I ordered them online from TireRack.com and had them shipped directly to a nearby tire shop, where I had them installed.

Thanks. I'll check them out. I also may rethink the Michelin's.

Howard

That's a strange comment. I cannot see a reason why any car would require "high pressure" tires. There are a lot of people here who run higher pressures, up to the max listed on the side wall. I wanted a tire with a 51 psi max, and I run them at 45 psi on my HCH. My stock Dunlops were also 51 max, and I also ran them at 45. However, I can say that Honda recommended the typical 32 psi, so apparantly higher pressure is not "requried".

BTW, I did my work at Discount Tire, who orders through TireRack anyway. They'll match the price, and I got their "warranty" or whatever it is. The Continentals were right around $500 installed.

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

I could not find the Dunlop SP20 either (OEM on my 03). I had to call Dunlop - turns out Sears carries them. However, I could not find them on the Sears web, or any other for that matter. Seems like it's a tire they made for Honda but don't market to the general public. The SP 31 may be the same way. If I remember correctly, the SP40 is the "LRR" tire they market to the public.

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

I got a set of Dunlop SP20s from Tirerack, mostly since they were $39 ea. Only complaint so far is I'm getting ~4-5mpg WORSE than the OEM Bridgestones on my '04 HCH. BTW, I got 73,000 miles out of the Bridgestones.

I'm glad they don't market the SP31 to the public. In anything but perfectly dry conditions, it's a poor tire. And the SP40 can go with it

I believe they have Dunlops at Tirerack.com for $68 a piece. They work fine for me here in New England and I think (my opinion)they are smooth and quiet riding. I remember when we bought my wife's 03 CR-V a few years ago and the original tires on that were horrible and loud!!

Yea. That's exactly what I don't want, lower mpg. I really like how well the Bridgestones have lasted.

I also thought the "higher pressure" tire comment was kinda weird. I think he meant that the Prius requires a LRR tire. (at least I hope that's what he meant)

Howard

My apologies if this states the obvious. When I got my new Continentals, mileage was miserable for the first 1000 miles (around 42). Now, in similar weather conditions, it's back up to 45-46. I attribute it to break in - which is part of the reason why I think a lot of new hybrid owners get low mileage initially. If you've already broken in your SP20's, that's a bummer. I ran them at 45 psi, and that seemed to help. In the summer I was getting 50-51 mpg on the Dunlops.

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

I agree. When people talk about the "break-in period" for hybrids, I'm pretty convinced that this really means two things:

- breaking in the tires, so they are not quite so grippy
- breaking in the human, so they are not quite so aggressive a driver