Michelin Energy Saver, Goodyear Fuel Max or Bridgestone Ecopia?

Tire choices are personal preferences that highly depends on how and where you drive. One person's favorite may or maynot be applicable to your situation. I do not have experience with Energy Saver and Fuel Max, but had Ecopia Plus on my previous Prius Two. It gives you fantastic mileage, but not the quietest or most comfortable tires, and I was very disappointed with the tread life despite coming with 70K tread warranty. Ecopia 422 Plus has many variations as to where they are manufactured, tread pattern and other spec, so comparing this tire by name alone is almost useless, IMOH.

 

Also, Ecopia comes in EP20 and EP422 Plus. And maybe EP100 still too, summer rated. And the EP422 has 3 distinct variations of tread and wear index, depending on country of origin.

The EP20 were a 3rd gen OEM, and not bad. Might be my pick. They get noisy when worn, and hopeless in snow. Good for rolling resistance though. And fairly cheap.

 

I have Michelin Energy Savers on my car now. The warranty mileage is 65,000 miles and I should have no problem getting at least this mileage.

As for mpg, I am getting my best with these tires.

As for noise, from about 1/2 tread the tire noise begins to get bothersome. I remember changing tires to Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires previously due to the tire noise. I lost about 3-4 mpg with the Primacy so went back to the Energy Savers. The Primacy were much quieter tires.

I have no issues with wet surfaces.

At my age, I think the quieter tire will be my next choice.

 

I agree with JdCollins5. The Michelin Primacy (now called Premier) gave my car a buttery quiet ride with no loss in control. Yep, you do lose 4 mpg, but on long freeway rides, it is much more pleasant.

 

I hadn't really thought about this before, but at some point, those two could cancel each other out. A mileage increase at the expense of long life could negate any savings in the end.

 

If gas mileage is your big concern look at what the manufacturers are putting on other hybrids.

When you say mileage, do you mean gas mileage or mileage as far as tire wear. When you say mileage it could be taken either way.

 

i have the energy savers. smooth and quiet with no loss to mpg's. i'm sorry to hear jd's experience above, but will probably never put 30-35k on them.

 

It's like asking, what is the best alcohol to unwind with. Dark red wine.

 

My priority is cost. I think that most established tires are about the same. Match or better the manufacturer's recommendation for the lowest cost. They all wear out. You will probably only put one or two sets on a car no matter what brand you buy. Your most important tire is your spare. No matter what the brand.

 

I bought the Hankook 727s for $45, shipped using Prime and mounted at Walmart. Less than half what the local guys wanted for a tire I had never heard of. Nankang, I think. Very happy with the ones from Amazon. No more tire store for me.

 

Primacy MXM4 and Premier A/S are two distinct tires.

 

I ended up going to GY A/s 17" on my '13 Prius v. I have driven across country on them from Silicon Valley down the coast and then over and up Joshua Tree National Park and up the AZ mountain where the sign actually exists saying to cut off one's AC for the next 5 miles north east and then down south east to the Gulf coast to the Florida panhandle and now to South Carolina. I've had my trunk and back seat filled up with stuff.

These tires have been pretty good overall. My mpg has increased to a couple mpgs higher than my former tires (before they even started getting bad). I would like a ride that is even smoother and better mpg, but I needed tires cheaply for all weather and driving conditions with high mileage warranty and the ability to take into stores across the USA in case of any problems and for free rotations and balance. Hence, that meant America's Tires in CA and Discount Tires in South Carolina. My mileage warranty is 65k, I believe, which means no more tires till I am ready to sell my wagon in about 5 years from now.

While in Joshua Tree, I did go down a few dirt roads, which is where I got a reminder with old memories coming back of how I despise washboard/hard ripply dirt roads in desperate need of a good scrapping. That was the only road conditions that was a rough and tough ride.

MIR Tip: Wait a few days before submitting rebate online, cause otherwise you might end up having to resubmit it by mail later like I did.

Summary of factors:
1. Price of tires.
2. MIR amount(s). Some places give an additional MIR for purchasing via their credit card. Check your credit reports for number of hard hits and Fico scores to determine likelyhood of approval and possible positive/negative impact on scores.
3. Mileage warranty
4. Mpg savings likely and thus how much that should save ya in gasoline costs over the length of keeping those tires vs other tires.
5. Smoothness of ride.
6. Load bearing limits - the letters and numbers like w, V, 91, 93. Sorry, I don't remember them off hand.
7. Reviews
8. Warranty types - I. E. Road hazard is a must for those that live, travel, work on big metro cities where one has to worry about glass breakages and trash of all kinds.
9. Tire PSI rating levels and your personal perferances. The higher the inflation, the less friction between tire and road, which means usually higher mpg under ideal weather and driving conditions. Remember this can effect comfort level and how quickly the tires age.
10. What all weather conditions needed.
11. What all driving conditions are needed.
12. To replace all or just necessary tires. Makes a difference.
13. Appearance for some people. I personally don't care about the look of my tires (white wall or not for example).
14. Availability of tires and how soon needed.
15. Availability of tires checks and servicing with and without a scheduled appointment. I had considered one Pep Boys locations, but they were understaffed for months. My only complaint about that one location.
16. What ever else you can think of things to consider.


hope this helps.


iPhone ?

 

Why is that?

 

Cause it's heading up a steep mountain in the dry, hot desert heat between Prescott and Prescott Valley, AZ that causes more work to one"s car, which thus is known to appearently overheat and at times kill one's car. In the high 80's to maybe 91 degree F, I took a chance and ran my AC on low and had my 12v car fridge (non-compressor) plugged into my trunk DC outlet. I was lucky, I only blew the motor of my car fridge.

How all that effects one's tires I am not sure, but I would guess the weather changes can effect how the air and/or rubber in the tires can change some like why one leaves a bit of space between hardwood floors and the walls at first install.

Plus the friction should be more from dryer heat on that hot road.

The incline and curves in the mountains is good to test out handling ability of the car, brakes, and tires.

Tread pattern makes a difference on whether tires are better for say more rainy weather, snow, or in my case various weather.

Lastly, I just found it shocking that such a road sign actually exists instead of just being part of the movies and thought it would be helpful to be aware of it.


P.S. A former friend of mine tried telling me how bad of a decision I made buying a Prius (v) and that a Prius (any version) can't possibly handle mountains, different terrain, ... . Hence former friend for that and some other reasons.


hope this helps and makes sense. I'm still learning but still my Prius wagon.




iPhone ?

 

This advice does not apply to the Prius. The AC in a Prius is not driven by the engine (it is an electric compressor) which places no instant and continuous load on the engine.

 

So the op’s priority was price....

Let’s see what the tires sound like after 40k, let’s see if they make it to 55k.

To answer the question, until someone beats Michelin in quality, none are equal.