chromedome

I'm wondering if the ES300h comes with the same tires worldwide or if it's up to individual dealers to choose.

Mine is a Chinese market 2014 model running Dunlop SP Sport 271 tires on stock 17" rims. These are summer tires for luxury sedans, as per the marketing speak... And they aren't hybrid-spec low rolling resistance tires. I get a bit of tire noise on rough concrete roads but the car is quiet on smooth tarmac. Does the ES300h in North America have the same tires? Would switching to something like Michelin Pilot Sports get me a quieter ride with more grip?

jim256

Mine came with Michelin Primacy MXV4 215/55 R 17 93V Grading 500/A/A. Southeastern US. Very quiet, so far. I expect they may vary either by car, or regionally in the US. I believe others have posted some Bridgestones, and typically are not as happy.

don1

Mine came with Michelin Primacy MXV4 215/55 R 17. Any ES in Canada that I've seen has either these or the 18" all Michelin.

mcomer

jim256 describes what I have seen also, Michelins or Bridgestone EL400's. TireRack ratings are excellent for the Primacy's and horrible for the 400's. Dealers do not have any say in the fitment and price/options do not seem to have any effect either. I've seen plenty of base non Nav, Nuluxe $40k ES350's with the Michelins and
a couple of UL equipped 300's with Lane Detect that had the darn Bridgestones.

chromedome

Looking at other model forums on this site, it looks like GS and IS owners are also complaining about junk Dunlops on their cars, specifically the SP Sport variants. Here in the west of China ES300h's come with Dunlops while ES250's get Yokohamas. Most local owners complain about tire noise and a rough ride from those Dunlops... I guess no one's plagued by those nasty Bridgestones

Maybe I'll switch to Michelin MXV4s if I can get a good price for these stock tires.

Fillykonk

My new ES came with the Michelin Primacies. Wonderful smooth ride and very little road noise - even on roads in which my former ride (Acura TL = also with Michelins but not Primacy) rode much noisier.

lesz

I know that the Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires are a big favorite of those who post here, but I am not nearly as much of a fan of them as are some others.

I have no issue with the ride quality or the lack of tire noise that comes with the Michelin tires, but my issue is with the tread life of the tires. The tread wear tire rating of the Michelin tires is 500, which, while it is better than that of the Bridgestone tires that come on many ES vehicles in the US, is not nearly as good as that of many other tires. I'm confident that the tire wear, relative to that of some of its competitors, is the result of the fact that the MXV4 tires start out with only 9/32 of an inch of tread.

On the two ES vehicles that I've owned, I've now had 3 sets of the Michelin tires (one of the Michelin Primacey MXV4 and two sets of the similar Energy MXV4). After shorter tread life than I would have expected with the first two sets of the Michelins on my previous ES, I tried a set of Goodyear Comfortred Touring tires. They have a similar compound to that of the Michelin tires, but they start out with 12/32 of an inch of tread, which translates into about 50% more usable tread. With the Goodyear tires, I easily got 20,000 to 25,000 more miles of usage than I did with either set of the Michelins. Further, if there was any difference with regard to ride quality or noise with the Goodyears compared to the Michelins, it was too small to be noticeable to me.

I was hoping that I would fair better with tire wear with the Primacy MXV4 tires on my current ES, but, after over a year of ownership, it is clear that the tires are wearing at a rate similar to that of the two sets of Michelins that I had on the older ES. When these Michelins need to be replaced, I'll be buying the Goodyear Comfortred tires, and I'm confident that the extra 3/32 of an inch of tread will, like with the older ES, give me the same 20,000 to 25,000 miles of extra tread life compared to the Michelins and that the ride quality and noise levels will also be virtually identical. I might also add that the cost of a set of the Goodyear tires is about $200 less than the cost of the Michelins.

mcomer

We put Goodyear Triple Tred's on the Impala (replacing the horrible GY Integrity) and they are terrific, good in snow, pretty quiet until 35k miles, much less $'s than the Michelins. They still display plenty of tread depth but are getting a bit of howl even when rotated (unidirectional so back to front only...). They changed the handling of the car nicely and don't hydroplane on spit like the OEMs did.

BIGABQ

Just picked up my 300h this afternoon, Bridgestone. I'm in Albuquerque, NM.

dxerg3770

2014 350 here. Came with bridgestone. NYC

lomein123

Pick up my 2014 300h today. It has Bridgestone on it. Talk to the rep and he agree to swap the Michelin MVX4 without hesitation. Smooth and quiet. Very happy about it. Also Michelin come with 60K mileage warrenty, but Bridgetone does not.

jvinhj240

how much u paid? what package did u get?

Canesguy

Good move. I have the 'stones....not impressed.

lomein123

I was slow to post my deal. But just got the time. Here the link, hope it helps.

ES300H854

Driving style obviously plays a part, but in general how much mileage are you generally getting out of your Michelin Primacy tires before having to replace them?

I just bought a 2013 ES300H with 60k miles and got it serviced at a separate toyota dealership. The service center said my tires are at about 60% - so I assume the tires have been changed at least once in the past.