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Replacement tires

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

Reply to
jj
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John: Where did you find the Rolling Resistance info for so many tires. I haven't been able to find this info.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Byrd

Hi Dick,

I found much of my information by searching the Prius Chat forums for "Tires". There are a number of posts concerning this subject.

I am accessing the Usenet NOW using Google Groups so I can't upload the two PDF's that I have that really got me interested in LRR tires. They are the "Green Seal Choose Green report" and the "RMA data report. Both are available in PDF format. I also googled LRR and checked Wikipedia too.

Part of the problem is that the Green Seal Report is a few years old and the manufacturers have discontinued some of the tire models. That publication also does NOT identify any compatable tire sizes for our chosen vehicle. So some "interpolation" was required. That means I had more research.

Once I compiled a "short list" of tires, I made a chart that listed estimated mileage, cost, LRR factors, and the cost at local retailers.

-John

Reply to
jj

John: Thanks. I'll need to do some more thorough research when it is time for me to get new tires. Since my Prius is only 6 months old. I hope have some wait before I need to replace. By then, I suspect that current information wouldn't be any good.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Byrd

"John" maintains a site of good Prius data at

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Look under "Prius info" and then Tires-H for the 2004+ model or Tires-C for the 2001-2003 model. All you ever need to know about Prius tires :-)

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

John has done an amazing job of documenting loads of useful information about these cars on his www site. However, this information on tires hasn't been updated to include any reference to the LRR factors of the tires. He simply refers to them as LRR. Not specifying the LRR factor.

Again. I am NOT being critical. John has provided me with loads of very useful information, in a format that is much easier to read than the YAWN owner's manual. He should be commended.

If you are looking for replacement tires, you may need to do more research.

-John

Reply to
jj

Reply to
Patrick Page

I replaced my 2004's with Michelin Harmonys. My gas mileage has remained the same and the tires handle well.

Kari

Reply to
kari

i've been buying Kumho's at tirerack.com for yrs now for my VW, but my they don't make any in my size for new prius touring ed.- unfortunatly, bridgestone and michelin look like the main choices.

bob

Reply to
bob

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