My 2007 Toyota Prius Touring is about to be sold to a relative, and a 2010 Prius is going to replace it.   The "Touring" version is no longer made, though CR evaluated it and said it was the better choice over the base version.  Now with the 2010 Prius we have a Prius that will be a Number 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 version, with only the highest priced number 5 version able to arrive with things like Fog lights, the new cruise control that keeps you a safe distance behind the car ahead, and even can keep you from 'straying' across the lines into other lanes.  The tire size on the Number 5 is 17" on nice alloy wheels, and the other four versions get 15 inch tires on the same boring wheels.   The price upcharge for all the 'Bells & Whistles' on the Super-DeLuxe Number 5 model, is about 5 grand, not exactly the 800 dollar upcharge the Touring option was back in 07.  So CR please tell me if the 17" wheels & tires on #5 are worth some of that significant price difference, and maybe even comment on the new smarter cruise control.  Also what, if anything, is uniquely in need of consideration when driving a hybrid car, like the Prius when considering replacement tires ?

Sorry to jump in here.  And I'm REALLY sorry about what Toyota is doing to the next-generation Prius.  That has always been one of Toyota's big bugaboos are how they wrap option packages to make you pay more money.

Are the 17" worth the money - all of that??  I guess only you can answer that - it is a breath-taking amount of money.  Supposedly (and I mean only supposedly), some of what was supposed to make the Touring model different (in terms of better handling, etc.) was supposed to be added onto the standard suspension and so forth of this new Prius in all trim lines.

I would suggest a THOROUGH test-drive.  Or maybe even better, if I know CR, a re-test of the new Prius is always close by (something that can't be said about other new and exciting cars, like the new Kia Forte).  Be as critical and discerning as possible.  My hunch is that you won't really be satisfied in any of the lower trim lines, but that's just me.

As for what to look for in terms of replacement tires, one of our tire forums latest requests has been to test performance of the new ultra-high-rolling-resistance tires coming out by a number of the manufacturers.

But with the current tire tests, you can see what you are dealing with.  If a person is willing to go to an 'H'-rated tire and spend the money (and find it available in the proper size), you can't do much better than the Michelin Primacy MXV4.  Overall, that would probably be your best bet.

To answer your general question about tire replacement with the Prius, I would think you would want a tire with at least reasonable (if not excellent) rolling resistance along with good overall performance, something that has been hard to attain up to now (except for the Primacy). 

But maybe not impossible.  So if you are looking for an alternative for less money than the Primacy (maybe, depending on where you can find it) consider also the new Cooper GFE - it looks like it hits all the high spots for a car like the Prius.

Whatever you do (test drives, new tires, etc.) write back to us from time to time and let us know what you found and what you think.  Thanx for writing.

Edward

We tested a level four, which was pretty well equipped. The upcharge for a level five from a four is approximately $1,500. It gives you LED headlights and the 17" wheels and tires. The adaptive cruise is part of a Technology package, MSRP $5,180. That package also includes Navigation and an upgraded sound system including Bluetooth connectivity and XM radio. You can get the Nav and sound without adaptive cruise for $2,480. So the cost of adaptive cruise is actually $2,700.

The 17" wheels and tires may give you slightly better handling probably along with a harsher ride. Best thing is to drive both and see what you think. Adaptive cruise is a relatively new. Yes, it's a nice feature, which may enhance safety, but if you are getting into tighter traffic you can shut cruise off. The Navigation and premium sound package is a luxury. Again it's nice, but only you can determine whether it's something you cannot do without.

Your last question was on tires. To get that extra mileage Hybrids are equipped with low rolling resistance tires. When it comes time to replace them you will probably want to check our tire ratings for that attribute.

Could you possibly post in black? As a courtesy to readers like myself that find "purple" type unreadable.

Edward, with a vehicle like the Prius, I'd prefer the 15" tire size.  It's in the 195/65R15 size, which is an EXTREMELY common size, and a size in which many tires with good rolling resistance are available.  As Jerry noted above, the price premium for the 17" wheels/tires is still rather modest (about $1500), but I'd still rather have the 15s.

The 17" tire size is 215/45R17, and while you do have a good selection of good tires in that size, few good lower rolling resistance tires are available.  In addition, the speed rating on the 17" tire is a "V", which means you'll most likely need to stay with a V-rated tire at replacement time, which is WAY overkill for that car, and really limits your tire choices to those high performance tires that bring about compromises you're probably not looking for.

Plus, the 17" wheels are heavier than the 15" wheels, which notionally worsens ride, acceleration, and braking.  Whether you'd be able to tell or not...I don't know.  But it certainly doesn't help.  For fuel economy, you want the lightest equipment available.  Consider this: I swapped the original steel wheels on my 2007 Corolla for the 15" wheels off a 2nd generation Prius (the non-Touring model) and saved a heady 6.5 pounds per corner.  That's right: the steel wheels were 20.5 pounds each, and the Pri' wheels were only 14 pounds each.  I noticed an immediate improvement in vehicle response and ride (I kept the same tires, as the wheel size was exactly the same, down to width and offset).  The whole car just felt lighter on its toes.

The T-rated 195/65R15 tires that come on new Pri', Levels I-IV, are much more appropriate to that type of vehicle.  It's already a very popular small car size, and now that the 3rd generation Prius comes standard with that size, I think we'll see a lot of good rolling resistance R&D going into tire models available in that size (which I'm excited to see).

