Hi Everyone,
I have lurked her often and primarily contibute to the Prius Chat forums. But I have been doing research on replacing the OEM Goodyear Integrity tires & I wanted to share.
I currently have 26K miles on the OEM's and the dealer patched one of the tires without telling me. Unfortunately, they didn't tell me. So I started loosing air. I tried to keep up with that, however I had excessive wear on the outside of the tred pattern. I should have noticed that an annoying tick tick tick on my passenger side had dissappered.
I normally keep my tires at the TOP end of the PSI range to maximize my MPG. So I will vary between 40-45 PSI. (Yes! I know that is too hard) The ride is noticeably harder, I accept that for the MPG.
The Integrities have a Low Rolling Resistance factor of .00965. So that falls in the bottom third of the LRR scales that I have been referencing. My research yealds that there are a number of options for our car's tires (2005 Package 9 Tideland) that yeald substantially better performance than the OEM.
My priorities for tires are Estimated Mileage, LRR factor and Price (in that order). The good news is that I found a replacement tire that is quieter, with a higher estimated mileage, lower LRR factor, and costs less than OEM's. I live in Southern California and foudn the best price at Discount Tire.
Please consider the Contintal Pro Contact. It's LRR is .00825, it is estimated to last 60K (vs OEM 50K) and I paid $56. per tire (OEM's are $59)
After I got over my self flaggilation for allowing so much wear on one of my tires, I have leqarned that there is a LOT of information out here on tires. I am substantially un-impressed with the tire wear and the LRR factor of the OEM tires. I am hopeing to report substantial improvment in my mileage in the very near future.
If any of you have any more information to add, or recommendations on replacement tires, I would appreciate yoru feedback.
-John