First, let me apologize for my totally rude, uncalled for, uncivilized post of a couple of months ago. I can only say that my wife and I had been under tremendous stress with the prolonged illness of our adult daughter and helping her hubby daily in the care of our two very active grandgirls. But this certainly does not justify my posting such an inflammatory message. I just don't really know what got into me that night.

Now, about the Yokohama YK520's.....I've had a set on my '01 Volvo V70 T5 wagon for about 15,000 miles with barely perceptible wear - a time when most of the other brands of high performance all season tires were done for, even super high-priced Michelin Pilot Sports. Handling and traction are very good and predictable, with an astounding improvement in ride quality and tire noise. FE was a bit better, it seemed. Torque steer with the 247 hp FWD setup is minimal now (scary with the Mich.'s), and tracking is superb. I will replace my HiHy's Integrity's with these in 15-20,000 miles, now with 30,000 and in good shape. The YK520's have a max inflation pressure of 51psi for the hypermilers to try out.

I think they are (or were in '06) available only at America's Tire discount stores, which has about 600 stores nationwide. Their price for the 225/65 R-17 is $145, with a 60,000 mi tread warranty:

http://www.americastire.com/dtcs/fin...d=009989&ar=65

Again, my most sincere apologies,

Rubbish-mouthed, Mush-brained, "Deadwood Pete"

 

Pete - Your a bigger man than most here on the internet. I commend you for your well thought out post. This shows a dignity and education that too few demonstrate here in this modern time. I too would like to apologize for my unnecessary response and move on to bigger things.

Since the Goodyear shop that was doing the credit for me could not get the Yoko 520s, I went forward with the Fortera's. The price-matching brought the retail price down to $155 (I took my wife out for lunch on the unplanned additional $12 savings). The tread credit was $62.67/tire so in the end it cost me $401.26 for them to pull the old Integritys off and throw the new Fortera's on.

Day two observations - Although the Fortera's look like a off-road mudder tire, they do NOT ride noisy at all. In fact, being new they actually "seemed" quieter than the OEM tires so that was a welcomed blessing. The traction on these things is PHENOMENAL. I took advantage of a winter storm coming our way to take the truck up to the NC mountains for a bit of skiing in the evening after they had put the tires on yesterday morning. The drive up was nice with weather in the 40's (the storm was delayed by about 12 hours so instead of snowing in the morning, it was scheduled to snow around 6pm). So, this gave me about 100 miles to break in the new tires. 50% interstate and 50% mountain goat (winding curves at various speeds from 60MPH down to 15MPH). The advertising for these things was right on. They handled the dry stuff better than any other SUV tire I've ever had (including the Michelin's that came on our Lexus GX470). I skied until I dropped (literally) and the weather came in HARD and it snowed the ENTIRE time. Leaving the slopes I had a good 3-4 inches of snow on the ground to work with. These tires never once missed a beat. Traction was fantastic on snow and slippery roads (a few side roads were wet and slushy). I didn't get to try the black ice (fortunately) but no tire can handle that stuff. I do know that I do want to see how the volcanic particles in these tires react to help it grip on ice. Seems like an ingenuous approach to tire manufacturing (embedded particle in the rubber in one section of the tread).

Epilogue - At the rate which me and my wife use this vehicle (12K/year) we are hoping that we won't be replacing tires again for another 5 years. When we do I will come back on here and provide a final review.

Bunka...

 

Thanks for your more than generous reply, Bunka.

I love the Smokies and Blue Ridge, having grown up in the Atlanta area and lived there for the better part of 60 years, a son and his family in Asheville until recently, and four years in Durham in med school where he was born. We moved to Monterey CA a year ago to be near our girls and their families.

Had a chance to try out the Integritys in packed snow on a steep grade up Horse Mtn. East of Eureka on SR 199 in N. Cal. last week, temp at freezing. Did just fine with a pretty good load, only occasional 4WD mode, no sidesliping, etc. Most folks had their chains on, including a standard Highlander 4WD going down who was very spooked. We did take it real slowly as there were no side barriers and some steep drops.

Good to hear the Forteras are working well - another good choice to consider. I like the more aggressive tread, too, as we plan to do more winter exploring/forest service road travel if and when everyone gets well here.

