I have an 08 Prius. I recently needed to replace the factory tires. I went to Hibdons..they told me I needed special tires that were over $125 each...I was going to have them install the tires, but after learning it would take 3 hours, I left. I then went to TIRES PLUS....they quoted me $278 for all four tires (including mount/balance/tax, etc)....they also told me that I DIDN'T need special tires. They put the tires on my car and 15 minutes later I left. Immediately upon accelerating onto the highway via the entrance ramp, my engine sounded much different than it had before....almost like it was revving too high. I told my husband of this but he brushed it off until he drove it. Is this noise a result of the new tires? Is it something to worry about? It has been 3 weeks and I haven't had any trouble with the car or the tires, but still have the loud revving upon acceleration. Help please.
1. Did they put on the correct size (185/65R15)? It's printed on the side of the tire. They probably did, but it's best to check. 2. What kind of tire, and specifically, are they "low rolling resistance" (LRR) tires? The original "Goodyear Integrity" tires were LRR. Either of these can have an effect. If they are the same as the originals then any change in the engine sound is almost certainly a coincidence.
They are Arizonian Silver Edition - same size as original tires. They told me it was not necessary to get LRR tires. Does that help any?
Hmm, I can find nothing that describes those tires as LRR. Check the tire pressures: they should be at least 35/33 PSI front/rear. Many people use higher pressures, up to the max given on the tire itself, to get better MPGs. But if the tires were so soft that they noticeably increased the load on the engine the fuel economy would drop drastically. Perhaps the noise is coming from the tires themselves? Brand-new treads have moulding flash and whatnot sticking out of them that can add noise.
I think that the Low Rolling Resistance Tires are very important. The louder motor noise is probably due to the car has to work harder with higher rolling resistance tires, and you probably will see a decrease in gas mileage, if you were keeping track of that before the tire change.
We replaced the tires on our car with the Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS Pole Position at the same size as the original Goodyears. We already put about 20K miles on the Bridgestones and had the Goodyears for about 40K miles. Though the Bridgestones are not LRR tires, there was no noticable change in gas mileage, we used to get 46-48 on average and we get pretty much the same MPG since the tires were replaced. The major dfference was in the dynamics of the car, suddenly, the car has grip! Braking is much improved and the steering response is f-a-r better. FWIW, Moti
