What are the advantages-disad of directional tires? Quieter? But can not be cross rotated?

 

I have no driving experience with the Yoko Spec-X but I have a lot of miles on Yokohama AVS directional tires on my MR2 and they wear well enough albeit they are somewhat noisy. I have different sizes front to back on the MR2 so I can't rotate them at all. With the Spec-X you can at least rotate them front to back on the RX. That said, I love the Alenzas on my RX330 and they are still quiet after 35,000 miles of mostly highway driving.

The Yoko Spec-X, like the Michelin MXV4, has no treadlife warranty. They have similar UTOG rating of 420-440 so I'd expect similar mileage. The Alenzas come with a 65,000 treadlife warranty and a UTOG rating of 600. At 7k per year you probably would not wear any of these out in 5 years.

 

Curious to know how you came to this conclusion.

 

Saw too many reivews on tirerack with the same complaint, and people saying the tire becomes unusable after going thru some potholes. I'm sure these extreme cases are rare, but I'm looking to use my next set for 5-7 years, so I don't want to take a risk. I'd rather pay a little extra to get a solid set.

 

I hated my Mich MXV4 they are terrible sounding and handle like crap. I went with a more aggressive Toyo Proxies STII, with a 255/50/18. I think they were quieter and smoother overall than the MXV4.

 

We put the alenza's on in November and have been extremely happy.(We had the micheln's....only got 28,000 out of them) My wife report thats the handling has improved greatly, as that has always been a complaint of hers. Overall a great tire for the price and the tread wear warranty a bonus.

 

Wow! This is disheartening to me. =/

I was planning on the Continental DWS as my next set of tires after the stock Michelins burn off. But with hearing this news I think I will need to rethink my position and research for a different all-season tire.

 

How much did you pay for the Alenza's? I called my local firestone, and they quoted me $950 out the door, which seems quite high.

 

phillydude, those Bridgestone Alenzas in 235/55/18 size are going for $700 from the Tire Rack. I'd say that an extra $250 for shipping, mounting, balancing and old tire disposal is excessive. I bought my set 3 years ago for $750 out the door and it included free tire rotations and a road hazard warranty. I got the best deal at Tires Plus locally but have ordered from Tire Rack several times in the past and would not hesitate to do so again. FWIW, they do have a list of tire places that will mount and balance your tires in your local area. You can usually have your tires drop shipped to the place of your choosing and have them call when your tires are in and ready to mount.

So yes, $950 seems like it is quite high. I'd look around for a better deal. Occasionally these tires come with a special offer so if you can afford to wait a couple months just keep checking the Tire Rack price. Those special deals usually occur about every quarter.

Last point, the Tire Rack tires always were fresh. Some of the tires I purchased in the past from B&M stores were over a year old. Tires don't age well and if you want them to last 5-7 years you want fresh tires.

 

Thanks jfelbab! Great information, I think I'll order from tire rack. I'm highly confused between the Alenza's and Yokohama Parada speck-x, can't convince myself to decide on one

 

How much were the Toyo's out of the door?

 

I put the alenza's on in september, and since then the handling of my RX is much better then the Michelin's. The main downside was the loss of fuel mileage (not using the computer, but calculating it myself). Previously I was getting 320 mi per tank, and now im getting 285-290 mi per tank.
Aside from that, I am happy with the tire. I have driven in snow a few times (southeastern PA) this year and had no issues.
Costco was running a deal of 70 off 4, so I paid 780 out the door for all of them installed (18" rims).

 

We paid $765.00 out the door for the 18 inch tires at costco, had a coupon for $70.00 off.

 

When I have seen those types of comments, it was usually on the lower profile series (i.e. 19" tires on Audi's, BMW's, etc) ... have you seen that type of comment specifically against the RX?

 

Also, are you going to get 4 or 5? Don't forget the spare. Then, you can do a 5 tire rotation if you want.