Tires

I just got the Ecopia EP20's from Tires Plus with balancing and mounting at $100 a piece out the door
One thing that sucks about this tire is no tread wear warranty
Through the years I've saved some serious $$ off the price of new set of tires by prorating the old ones

 

Good price. Did you get the road hazard with it?

Also these tires like 40-42 PSI. Does it say MIJ on the side wall?

Traded my 2012 with 65K and most of the tread was left. I had to replace two OEMs because of razor blades in the road. But had two OEMs left on the front with great tread. Also bought 4 EP 20s for the 2011 and replaced the Good Year fuel max OEMs. Had a factory out of round tire and just got rid of them as it was an Easter egg hunt. EP 20s OEM MIJs have been problem free, except for razor blades on a stick.

 

Road hazard not included but you may be able to negotiate with them to include it as they told me they will match local and online prices and offer a 30day 150% of the difference if you can find them cheaper with-in 30days they match plus give you 150% of the difference
I do have them pumped up to 42 all around and yes the tires are made in Japan

I'm looking for a good digital tire infiltrator so I can deal with keeping the tires inflated from home any recommendations ?

 

Went to Lowes on black Friday and bought a 3 gal one on sale. Sometime they are up to 50% off. Just be advised they are all noisy so wear ear plugs. All I have is the analog truck dual offset chucks. Get the heavy duty dual chucks as they are easier to use.

 

Just about time for new tires, so I'm open if anyone has found a "better" tire than the Michelin Defenders...because these made +90,000 miles real world driving.

 

You can do better/maybe. What was your mpg?

 

My car real lifetime 47+, but I drive "normal" . On the freeway I do 75 minimum, I follow the pack light to light, have not used ECO for years and I do use the A/C in Texas.

 

In that case stick with what works for you.

 

I just did new tires a week ago. The usual. Goodyear Assurance Comfortred. They promise and deliver 80K. Was hoping to be able to push the old tires another month or so, but it didn't work out. Ran over something sharp and trashed one, so the other three followed. They were all down to 5/32". Now the ride is much smoother and quieter again.

 

Razor blades on a stick did mine in. Did you look at the fuel max?

 

I didn't see or hear what happened. It was early morning and I was probably only driving about 15-25 mph at the time. Entering the main gate at Fort Huachuca. Went through the gate and noticed my TPMS light was on. Drove another 2 miles to work, parked, noticed the right rear looked low. Came back out 10 minutes later and it was down to the rim. The Goodyear tech said there was an inch and a half long puncture right through the belts. Not repairable. Tires were worn out anyway. I looked at the Fuel Max on the dealership floor right next to the Comfortred. Tread pattern probably a little better fording deep water on the road in an infamous Arizona monsoon thunderstorm. My concerns however are for a quiet tire. Running at 42/40 the car tends towards a buckboard if you know what I mean. These are the quietest tires I've ever used.

 

Maybe I'm reading Tire Rack wrong, never used it before, but of the tires mentioned here and those I've considered, they rate them as follows:
Continental TrueContact
Michelin Premier A/S
Goodyear Assurance Comfortred
Michelin Defender
Goodyear Assurance A/S
Michelin EnergySaver A/S
Bridgestone EP422
Goodyear Assurance Fuelmax
Bridgestone EP20

My car currently has Goodyear Assurance (that's all it says) 195-65R15 and are down to 4/32 at 48,000 miles, so they are not on my list for consideration. Costco told me they get a lot of returns on the Defenders because of the mileage hit, but that can be offset a bit by how long they last if they actually last 90k+. I also drive normal around town and on the highway with the majority of driving at 2-3 mph above posted limits and 82-83 through Texas. My current lifetime mpg is 47.7 and I routinely get 52-53 around Phoenix with a mix of shorter (5-10 mile) and longer (15-20 mile) trips. Michelin was by far the best tire I ever put on our Montana van, but that was some time ago now, so things might have changed. Other than the Continental, the Premier scores higher in every category Tire Rack rates. The problem with ratings and reviews though is they aren't limited to the Prius.

 

Not my experience but your mozzarella may vary (YMMV).

For best MPG:
EP 20s
GY Fuel Max
At 42 PSI and a proper alignment you will be fine unless you live on ICY roads then all bets are off.

Used several sets of each on many cars and happy/happy/happy.

Yes there are better tires but maybe not for MPG/TBD.

BTW/most alignment shops will put your car out of specs so be careful.

 

I wasn't intending to get an alignment, don't see the need based on tire wear pattern. Have only needed an alignment once in the last 40+ years and that was because a tie rod needed to be replaced on our previous van after 165k miles and the alignment was part of the process. Does a Prius really need an alignment just because it gets new shoes?

