Dear All,

I have searched the forum and have spoken with Lexus and am aware that the bridgestones and Dunlops are considered OE on the RX.

Thing is, I don't rate the Bridgestones at all (too hard a material which doesn't quite give the grippy drive I like especially when wet) - and the Dunlops, well I've never been a fan of them, but have driven a few other RX that have them fitted and they do seem to offer the grippy drive I like but don't instill the greatest confidence in me at speed

My preference is always for Michelin (thanks to Costco) but the 235/55 R18 isn't a tyre size Michelin make...so I am looking for alternatives. my other brand of choice is Continental - who do make tyres appropriate for the RX - so i was wondering if anyone has had any experience of Conti's fitted to their RX (or other brands at all?) that could help me with my choices?

There is a part of me that would prefer the Conti's [over the Dunlops] TBH, but to keep things OE I may g with the Dunlops.

Any thoughts/feedback welcome!

Have you tried Goodyear? That maybe a good compramise for what your looking for.

I've never driven an RX on bridgestones, but I thought the potenzas on my uncles IS weren't so bad. I guess on a bigger/heavier vehicle like yours these elements are more exaggerated...

At the minute am using Pirelli Scorpions, much quieter than the Toyos, and are a good tyre for wet roads, took advantage of Kwik-Fit's promotion, they did all four for £530 fitted /balanced and tracked.
They've now done almost 4k in 2 months and treads as good as new. Plus the little yellow scorpion on each tyre looks nice.
Just my opinion tho. Cheers Nev

Thanks for the replies - TBH the Pirelli's I hadn't even considered because I have had very bad experienced with their P6000 tyres on two different cars. I am therefore reluctant to have them on my RX. I think I will have to do some research on them - but the yellow scorpion is kinda cool

I am leaning towards the Conti's because they are not only OE on the XC90, X5 and Cayenne - they are designed specifically for 'high performance' SUVs. I am surprised at the lack of tyre choice for the RX.

Appreciate the feedback tho' ...

When I had 18s on my RX I had the Continentals fitted. Really good tyres, never a problem. Same type as on the Porsche Cayene

Came new with Toyos as OE; so I stayed with Toyos when necessary to replace; 60K later, still content with Toyos.

This would seem to be preference although the Bridgestones on my former RX300 gave near 30,000 miles on the front.

I like the Proxes (on my PUG 205 GTi ) and even the Ecsta's too - but I'm not quite sure I'd be happy with them on my SUV.

Perhaps its a bit of badge/label snobbery - I don't know - but I feel much 'safer' with something like Michelin's/Conti's.

I still have some ways to go before I have to decide on what to do

I switched to Dunlops - lot quieter but only get about 16-18K out of them

using p-zero scorpions at the moment, a very high performance suv tyre and a lot better than my old dunlops.

Slightly "left of field" suggestion but have you tried Vredestein Ultrac SUV Sessanta? Yes I know you have probably never heard of them, but the non-SUV tyre (Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta) won the Auto-Express tyre review three years in a row and recently came second in the Evo magazine tyre round-up.

On US forums, the SUV tyres are very highly rated too. The thread pattern looks superb too (if you care what your tyres look like! )

I have also put my money where my mouth is and bought a full set for the Aristo and when the Bridgestones on the RX300 wear down I think I will be going for the Vredestein Ultrac SUV Sessanta's tyres too

Info:
http://www.vredestein.nl/Banden_Bandtypes....p;BandtypeID=61

http://www.srt8oc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12830

http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66803

Hi Anees - hows your 330d Sport?

I did consider the Verdstein (sp?) - but my thoughts are like those for the Kumhos TBH...

However, I am always a little wary of US reports on tyres because the compounds tend to be different to those sold here in the UK/EU. I would consider them for say my PUG, but not the SUV. I am a firm believer however of paying for consumables like tyres and brakes (IE: not skimping) as these are safety critical items. if in doubt, I'd stick with branded/OE.