Pete

 

I have the OEM Michelins and the Highlander currently is at 15K miles. I rotated the tires at K , 10k and 15 k using the spare in the rotation. The tires have worn down 3/32" in the 15 k miles. The total usable tread depth for this tire is 9/32" but 7/32" is more realistic if you don't want to risk hydroplaning just before the tires are replaced.

At the present wear rate, I will have 4/32" of tread left at 35k miles and I will be at the warning bars at 45k miles. The tire wear looks even and the car does not pull either right or left.

However, I just got a 4-wheel alignment today and found that the front toe was way off and was toed out instead of in. The mechanic was surprised that my tires weren't more worn due to the poor alignment condition.

I drive on smooth paved roads and have not hit pot holes, curbs or other road hazards that could have caused the misalignment in the 15k miles.

If your tires are wearing rapidly, its a good idea to get the alignment checked even if you don't notice obvious uneven wear.

 

Just returned from the dealer for a 15K service on my 2007 Highlander Hybrid and they warned me about tire wear. Looks like I may get 20K - we drive quite conservatively. They are the Goodyear Integrity. That's the worst tire wear I've ever gotten on any behicle I've owned.

 

For what it's worth... I went with the Goodyear Fortrera's last night. I certainly didn't get any of the discounts previously mentioned (my bad for not keeping current with the posts, I guess.). So I paid just shy of a grand, all told. As long as the tires last something close to 65-80K, I'll swallow that gladly.

I bought my tires at a Goodyear shop. I asked about the mileage warranty on the Integrity line. He said it 50K. I said I was shocked because more than a few of us HyHi owners were getting far less (I stretched it out to 28K but the tread was paper thin at the edges). He thought about it and gave me two possibilities, which I am posting as reasonable possibilities and not as assertions.

1) The Integerity is a car tire put on a SUV. Granted the Hilander is built on the Camry chasis, but the additional weight and usage puts extra stress on the tires.

2) In addition, the Hybrid versions of the Higlander weigh more due to the battery pack (think of it as if you are continually carrying one or two passengers extra).

Again, I am not stating these as being fact, it just sounded reasonable to me.

All that said though, and I know that it has been harped on before, but why would Toyota stick us with such inappropriate tires? That's rhetorical, but the way.

rw

 

I'd argue that the tires are appropriate to the most common usage of the vehicle - as a large passenger carrier - and the 225/65/17 Integritys are certainly up to the max. allowed vehicle weight of about 5600#, as I recall, and are much larger than the Camry's. At 44 PSI, the Integs. are rated at 7300# for four,

After 38,500 mi., I have about 5,000 estimated left - mainly highway/mountain miles with about half max GVW allowed, running at 32-35 psi. The tires are smooth, quiet, with predictable handling and decent snow performance, and I have rarely gotten such good service with Michelins, etc. on my Volvos.

I'm not a super-conservative driver, and wonder if my Integrity experience on the HiHy is unusual. I do rotate the spare along with the others, which should give a 20% increase in life - could see no reason to leave a new tire/wheel unused. I'll leave the best as spare when I replace tires.

Pete

 

Toyota uses Goodyear Integrity as original equipment tires for many of its vehicle lines including Prius. Those tires are relatively inexpensive and rolling resistance is relatively low from new, unlike some tires where you take an mpg hit until the tires break in.

However, like you, I found treadwear to be substantially below expectations.

 

I had a 1995 Toyota Landcruiser before I bought my Hybrid Highlander. I got 65,000 miles on the Michelins that came with the Landcruiser and was on my second set of tires at 150,000 miles, when I was hit, broadside, and my car was totaled. The tires on my 06 Hybrid were replaced at 31,000 miles and were almost totally bald! Now, I noticed the new tires are going bald at a total of 44,000 mi. Is this because of the electric motors and brake-energy recapture function of the hybrid charging system? I've never owned a car with such terrible tire wear. The Landcruiser weighed 5000lbs, and yet had better wear. Is this normal?

 

The first step is to get a four-wheel alignment done and get the numbers. Then look at what it takes to get all four wheels properly aligned and this may be difficult. Also, check the tire pressure. As a general rule, higher is better for more braking force and lower rolling resistance.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson