Tire Upgrade

Sure, they'll probably handle better...once you buy the required 16" rims. They're not going to fit your current 15" rims.

 

Have 16" rims = Touring = The only way to go -- had 04 for five years previous

 

I finally got the HE's in 195/60. Very happy so far. Ride and handle better than OEM tires. I lost about 1 mpg. The only thing that is odd -- when I was looking at Belle Tire, he ran the tire size program. You input your current tire size and then input the new tire of whatever size. It will tell you how far off the speedometer will read. The 195/60 showed 1.2 miles per hour and the 195/65 showed 1.9 miles per hour ( faster ). Before having the new tires installed I used my gps to check the speedometer. The gps read 74 and the speedo read 75. I figured the 195/60's would correct the speed error. For some reason the error got added. At 72 on the gps, the speedometer reads 75.

 

As I noted in a previous post, using 195/60s is the wrong way to go - they're smaller, which will increase the speedo error. You needed to go with 215/60s, as they are about 1% larger, so will decrease the speedo error, getting closer to correct.

 

I use tyre covers only from the instruction! 185\65 R15

 

I emailed Michelin and got a response back on December 2 that the stock size HydroEdge wasn't due to be manufactured for at least another 4 to 6 weeks.

So you made the right call in not waiting for the next production run in the stock size.

 

It seems like no one (not many) have tried the Yokohama AVID Touring-S which got decent low rolling resistance on the 11/09 Consumer Reports tire guide. They are less expensive than Michelins.

 

The Yokohama AVID Touring-S tires look like a highly value oriented and acceptable alternative. It depends on where you (can) shop and the best price you can obtain..

The Goodyear Integrity OEM tires that came with my 2006 Prius lasted well over 35,000 miles set at 42/40psi. It is time to plan for replacement.

After much recent research, including our beloved PriusChat (PC), I now recognize that Michelin is a premier tire company worthy of first consideration. The brand name tire line is the top line of the Michelin company products; their other close seconds are the BFGoodrich and Uniroyal lines. All three lines place in the top tier of winners in almost all research available on the web.

I concur with many posters on this and several other PC threads that (1) a great replacement/upgrade tire (as of 12/2010) is the Michelin Hydro-Edge, and (2) a great replacement/upgrade size is the 195/60R15. If I can find that size locally, it’ll be my first choice. However, I’m still most concerned with value. I expect the best bang for my buck.

I recently received a coupon for $70 off for any set of 4 Michelin tires at BJ’s Wholesale Club. Yeah! Interestingly, BJ’s only offers Michelin, BFGoodrich and Uniroyal tires. I was able to obtain a lot of comparative research and pricing regarding the suggested replacement tires as listed at BJ’s except for the Michelin X Radial. Michelin has a great web site to evaluate their individual lines. Apparently the X Radial is a unique line/brand name only for BJ’s. Sam’s and Costco may have their own unique Michelin brands.

IMHO, of the widely available Michelin lines, the Michelin Hydro Edge is the hands down preferred way to go value wise, with the Michelin Energy Saver a long and distant second. The Energy Saver has a tread rating about the same as the original OEM tires. No bueno.

For detailed info on the HydroEdge click here:
HydroEdge | Michelin Tires


For the Energy Saver click here:
Energy Saver A/S | Michelin Tires


And the Michelin X Radial, click here:
X Radial DT | Michelin Tires

The point I want to make here is that the Michelin website can help you to evaluate and select between its different lines once you have determined it’s your desired tire manufacturer.

My individual choice is clear. So are the specs. At $116 per tire for the Michelin X Radial at BJs (plus $15 balancing and mounting, less $12.50 coupon), I can get exceedingly close to the HydroEdge’s specs for a very low price. I suppose I might find a slightly lower price overall on the net, but then there is shipping costs and the hassle of finding a reliable tire shop to balance and mount the tire.

[FONT=&quot]Final parting thoughts: higher performance tires such as the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S usually have highly undesirable value trade-offs, and before you spend over $400 on new tires you should check other threads here and read up on Prius wheel alignment issues.[/FONT]

 

Greetings and a Happy New Year,
I bought my Toyota Certified 2006 Prius from the dealer in mid 2009. One set of tires were the Original GoodYear Integrity (Made in Japan) and the other set was a Brigestone SE200. The GY had enough treads on it to survive the Chicago winter. My daily commute was less then 5 miles one way so snow didnt affect me a lot. Though there were definite times when the car skid on turns and left lanes. Being an experienced driver and having driven in varous terrains, I didnt get into any incidents. Well I moved to Denver, early this year and while summer driving was ok, my GY cannot survive the winter.

After reading the posts and opinions of various members, I decided to order for 4 Michelins HydroEdge 195/60R15. I have yet to receive them. They are top rated in Consumer Reports and referred by many members. The newer models come with GreenX which I believe is meant to have a better LRR then the previous HydroEdge models. Meanwhile I did compare my Garmin GPS C330 speedometer with my Prius Speedometer and they are spot on. I have GY on my front and Bridgestone SE200 on the rear.