I really do appreciate people's contributions as I hope others in the future will find this thread useful.

I am curious to learn how people find the road noise and [wet] handling in the Pirellis and Dunlops? I know they should have a softer compound and therefore be prone to wearing out quicker, but thats the trade-off you make for grip vs. wear.

Hi mate,

The oil burner is great! Pulls like a train and returns great economy - love it! The trouble is once you get used to all that torque its hard not to love it! I took some arty pics last week after a clean but won't post them on here for fear of reprisals!

Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta are a premium tyre in Holland and I read many reviews on different mainly UK forums (Evo, BMW M5, Supra, Club Lexus, Subaru, MX5), tyre review websites, and magazines etc before deciding on them for the Aristo. In fact I could have paid LESS and got Goodyear Eagle F1 but I firmly believe in the quality of the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta tyres - the are rated better in the wet then the Eagle F1 which is really saying something!! They will wear quicker then some tyres but with me only doing limited miles in the Aristo, thats not a problem.

I agree with you 100% on not skimping on tyres and brakes, but with the Vredestein I don't believe I have skimped at all. I actually have a set of Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tyres that I bought a few months back ready to go on my BMW when it needs it, but I am considering using Vredestein rubber instead.

I will agree that I am talking about car tyres, rather then SUV tyres so respect your option to stick with a better known brand, however if you do your homework I don't think you will have anything to worry about. But like you say, if you don't know you stick with what you know

There ya go mate, this site might help in your quest it is an American site though, so ratings could be different to the ours in the U.K. http://www.1010tires.com/tirereviews/Pirel...re_reviews.html
Hope it helps Nev
P.S that little yellow fellas got to ya hasn't he lol

After much deliberation I have decided to go with a full set of Continental Conti-Cross Contact UHP tyres for our RX.

When we bought our car it came with a set of Bridgestones. I hated these tyres from the off but as they were a full set of spanking new tyres, I couldn't really complain I am very particular when it comes to my vehicles and like things 'just so' - right to the finest detail and the Bridgestones never 'felt right' for me. Being of a harder compound [if compared to the Dunlops/Michelin/Conti's] - they have been acceptable in terms of road noise and handling, but for me their cornering ability and grip in the wet has not instilled the greatest confidence in me.

After almost exactly two (2) years and 15K miles they have worn down to 3/4/3 uniformally, this includes one rotation, and I am happy to get rid of them...flicking through the previous invoices I see the supplying Lexus dealer costed each tyre at £132.12 (+VAT). So I took this as my base cost for pricing replacements. Many of you may (or may not) know but the tyre size of the RX is 235/55 R18 rated at 99V OR 100V - a size that is not common

Being a Costco Customer, I always buy Michelin, but surprisingly Michelin UK do not produce a suitable sized tyre (this includes the Diamaris (sp?)). But if they did, the tyre would cost circa £165 (inc.) but as they are running a 20% off promotion shortly, this would reduce the per tyre cost to £135 (inc.) - so I am now sure that the target price I should be looking to pay for any replacement is about £130 - £135 (inc.) - remember this is fully fitted.

Just out of interest, I did phone a couple of Dealers but they would only provide Dunlops as an alternative (as they are OE) and they were coming in anywhere up wards of £675; a price I am sure I could have negotiated down close to £600 - but I will have the Conti's fitted at my local tyre place for £600 all in - which is a little higher than my target price but one I feel is worth paying.

Once fitted I hope to post back my experiences at regular intervals (with pictures - because we LOVE pictures ) so that it might help others.

Many thanks to those who contributed. I very much appreciate it.

Currently own a Volvo XC90, on the Volvo Forums the Conti's last for about 13,000 miles (18,000 miles if you are a careful driver). Most of them are changing to Nokian WR. A volvo dealer "confessed" that they make money by fitting conti's. 1 user got 63000 miles and still has thread left on the tyres.

