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Need to buy 8 tires for my two taxi's. Looking for a tire with good tread wear.
The Bridgestones that came with the car are shot after 50,000 km.and were rotated every 10,000km (not impressed) . I also am looking to buy 8 snow tires.
The tires that are on the cars are 195 55 16's. I heard from the tire shop that the 195's are hard to find so I will switch to 185 or 205's.
Any suggestions would be appreciated

That seems a little low for tire wear. What pressure are you running.

The last 25,000 km I was running them at 42-40. Before that it would have been whatever they were when i bought the cars and whatever the mechanics had them at when they would rotate them and check the pressure. It wasn't until I saw 42-40 being recommended on this site that I paid close attention to it. Most of the km were at 30 to 80km/hr. City of 150,000 so we don't have the long runs on expressways at higher speeds. Probably a lot more cornering than most Prius would be doing in 50,000 km. I see Costco has the Michelin x radial for $129. Consumer reports has them highly rated.

see if the Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum fit the Prius. They are well rated for MPG. Go to tirerack.com

Thanks for the info. I appreciate the help

Nokian WR (there is also a revised version?) has been popular for year-round Prius use incluidng winter. How bad is your winter?

DAS

Tochatihu---I live at the east end of Lake Ontario at the start of the St Lawrence river. Last winter we had record snow fall. Fortunately the lake effect is worse on the American side of the lake,
Oswego county once had 12 ft in 12 days. Have to put snow tires on especially with the front of the Prius sitting so low. Our winters are very inconsistent the last 15 years and it is hard to predict.

Hi Lucky1:

___I was doing some work on an Integrity replacement but you said yours had Bridgestone’s on it???

___Anyway, before the weekend started, I was considering DiamondLarry’s 3 to 4% mileage offset to match the GPS and if so, the HCH-II’s 195/65 R15 – Dunlop SP31 A/S’ might work. In that size, they are 25.2” diameter vs. the Integrity’s 24” for a 5% gear reduction and a possible 2% under report vs. the ODO’s 3% over report if I read Larry’s posts on his ScanGauge calibration properly? If it is the other way, the 195/55R15’s are 3% undersized.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Be careful departing too far from OEM tire dimensions. I noticed on some models that are available in various tire sizes that their turning radius is different for the various tire sizes. On the taller tires, they limit the wheel angle and the result is a larger turning circle. Using larger tires may well lead to the tires rubbing on the fender liner or on powertrain or suspension/steering components. Yes, they give you a little leeway, but not as much as you think. On my Maxx, the OEM tire is 25.9" diameter, and the 26.2" winter tires will fit, but the "next size taller" 26.7", as used on the SS variant, will rub on the sway bar when you turn the steering wheel to the lock. The specs for the car list the SS as having a turning circle 1 foot larger. They are limiting the max wheel turn angle to allow the larger tires.

If you must go "taller", considering doing so in conjuction with one size "narrower", as that will minimize the chance of contact between tire and body/chassis.

Regarding winter tires, I found the Blizzak Revo-1 (now the WS60) to have less of an effect on FE than the Dunlop Graspic DS2. I have a set of each on each Maxx, so I have the identical cars/identical roads/identical trips to work out the variations. The difference isn't a dealbreaker, though. My car has the DS2's (lower FE), so I just boosted them to 42psi (Blizzaks are at 35), and they ended up the same in mpg - that is to say not much more than a mpg or so difference from the stock all season tires.

Hi Maxx and Xcel,

There are two tire circumference correction factor settings in the Prius setup parameters in the computer. Its setable in the MFD with the right button presses. One of the correction factors is for the US 15 inch tires (185/65-15), and the other for the 16 inch (NA Touring, standard trim in Europe? - 195/55-16) tires. Apparently Lucky1 bought the cars new with the 16 inch tires, so the computer would be set for the 195/55-16 tire circumference. So both these sizes are "OEM", but one has to get into the MFD setup page to set the correction factor to the right tire.

I recommend you try to find, or order, the 195/55-16 tires Lucky1. As your cars are setup for that size (suspension wise). The snow-driving people really like the Nokian WRs. You would probably have to order those in advance anyway. One recent Nokian inovation is a tire with the snow-tire pattern on the inside edge, and a all-season pattern on the outside edge. They are called WRG2's. Both of these tires have the silica/silicone tread coumpound, which is common to low rolling resistance tires.

I drive year round on Michelin Hydroedges, but its rare I have to drive in deep snow due to being in a metropolitan area that has extensive snow removal, and my work usually will call snow days for really bad weather. Besides, if much snow falls, the only practical speeds is below 10 mph, with all the traffic. And that is hardly a test for tires. The Hydroedges are very good in wet weather, of course. When we have had dry spells, and then a medium rain, the roads get very slick (kinda greasy, and lubricated with small dust/ sand particles). The Hydroedges are the best tires I have driven in such conditions.

Lucky1, I drove 2 Syracuse winters so I know what you're up against! I had a 4WD civic hatchback and it was quite the little snowplow.