I will post after I get my new tires. I am totally excited.:clap2:

 

You chose wisely. While you are waiting for your tires and to help with cognitive dissonance, here is a review and test report comparing the HydroEdge against other top performance tires:
When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green

I note from the Michelin web site that the HydroEdge and X Radial both have a whopping 800 tread rating! Only the HydroEdge is marketed with GreenX. I think it's a marketing gimmick. The Michelin web site gives both the HydroEdge and X Radial a fuel efficiency rating of 9 out of 10. So both are clearly LRR tires. The HydroEdge has a much sexier tread pattern, but my wholesale club only carries the X Radial. At least the tires are otherwise almost identical.

 

Reconsider that size. 195/60-15 is inferior to 205/60-15 as a replacement.

The 195 is smaller in diameter, the speedo will read off even more than it does with OEM tires. 205s are less than 1% larger, and will get the speedo closer to correct (they'll also allow a slightly higher true mph before EV-only mode kicks out).

The only thing that 195s might get you over 205s is an infinitesimal mpg improvement. But considering that my 205 HEs are tracking right with the 185/65-15 HEs I had on the car for 80K miles now that they're through break-in, I doubt you'll gain anything.

 

You should check your sources. 195 is smaller in diameter? I hope you meant width. And the speedometer is supposed to read higher by 2 mph, so there's nothing wrong with 195.

Anyway, my point is 205 is NOT stock, although I would recommend it because of it's increase in handling.

Actually I would recommend new rims and tires, the works. But that's obviously a whole different story and not for everyone.

 

I think you meant 205/60s based on these web sites here:
Tire Size Calculator - tire & wheel plus sizing
Tire Size Calculator

I've checked 215/60s on both tire calculator sites and I must beg to differ with your findings.

 

No worries, most of what Talon said was wrong.

 

195/60-15 - 24.21"
185/65-15 - 24.47"
205/60-15 - 24.68"

Now, which is smaller?

 

Think again, bucko.

And the speedo is "supposed to read 2mph high"? Maybe in your twisted world, but in mine, the closer to correct, the better.

 

Yes, it was a typo, I did mean 205s (the size I bought) - note my post #491.

 

what kind car Do you have? mod? type? sport? or low rider style?
Now for what I know a regular car can goes to 17" to 19" and on trucks is 17" to 24"
Now some car beetween more big you want to go you definitively needs to change the suspention if is that you don't want to stay on the middle of the road without tires and rims,..

 

Hi all,

I have a 2006 Prius with 55k miles on it, and the Integritys were ready to be replaced. Actually the Toyota dealership was surprised they lasted as long as they did (I rotate every 5k and do an alignment every year.)

I was initially looking at getting the Goodyear Assurance Comfortred tires, however after reading many reviews online it appeared that although there were a lot of good reviews for that tire there were also some that were not as good.

Based on my research of user reviews I chose to go with the Michelin Harmony (beating out the Hydroedge as the Harmony's run a bit quieter.) Most folks that went with the Michelin Harmony tires were very pleased with performance and ride. Unfortunately the research that I did not spend as much time on is the tire size. I did make note that many folks recommended the 195 size (versus the 185 size) however I did not catch the fact that they should be 196/60/R15, so I had the tire dealer install 195/65/R15 tire. My local tire shop installed them and I have been driving them for a week. Some feedback:

* The car rides beautifully - quiet and smooth. Can't believe that tires make that much difference!

* Cornering seems a bit better as well, not sure if that it just the Harmony tire itself or the upgraded 195 size?

* After reading this thread I did some testing with the speedometer and my Garmin GPS. What is interesting is that normal road driving (stop and go, under 50mpg) the speedometer is right on. As soon as my speed changes on the speedometer the change would be reflected on the Garmin (and vice versa). Very accurate. However on the open highway going above 60 it seemed that the speedometer is off just slightly (1 mile/hour and under). Sometimes it would be one off, sometimes lined up exactly. Still ok in my book. I was relieved that the speedometer is not greatly affected. I hope that means that the odometer is also not affected greatly!

My only concern is that now it seems the Prius is too responsive in steering! We did an hour long trip on the highway and my wife was getting a bit car sick as even a slight change in the steering wheel would move the Prius left and right. I noticed this as well when she drove the car. (I remember someone else had posted this early on in this thread.)

My question to everyone is: Is this tight responsiveness due to the fact that I went with a slightly larger 195 tire (versus 185) or just due to the fact that I have a much better tire on the car and that will provide the tight responsiveness.

The tire dealer stated I have a 30 day guarantee to switch to the 185 Harmony's if my ride is not satisfactory, but don't want to switch them out if the new tight handling is based on the tire itself and not the new larger size.

Thanks to everyone for any feedback!

Mike

 

I have Michelin X tires on my 2008 ( a tire similar to the Harmony). It is also too responsive at high speeds. I plan on dropping the front pressure to match that of the rear tires. In my case 36 all around.