Hi all. I've had my 2007 prius for about a month and a half. Just passed the 150k mark this week. The tires needed replacing and my local tire shop hooked me up with a full set of Mastercraft avenger touring LSR (T) 185-65-15's with an 80k warranty. It's their top of the line tire. My research standing there looked like they were lrr's so I pulled the trigger. On the warn snow tires, I was steadily increasing my weekly average mpgs to almost 49. I was excited to get new tires hoping to break 50. Since I put the new sneakers on my mpg has tanked. This week down to 43. I have 42psi in each tire, and have even tried slowing to 55mph from my normal 58-62. I've clocked about 750 miles on the tires. Any suggestions? What am I missing? Thanks!!
I hope so. I've been looking and not finding much feedback on fuel economy with them. They are listed as lrr on most sites and the rest reference the materials as helping with lrr. iPhone ?
when i had new tyres put on the rear of my wife's 08 hycam, i told the guy i wanted lrr reasonable price quiet tyres. he put on master craft (no idea what model) and they seemed okay. i didn't notice a reduction in mpg's. prius might be more sensitive.
When I google that tire the first two hits I get don't give me much confidence that they are particularly LRR. Mastercraft Avenger Touring LSR Passenger & Light Commercial Tyre Reviews Australia www.mastercrafttires.com.au This user review claims poor fuel economy. Mastercraft Touring LSR Car Tyre Guaranteed to Last up to 80,000 km This from their Australian distributor make lots of claims, but very little of them related to LRR. Given the combination of what the OP is reporting and what 2 minutes of google searching showed up, I'd definitely have my doubts that these tire are really LRR. Unfortunately LRR is to some extent a marketing term these days, so nearly all tires (even non LRR ones) will mention something about LRR somewhere in their marketing blurb.
Master craft is made by cooper tire. I have them on my other car and they are excellent. IMHO My prius has Yokohamas
They are really nice tires. Good smooth ride. But my weekly avg. mpg has dropped from 49.5 to 43. I'm going to go talk them the shop tomorrow. iPad ?
Yeah that's a big percentage drop, 13%. You might find that you regain some of that as they break in, but with an initial loss that large I think you'll still be left with some deficit. BTW. Was there any other work done (or changes made) to the car coincident with getting the new tires? In particular, anything involving disconnecting the 12V battery.
I've got over 1k miles on them now and still no regain of mpg. No work done besides the tires. But actually last weekend my wife left the door open over night and killed the 12v. I disconnected it to recharge. This week I've gotten an avg of 43 again. iPhone ?
Ah, it always seems to be the case when chasing MPG issues that there's more than one factor at play. Some people do experience loss of reported MPG after having battery issues like you stated. You definitely lose historical data that can effect either the fuel economy and/or how accurately it's reported. I'd at least check that the battery is still in good health, and if so then wait for a few more full tanks worth of fuel to see how much it bounces back as the ECUs relearn. Then I suppose we'll have another complicating factor, as I assume the weather is finally starting to warm a little up there in "almost Canada".
HAHA, Ya. We've finally been seeing steady temps in the high 50's low 60's!! Actually I've been getting steady mpg's of 43 since the day after I put the tires on (since that was a fill up day). It was an immediate drop to 43, not a gradual drop. I was actually hoping after the dead battery when I saw things reset that maybe it just needed a good cold reboot but nope. I havn't checked the battery voltage this week since measuring before putting it back in. When I last tested it with maintenance screen, It was like 11.9v under load then.
Ok, it sounds like it must be predominately due to the new tires then. Like I said before, saying "LRR" can be used as something of a marketing term these days. I mean try to find a flashlight battery that doesn't say "long life" or a set of shock absorbers that doesn't say "heavy duty" if you know what I mean.
i suppose with 150k, it could be a coincidental hybrid battery issue. or maybe the 12v is failing. why not test it?
Back from the shop. They're going to get me into a set of Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Tires early next week. iPhone ?
Sounds good. Those Mastercraft tires might be long wearing, but that's not much benefit if they're costing you the equivalent of a set of new tires every 25000 miles in extra fuel costs. I just got 45000 miles (75000 km) out of a set of EP100's (a summer tire). The EP422's are reputed to be somewhat longer wearing and only slightly more rolling resistance than the EP100's. BTW. After you've had the new tires for a few weeks could you please update us on how much your MPG recovers. First hand comparisons like that are really useful.
I have the Mastercraft LSR's too - they came with the car (they were brand new at the time). They do not return good mpg's. I have to inflate them to 44f/42r to even give me a running chance at getting over 45mpg. I dont rotate them and I take corners real fast, lol. Im hoping they will wear out to give me an excuse to buy Ecopias!
Ok, got the ecopias today. Had to go out tonight for a meeting... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE TIRES. They glide like butter and the ride is super smooth. I'm already seeing a big difference in mpg. I'll give y'all a full mpg update in a week.
Update: 389 miles later and 7.3gallons. 53mpg!!!! Loving the new tires. The mfd said 48.x but fuelly says 53. iPhone ?
That's a great result after just 389 miles. I wouldn't get too excited about the Fuelly figure though. Gas pump averages are notorious for bouncing up and down from one tank to the next.
