Prius 4 tour Tire questions

My 2004 Prius came with soft sidewall tires. The handling and edge wear were poor until I increase the PSI by 5 to compensate. harder sidewalls often means more rolling resistance and poorer MPG.

JeffD

 

If your looking for tires that'll holdup better over potholes and gravel roads, get the Altimax. They also handle better in the mountains; less give when cornering fast and hard. Downside is a bit rougher ride, but you can air down or air up a bit to compensate.
If your looking for a tougher tire that'll wear slower, try a higher load rated tire - like a XL. The ride will be a little stiffer but the threads will tend to wear slower since it was designed for a heavier car/SUV.

 

Just editorial: last 2 digits should be "15"? Edit window should be ok for about 4~5 hours.

Do you have a Costco membership?

 

I have Continental TCT's on our Prius now and they're very comfortable. As nice of a tire as you're going to get.

I've previously had General RT43 tires on small cars and they were similarly quiet and comfortable. (General is Continental's "B" brand)

I haven't tried the RT45 but the talk is that they are about as good as the RT43.

 

I wish there was some sort of rolling resistance rating number that tires were rated by. The last time I got new tires, I looked, but all I could find were the tread wear ratings. Maybe I'm wrong, but I figured the harder tires would last the longest.

I ended up with some 80,000 mile Pirellis from Sam's club. That's the summer tire. I rotate out to the snow tires for winter.

 

The BF Goodrich advantage control is/was also a good choice, similar to the Altimax - when I was a field technician doing 40K - 50K miles a year. That was a couple of decades ago. I don't recall ever pulling a nail or screw out of those 3 sets I went though. Let me tell you; emptying a van to get to the spare tire is a work-out - and that's my younger self.....

I believe Costco has lifetime rotation and balance on their tires too.

 

One thing I’ve found with Costco, on two occasions, different outlets: they screwed up mounting directional tires. If your purchase is directional, check they did two rights and two lefts, before driving off.

And if you’re not a fan of green valve caps, take your currrent caps off before handing the car (or loose rims) over to them.

 

Rather than show the overall "installed" price, just showing a summation of all the extras might be more helpful. Or an extra column for the extras. Say everything but sales tax. That'd be mount-and-balance, extra charges for TPMS "rebuild", recycle fees, whatever.