New Tire Tests from Tirerack.com

Dug up some info on rolling resistance today. I want to cross post it here so I'll have all the info in one thread. I'm too tired to do the caclulations to see if I can make sense of this new info but if someone wants to take a stab before I get to it you are welcome, if not I'll dig more and do some math in the coming days.

 

Finally it rained. It was windy. It was cold. I could NOT be happier with these new tires. I've never been able to accelerate across painted lines and have the tires stick. On the brakes, around an off-camber curve that's wet and slippery... no problem. I'm a believer now!

 

How many psi do you have in them. If you keep them at 35/33, they are extremely quiet and smooth. At 44/42, it feels like any other tire. My preference is 37/35.

 

Ah. Interesting. I found the same thing. Going up to max makes them louder and a bit harsh. It has gotten so cold here lately, I need to check where they are. Last I set them was at 40/38.

 

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I need to replace my tires now. Today is 11/11/2011 and I have been calling around for the last few days trying to find anybody that has the Energy Saver A/S and nobody can get them. I called Michelin directly and was told that “do to high demand, the tire is on national back order, and that it would be at least four weeksâ€. Talking to the tire dealers and Michelin it appears that Michelin does their production list four weeks in advance and the Energy Saver A/S isn’t on the list and that is where the be at least four weeks that people on this tread and other form treads they have been hearing this for a while. Even the Michelin HydroEdge with GreenX all the tire dealers are being told it’s on back order until 12/31, but at least it has a date. I don’t know what is going on at Michelin, but I’m going to have to go with a different tire company.

 

Yup. that was my same situation and result. I'm still trying to figure out why a company doesn't *increase* production of a product that has more demand than they thought... instead of the reality where they apparently cease production of same.

 

Your profile doesn't say what year Prius you have nor do you specify the rims.

You could have one of these common combos

#1 2005 - 2009 Prius with 15" rims
#2 2005 - 2009 Prius with 16" rims
#3 2005 - 2009 Prius with 17" rims

#4 2010 - 2011 Prius with 15" rims
#5 2010 - 2011 Prius with 16" rims
#6 2010 - 2011 Prius with 17" rims

For car #1 you can get Hydroedge with Green X in 205/60/15 849 as they are in stock.

For car #4 or car #1 you can get Hydrodge with Green X in 215/60/15 832 also in stock

For car #4 you can get Hydroedge with Green X in 205/65/15 822 also in stock

So if you have the most common 15" rims you can easily choose a hydroedge that is in stock as there are two choices for Gen II and Gen III.

OK so what if you have 16" rims?

For car #2 or #5 you can get Hydroedge with Green X in 205/55/16 839 and it's in stock.

215/55/16 is on back order but would be a valid choice for #2 or #5.

OK so if you have 16" rims you only have one choice.

As to 17" rims you can't get a hydroedge for car #3 or #6 that is the right size. If you have 17" rims you go Primacy MXM4 with Green X instead.

For car #3 you get Primacy MXM4 with Green X in 215/45/17 which is in stock.

For car #6 you get Primacy MXM4 with Green X in 225/45/17 which is in stock.

It doesn't matter which Prius you have you can get Michelin Green X tires that fit it. You just have to know the correct revs per mile target and have a tire shop that will do more than 10 seconds worth of research before telling you they can't get a tire for your car that you want. Or maybe you have to ask the right question, as in "What tire that has green X is in stock that will fit my Prius?".

oh and if you really really want a Prius with Energy Saver A/S on it you could trade up to a Prius v (wagon) (lets call it car #7, #8, #9) with 16" or 17" rims and get

#8 Energy Saver A/S 205/60/16 810
#9 Energy Saver A/S 225/50/17 803

If you grab 15" rims for a v (Wagon) you'll have to switch back to Hydroedges

#7 Hydroedge with Green X at 215/65/15.

Note I did all this off the cuff and haven't double checked the load ratings but I'd be surprised if one of these tires didn't have the necessary load rating for a Prius.

 

Darell seems pretty happy with his Continental tires...

Sort of curious as to why dhanson did not include those in his very robust answer.

Personally I have both cars 1 and 4.

Darell... were you able to purchase the Continental tires at Costco or Discount Tire... or did you have to order them online from Tire Rack? (which of course makes getting the tires mounted and balanced an "adventure.")

 

I rate the Continentals "very good" in all categories except rolling resistance. They handle great wet or dry. They're "quietish." The only problem I've found is that my mileage has definitely dropped a few ticks. When the weather turns crappy - like it did this weekend, I sure don't sweat the slightly reduced gas mileage. The secure feeling of keeping the car going where I point it is worth a LOT.

I bought the tires from my local Les Schwabe. They wanted a few bucks more than the discounters, but I didn't have to struggle through the hassles. And when I pointed out how much more their price was, they met me half way. That was nice of 'em.

 

It seems like I must be one of the only people that has decided I like the OEM Integrities My experience with them in the hot/dry of Phoenix has been quite good, and I was interested to note that they ranked top on the tirerack test for dry braking and cornering. I can certainly understand why anyone living in a place with weather would make a different choice though. I tried the Nokian i3's for about a year, but mileage dropped from low 50s to high 40s and never recovered. I swapped them with the ~30k mile OEMs on my wife's car, and went right back up to low 50s while she went from high 40s to mid 40s. Given how many used low mile Integrities are available my latest strategy was just to have a set of 4 matched 7/32 OEMs installed for $200. OEMs have been lasting me ~50k miles, but my wife does complain that I drive like a grandma these days. Not scientific at all, but just thought I'd share my experience.

 

I too am satisfied with my Integrities after about 20K miles. As long as you don't rotate them, they are reasonably smooth and quiet. Tire noise is important for a quiet car like the Prius.
When it's time for my next tire, I'll be looking for an all-season tire that gives better gas mileage than the Integrity without sacrificing traction in slippery or winter conditons.
I'm satisfied with the Integrity gas mileage, but would not want a replacement tire which drops the mileage. I probably will buy another set of Integritys, since this tire was probably picked by Toyota as the best for Prius for its good gas mileage and overall performance and cost.

 

Well, Our 2008 Prius is in the same boat as Darell's: 57k miles on the balding on the edge integritys. I also ran them at 42/40psi F/R, except sometimes they got a little low.

I just ordered some conti procontact ecoplus's from TireRack and they should be in sunnyvale in a few days. I hope our impressions are as good as yours, Darrell! I'll post impressions in a few weeks...

 

I hope so too! The only downside I've found is losing a couple of ticks on the gas mileage front. I HATE that. But fortunately I don't drive it very much.

 

Sams Club has Energy Saver A/S.

Michelin Energy Saver A/S - P185/65R15 86T - Sam's Club

I ordered one saturday and had them installed the next saturday this march.

 

Yeah, the mpg went down from 50-52 to about 48. I guess some of that is from the larger rolling circumference of the new tires. it's still a bit disappointing that the integritys, which everyone deemed worthless, were so good in this regard... oh well, maybe another 400 miles will break them in and we'll be back to 50 if not 52

Val

 

qval - sounds just like my experience. After 500+ miles there's no mileage difference that I can ascertain, however.

 

I just had a set of 4 installed; they have a Michelin 65,000 mile 'guarantee'. So I bet they'll last longer than the OEMs! (just made 40,000 miles when edge wear became a liability)