New Prius owner (2010 genIII) .I love the car so far.( 800 mi.).My only complaint is the hard ride on local paved bumpy roads.Highways are fine.My OE tires are Yokohama Avid.I've asked numerous tire dealers about changing tires and can't get a straight answer.I've driven other front wheel drive cars and know they are harder riding,but not this bad. I checked the air pressure as per door panel label.Does anyone have any experience with this matter? ron390
I guess the term hard ride is relative to what you are comparing it to. My Prius has a firmer ride than the Jeep GC that I used to have but about the same as my wife's Honda Accord. I would assume that this is typical to the Japanese cars. I increased my tire pressure from the Toyota recommended 35/33 to 40/38 and it still does not feel like a hard ride to me. I also have the Yokohama Avid tires.
The roads surface has a lot to do with the ride. I have a lll V with Michelein low profile tires on 17" rims. The ride does change with the road surface. I have a portion of road (6 miles) that really needs to be re-urfaced. It does ride hard over these roads. It will get better when you get more mileage. The suspension parts will seat etc. Let me know how it rides after3-4k miles.
I really do not notice the ride We have a 3 series with 17's and a pick up with 16's With the pick up I can drive over pot holes and do not feel a thing I would hate to feel it if I had 20's on I do want to switch to 17 for Prius for the handling but if they coming out with a wagon I would want 17s there and the wife can run on 15's I am so confused
