New tires...

Nokia WRs.
If you don't need snow tires Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max show promise.

Most others will reduce fuel economy somewhat.

 

Some of us bought Falken ZE-912 tires which are available in the stock 15" size and very reasonable. When new they reduced my mileage about 3-4 MPG, but now that they have a few thousand miles on them they are maybe a half MPG down. They handle better than stock, ride better and are quieter. Plus did I mention they're relatively cheap?

 

It's kind of hard to make a good recommendation for tires that have that kind of life.

 

You can get the Nokian WRg2 tires at:

Nokian Tires - Winter Tires, Snow Tires and much more from the Tire Factory (not *.com - a different company)

They are a great choice, but are 50,000 mile tires. Check your local tire stores for the cost to mount and balance them.

Any tire that lasts more will most likely give poor MPG and/or traction.

JeffD

 

Michelin Hydroedge is a very long life tire. But it is a bit on the noisy side and the ride a bit harsher.

The Michelin Primacy MXV4 may be a better compromise between comfort, handling and tread life.

 

i am hoping my Pirelli P4 4 seasons make it that long. the warranty extends to to 85k miles. So far i only took a 3-4 mpg hit from the OEM (approx 4k miles on them so far). 51 down to 47ish.

 

I just put on Nokian I3 for my '05 earlier this month. They are quieter and better handling than the OE tires. I had almost 40K on those Integrity and there was still plenty of meat on the center. The edges went out faster. I could have gotten more use with them if I had gotten rotations more often. But the OE's handle like crap when wet. I'm also aggressive on turns, but I'm surprised that lasted that long.

I hope my Nokian I3 will last as long. Their treadwear rating for them is 600 and the tire guy at Able Tires (Novato, CA) said they were LRR. At around $70 a piece(last seasons price with 1 set left) vs. like $130+ for WR's. Total comes out to $366 for 4 tires mt/bal and no alignment since I had alignment done a year ago.
Tread life is promising since I heard people already have 30K on them with their Prius. I'm not sure about the MPG yet.

A few people said they are noisy at first, but mine are pretty quiet (maybe the batches are different).
I have around 250 miles on them and they are quieter than the OE tires. Plus they absorb bumps well.
I just inflated them to 45 psi recently (mine max out at 47 psi). Now the ride is almost like the OE with 42 psi. If I get use to them at 45 them maybe I try 47 and then 50 psi.

I will probably cross rotate them to get the max usage. The Nokian I3 are Asymmetrical and not Directional. And Yes, I'm aware of the old wives tail of how it's bad to cross the tires. Actually, it better to cross your tires if you have a front wheel drive car since your fronts gets lot of wear due to driving and steering on being on the same axle. [Okay back to the Old wives tails.] Tire Shops and Dealerships don't recommend cross rotating tires because there's less chance of mix-ups if they have customers with directional tires which aren't supposed to be crossed. Second, the Cross-Rotation Patterns for FWD, RWD, and AWD are slightly different. Finally, in the olden days when radials just came out, they had problems securing the seams. So if people with those old Radials cross rotate them, the chance of the seams unraveling would be high when the tires rotate the opposing direction. There's another story about racing tires, but I can't remember the details.

Oh yeah, on a side note. I put Green Slime in my OE tires at around 15K to prevent flats. Just two of them with no more than 10 ounces each. I used to get many flats in all my other vehicles and didn't want the possibility of the tires blowing while on the freeway with my Prius. But I didn't get a chance to test out the Odds(50%) of my DIY "run-flats." I have used Green Slime to repair a flat and it does work well. It's for a Temporary flat fix and the designer don't intend going over 60 mph with them with a punctured tire. It's better than those Emergency Inflation Cans since those cans contain explosive gases and some shops won't to deal with them.

Oh yeah, if you were wondering who are the Nokians. They are Finnish and used to be intergrated with Nokia(Cellphones) Now they are by themselves and are known for their Advance Winter and Specialty Tires. Mostly shops near mountainous regions carry them. Nokian I3 tires are their All-Season budget series. These Finns are famous for their Race Drivers since their roads are usually cold and wet(icy) year round. Their teenage drivers take at driver course that entails over 6 months of training and include many evasive maneuvers. That's the kind of pedigree I want from the designer of my tires. Heh! Heh!

 

I am seeing the $70 rebate from Sam's and BJ's. I live in the northeast and want the best combination of rain, snow and fuel economy. Are the Michelin X's good? I like them or the PRMXV for just a little more. It is hard to make an accurate comparison since Tire Rack doesn't rate the X radials. Consumer reports says rolling resistance is "low" so I image MPG should be similar. I don't want the Nokians. I am considering Goodyear Fuel Max but wonder how they are in the snow. Any advice?

