I've been trying to keep my tires at 42/40 based on the recommendation of others in this virtual community for increased mileage. Recently I bought 4 new Bridgestone Ecopias to replace the Integritys on my newer Prius. I'm curious if all the same logic applies with the LRR tires. Obviously, safety is a greater consideration than fuel economy. But I don't notice any measurable notice of discomfort in the ride at 42/40. Is that a good idea with the Ecopias?
What was your reasoning in buying what you did...???? Did you compare to any other tires, and what made up your mind?
I think for any tires that the deformation will be less and hence the rolling resistance will be lower with higher tire pressure. To some extent it's a matter of personal preference and whether you're prepared to trade better MPG for a slightly harsher ride. Personally I run my tires at 42/40, but to be honest it's only a fairly small increase in MPG as compared to running at say 37/35. For example I normally get about 54 MPG averaged over a tank, but last time I had the car serviced they dropped the tires to 35 psi without me noticing and I could barely notice the MPG drop, it seemed to be within about 1 MPG of normal anyway.
I just had Ecopia EP 100s put on my wife's car yesterday (so I have no 'drive-ability' data to pass on). I was originally planning to get the Michelin Energy Saver AS based on the TireRack comparison: When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green but the Ecopia's rated almost as well. The Michelins were $125 at Costco, the Ecopias $85 and Bridgestone has a $70 discount on a set of 4. My wife doesn't drive all that much, 80% is on streets at 35 MPH or below. The Ecopias are rated for summer, not all season, but we have Hakkapeliitta snows on dedicated rims for winter. I wouldn't trust any generic 'all season' tire in real snow. Thus I decided to save the $230. She will be better off than me with the OEM lack-of-Integrity tires (~5K miles) going back on my car. I ran the TripleTreds down (~60K miles) and can't really justify buying real tires at this time while the OEMs sit in the garage with tread left.
I recently purchased a set of Goodyear Fuelmax tires for my Prii. While I will not recommend anyone do this I keep my tires at 52/50 psi (front/rear). Even on the original tires I did this. My mileage at highway speeds 70+ average around 47-49mpg. If I drive around 57 mph then I get 55-60 mpg. These tires handle better and have really reduced the interior road noise.
I just got back from my first fill-up since putting on a set of Ecopia's. Why Ecopia's? Well, while fueling up at Costco I noticed a big ol' screw in one of my tires, and frankly I just needed a new set of wheels. As I got closer to my time for gas, I was aware that I was having a very good tank for mileage, but I never expected... 63.8mpg!! When the pump clicked off at 7.9 gallons, I tried to restart it not really believing that I had filled the bladder. Now, granted, I drive like a great-great grandfather and 90% of my driving is done on the highway. I'm very keen to see what tank number two gives me. Oh, and I had the tires at the Toyota recommended settings during the first tank to just break in the tires a bit.
