Sturds

Well my rx is due for some new tires, this will be the first set I've put on it since buying it, but I mainly wanted to poke around a bit and get some opinions. I'm kinda swayed toward the Nitro tires that were on the main forum page but they'd have to be special ordered in. Any thoughts on brands I currently have 225/70r16 from Michelin but I'm looking for something with a little better performance than those they're basic driving tires with 101s ratings, so feel free to leave your opinions whether they be good or bad.

2002RX300

I've always used CONSUMER REPORTS, with great success (IMHO). Even being in Florida I would think you would have to have all-season tires due to the torrential rainfalls. CONSUMER's rate the all-season MICHELIN LTX M/S 2 at the number 1 spot. I've had these tires now for 2 years, they are great tires.

I've also always used http://www.discounttire.com for all my tire purchases, usually the best prices and they match as well if found cheaper somewhere else. These MICHELIN's also get great reviews there.

trips1

Any recommendations on Kumho KR-21? I see they come with 85K miles warranty and with the price match each tire may cost around $100.

01rxwhite

I would research tires on tirerack.com and compare. You may want to balance performace with price, who knows. The Michelins are great tires for sure but pricey. I ran a set of the Kumho KR-21's and don't think they will get 85k. Kumho will not honor the warranty unless rotation and alignments are perfect. That said, my set of Kumho KR-21's got 43k miles. Even then, the KR-21 is still a good 40-45k tire for the price. Key word is price. If you compare, consider the KR-12 and KH-16. I have a set of KH-16's now and they are smooth and handle well. The KR-21's are a good rain tire and have good handling and for the price, they are a good value, even at 40-45k miles. The way I looked at it when purchasing them, was deciding if the Michelin's at twice the price of the Kumho's were worth the price difference? I did get 65k on a set of Bridgestone Dueler Alenza's on my RX and they are a great tire, but priced with the Michelin's at over $200 per time. So, $125/tire for a 45k Kumho or $225/tire for a 65k Michelin? Prices will vary, but the choice is yours.

mckellyb

Kumho KR-21's. Had a set of those on my wife's ride, shot in 30K miles. Five tire rotation, BTW.

Made. In. China.

Okay, they may have been a couple thousand miles from the wear bars, but I didn't want to risk her hydroplaning into a class-8 truck on the freeway.

I'd had Kumhos in the past, and was quite pleased with them. Not this time, though.

Wound up going to the other end of the spectrum with the BFG A/T ko's.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Definitely Michelin - if you can affiord them. otherwise, Tire Rack's surveys are a good resource.

Sturds

Thanks for the opinions right now I'm stuck between the Goodyear Assurance Comfortread Touring and the Michelin Integrity Touring, Im leaning more towards the Goodyear as on other vehicles I've had good luck with them and they are great with their insurance.

boxbrownie

I would tend towards the Michelin if your going for the heady heights of 1st name brands, head and shoulders above GY IMHO, as for the warranty.....over here in the UK we do not get any warranties of course as we tend to wear the tyres out faster, my average on the RX is around 15>20k miles a set driven mostly normally, very occasionally spirited.

If only they would give us at very least a 50k warranty on a set costing upwards of £600 ($930) here, must be all the corners we have?

01rxwhite

boxbrownie, I was about to say are we talking kilometers! Then, I figured it out. You're driving on the wrong side of the road and sitting on the wrong side of the RX to boot! HA! JK I think the warranties in the states are BS anyway. The tire manufacturers can get out of honoring it if they want to, claiming it was your car that caused the tires to wear prematurely.

IndyRX300

I have the exact same tires for about the same time frame. They do not wear at all. I would like for them to be a little more quiet on the road . The road noise could also be from worn suspension.

jbl-1985

Bought 4 Yokohama AVID TRZ tires 3 years ago for my '99 and now have nearly 20k miles on them now and the tread still looks like new. Love the way they ride too - probably not the best rolling resistance rated tires but I get 23mpg on the highway and that's pretty good for an RX300 comparatively.

trips1

Interestingly i currently have 31K miles on my Bridgestone Dueler Alenza and it seems i would get only another 2-3K more.
Discountire shop is ready to give me an approx credit of $75 or so as part of tread warranty.

boxbrownie

Are you sure about that? Seems here in the UK at least Lexus do not have to swap the steering wheel over to the wrong side of the vehicle........they just slap miles on the speedo and we are good to go!

Good luck with your tyre...oops tire search , and seeing where you are I think your correct in going for a touring design rather than a all weather (unless of course you cross country to colder climes a lot). After all these cars were primarily designed for comfort and refinement, not mud plugging across a mountain ranch.

mckellyb

After all these cars were primarily designed for comfort and refinement, not mud plugging across a mountain ranch.

Ahhh, but they can still do it!

jbl-1985

Interesting - I have a set of these Bridgestone's on my 2005 RX and have about 10k miles on them and of course they look new still, which doesn't say much given the mileage on them.

One thing of note is that these tires have caused my mileage to suffer by a good 2-3 mpg's when compared to the Michelins that came with the car, which I got 30k out of. Not sure I would buy the Bridgestones again for this reason. Otherwise, everthing else about them is good, ride, handling, etc.