Tire Upgrade

Kuhmo Solus KR21 are what I just put on my 2006 Black number 8 yesterday. My first day, i had to drive 350 miles. (A trip I have made several times.) I notice no decrease in mpg.

Cost was $302 locally including lifetime balance, flat , rotation and free alignment.

These can be purchased for $59 on tirerack.com if you wish to order online.

I got a better deal locally i think (if you factor in shipping and mount and balance)

So far so good, i have 43 psi in front, 41 in rear.

Check them out. Awesome price, looks, reviews, rating and 85,000 miles warranty to boot.

Cary

 

I don't understand how they can warranty a tyre for 85,000 miles, that is like 136,000 kilometres. I am wrapped that I have got over 90,000km from the Michelins on my Prius, normally I struggle to get 60,000 to 70,000km from a set of tyres.

Is it the roads?

 

Kumhos are very hard tires. I bought a set once and absolutely hated them. The harder the tires the more they'll last.

 

Yeah, that was my one concern. The user ratings on TireRack are in the good to excellent range for snow and ice, but still a bit lower than some of the comps. In any event, as I mentioned previously, they are sure to handle better than the Integreties in winter conditions. I managed just fine last winter with those.

I will try to remember to report back here once winter hits. It seems to me that it's a hugely subjective thing though. Some reviewers on TireRack say the P4s handle great in snow and ice and others say they couldn't get out of their driveway with them. I think it all comes down to what you're used to and how comfortable you are driving in winter conditions. I'm quite used to it with small cars as I had driven VWs for the previous 10 years up here with "regular" all-season tires. I don't even remember what brand they were, something I got cheap at BJs (Uniroyal maybe). I thought the Prius handled just as well as my little VWs had if not better this past winter on the Integreties. The only problem I had was one instance where traction control prevented me from getting up a steep and icey hill. But once I experienced that, I was ready for it on future occasions and didn't have the same problem again. I'm guessing I'll be pleasantly surprised with how well the P4's handle this winter. We'll see...

No, I don't expect to get 85K miles. 60K would be fine. They can offer such warranties because there are so many restrictions that it's almost impossible to make a claim. For instance, I just looked at the details on these Pirellis and you have to have them rotated every 4,000 mi at an authorized Pirelli dealer. They can go screw, I'm not going to be bothered with doing that. That would be 20+ rotations in their lifetime and would cost at least $400. I'll rotate them every 10K or so myself and end up ahead in the end even if they "only" last 60K miles.

 

I'm trying to decide between the Goodyear Assurance Comforttreds or the Michelin Hydro edge in the OEM 185/65/15 size. Its a about a tie for me right now, and I need tires by the end of summer.

 

The mileage warranties generally exclude road hazards and wear caused by improper alignment, balancing and/or inflation. Some require proof of periodic balancing and rotation. If you get get by all those hurdles, it is prorated and you're lucky if you get $10 off per replacement tire (which you would have gotten anyway if you had just asked).

 

i went to sears.com and even though it could not be ordered because it was not in stock, they called michelin up and had a set of pilot primacy tires shipped to my local sears store. during the wait i got a coupon in the mail from sears for 10 % off everything in the store and after i paid for the tires, i remember i had this 3 day limited coupon, and i was able to score a 10 % discount on the set of tires, even though they were a special order. this brought the price down to 145, which was only $5 more then what tirerack charges.

they did not seem open to allow me the 10 % coupon and a price match to local
tire dealers at the same time, so the 10 % was good enough and more then what i would of gotten on a pricematch alone, this 10 % off only covered the tires and sears only price matches on tires and not road hazards or install work

i didnt feel like having someone put clip on metal weights on my rims and hitting them with a rubber mallet, so i asked for the adheisive tire weights

if balacing is so important then how come the tires do not come balanced from the factory??

i almost cancelled the entire order and got falken ze 912s instead, because there is no treadlife warranty on pilot primacies like they are on falkens. really sucks i think.
only the primacy mxh4s have that.

so the primacies come with 10/32" and those guys at the local toyota dealership just inspected the car as part of thier 5,000 oil change, and they wrote down 6/32"
did i really loose 4/32" in a week? hahah

 

I am a new member. This is a great thread, but now I'm really confused.

First, I have 90,000 miles on my '05 and have had nothing but problems with OEM tires. My problem was aggravated by buying a package that included 2 sets of tires- the same crap the car came with.What a relief to find this is a general problem- what an idiot I feel like for not researching sooner.

I am about to get fourth set of tires. I will get 195/60 R15s. I was leaning to Goodyear TTs, but then nyprius was having some noise issues as the tread wore down. Kumho KR21s are quite a bit cheaper. Has anyone had the KR21s for any significant period of time?? I don't care too much about warranty. I want better handling, very little mileage reduction, quiet ride, and performance with SNOW- we had lots this winter.

 

I've had the kr21's for several months and they are great. Quiet and handle very well. Since I'm in southern CA I can't speak for snow, but they are the number 1 rated tire in their category at tirerack.com, based entirely on their consumer opinion survey. I've attempted to copy the survey below, but it may not come out in the proper format. Overall they are rated as being "excellent" to "superior" in each categories:

Results based on 277 submissions of our online tire survey.
Surveyed Averages 1 100% 8.4 8.5 8.5 8.4 8.9 8.5 8.3 7.7 7.5 8.7 8.4 8.6 1,004,995
Would You Buy This Tire Again?
Most said: "Probably" (Average of 8.4 out of 10)
How Did This Tire Rank In Its Category?
1 out of 27 tires (Score of 8.4 vs best tire in category score of 8.4)



Color Key Superior (8.6-10)
Fair (2.6-4.5) Excellent (6.6-8.5) Unacceptable (0-2.5) Good (4.6-6.5)

 

Here's the link to tirerack's survey results for the 195/60's:

Consumer Survey Results By Category

 

Ok. Time to bite the bullet. Got 36k on the stock tires, and they're sticking less and less (yes that is possible) to the road... I've read this whole entire thread at least 3 times, and my head is still spinning!