 

Why not Nokian?

 

Because I don't know where to get them. Sam's and BJ's will do lifetime rotations and balancing and they are close by. Besides, Michelins are good quality and have great treadwear. I just find it easier to go to the clubs or Mavis. I could also get tire rack.

 

I have and love my Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds.

But if I were to get new tires, I think the Michelin X-Radials would be at or near the top of my list because it came in a very close second to the TripleTreds in Consumer Reports' November 2005 tests of passenger all season tires, plus its rolling resistance was rated "Excellent" -- the best of the tested tires by Consumer Reports:

Consumer Reports Ratings Passenger All Season Tires.doc

Another Michelin tire I would consider getting is the new HydroEdge with Green X (apparently a new tire compound with improved rolling resistance over the original HydroEdge) because it promises to deliver the good, overall, all season, all purpose performance of the original HydroEdge, plus, according to TireRack's recent test of the Prius with OEM Integrities versus several popular replacement and low rolling resistance tires, the HydroEdge with Green X delivers almost identical fuel economy as the OEM Integrities:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ity-against-energy-saver-ecopia-fuel-max.html

When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green

Regarding the new Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max, I personally would not get it because Goodyear itself rates its snow performance to be the same as the OEM Integrities:

Goodyear Tires | Find The Right Tire | By Size | Passenger

BTW, I think Consumer Reports is publishing soon a new test of passenger all season tires.

 

I've got to replace my stock Integrity tires because of a pothole produced sidewall bulge (see other thread) at 20,400 miles. I doubt they would have made it past 26K!!

I did a lot of research here on the forums, and here are my results:
Cheapest to most expensive (approx price mounted and balanced):
Kumho KR21 $68 ea
Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS Pole Position $87 ea
Nokian WR G2 $117 ea
Michelin Hydro Edge $120 ea
Michelin Energy Saver AS $146 ea

Stay away from the Goodyear Assurance Fuel max if you live in a cold climate.

I'm going with the H-rated Bridgestone RE960s.

 

Prior to replacing OE tires, be sure to check into a warranty adjustment. The Intregrities were pretty much gone after 24K & 2.5 years. I was able to get a set of GY FuelMax tires at about a 45% savings. There are better tires out there, but the price was right on these.

 

Thanks for the advice. I bought the Michelin X radials. Now, what pressure do I inflate them to? I read many postings and lots of pros and cons. I went to 40 in the front and 38 in the back. Are there any downsides, besides harsher ride, to higher pressures? Thanks

 

Each tire has a listed load rating on it and max air pressure for that load. Consider a Prius at 2800 lbs 60/40 weight distribution means 840 lbs on each front tire and 520 on each rear. The Michelin X are 1168@44 lbs psi so you are well within the load rating....and The stock Integrity are also aload index of 86 which is 1168@44 so I would think the same 42 front and 40 rear would work out.

If you inflate too much you will have more treadwear in the center, and less braking traction.

 

I drove about 200 miles with the new Michelin X radials and I like them. They were good in the rain. The car felt like it was "floating" in moving a little from side to side, but the ride was good and comfortable.
One thing I noticed was that the difference between my GPS speed and my speedometer has increased with the new tires. I was about 1 mph slower on my car speedo compared to the GPS, but now am at least 2 and sometimes 3 mph slower. I would think that would mean that my posted gas mileage on the dash computer would be erroneously high since it thing I am traveling more miles per hour than I actually am. I was surprised that it read 53 mpg. I had expected it to go down as many of these postings have suggested, at least initially. Do new tires make the speedo read too high? Does the computer show mpg that is too high because of this? Thanks.

 

I believe the Michelin X Radials have a slightly larger diameter than some other new tires like the HydroEdge. I would expect this to result in a slightly different read on the speed and mileage due to the longer distance travelled per rotation.

 

General Altimax HP

28,000 miles on the OEM tires and they were scary at the end.

I'm now at 89,000 so 61,000 on a set of The General Altimax HP. Its a $60 tire! I'm in Maryland and the winters are light. That said we get our share of glazed slush and ice all combined with a ton more trafffic than the most. I felt these tires were predictable, quiet after a 5,000 break in and the at that time the mileage really improved as well. I wouldn't use these in Vermont although they were fine on the dryer snow they get. They are all season radials so your asking them to do something they were not designed to do. I drive 35000 ish per year. I've been a Zamboni driver so I understand enough about ice driving that you just never know!
General spent a bunch of money on upgrading there manufacturing facility. These tires show the results. If you are looking for an option without paying for the Michelin marketing this is an option.
I got mine from tire rack.