Maybe the WRG2 would be up to the task.

DAS

Thanks for all the info---- I was told at the tire shop that the 195/55/16's were not a very common size. I would like to stay with the same size if possible but will switch if it is too difficult to find the tires I want in that size. Need to find the summer tires right away as it caught me off guard when the Bridgestone Turanzas were shot after 45,000km.

Donee--- I read some reviews on the Nokian WRs. Looks like the kind of tire I might put on my personal car. Being that my 2 taxi's are on the road 20 hours a day and 24 hours a day on the weekends I will likely go with a good winter tire. The reviews I saw said it was better than any other all season tire for winter performance.
Keeping my taxi's out of the ditch and out of accidents is a high priority. Some drivers will park the car for the night if the going gets to tough (wimps) so I like to have tires that keep the car moving. Having not driven the Prius in the snow I had some concerns with pushing snow with the low front end.Last winter one of the owners that has 4 Prius cabs had a few shifts where the guys parked the car. He didn't do any research into what tires work best.
Maybe I will chain them up like I did when working for the oil companies and traveling the Alaska highway. LOL.

Hmmm, I need two front tires also. The front Integrities were/are shot at 22,000. The rears have plenty of life left (I don't rotate-lazy).

If Sams has the Integrities I might go with them ,since I have no mpg complaints or handling complaints with them. On my Prizm -Chevy 2001 Corolla rebadge- I went one size up in height- 185/70 14 instead of 185/65 14 , it might have been 185/75 instead of 185/70 14. I might even be wrong about the 14 vs 15". Point is it easily went one size taller ,and it gave me slight better ground clearance ,and slightly fewer RPMS. It dropped to 2700 RPMs at 60 mph from 2800 RPMs at 60 mph. We had the cheapout 3 speed AT, not the 4 speed AT which turns fewer RPMs in top gear.

These little 4's are geared to low for max mpg. "They" car companies, need give us about 2000-2200 RPMs at 60 mph in even the smallest motors/vehicles. They might have to add flywheel weight, but so what. The ATs- most of them- freewheel when you lift,so the flywheel effect won't have to be braked off, and it will store a bit of energy. Besides, a really clever company could develope a 2 stage/piece flywheel with some energy storage capacity.

Charlie

As for chains, you might want to look at these:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/35_snow_yaris.jpg

They worked for this guy in the Rockies in the winter. http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8116&highlight=spikes

Here's the company's page: http://www.spikes-spiders.com/

* I have no knowledge of them except for what I just listed.

Went to Costco today to check on prices for the Michelin x radial. They told me they couldn't sell me the x radial in the 195/55/16 size. The tires that came with the car were Bridgestone Turanzas. When I inquired as to why they couldn't sell me the x radial in the same size he said that the car came with a 'V' rated tire and had to have a 'V' rated tire put on.
I went to the Toyota dealer to get more information and they said that there is a very limited selection of tires for the 195/55/16 size and most were very expensive.
Being for my taxi's I am not too concerned about how quiet the tire is etc. I am mostly concerned about tread wear and rolling resistance. I am trying to avoid buying 3 sets of tires per year which is what would happen if I stick to the Bridgestone Turanza tires that were shot after 45,000 km. Hoping to get a tire that lasts 80,000+ and then throw the winter tires on for 50,000 km in the winter.
When I had them check they said that the x radial in the 185/65/15 size would work as there is a 1 one hundredth difference in the size and would not affect anything. I will have to buy 8 steel rims at just under $70 a piece. The way the drivers bounce cars off of curbs a steel rim isn't such a bad idea. Much cheaper than the very expensive rims that are on the car now.
Buying approx 64 tires in the next 4 years before I replace the cars it will save me a lot of money buying 15 inch tires especially if I can get 80,000km out of a set of tires.
Scary though that Consumer reports gave the Turanzas top marks for tread wear.
Now I have to decide if I need to buy the x radial or the Harmony or the hydro edge, all 3 highly rated by Consumer reports.
I always try to get value for my dollar so I am sure this will put me in the nut house by the time I decide.
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Hi Lucky1,

If you have not already, please post on Prius Chat. There are many Canadians with good winter/slush seasons tire info on there. I looked at the Nokian website, and they did not have the WRG2's in the 195/55-16 size, but did have the WR's in that size.

The Hydroedges are very good in wet conditions. A little noisey in the dry. And only have a mpg or two hit on the FE. I do not see them in the 195/55-16 size. They do have the Xice-Xi2 winter tires in the P metric 195/55-16XL (extra load) .

Bridgstones lists two kinds of Blizzaks winter tires in the 195/55-16 size.

Thanks Donee-- I did post on Priuschat and on this site. I was getting much more info and help on this site. The info has been fairly helpful seeing how I have only owned the cars for 4 months. I read up on the Nokian and they are a top all season tire for handling the snow.
Will most likely go for the Michelin x-ice xi2 for the Dec to end of March months and hope to find a tire that will last the other 7 1/2 to 8 months.
Thanks.