Need Some Tire Wisdom

"Cixelsyd" (marend) 02/19/2015 at 15:00 • Filed to: None

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With the recent snowfall here in Southern Ohio, my wife has begun complaining about how much trouble she's having while driving. A quick review of her car in the garage revealed that the tread on her OEM tires is getting pretty low and I'm sure the low quality of the OEM tire combined with the lack of sufficient tread depth is probably making things quite difficult for her.

I am now trying to figure out what to replace them with. The car is a 2010 Toyota RAV4 V6 Limited 4wd. I've done some searches and Tire Rack seems to suggest the Continental CrossContact LX20 may be a good bet.

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Does anyone have any experience with these tires? Are there any other crossover/light truck tires you'd suggest instead?

HammerheadFistpunch > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 15:05

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Boy the choices for tires in 225/65R17 is pretty poor.

Jcarr > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 15:05

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I've had a set of Cooper Discoverer CTS on my Envoy for 4 Iowa winters and they've performed quite well. Very good manners on the highway as well.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 15:07

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I don't have experience with those tires per-se, but I did really like the ExtremeContact all-season performance-touring tires I had on my previous cars.

I went with the Bridgestones that compete with that model of Continental tire, on my Venza, as they were higher rated in the snow, and nice long tread wear ratings, but they are a bit odd, and somehow both less stiff in the sidewall for more body roll, and are also more tramline-prone than the lower-traction goodyears that they replaced, or the all-season performance Continentals on my previous Subaru cars.

The rear Bridgestone tires tramline so significantly that the rear end of the car seems to have a bit of a mind of it's own on pavement that is grooved along the length of the road. Cross-grooves or smooth pavement don't induce that behavior. At least the bridgestones are mostly quiet, and do have good grip... maybe too good, in the case of the tramlining behavior.

I would probably go back and try the Continentals if i had the choice again.

Cixelsyd > HammerheadFistpunch 02/19/2015 at 15:07

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Indeed. At first, I thought something must be wrong because there were so few choices.

Cixelsyd > Jcarr 02/19/2015 at 15:09

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Thanks for the suggestion. I'll add those to the list to check out.

HammerheadFistpunch > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 15:11

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I remember finding tires for my 96 rav4 was a pain, I tried looking up and down size, seems like 235/60R17 gives you more options, but its about 1.5% smaller so you would be reporting 1.5% fast on your speedo and accruing "miles" at a slightly higher rate...but you would accelerate a little quicker and have a little more grip...so there's that.

Cixelsyd > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 02/19/2015 at 15:11

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I almost bought some ExtremeContacts for my Lexus IS a few years ago. Ended up going with the Bridgestone Potenza Pole Positions. I've never owned any Continentals so far.

'Wägen, EPA LOL > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 15:26

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I really want to recommend the Continental ExtremeContact DWS - just put a set on my fiancee's car and had them on my last car, great tire - but they aren't available in your size. Don't get the DW if you live in Ontario; it's not made for snow the way the DWS is.

Such a good all season that DWS is... ALL HAIL THE DWS!

1.21 JIGGA WATTS!!! > HammerheadFistpunch 02/19/2015 at 15:31

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On a side note, thank you mentioning the size difference. I had forgotten about that while I'm trying to justify a TDI for driving 30,000 miles a years in my Silverado. OEM calls for 265/70-17" and the dealer that I bought my truck from put on 285/65-17".

Just did the math...turns out that it's a difference of .5 mm in diameter. Or a REALLY small percentage. Guess I can still use that 30,000 number.

Thanks for the reminder though!

Cixelsyd > 'Wägen, EPA LOL 02/19/2015 at 15:32

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Those were actually the runners up when I replaced the tires on my own car (a Lexus IS). It was VERY close between those and the Bridgestones I ended up going with.

HammerheadFistpunch > 1.21 JIGGA WATTS!!! 02/19/2015 at 15:33

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Here is a great tool for this if anyone needs it

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 15:34

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I had the all-season ExtremeContact DWS tires on my '05 Legacy GT, and liked them so much I put them on the SVX also. Very nice tire.

BTW... with an SUV/CUV tire that is in the 60-65-series range (sidewall as a percent of tread width), it might be a bit of a meaty looking fitment, but 245/60-17 is very nearly the same diameter as 225/65-17. The tires will be wider than the wheel rims, but that isn't a bad thing unless you are in the sport compact tuning scene with ridiculously mis-fitting offsets and camber angles, with tires stretched to wider wheel rims. I like a meatier (wider tire) fitment for looks, and curb/obstacle protection for the wheel, myself. Although Discount Tire Direct on a quick search, had nothing in that size at all. A quick tire-calculator check also shows 215/70-17 is pretty close in overall diameter, on the narrower side, which can sometimes cut through snow with less 'floatation' effect.

I considered the CrossContacts, Pirelli Scorpion Verde, and the Michelin Latitude Tour, along with the Bridgestone Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia tires that I ended up buying for the Venza back in November. As I mentioned, a bit of a mixed bag. Mostly good, save a bit of soft roll resistance, and that tramlining... but it does seem to be getting a bit less pronounced as the tires wear in. The first few mils of rubber on new tires are usually extra grippy anyway, to make a good first impression when the tires are installed.

I hope it calms down, and gets to the stable, slightly harder, long-wear rubber in the meat of the tread-blocks, without losing much grip, or inducing too much noise as they wear. I had some General all-seasons that wore fast, and got really noisy as they wore down.

the Contis I had before, though, nice, quiet, smooth, and pretty good on snow traction for a high-performance rated tire, although an AWD Subaru makes any half-decent tire look pretty good when it comes to traction use, but I was quite pleased with the Contis. If the CrossContacts are done similarly well, they should be a nice tire.

The SVX had Michelins on it when I got it, and they were great, too... but they always seem VERY expensive compared to the rest.

'Wägen, EPA LOL > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 15:35

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It's amazing how good they are at literally everything. I love that tire. I put a set of dedicated snows and summers on the wagon and I was still thinking of going with them as summer tires just because I like them that much. My fiancee was shocked at how much better her Volvo handles with the DWS on there instead of the rock hard Michelins that it came with.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 02/19/2015 at 15:37

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I've also had good experiences with Conti DWS on two different cars.

1.21 JIGGA WATTS!!! > HammerheadFistpunch 02/19/2015 at 15:47

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God among men...

Textured Soy Protein > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 16:08

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I've usually had good luck when buying tires based off Tire Rack's survey results, and the survey responses for these includes good winter ratings. In that size, the other option I'd look at is the Firestone Destination LE 2.

Also you may be able to get a better deal thru TireBuyer.com instead of Tire Rack. Their prices on the tires themselves are slightly higher, but if you have them sent to an authorized installer, they do free shipping and knock $20 off the set of 4.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 16:48

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Extreme contacts absolutely obliterate pole positions.

Cixelsyd > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 02/19/2015 at 17:32

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In the snow, yes. Other than that, no.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Cixelsyd 02/19/2015 at 22:08

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I disagree, having first hand experience with both on many cars. Especially when the routes have some miles on them. The pole positions tend to wear unevenly, but the conti's don't, which for me is a deciding factor as much as some other things.

UKIDCE > Cixelsyd 03/11/2015 at 10:51

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Sorry I don't have a recommendation for you, but I do have a comment on Tire Rack. How does anyone find a good deal using that website? The prices of the tires themselves are great, but then $60+ in shipping and it negates any savings, plus you then have to pay to have them installed at some local shop. Are Tire rack customers all people who mount their own tires? I have never been able to get the overall cost lower than just going to a local tire store as they always have deals going on.