I know that you have already but the tyres, just wanted to make everyone aware.

Still got the Lex by the way.

This has been a very interesting thread. I've just changed from Dunlops to Bridgestones. I did 36,000 on the Dunlops (one change at 20,000 on the fronts) and have driven 1,000 on the Bridgestones. I would have liked to have got the Michelins from CostCo - 20% but they only do a 235/60 and not a 235/55. This is only about 12mm extra in diameter which seems insignificant to me but they said it would not be sensible and to stick to the exact sizing. What a pity.
I wished I had stuck with the (cheaper) Dunlops now. I find the RX a very hard ride and the Bridgestones seem to make the ride even harder with a noticeable increase in tyre noise. Maybe they will last longer but I'd go for better grip and a nicer ride myself.
I didn't get a quote on Continentals. Are they as hard as the Bridgestones ?
Alan.

Had Kumhos all weather great tread wear and excellent performance especially in winter when temperature is low, a few people slagged them off on here but the proof is in the using and i can say they are a lot better than the other brands mentioned above IMHO

Dealers, by their very nautre, push certain products and services, because they make them the msot profit. TBH it never occured to me to read the foruii (forums?) for the XC90 and the like which have Conti's as OE - so thank you for sharing that!

As for the Conti's themselves, they are a softer compound and I expect them to provide about 15K miles. The Bridgestones (for me at least) were too hard [a compound] and didn't provide the levle of grip I like. Hard compound tyres do (or are supposed to) give longer life but will give less adhesion - so it is always a trade-off.

I have high hopes for the Conti's (both in terms of tyre life and general wear) and can't wait for them to scrub in

I think I will have to see the Kumhos (tread pattern and tryre itself) before I am convinced - perhaps see if I could get a ride in an SUV that has them. With my fmaily travelling in the RX - I need peace of mind and assurance that I have done verything possible to give them the safest ride posisble.

I hope this thread becomes useful to others as they look to change tyres

As the Conti's have now been fitted for some 300 miles - and scrubbed in - I thought I should post back my thoughts:

The tyres are every bit as grippy as I had hoped and road noise is much less than the crapstone tyres I had before. The RX feels much more stable and planted on the road, grip is excellent in the dry and every bit as good in the wet. These tyres have an excellent tread pattern, which no doubt contributes to their wet handling, but also being marked up at 100V (and Ultra high Performance) well suited to motorway cruising.

I expect them to wear quicker than the crapstones - after all these are of a softer compound - but the trade-off between grip and longevity is one that I am prepared to make towards grip. If I can get 15K - 18K out of them (with one rotation) then I would be happy.

If anyone is debating whether or not to plump for these, I would say that these are worth a try...but only if you can get them at the right price.

Thats good to hear....I have presently been running with the Pirelli Scorpion STR tyres....and they have been totally brilliant wet or dry, excellent wet grip and nice and quiet on the cruise....very happy with them, but I will be replacing them soon and a few months ago managed to obtain a set of Conti UHP's (they worked out at only £90 each 255/55x18) so I am pleased to hear your experience with them so far, it reinforces my research on them...excellent news.

Best regards David

255/55 - Don't you mean 235/55 mate?

I'd be wary of fitting a tyre size that is not OE onto any of my cars for any potential insurance considerations.

Price per tyre is cracking - are you sure they're EU legal and not imports (that lack the neccessary and legal markings to allow them to be used on our roads)?

No, I mean 255/55......these will actually bring the speedo reading to the correct output. They are slightly wider for sure, but at only 10mm each side of the wall not enough to worry about AFAIAC.......already I am using the Mk2 wheels rather then the original Mk1.....

Yes they are totally EU marked up fully compliant in fact I don't think you'll find Conti actually make non EU compliant tyres in the UHP range.

And if the insurance company want a fight I'll challenge them to a braking/cornering contest between the Contis and the OE Toyo's and see who becomes a tractor first?

Best regards David