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I got on a green kick back in 2007 when I bought my Prius. I still love my Prius Touring, but here is the kicker. Learn from my mistakes. This vehicle comes with 195/55 r16 V87 tires. You can find tire speeds in H, but not when I was looking for tires. Guess what? These are performance tires and.... on a Prius of all things!! I have 46,789 miles and I am now on my 3rd set of tires. The Michelins I bought were, hands down, the worst tires in history, because of the roll factor (important - RLL) and other issues.
A side note - I have had Michelins on my cars for decades and they used to be excellent tires, but the last set have been a major disappointment. My Prius got about 17,000 miles and my 4Runner under 30,000.
So, I just put on Bridgestone ECOPIA - a newer tire designed just for the hybrid. I can only hope these will last a bit longer
My Michelin's cost over $800 and my ECOPIAs $570.61 -- pretty expensive if you ask me. Then comes the battery .... I don't even want to go there.
So, folks, if you want to buy a hybrid, check tire requirements and the battery first. Maybe buying a non-hybrid 25 mpg car will save you more money in the long run. And you won't have to worry about what your battery will do to the environment.
A quick look at tirerack shows 44 different tires in that size... buy something with a higher mileage rating next time. It may not be a low rolling resistance tire but there are plenty of choices.
BTW, I get more miles per set on true performance tires and a performance car driven aggressively... are you racing your Prius?
You should consider tire size for any new car today. At one time tires came in an average size of 13, 14, or 15 inches. There are some cars that come from the factory with over 20 inch tires and can easily cost over $200 per tire.
For the OP - it is not reasonable to say anything particular about any brand. Michelin makes some great tires, and some very ordinary ones. That is true of almost all brands.
An H-rated tire is not a performance tire anymore. A long time ago the standard tire rating was S, and H was the next rating up. V, then Z, W, etc. are rated for higher speeds. A higher speed rating most of all is a heat rating. So the tire is less likely to fail when it gets hot (as it might if you drive fast).
As for the battery - what are you suggesting people check? Toyota warrants the battery for 8 years and 100,000 miles - even longer in California. You haven't replaced your battery yet have you? As for the battery and the environment - don't you know that Toyota recycles them?
Tires are the only thing keeping a car on the road, hardly something to cheap out on. I'd be a little irritated if they only lasted me one year, but I'm pretty used to changing out at least one set every two-four years (probably 30-40k miles). All the safety features in the world won't help if the tires have no grip, so if there's one thing that has no budget on my cars, it's that.
A side note - I have had Michelins on my cars for decades and they used to be excellent tires, but the last set have been a major disappointment. My Prius got about 17,000 miles and my 4Runner under 30,000.
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Damn, a new set of tires every year! How much pollution goes into making one set of tires disposing of them once their used up? Makes you wonder. And that is nothing compared to the battery. I'll stick with my Raptor, it probably pollutes the same but with more leg and head room
maybe someone can set me straight here. Its my understanding that "high fuel efficency" tires with lower than normal rolling resistances ALSO have increased stopping distances compared to regular tires.
I don't know about you, but in an emergency I want to stop as soon as possible, and that would be worth the "fuel savings" these kind of tires might give you. In fact, I'd be a little concerned that most cars on the road, having normal tires, would be able to out brake me in all scenarios.
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I bought were, hands down, the worst tires in history, because of the roll factor (important - RLL) and other issues.