So many of our miles are higher speed and wet weather conditions at times, so I'm more concerned with safety and ride comfort, though concern is too strong a word because I'd have no problem from a safety pov with any of these tires. I've used Goodyear, Firestone, General, BF Goodrich, Michelin and Pirelli tires on various cars (in that order) and the Michelins have been the absolute best for my 3 main requirements of mileage, comfort and noise, with the Pirellis coming in 2nd.

I appreciate your comments, but one of my concerns is that unless someone uses all the tires under similar conditions, how do they know a different brand/model wouldn't have been better? I know you had a bad experience with Michelin, but I've had more than one with Goodyear, so I'm reluctant to give them another shot. And someone suggested I stick with OEM tires, but I'm not happy with noise of these Goodyears and only 48,000 miles is not something to write home about. I see people recommend Tire Rack, but maybe that's only for prices? I guess what I'm looking for is some reason not to buy the Premiers, other that just a single bad experience.

 

My wife did not like the oem GY but they turned out good for the other 3. Vehicles. EP 20s are for specific sizes. The tire tests are very old in some cases and would rely on forum members for results. Since several different tires are available for each brand ymmv significantly.

If high speed driving in the rain is needed you will be more concerned with safety than mpg and other forum members are experts on non oem tires. GY did make poor tires as well as Bridgestone. I think times have changed and would not check those off the list.

 

Not trying to be argumentative, just never had this much trouble deciding on tires before. Until I got a Prius, I just went to Discount and got whatever they recommended, sometimes deciding between a couple of brands. Seems like a lot is different with the Prius though because of concern for mileage. With the van, all I really cared about was noise because the other factors were close enough. The Michelins gave me more than the 90k they advertised and were super quiet. Had it not been for the tie rod problem, they'd have gone over 100k. However, that particular model tire was changed, so that's why I switched to the Pirelli. Didn't keep the van long enough after than though to see how they compared on miles. I get your point about tires changing over time and working differently on various vehicles. I have no doubt the Goodyear models mentioned here would be just fine, but like you with Michelin, it's kind of a fool me once thing.

 

If I may...my experience as it relates to the Prius...buying tires for MPG comes out to a wash on money when you factor in replacement cost per mile. I'm reinstalling Defenders on my 2010, they are going on the 2015 when the factory POS tires wear out (shortly) and if they will fit on the Corolla they will get them. Also, I put them on the VW before I unloaded it to. Pick your poison, but for me longevity, ride quality and safety over-ride 3 mpg. YMMV.

 

@ETP, Just editorial, to get you back on track: it's EP20, not ECP 20.

 

Would I be correct to assume that you only have the OEM tires to compare to? I completely agree that replacement cost per mile vs mpg is a valid measure. Here's what I'm looking at:
Premier vs Defender
Cost - $121 vs $107 ($484 vs $428 for set of 4) ($1,452 vs $856 for 180k miles)
Miles - 60k vs 90k
Tread Depth - 8.5" vs 10"
Width - 5.5" vs 7.4"
Speed Rating - H vs T (not that the Prius exceeds either )
NOTE: Tread width of 5.5" for the Premier is an error in the comparison summary on the Tire Rack site, both are 7.4" wide.

My guess is the extra tread depth accounts for the miles difference, but I don't know what accounts for the miles difference

Anyway, here's how the crude math works out for 180k miles using my current average of 47.7 mpg and $2.417/gal for gas. I'm assuming a 3 mpg penalty for the Defenders, but that's based on hearsay and not science.

It would take 3 sets of Premiers, but only 2 sets of Defenders to reach the 180k miles, givng the Defenders a $596 advantage.

The 3 mpg equates to 253 gallons, giving the Premiers a $611 advantage. If averages gas prices go down, the difference would be less, but if they go up, which seems to be the trend at the moment, the difference would be more. Problem is I'm not sure the 3 mpg difference is a valid assumption.

By all accounts, the Premier appears to be a safer tire throughout its treadlife when it comes to wet weather traction, wet/dry stopping distance, etc. I wish I could remember which Michelin tire we had on our van that gave us 90k miles. They would have been put on before 2010, maybe 2009, and I would have put those on again in 2013, but was told they were discontinued. If it weren't for the mpg hit, I'd probably go with the Defender for the 90k miles, but am concerned that users on Tire Rack only say they'd "possibly" recommend them vice "probably".

 

Huh? I don't know where you got those numbers, but they don't look right. The tread depths must be those numbers of 32nds or millimeters? No way could two model tires of the same size (and brand) be that far apart in width.

[Editorial, as Mendel says]