Goodyear TripleTreds v. ComfortTreds and tire size

My vote is for the Goodyear TripleTreds 195-60's. I made this change at 300 miles and it is clear that they are awesome compaired to the stock OEM crap. The all weather performance is pretty much a no brainer.
I got 49 and change avg MPG on my first tank of gas and hit 50 on the second tank (so far). No negitives on this choice. The Goodyear store near my home took my stock ones in trade + $300.00 (with road hazzard coverage) for the deal.

 

Actually the stock wheels will take the Triple Treds. Have 12,000 miles on them so far and am very happy with them.

 

I went with the Michelin Hydroedge and even tried the 195HR 60X 15 size. I think I should have stuck with that siaze because the car did track better and the mpg's were not much different. How are the Triple Treds for tracking? If you know what I'm talking about, how does it affect the tendency for the Prius to wander off easily and quickly in any direction it's pushed on the freeway? With all diagonal grooves (the hydroedge has two deep circumfrencial grooves) it should track better than the Hydroedge and feel more stable going straight. Thanks

 

The TripleTreds track very well. This past winter I found myself commuting back and forth from Boise to Seattle through two passes, The Blues, and Snoqualmie Pass; both well known for miserable winter conditions. Even in these circumstances they behaved well with little tendency to drift. (note this is despite my oversite in getting a lower pkg. Prius WITHOUT VSC.)

 

My experience with the TripleTreds seems less exciting than other people report.

A little over 5,000 miles on them, and a trip that used to net me 54MPG with the OEM tires nearly but didn't quite hit 50MPG Sunday. Still about 10% off what I used to get, but I feel more confident the car will stay on the road...

 

Has anyone ever tried the Michelin-X Radials? They are the second highly rated tires in Consumer Reports and have the OEM size tires.

 

stock
185/65/15 = 855 revs/mile 17 lbs

Triple Tread
195/60/15 = 863 revs/mile 23 lbs
195/65/15 = 836 revs/mile 24 lbs

Looking at the numbers, it's obvious that both of the above sizes will reduce your mpg, with the larger tire reducing mpg more. That may seem counter-intuitive because the bigger tire makes fewer rotations for a given distance, but the extra energy required to move 7 extra pounds of rotational mass per wheel is substantial. Your speedo and odo would still be accurate enough with the smaller of the two, but would under-read by approx. 2% with the larger tires.

ComforTred
185/65/15 = 855 revs/mile 18 lbs

Those numbers are close enough to stock to be negligible, but the difference in tread design, and to a lesser degree rubber compound, could make a difference in rolling resistance, thus lowering mpg.

It's up to you how much of a trade-off you are willing to make between mileage and traction. If it were me, I'd try to stick to a circumference/weight that is similar to the OEM tire, while getting a tread design/compound that improves traction over the OEM tire. Any resultant reduction in mpg would be worth it (to me) for safety reasons.

 

Fountain Tire carries Goodyear. There are two in East Van, one in Burnaby, one in Richmond, etc...