The all-season Toyo Proxes A20 has been selected as original equipment on the premium model 2010 Toyota Prius V. The eco-friendly Proxes A20 offers lower rolling resistance while still maintaining wet and dry braking performance, which is important for safe driving. Prius V owners will also enjoy the quiet, comfortable ride and the handling performance of the Proxes A20, Toyo said. Tirereview - Global Tire News
I think the carefully worded press release is saying that Toyo will be "A" supplier of tires, not "THE" supplier of tires -- without clearly pointing out the difference.
Here is their press release: Toyo Tires® Press Releases - Tem Toyo® Drivers Score Back-to-Back Wins in Drag Racing and Autocross
I got the Proxes on my V - initially hoping for the Bridgestones. Can't say I'm not happy - but, wouldn't necessarily call it a "quiet ride". Of course don't know if the source is tires, insulation, suspension mounting, etc. But - overall the '10 is a very quiet car - little wind rush or other sounds. On less-than-perfectly-smooth asphalt tire roll is noticeable at speed. This said, the ride is quite good (39/38lbs) for such low profile tires. And they are super attractive tires and really like the convex ridge along the sidewall - potentially saving scraping wheels on curbs. And I got a screw lodged into the tread with 400 miles on the car. Ready to bring it into a tire dealer for repair, but decided to unscrew it myself. Luckily it was 3/8" in length and did not puncture the cord. Phew.
The Toyo wet braking performance declaration is a misnomer. I went into a skid on wet pavement while braking, traveling at the rate of 20 mph. I just missed hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk and nearly caused a multi-car pile up behind me when the anti lock braking system kicked in. Not something I want to experience again.
I would think that these hard rubber compound tires for low rolling resistance, (and even more so if they are hyper-inflated,) would have a tendancy to do that.
I didn't look closely yet, but I'll assume my Bridgestones have the specs listed on Tire Track and thus have a tread wear rating of 260. The rest of the tires on the V's have a 400 rating. I had the same tire brand and model on my TCH and wore two sets out at 24,000 miles each before switching to Michellin's. It didn't bother me at the time because my dealer had a "tires for life" program and I didn't pay for them. But even with that I convinced them to let me pay extra for some Michellin's (even though the list price was about the same)
FYI, Following is a copy of my post about Bridgestone press release. ----- Bridgestone OE tires for 2010 Prius (Japanese only) Bridgestone Japan published a press release telling following all-season tires are for the US market. 195/65R15 89S ECOPIA EP20 215/45R17 87V TURANZA EL400 Ken@Japan
Go to google translator (google.com and then click on "Language Tools") and use translate japanese -> english. It can translate a complete web page and all links on the page work also. Only graphics stay unchanged. Works astonishing good. hope this helps