I've decided on 195/60/15, and I think I have narrowed it to:

Falken Ziex Ze 912
Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S
Continental ContiProContact (HR)
Kumho Solus KR21

I'm having trouble selecting amongst these 4, which I'm sure are all GREAT tires.
The most important things to me, in order are:

little or no change to MPG (LRR)
minimal speedo/odo difference
better wet handling
better snow handling

I'm not too worried about things like tread life or noise, as I'm sure I will trade my Prius on another one long before any of these wear out, and I'm not very sensitive to the noise issue.

In reading all this data, it seems I only have SOME of the info for each of the tires, and it makes it very hard to come to a conclusion!

Can someone give any last minute advice about which of these 4 would be best, given my specific requirements?

-Vikki

 

You might consider going to tirerack.com and check out the customer survey results for each tire. That was a major factor in me choosing the Kumho kr-21's.

 

So can one find out the rolling resistance of each tire? How?

 

Exactly... I have been on tirerack.com for hours. They simply don't provide enough information for me to answer which of those 4 meets my criteria best. Specifically, the RR and the RPM's (or at least I could not find that info).

-Vikki

 

I appologize if I missed the post. I see alot of posts re: the low quality of the OEM 15" tires. We are waiting on a Touring model which comes with P195/55R16 tires. Somewhere I believe that I heard that the OEM 16" tires were a little better than the 15". I can't seem to find any re: the 16" OEM tires. Any comments or opinions Re: quality and/or recommended tire pressures?

Thank you in advance?

 

The Touring's OEM 16" tires certainly cost more than the Standard's OEM 15" tires. I haven't heard as many complaints about the Touring's OEM tires. But then again, there are a lot fewer Touring Priuses than Standard Priuses. I believe that the Touring represents only 5% of the 2007 and 2008 Priuses produced.

I have heard Touring owners say that the Touring's OEM tires wear kind of fast --- 20,000 to 25,000 miles.

I would think that the same things said about tire pressures for the Standard Prius apply also to the Touring Prius.

If and when you have to look for replacement tires for the Touring, you'll find that there are very few made in the OEM 195/55/16 size, other than those run-flats.

From what I've read, if I had to get replacement tires for the Touring in the OEM size, I would first try the Falken Ziex ze-912. They're cheap ($75), been well reviewed in the few customer reviews I've seen, and their predecessor or cousin, the ze-512, was one of the best reviewed and highest rated tires of its kind.

Also do a search on Prius Chat of thread titles with the word "Touring" in it. There are several threads about the Touring and its tires.

 

Thanks Tom! I'll check the max psi when I pick it up and go from there. It's interesting that they would wear fast. I would think Toyota would use a low resistance tire and I've always thought of a low resistance tire as being harder and therefore wearing a little slower. Maybe they compromised with a little better handling with the Touring. I've heard you can expect 2-3 mpg less with the Touring.

Thank again.

 

Yes, in Consumer Reports' test of the Touring, they got exactly 2 fewer MPGs than the Standard.

I'm pretty sure that's due to the wider and bigger wheels and tires, rather than differences in rolling resistance.

On the subject of rolling resistance, I for one would consider it as a factor if I could get rolling resistance info on all the tires I was interested in. But even then, it wouldn't be high on my list of factors. I'm probably more interested in handling/safety than all the other factors combined.

Lucky you, getting a Touring!

 

Thanks Boo! Lucky if we ever get the call. On the list since May. Ditto on handling/safety. On our third set of Michlein MX's on our 2000 Avalon XLS w/107k, Original+2. Avg about 40K per set. I really believe tire pressure and regular rotation really helps, although bigger factor is driving habits. In my younger and much less wiser days, I'd be lucky to get 7K on my '67 Cougar XR7 with the Holly 4-barrell carb and wide ovals. It was automatic and would lay a strip of rubber on the start and in both shifts 2nd & 3rd. On of the best habits to lenghen tire lif is to never scrape you tires. My dad taught me that back in the 50 years go. Alot of tire wear can occur under 10 mph.
1. Check you tire pressure regularly and rotate!
2. Try not to turn your steering wheel without tire rotation. When parking or leaving a parking spot, you will see people turnig their wheels before the car is moving. You can see the rubber they leave on the pavement. This can wear as much rubber off as many miles on an interstate. This really scrapes the rubber off. If you let the tire move ever so sightly, the rubber will give as you turn the wheel thus avoiding the scraping. Try it with the palm of your hand on concrete if you want to feel the difference.
3. Left or right turns from a stop or under 10mph. You're probably already saving rubber here since your avoiding jack-rabbit starts. Let the car increase speed slowly and flow smoothly though the turn until you staighten out the wheels, Then if you want to step on it, it's just gas mileage you're sacrificing not your tires. I truely believe that unless you're sliding it through every corner, a good portion of tire wear happens under 10mph. And I don't mean burning rubber. This is why people who drive mostly on freeways, expressways and interstates tend to get more mileage on a set of tires, even at high speeds, than those who do most of there driving around town in traffic.

Anyway, Thanks again. Sorry for the diatribe but maybe it will help someone get a few extra miles on their set of tires.