T/A P285/70R17
• 0.00754 Michelin LTX A/S P255/65R17
• 0.00758 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyear"]Goodyear[/ame] INTEGRITY (OE) P225/60R16
• 0.00760 Bridgestone INSIGNIA SE 200 89S P195/65R15
• 0.00767 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFGoodrich"]BFGoodrich[/ame] RUGGED TRAIL T/A P245/65R17
• 0.00780 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Tire"]Continental[/ame] Ameri-G4S WS P235/75R15
• 0.00795 Michelin TPAW TOURING TR/SR P215/70R16
• 0.00810 Bridgestone DUELER H/T 104S P235/70R16
• 0.00813 Goodyear Invicta GL 235/75R15
• 0.00825 Continental ContiTouring Contact CH95 P205/55R16
• 0.00829 Michelin CROSS TERRAIN SUV P255/75R17
• 0.00833 Michelin PILOT PRIMACY 275/50R19
• 0.00850 Michelin ENERGY LX4 P225/60R16
• 0.00854 Michelin PILOT LTX P265/70R17
• 0.00855 Michelin ENERGY MXV4 PLUS 235/65R17"

I have no idea what the rolling resistance is for the Touring Edition OEM Bridgestone Turanza El 400-02's.

 

Boo,

I don't know right now if your "expanded" info in your post above is just the same data from the 2003 report I have seen on low rolling resistance tires. But last year around this time when I got my new tires in the correct size for my Non-Touring Prius, most of the ones in that comparison report (& listed in Consumer Reports too) were lines or sizes that were no longer being produced. Even the Continental ones I got (PremierContact), I was told by many tire shops that they too were out of production. I found one tire shop that said they located 4 for me in a warehouse in either Georgia or Alabama & when I checked the date code on them at mounting time I saw that they were already 24 months old.

I wish either the manufacturers would all list the rolling resistance figures or somebody would do a "newer than 2003" comprehensive comparison again of the current tires because even though the Continentals I got were supposed to be a low rolling resistance tire, I'm getting 4 to 5 MPG less than with the Goodyear Integrities. The only upside is that they do offer a lot better traction in wet & slippery weather.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Step away from the dealer! You can get any tire you want, for less. I love the BFG G-Force Sports, though they cost me 5-7 mpgs. The handling wet and dry is so much better, that I don't care. I got 67,000 from the original "special" Goodyears, and at over 20K on the BFGs I can see NO discernable wear. Your mileage may vary, but stay away from the dealer.

 

Well stated. The G-Force is probably the "worse" tire for mileage due to its high traction in the dry - a real summer performance tire. So your mileage loss is probably the worst that can be expected from any tire (short of running Hoosier road racing slicks).

When I bought my used 2006 it had Bridgestone all season tires. Since I have nothing to compare these to (I never drove the car on the OEM Badyear tires) the mileage is certainly totally acceptable to me (consistent 45 MPG on my daily commute from Denver to Colorado Springs and back - and that includes Monument Hill at 7300 feet).

Living against the Rockies I will probably get an even more snow-oriented tire eventually. But I'd love to have a set of summer performance tires for good weather!

 

Take it to the dealer and insist that they repplace them for free. They did mine after I complained about the fast tire wear and brought in printouts from Priuschat. I spoke with the service manager later and he confirmed that Prius's DO IN FACT EAT TIRES! Unless you push the issue, they will deny it, but it is true, especially the Goodyear Integrity's. Mine were replaced by Yokohama Avid's. AT 20k these are hardly worn whereas the Integrities had no integrity left. If someone can tell me for sure, I heard that you can ask for an alignment... no questions asked within the first 20k. Is that true?

 

I earned 44k mi on OEM tires. I'm now on Michelin Hydroedge. The key is take care of the tires, keep them properly inflated and wheels balanced and drive in a reasonable manner. In light of all the complaints about OEM tires, I continue to earn 50+ mpg and the tires continue to hold up well.

 

I bought my 05 used so I am not sure when the last time the tires were changed, but I am about 1/16" above the wear bars. The tires do not feel very safe when turning tight corners etc. I live in Massachusetts and generally have snow coverage from November to February, with several storms leaving snow on the roads. I'd like to get an all-weather tire instead of a separate set of winter tires since my integrities are about to go and dont' want to have to get a new set of summer/spring/fall tires as well as the winter tires. I have read some tire threads, but I am not sure which tire would be the best in terms of traction and MPG. Money isn't really a deal breaker, but I'll take a good deal any day. Will all-weather tires be suitable for the conditions I speak of, or are they not designed to handle a couple of inches of snow on the road about 10 times a year.

 

I am getting new tires fairly soon, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

Tom,

I just put a set of Nokian WRg2 tires on my 2004 Prius for about $530 installed. They replaced the earlier model WR after 47k miles which were the best tires I have ever had on a car. They got better MPG than the original Integrity tires, handled better and had great traction in all weather conditions. These are one of the very few tires that are both all-weather and are snow rated (snowflake symbol on the sidewall).

JeffD