[av_in_bc]

bought a set of FALKEN ZE-51282H tires last saturday
right out of the box these have increased my consumption
by more than 20%

my lifetime is right around 50mpg's
after a week i am barely breaking 40mpg's
(and that includes a trip to seattle from vancouver
late at night and nice weather which should have
lowered the overall average a lot)

with the current gas prices i spend about 250.00 a month
add the 20% that will cost me 600.00$ a year
and about 1200.00$ more by the time the tires are ready to be replaced.

the tires were rated best overall in a 20 tire showdown.
they rated 2nd in the low rolling resistance.

why is this happening, i've heard of some increase but this is ridiculous.

i was getting 50mpg's with old winter tires in jan.feb. and mar.

some questions
they have michelin harmony which will fit
will those be any better (not as good "LRR")

is it worth buying 15" wheelsand michelin energy's
i know this is drastic but this store does not have
a lot of choice for the prius

thanks for any help
i need to solve this soon

 

[Phoenix]

Tires affecting MPG

Please forward more details: Tire size, inflation pressure, etc.

 

[hyperion]

Summers coming. Haven't you thought of going back to Toyotas choice "the Goodyears?" Change isn't all to the better. Sometimes it's just change.

 

[quietman]

why do you all try to outguess the experts. the toyota engineers have built this car for over 10 years and they know it. they put the original goodyears on the car for a reason , good milage and that is what the car is built for. go back to original tires, and you get your 50 mpg and probably when it gets warm you will push 60 mpg :!:

 

[av_in_bc]

Please forward more details: Tire size, inflation pressure, etc.

175/65R14
tried different inflation
42/40 seems to improve a little

as far as putting the original tires on they just don't last long enough. i drive about 4 thousand miles a month. that's new tires every 3 to 4 months maybe 5.

 

[hyperion]

Whats the price difference though with the Goodyears? And are your tires used on a track? I usually get a good 34 to 40 thousand miles on a set of Goodyears on my Voyager mini van.

 

[Tideland Prius]

whoa, that's a short life. Our Camry is still running on the original tyres at 70,000kms. It's the Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus and yes, they need to be replaced quite soon.

Don't forget the tyres themselves need to break in.

 

[mrv]

Please forward more details: Tire size, inflation pressure, etc.

175/65R14
tried different inflation
42/40 seems to improve a little

as far as putting the original tires on they just don't last long enough. i drive about 4 thousand miles a month. that's new tires every 3 to 4 months maybe 5.

ok, so 4000 miles a month, lasting maybe 5 months, means only 20,000 miles out of your Goodyears? What Goodyears are you using with that 14" diameter wheel, and what was the treadwear rating? 2004+ Prius has a 15" wheel in the US (unless you get the SE region 17" upgrade), and internationally the 2004+ Prius has 16" wheels. The Classic Prius has 14" wheels.

US 2001-2003 OEM Prius tire:
Bridgestone Potenza RE92 XL (Extra Load)
P175/65 R14
84S
Treadwear 160
Temperature A
Traction A
50psi max. cold pressure

with the low treadwear rating on the Potenzas of 160, 20,000 miles was about the average that most people reported, although Bridgestone warrantees them for 40,000 miles. (There are some exceptions to the 20,000 mile average - for example, my mother is at ~38,000 miles on the original tires, while I've heard of 1 or 2 people needing new tires at 5,000 miles...) Alignment is very sensitive, and if you're getting a fast wear you should have the alignment checked soon... And be sure to check both the load rating of the replacement tires (to see if it can carry the Prius) and watch the max cold pressure (many tires only go up to 35psi, so going up to 42/40 is overinflating them!)...

 

[jamarimutt]

My OEM tires have 18,000 miles and it looks like they'll ge good for 40,000 miles.

 

[DanMan32]

I have 21K and they still look decent. Obviously some wear, but still very good.

 

[MGBGT]

20k miles life on these tires is too low, you should get at least twice, if not three times out of them!

Also, don't panic yet on the mileage, tires need to be worn in, and mileage should improve after about 500 to 1000 miles!

 

[mrv]

20k miles life on these tires is too low, you should get at least twice, if not three times out of them!

Also, don't panic yet on the mileage, tires need to be worn in, and mileage should improve after about 500 to 1000 miles!

As I said, if he was talking about the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE92 XL tires for the Classic, 20,000 miles is about average. The original poster hasn't stated what Goodyears he was trying (but at 175/65 R14 it's obvioius it's a Classic Prius.)

 

[melgish]

Wow, only 20,000 miles...

The first two sets of tires on my Saturn each got 90,000 before being replaced... And they all still passed the penny test... I'm hoping to get at least 50,000 from the OEM's on my 2004

 

[Rich D.]

I've never really shopped for tires by brand. I would just get something in an all-weather. Do I have to now be concerned with this?

Also, what would make a tire kill gas mileage? Does a tire with longer life have more rubber and therefore weigh more?

 

[av_in_bc]

The original poster hasn't stated what Goodyears he was trying (but at 175/65 R14 it's obvioius it's a Classic Prius.)

yes those were the ones
but all of my driving in the last 4 months were on michelin winters (not sure which)
i never thought that old winter tires would outperform new 4 seasons

Also, what would make a tire kill gas mileage? Does a tire with longer life have more rubber and therefore weigh more?

i'm wondering also
i don't think it's weight but i wonder if it has to do with the fact that the Falkens are very quiet and that whatever is making them quiet also decreases mileage.

Also, don't panic yet on the mileage, tires need to be worn in, and mileage should improve after about 500 to 1000 miles!

man, i hope so

all that being said these tires do have some advantages, they are very quiet and perform in heavy rain almost as well as in dry weather

 

[johnson487682]

I just replaced my tires yesterday with the same: LRR Potenzas.

I was still running on my original Potenzas at 46,000 mi. The tech said they still had 5/32" tread left, but they had been making a "thrum-thrum" sound for a few months, and I recently noticed a drop in mpg. Both problems seem to have disappeared with the new tires.

The tech was impressed to hear that these were my original tires, because they've been replacing Prius tires at 20,000-25,000 mi. (By the way, this is an independent tire/suspension/brake shop, not a Toyota dealership.) The Potenzas are supposed to last 30,000 mi. He said he's heard the short life can be attributed to the low pressure recommended by Toyota, and he had heard 41 psi was a good idea. I said I have always kept my tires between 40-42 psi, and I also believe this helped them last so long.

He said the new Potenzas would usually cost $350, but I got a special deal: $250 with free balance/alignment.

If you put 4,000 mi on your car every month, and if you could get 46,000 mi at 41 psi, you would only have to replace your tires once a year. I think $350 per year seems like a reasonable cost to get the better gas mileage, based on your estimate of an extra $600 per year at the lower mileage.

(Note: If you use other tires, be careful about over-inflation. The LRR Potenzas are rated "extra load", so they can take a max cold inflation of 50 psi. Therefore, I feel safe over-inflating them to 41 psi, but normal tires aren't rated so high.)

Douglas (2002 Silver, Wisconsin, USA)

 

[DanMan32]

$350, is that per tire, or per set of 4? If latter, then it really costs $1400 per year.

 

[johnson487682]

$350 for the whole set of four tires. I kept my original wheels/rims.

Douglas (2002 Silver, Wisconsin, USA)