Advice on choice of tyres

[fergie]

At the moment we have 'Bridgestone' S001 R17 tyres on our Lexus 300h which we don't feel we are getting good mileage from them.

Can anyone recommend the best tyres for our car. 

Quietness is important 

[NemesisUK]

For mileage I would always recommend Michelin tyres. I've also found they grip well both wet and dry. I have never really considered noise as the V8 growl drowned out road noise...

I have Continentals on my RX and they appear very quiet, no idea on mileage yet.

[IS300FSPORT]

Uniroyal Rainsport 5.

(Sister company of Continental from reading reviews)

Fantastic tyre in the rain, if you like a spiritied drive or even for normal use it does inspire confidence especially in a rear wheel drive. Although some will debate its not a performance car regardless when you need to make progress on country lanes or flooded motorway it prevents aquaplanning. The give away is I dont see the traction light flash anymore in damp conditions I previously had set of Kumhos mid range tyre seen a noticeable difference in handling car feels planted in all weather conditions. Yes the tyre may use a softer compound & I may get 2-3k less mileage but I l accept that if it compensates in terms of wet performance & it is cheaper to buy in comparison to Michellin etc. 

If your anywhere in the North of England you will know we see a lot of rain. Recently had a set of x4 tyres, a mobile fitter from National tyres including balancing & disposal of old tyres. Overall cost was £374. (Approx 93.50 a tyre)

For tyres to last there are so many variables but as an owner obvious checks to prolong the life of tyre.

- Wheel alignment 

- Monthly tyre pressures

- Avoid kerb and pot holes where possible etc

 

 

[cruisermark]

Best tyres for me are the current ones on my 430

Michelin Cross Climates

Very quite, soft and forgiving which means the ride is very smooth, never had any grip issues and dragging on full lock

[Las Palmas]

Continental on most cars we have had.

MB350SE on dirt roads in Africa more than 30K km.

[Las Palmas]

17 hours ago, fergie said:

Quietness is important 

Sorry for not noting that before:

Next on CT will be UltraGrip from Continental, front tyres are only a couple of months from being retired. 215/45/17 Y, noise 70db, fuel B, wet braking A.

https://www.continental-reifen.de/autoreifen/reifen/ultracontact

Continental also make winter tyres.

We have never used all-season tyres, while living up north where winter mean ice and snow and salt on the roads we had 2 set of wheels for whatever car we had, here summer tyres all year long.

[Mr_Groundhog]

If it helps, I'm super happy with my Michelin Primacy 4 VOL

[scudney]

Happy with my all season continentals on my IS250 f sport, would have gone for michelin cross climates but couldn't get them in 255.40.18's

[Mr_Groundhog]

18 hours ago, scudney said:

Happy with my all season continentals on my IS250 f sport, would have gone for michelin cross climates but couldn't get them in 255.40.18's

I dunno about X-climate Michelins but my experience with X-climate is they're a bit mediocre in winter and a bit mediocre in summer

[Digifant]

If mileage is your priority, than Bridgestone Turanza ER33. Bought my car with them 3 years ago and they are still halflife. Rim protection - I never seen bigger. But weakest points are low grip and noise, economy so so. 

[Las Palmas]

On 12/10/2022 at 7:56 PM, Mr_Groundhog said:

I dunno about X-climate Michelins but my experience with X-climate is they're a bit mediocre in winter and a bit mediocre in summer

All season tyres:

Less grip in summer compared to summer tyres and in real winter with snow and ice, winter tyres are the only solution.

Compromise is compromise.

In my humble opinion.

 

.

[DBIZO]

2 hours ago, Las Palmas said:

 

 

 

 

All season tyres:

Less grip in summer compared to summer tyres and in real winter with snow and ice, winter tyres are the only solution.

Compromise is compromise.

In my humble opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

.

Of course. When summer is hot and winter is winterly. But all seasons are a no-brainer in places such as the UK where all seasons are temperate. What's the alternative? Summers all year long like most UK motorists do (I'm glad we left for Europe before winter hit, all those cars on summers around me gave me the nerves), or changing to winters because there is a week or two that warrants them? 

Running a set of Pirelli Cinturato SF2, can't really fault them. 20k miles, including winter across Europe, 100+ mph in sub zero temperatures this week. Not a moment of skittishness. Excelled in a skid training too, together with the Lexus stability. I'll also use these to scale the Alps later this winter.

[Mr_Groundhog]

11 hours ago, DBIZO said:

Of course. When summer is hot and winter is winterly. But all seasons are a no-brainer in places such as the UK where all seasons are temperate. What's the alternative? Summers all year long like most UK motorists do (I'm glad we left for Europe before winter hit, all those cars on summers around me gave me the nerves), or changing to winters because there is a week or two that warrants them? 

Running a set of Pirelli Cinturato SF2, can't really fault them. 20k miles, including winter across Europe, 100+ mph in sub zero temperatures this week. Not a moment of skittishness. Excelled in a skid training too, together with the Lexus stability. I'll also use these to scale the Alps later this winter.

Not really, at least for me. The optimum temperature for summer tyres is usually 7 degrees.

That (7 dgrees or over) is the case for the overwhelming majority of days here (Kent), and these days we're having frost, snow and minus temperatures: cross climate tyres would be weak these days (only winter tyres would do well), and having a set of winter tyres in the off chance we'd have frost for a few days a year isn't worth the money.

Otehr parts of the country and/or more inland probably, but not here in the south.

[DBIZO]

2 hours ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

Not really, at least for me. The optimum temperature for summer tyres is usually 7 degrees.

That (7 dgrees or over) is the case for the overwhelming majority of days here (Kent), and these days we're having frost, snow and minus temperatures: cross climate tyres would be weak these days (only winter tyres would do well), and having a set of winter tyres in the off chance we'd have frost for a few days a year isn't worth the money.

Otehr parts of the country and/or more inland probably, but not here in the south.

All seasons are mediocre in most conditions, but they get the job done, that's the point. What do you do for those few days, you don't drive? 

[Las Palmas]

3 hours ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

Not really, at least for me. The optimum temperature for summer tyres is usually 7 degrees.

 

25 minutes ago, DBIZO said:

All seasons are mediocre in most conditions, but they get the job done, that's the point. What do you do for those few days, you don't drive? 

A set of wheels with winter tyres are not necessary expensive. Winter drive slow, steel rims are OK and cheap, narrow tyres are better for real winter, go as narrow as permitted. 17" in summer 15" in winter.

[Bluemarlin]

I can't compare them directly with winter tyres as I've never used any, but my experience with Cross Climates has been fine. They're quiet and in summer have handled well,  and in heavy snow, on motorways, rural roads and mountains, in Germany and Switzerland last winter, they performed flawlessly. So for my needs, which is largely UK,  they're better than the cost and faff of messing around with two sets of wheels.

I'm sure summer tyres are better in summer, and winter ones better in the worst of winters, but these seem like a decent compromise to me.