I live in Kansas, with a hot summer and a potentially snowy winter. I am investigating new tires for my 2012 Prius. I am interested in safety (including traction), fuel efficiency, and a good quality tire that will give me many miles. It should be able to handle summer and winter. Does anyone have a tire they would recommend? I would rather spend a little more and get a good tire than pay less for a mediocre tire. Thanks.
For your car I would buy Michelin Defenders. They handle good, little if any road noise and with a tread wear warranty of 90,000 miles. If they don't do the job in snow that you expect, then you will have to buy winter snow tires. I do not buy snow tires but my preference may be different than yours. An all season tire works for me and where I live (Chicago), it snows a lot.
You might take a look at the Nokian WRG3. It's an "all-weather" tire that's rated for snow, but can stay on year round. It's LRR and has a 55,000 mile warranty.
Most "All Season" tires are very poor in snow compared to real Winter Tires. Look at the comparison on The Tire Rack... All-Season vs. Winter / Snow Tires
The WRG3's are sorta half way between an all season and a snow. They do have the snowflake/mountain, and softer rubber. Contrary to the ads I think they're going to impact mileage, but depends on your needs. Personally I'd rather have all-seasons and separate, dedicated snows.
I just bought the WRG3s a few weeks ago, and they're great tires. They're nice and quiet, and the traction is a significant improvement over my stock EP20s, which was clear a few days ago in the equivalent of a monsoon on my drive home. It does come at an MPG cost though, as I'm down about 4 MPG off my usual. That's a small price to pay for what should be a great set of tires.
