Toyo is a brand that is most known for its high-performance racing and sport tires, but the NanoEnergy A41 is about as far away from those things as you can get. It only comes in one size, lasts forever, and is optimized for getting good gas mileage.
Quick Facts
- Type: All-season P
- Sizes: 15″
- Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG): 300 B B
- Speed Rating: S-T
- Warranty: N/A
- Price: $$
What Sets It Apart
Toyo’s NanoEnergy line is made specifically to get the best gas mileage out of a car that is possible. That’s why Priuses come from the factory with these tires installed; those cars are pretty much the definition of a fuel-economy-focused commuter.
The thing that makes the NanoEnergy A41s even more appealing is the fact that they will last forever. There are numerous reports of people getting over 100k miles out of a set. That means the average car buyer who has a set of A41s will replace their car before replacing their tires.
Comfort and Performance
The Toyo NanoEnergy A41 is average in most categories. Road noise is acceptable, but they are not particularly quiet. They also don’t handle particularly well. You won’t be drifting through intersections or anything like that, but you will notice that they seem to actively discourage spirited driving.
Which makes sense considering that the target audience for these tires is Prius drivers. Realistically, these tires just are not for anything other than cruising at highway speeds and squeezing every ounce of fuel economy out.
They’ll keep you on the road in the rain, they’ll keep your car moving on dirt trails, and you’ll be ok when it first starts to snow. Turn up the dial even a little on any of those conditions, though, and you’ll wish you were running a different set of tires. Especially if the snow starts to really come down, you’ll want to make sure you have socks or cables stowed away if you live where the plows roam.
Safety and Durability
When it comes to safety, it’s the same story as comfort and performance. These tires are adequate. They will bring you to a stop. They are unlikely to hydroplane, and it’s very unlikely that they will fail prematurely.
What they will do is last forever, which is why they cost more than their similar MPG-oriented competitors like the General AltiMax RT43s. They are specially engineered to work well as a highway tire without needing to be replaced frequently. Toyo is very proud of that fact. It’s part of the reason Toyota themselves are willing to call the NanoEnergy A41s “standard equipment.” That’s high praise from a company that has built itself on being reliable and long-lasting.
It’s a good thing they are so well-built because there’s no warranty. Toyo simply doesn’t have the size or the capital to offer any kind of crazy warranty, and the NanoEnergy A41s are so small and cheap that it’s impractical anyway. They are expensive Prius tires, but you’ll still save money if you simply replace one rather than fight on the phone with a tire company for hours.
Who It’s For
Generation IV Priuses come with this tire, so if you own a Prius and were happy with the tires when you bought it, then replacing them with identical tires is a good option. There are other tires that do well on a Prius, like the EP422s from Bridgestone that are a bit quieter and cheaper, but few will last as long or offer as much fuel economy as the NanoEnergy tires will.
It’s important to note that they aren’t just for Priuses. There are a handful of small cars with 15-inch wheels that would benefit from better fuel mileage. Aftermarket Geo Metros, subcompacts like Honda Fits, Ford Fiestas, and many vehicles from the 90s all have 15-inch wheels. If you own a car like that and do mostly highway driving, these Toyos might be a perfect fit for you.