The T-rated 195/65R15 tires that come on new Pri', Levels I-IV, are much more appropriate to that type of vehicle.  It's already a very popular small car size, and now that the 3rd generation Prius comes standard with that size, I think we'll see a lot of good rolling resistance R&D going into tire models available in that size (which I'm excited to see).

However, if they are still coming with Goodyear Integrity tires, note that these tires are not well liked for their wet performance.  Tire Rack's test of several rolling resistance tire models on Priuses matches that.  Fortunately, different tires would cost a lot less than the level 5 if that is an issue.

Thank you for the response.  I can tell you that some of those better rated tire models aren't made in the standard Prius tire size.  The other thing you should know is that in some areas, like around NY City-Long Island the Prius V is delivered only with the very, very expensive Advanced Technology Package, and the dealers as well as the Toyota website that offers you to 'Build your own' only allows you (once you input your Zip Code) to 'Build' a prius 5 with the $ 5000 Advanced Technology Pkg. that includes the speed control you mentioned.  I discovered that in Boston, for example a Prius 5 without the additional big bucks option is offerred.  That seems like the better choice for me, if  can find a way to buy one.  The salesman I spoke with says that each areas dealers get to decide which option packages they can have Toyota deliver to them collectively, and in this area the dealers elected to link the prius 5 with the extra 5 grand pkg, no exceptions. Evidently this means that Toyota does not send the model to this area in any other configuration.

If the only thing you want in the package 5 is the 17" wheels and tires, have you considered whether it is less expensive to buy a less expensive package car and then just buy the 17" wheels and tires separately?  Then you can keep your original 15" wheels to put snow tires on to use for the snow season.

However, if they are still coming with Goodyear Integrity tires, note that these tires are not well liked for their wet performance.  Tire Rack's test of several rolling resistance tire models on Priuses matches that.  Fortunately, different tires would cost a lot less than the level 5 if that is an issue.

The 2010+ models are coming with a variety of tires today.  They've got the following as OE tire models:

• Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 (195/65R15)
• Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02 (215/45R17)
• Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 (215/45R17)
• Yokohama Avid S33D (195/65R15)

The Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 was tested in the Tire Rack test, and did pretty favorably, but as it's a different tire model, the performance of the EP20 may vary.  Interestingly, if you examine the tread pattern of the Ecopia EP20 and the Insignia SE200, they're near identical.  The Insignia SE200 is already an OE-type tire, likely with a fairly low rolling resistance, and it may be that the Ecopia EP20 is simply a re-engineered SE200 with a different tread compound.

The on-paper data of the EP20 isn't inspiring.  It only comes with 8/32" of tread new, and only rates a 380BB in the UTQG label.  It's also on the expensive side for tires in this size, at $85 from Tire Rack.  The apparently very similar Insignia SE200 (with the same UTQG rating) is only $62.  We'll see how these tires perform in the field as more of the 2010 Pri' are fielded and owners report their experience with this tire (and others that come as OE on this car).

Whoa!  Sorry about that.  Will refrain from that in the future.

Are you positive that the 15 inch steel wheels are lighter than the 17 inch alloys?

I'm not positive on the weight of the 15" wheels, but am positive that they're not steel wheels: they are real alloy wheels, just like the 17" ones.  They use a plastic cover over the wheel to aid in aerodynamics (just as the 2nd gen Prius 15" alloys did), but the wheel is a full alloy wheel.  The weight of the 2nd gen Prius 15" alloy wheel is right at 14 pounds.  I'd expect the 3rd gen 15" alloys to be very similar.

One other thing I can tell you here, in terms of choosing between the 15" and 17" tires, is to look at some of the things tire manufacturers do to get (very) low rolling resistance.

As an example, I will use two 'T'-rated Cooper tires, the CS4 and the new GFE (which I guess stands for 'Great Fuel Economy').  To help achieve better mileage, one trick is to have a little less rubber in contact with the road.  So in a 195/65R15 size, the CS4 has a tread width of 6.18".  The GFE's is only 5.85" - about 1/3 of an inch less.

Because working against that, the trend for the last good number of years (on all cars) has been to both bigger wheels and lower-profile tires on them.  Note that the 17" size on the Prius has a '45-series' tire on it.  Numbers like that used to be reserved for specialty applications and stock cars.  And to say the least, these bigger numbers will not get better mileage than a 65, 70 or even 75 series tire.

So with the trend working against great fuel economy, other things had to be done.  That is why very few of the GFE-type tires have tested out very well in CR tests up until now.  Which is what makes the Michelin Primacy MXV4 that much better of a breakthrough.

So do expect a bit of a mileage hit on 17" tires and wheels.  And expect even more if you want to choose a replacement tire that excels in areas other than fuel economy.

Again, thanx for writing.

And a second thing about tire width (or third, or fourth) is that the aerodynamic signature of a wider tire is, well, wider.  As the car moves through the air the width of the tires is as much of an obstacle to oncoming air as anything else, like mirrors, wipers, etc.  With a wider tire to move air around, more drag is created.

Very little about wider and/or lower profile tires equates to better fuel economy.  Quite the opposite generally.  And with a quality tire, the difference in "safety" (like handling, braking) is going to be extremely small.