Low Rolling Resistance replacement tires: Current List

Thanks, F8L! I ordered 4 of the EP422. Can't wait. The tires that I've been driving on the past 2 years is the Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02 and they've been terrible. You should see the reviews on tirerack.com

 

Yes, I will be putting in max pressure. Should I put 2 psi lower for the rear tires?

 

I know...I just put a review over there on Turanza EL400-02 OEM on my minvan. We did an epic 11-hr drive through the snow and ice the other day and the van handled quite well. So I decided to see what other people thought, I was a bit shocked to see no one else agreed with me (actually a few did like them). But something like the Serenity is where I want to go next.

 

Every few months I see someone say something like this and I go search to see how true it is

Right now tirerack has in stock

P185/65R15 851 RPM (Good for Gen II)
P195/65R15 832 RPM (Good for Gen III, OK for Gen II)

Are you using 16" or 17" rims?

 

So I'm looking at UK tire lists to see if I can find Fuel Efficiency / Rolling Resistance grades for tires that are sold in the US. Not looking promising so far but of the UK tires I see

Yokohama BluEarth-1 gets a A
Yokohama BluEarth AE01 gets a C

Hankook Kinergy Eco K425 gets a B

Continental Eco Contact 5 gets a B
Continental Eco Contact 5 (XL) gets a C

Michelin Energy Saver gets a C
Michelin Energy Saver + gets a C
Michelin Energy Saver S1 gets a C

Bridgestone Ecopia EP25 gets a C



Good luck getting any of those tires (other than the Michelen Energy saver) in north america. There might be a name change such that a very similar or even the same tire exists here with a different name but I don't have the secret decoder.

 

I have a Gen II Touring which comes with stock 195/55/16.

 

In the Michelin Defender and Bridgstone Ecopia 422 you'd want to be using the 205/55/16 to get in the 830 to 840 RPM range.

With the Ecopia 422 at 195/55/16 your speedometor will read a little over 2% fast and your displayed MPG calcs will be off by a little bit more than they would be otherwise (the displayed MPG isn't accurate vs actual anyway).

Those differences are not enough to waste money exchanging but if you find that you need to exchange the tires for some other reason it is something to keep in mind.

edit: that is assuming the speedometer/odometer on the touring edition is calibrated the same as the non touring addition. It is possible they calibrated it differently but I doubt it.

 

So true and we don't know if there are compound differences as well.

I can't wait until the US regulators get their act together and mandate some sort of published RR number or effeciency grade sidewall marking.

 

Transferring tyre information from UK to US tyres does have some difficulties, but from my research it is clear that with tyre sizes relevant to the Prius:- 185/65/15, 195/55/16, 205/50/16, 205/55/16.

The 205/55/16 clearly comes out across most makes as having the lowest rolling resistance. This is not conjecture but fact born out by the UK/EU tyre testing figures available for anyone to check.

I have not checked out 17 inch sizes to any degree, but I did find 1 tyre rated (B) in the 205/50/17 the Hankook Ventis Prime 2 K115, and the same tyre at the 215 width with the same rating.

 

Just check 245/45/17 tyres for RR and again found only one tyre rated (B) and again it's a Hankook Ventis S1 Evo 2 K117.

 

Yes, I have the Ecopia 422 205/55/16.

 

Can you give me a URL with a proper list or a better way to search. I used www.blackcircles.com mostly but checked a couple of other sites that google gave me and I didn't see any tires in the 205/55/16 with better fuel grades than the P185/65R15.

Also you mention 185/60/15 which is NOT a standard tire size for the Prius here. I'm assuming you meant 185/65/15 instead.

 

Sorry yes my type error I will amend.

My post does state "most makes have lower RR at the 205/55/16 size" not one particular tyre manufacturer the Yokohama Blue earth 1 with an (A) rating that they do not make in the 205/55/16 or 195/55/16 sizes so cannot be compared.

 

Bridgestone also make an (A) rated tyre that is only made in one 15 inch size at the moment. This also has a wet grip rated (A)

 

Warning, long-winded...

So it's finally time to start watching for tires on my 04, 2 of the 4 185/65R15 HydroEdge are getting close to dead. Thanks to Michelin being completely braindead, I can't just replace those 2. I have OEM take-off rims/tires I can toss on the front or back or both, as needed while we wait for the best tire deal (I'd prefer to continue using the 2 newer HEs (replaced from road hazards before they disappeared nationwide) on F or R over the Integritys).

I've generally gotten 75k or more out of the HEs while not losing too much in mpg. To us, priorities are:
1. long life - the longer the treadwear warranty, the better. $/mile is often better on more expensive tires.
2. Wet traction - I live in FL. 6+ months of rain
3. LRR
4. Dry traction
5. Noise

The HEs were ideal, nearly silent, and my wife is pulling down 50+ in her commute. A better LRR for even higher mpg would be great, but not at the expense of noise, life, or traction.

Looking at this and other threads, the Michelin Defender seems to be a good choice, as it has the 90k warranty that the HEs did. I don't know how it would stack up to the HEs, but it seems close. We would wait for the next Michelin rebate on these from either Discount Tire or more likely Sam's Club (far cheaper than DT after including road hazard).

Any others we should consider? Most of the ones with slightly better mpg have, to me, dismal treadwear life of 60k or far less, while costing nearly the same, which keeps the $/mile higher over the life of the tires. The
Continental ProContact EcoPlus are interesting, but are up to $95 at Walmart (much higher after install costs and warranty), and aren't at Discount Tire or Sam's (I think it's moronic that Sam's doesn't have the same tires as Walmart), and it seems that 80k life might not be close to attainable. Tire Rack is out, I used to buy from there and get local shops to install them, it's a hassle, and by the time all is done, it's nearly the cost of Sam's Club with the road hazard warranty included. Costco is a possibility, BUT I'd have to add in the cost of re-upping my membership, and the gas and time for a 400 mile round trip.