MadHungari

My SC as a GT is transformed to an NT (Noisy Touring) during Interstate travel at 70-80 mph. Tire noise is the major contributor to the transformation. It is time to purchase new NRF tires to replace the old NRFs now on the car. Suggestions/your experiences re. quiet grand touring tire will be appreciated. Ditto noisy tires to be avoided. And a search did not identify threads directly addressing this topic.

KBALL

I think very few here choose a grand touring tire.
Most either a summer ultra high or all season ultra high.

You can always refer to tirerack. They have a survey results section for each category of tire as well as many individual reviews you can filter by car if you want.

Good luck

marksblusc

iTrader: (1)

I'm running Kuhmo Ecsta SPT - summer tire. Don't like them - they ping when hitting bumps and flat spot horribly overnight. Takes 3 miles to round out. Have had great success with Michelin products. A high end tire shop told me to stick with either Michelin or Continental, since they are the roundest tires you can buy. I can't wait to get rid of these Kumho's.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

I use the continentals , I get the flat spot for about a mile but that ok with me.

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

I have had the Continental DWS tires for the last 3 years or so and I am about to change them at 40K miles. All 4 are worn evenly and I have been very happy with the performance. I was just going to buy another set, but I talked to Continental and they suggested their new tire the,Pure Contact with Eco plus technology. They claim better ride and longer tread life. It is a low rolling resistance tire and I think I will give it a try. It is a V vs. Y service description, but V is fine with me.

FLYCT

I have 2 SC430s. One has Continental DWS and the other has Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

We drive I-75 between Fort Lauderdale to Sarasota several times a month at 75 MPH.

Both tires are quiet, with the Michelins the quietest.

The DWS tires flat spot when the car sits for several days and it takes 3-4 miles for the shakes to resolve

I really like the Michelins but they are Summer tires, not all weather. They do great in on wet roads but we never see snow as you know, in South Florida.

Jerry

thombiz

I am one of those "very few" who switched to Grand Touring tires and I couldn't be more pleased. I wanted a smoother quiet ride than the runflats that were on the car. To get this ride, I switched to 17" Work VS-KF wheels so I could go with tires with taller "sidewalls". The tires I chose are Michelin MXV4 Primacys 225/55R17. They are absolutely superb! The taller sidewalls absorb more of the small to medium bumps most road have, and the tires are exceptionally quiet. Based on the 8 months they have been on the car, I should get about 60,000 miles out of them.

If you want to use 18" wheels, you might look into 45 or 50 series tires to get taller sidewalls and a smoother quiet ride, like a Michelin Primacy 245/45R18.

Note: you will need to disengage the TPMS https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-...pm-system.html and purchase a donut spare, like one from a Mazda RX8. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-...unk-space.html

Tire Rack lists the Michelin MXV4 as a "GRAND TOURING All Season" tire: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/michel...elin-tires.jsp

KBALL

Think the OP was asking about grand touring tires.
Again, not sure many of us have experience with that category on our cars.

KBALL

OTOH...this is good to know as im looking at the primacys (mxm4 tho) for my acura wagon in the next year.

MadHungari

Thanks for the input--it looks like the way (for me) to go is with the Continental PureContact with EcoPlus Technology (Grand Touring All-Season) tire. Tire Rack survey numbers (below--the categories would not copy) indicate the only areas in which the tire scores as less than "Superior" are Deep Snow Traction (8.5) and Ice Traction (8.3), both of which are "Excellent." And very reasonably priced as well (less than $700 for a set of four). Comments?

"Results based on 81 submissions of our online (Tire Rack) tire survey:
Surveyed Averages 1 100% 8.7 9.3 9.4 8.9 9.2 9.1 9.0 8.5 8.3 9.1 8.9 9.6 253,535"

The TPMS is already disengaged, and a Mazda RX8 spare already resides in the spare tire well. But thanks for the comment.

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

Like I said, I spoke with Continental customer service and they said unless you just have to have Y service rating the Pure Contact is a better tire. I will be interested to see how the OP likes them. I will be getting mine in late August. In the past, I have ordered my tires from Tire Rack. Both Firestone and Merchants say they can't get the Conti DWS or Pure Contact. I checked with one of the locally owned shops and they said they can get them and would match Tire RAcks price. I always like to buy local when they are competitive. It makes warranty issues easier if you buy local.

MadHungari

More to ponder. Although the Tire Rack consumer surveys give a clear advantage to the Continentals, its road tests greatly favor the Michelin Primacy MXV4 (Grand Touring All-Season) in three of four categories, with the fourth category a virtual tie with the Continentals. The survey results for the Michelin are below. Perhaps survey results are tempered by the differing expectations of the typical buyers of the two brands? By the way, when you look up OCD in the DSM, you see my picture.

Surveyed Averages 3 92% 8.1 8.6 8.6 8.6 9.1 8.7 7.8 7.0 7.0 9.0 8.8 8.7 16,800,695

And I agree, it is better to buy local, despite a small amount of guilt about using Tire Rack for research but not for a purchase.

thombiz

I chose the Michelin Primacy based on the surveys and tests, but also based on plenty of Michelin dealers available should I need to replace a tire midway thru it's service life. I live in south Texas, so snow and ice driving weren't even considerations.