RX330inFL

It can mean that but not always. Depends on the manufacturer and how they construct the tire. More than likely, yes, but perhaps not all that noticeable for some and very noticeable for others.

The way i look at the situation on tires and load index is as follows... The maximum payload capacity of a 2013 RX350 here in the US is around 1382 lbs. (Gross Weight - Curb Weight = Maximum Payload ------ > 5560 - 4178 = 1382). The more stuff you add to the vehicle in options from the factory the lower the maximum payload and the closer you get to maximums for the vehicle in every day life.

Now, I am your typical German male. Put four of me in this RX along with a cargo hold full of luggage, etc. for a long trip, fill the gas tank and you are right there near the maximum. The weak link would be the tires, especially on a long trip with few stops, at high speeds, on very hot summertime roads. Having tires a bit over specification in those types of situations is never a bad thing. Just look at Ford and Firestone. If your travels never put you at those extremes then the load index ratings are less important to you other than making sure the tire meets the spec from the manufacturer.

Tires are the one adjustable item on your vehicle in regards to ride quality. You can adjust the pressures to give you a harder or softer ride. You can change makes and brands of tires to fit those same needs otherwise. Luckily, we are not saddled with only a couple of tires from which to select from, rather, we have a whole pallet and a wide selection of very good tires from which to pick to match our needs and desires.

fpurnell

Sandi, thanks and I look forward to you experiences too. I have the 19 inch Crosstek CUV's on my wife's Highlander for over a year now, they are super quiet and traction is great. I just want to see how they react on my RX450h. I currently have the Bridgestone Dueler installed so anything should be an improvement the tire salesman said. I will need to make a change in less than a month.

Nitto Crosstek CUV 105 VXL 500 AA $205

GRMick

What tire brand/model: Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV
Tire size:235/55R19 105R XL
Price paid:$928.56 including tax/shipping - 6% Michigan sales tax, free shipping
Tire Dealer:Tires By Web - Online
Tire replaced:OEM Dunlop Grandtrek Touring A/S - 235/55R19 101V -
Other tires considered:Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1
What do you like most/least about your new tires?
Most: Ice and snow traction
Least: High cost
Updates?

Picked up our 2014 RX450h on December 18th, and had the Nokian winter tires installed on the OEM wheels the following week. As part of the vehicle purchase deal, Harvey Lexus mounted and balanced the Nokian tires at no cost to us. After reading the Dunlop reviews here (Thank You!!) and around the web, told the dealer to keep the Dunlop's, we'll buy better summer/AS tires in the spring. Our one week/100 miles with the Dunlop tires had confirmed the reviews…relatively noisy, poor emergency braking in wet, marginal snow and ice traction.

After a month and about 1000 miles in all kinds of harsh winter conditions, the Nokian Hakka R2's are just fantastically good on ice and snow. Traction, braking, and lateral grip going around corners in snow/ice is just superb and inspire a lot of confidence. Noise and impact harshness are actually much better than than the Dunlop tires. In the three days where it got above freezing in Grand Rapids, wet braking grip was also a bit better than the Dunlop's...a pleasant surprise for winter tires. If you need dedicated winter tires, these Nokian tires are great and highly recommended.

Good winter tires…check. Now my next challenge is deciding on which summer/all-season tires to get in the spring. The discussion here is tremendously helpful. Hope the winter tire review helps.

GRMick

As noted in my post above, we use Nokian Hakka R2 winter tires. For the summer, we are switching to dedicated 18 inch tires/wheels for ride quality reasons. We want the plushest and quietest ride possible, and are willing to trade sport handling. However, excellent wet and dry stopping distances and good on-center feel are still very high priorities. Tread life, cost and snow traction, no so much.

New 18 x 8 Lumarai wheels have been ordered, on sale, from Discount Tires Direct. New TPMS kits and Lexus center caps, to match the new wheels, have just arrived from Sewell.

The only thing remaining is for me to pick the summer tires and I'm struggling to decide. Current front runners, in no particular order, are;

Michelin Primacy MXM4 -
Bridgestone Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia -
Pirelli Scorpion Verde AS -
Michelin Latitude Touring HP - Two options here, the 102V OEM or the 103V aftermarket
Nokian Z SUV

My concerns with each are as follows;

Primacy MXM4 - This tire is the oddball (load and aspect ratio) in the MXM4 line. From my research, it appears this size was specifically designed for the 2013/2014 Acura RDX...a significantly lighter vehicle than the RX, and as a result I have no confidence the good reviews will translate to this size. The one 3RX MXM4 review here was not good. Not rated in Consumer Reports (CR), the MXV4 is highly rated but a different tire construction. No EU ratings. Michelin reputation for quick tire "dry rot"

Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia - Mixed reviews here. Generally great reviews/surveys on Tire Rack (TR) but performs relatively poor in TR wet testing, not rated in CR, with the car version of this tire doing mediocre in CR testing. No EU ratings

Scorpion Verde AS - Did relatively poor (about same as 422 Ecopia) in latest Tire Rack testing, but two prior test results excellent. Is the performance of this tire specific to size/model (H or V rated/ specific manufacturing location), Pirelli quality anomaly, or have they recently changed the tire formulation? From reviews, ride sounds stiffer than we want and reduced fuel mileage reports also noted. Not rated by CR. 107V and 103H both have C C 71dB rating in EU testing implying similar performance. However, not confident the H and V are comparable in performance since the 107V is significantly different construction judging by the 3 lb. weight difference and 100 point tread wear rating difference in US DOT ratings.

Latitude Tour HP - Wide range of reviews….excellent to very poor TR survey mediocre, TR test results very good. As with the Pirelli tires, concerned that performance is highly tire size/model specific. CR tested the H rated tires and they scored tied for 1st. EU rates the 103H tires at C C 69 dB and the 103V tire at B C 69 DB. The OEM 102V tire is not EU rated. V rated = stiff ride? Michelin reputation for quick tire "dry rot"

Nokian Z SUV - Limited number of reviews around the web (but excellent when found). Rated best SUV tire in european magazine testing which tells me in handles well but rides firm. Summer only tire - will it perform well in the very cold morning/night temperatures found in Michigan spring and fall? No CR rating but the Nokian WR G2 scores very well as does the car version of the Nokian Z. EU rating of C B 72 dB. Best EU rating in braking but 3 dB higher sound rating than Michelin Latitude Tour HP. Same sound rating as our winter tires which are better than the OEM Dunlop tires. W rated = very stiff sidewalls and ride? Normally would not consider Nokian for summer, but VERY impressed with their winter tires.

Sorry for the way long post. I am so over thinking this, drifting into retentive. My fabulous and beautiful wife is the primary driver of the RX and, IMO, tires are the most important safety feature of any vehicle.

Decisions, decisions. I'll figure it out by March. Keep the reviews coming.

kitlz

Nice review on the Nokians, GRMick. I almost wish I needed snow tires to test them out. They sound pretty awesome. Too bad you couldn't tolerate the Dunlops. They're not the best but offer a soft ride. And now you have to pay even more for new summer tires. Good luck with whatever you decide to get.

Sandi_k

GRMIck, Anita agrees that the Scorpions have a stiff ride.

I had the Dunlops originally, and you're right - noisy, bad cornering, and bad traction in rain.

Didn't want Michelins - too expensive, and Michelins are known for being hard-riding.

So if you want a quieter ride, decent traction in rain, I had 62K miles on my Yokohama Parada Spec-X's. I'd recommend them.

I've now had my third set of tires on for a week - Nitto Crosstek CUV's. I like them - they're similar to the Yokohamas in terms of noise and traction. The ride is a little harsher than the Yokohamas, but not by much.

GRMick

Thanks Sandi_k…appreciate the recommendation. Please keep us posted on your experience with the Nitto tires as you accumulate more mileage.

Looking at it now, the Yokohama Parada Spec-X's have generally excellent reviews on TR and around the web. No EU ratings for the 18 inch size, but the larger diameters have E B 74 ratings. Great wet braking for an all season tire and low noise rating (for large diameter tires)

Also, while looking, I found the rating charts below from PMC Tire in Canada. Not sure where the ratings come from but interesting. As you indicated, the Parada Spec-X's rate at the top.

All Season Performance SUV
http://tires.pmctire.com/x-stuff/doc...valuations.pdf

All Season SUV
http://tires.pmctire.com/x-stuff/doc...valuations.pdf

RXinNJ

Yeah, that latest TireRack review makes no sense. I've had the Scorpions for 20k miles and have had zero issues with wet traction, even at highway speeds. One of the earlier tests was also a V-rated tire, and the wet-track results were very good. I have to give Tire Rack credit though, as they addressed this anomaly in the review:

"The Scorpion Verde All Season's weak performance in the wet comes as somewhat of a surprise, as this tire led wet traction results the last time we tested it. It also came as a surprise to Pirelli, who is investigating what may have caused the loss of wet traction. We noted a change in the plant where these tires were produced versus the ones we tested a year ago and wonder what influence this change may have brought to the equation. We'll update our report with any findings."

Me personally, I wouldn't classify the Scorpions as having a "stiff" ride. Perhaps a tad stiffer than some of the comparable tires out there, but I don't feel they hinder the ride quality of the RX. And to me, the gains in handling outweigh the small change in ride quality.

I noticed this chart gives the Ecopia a higher score than the Scorpion for cornering stability. Having had both tires on my RX, I would strongly disagree with those scores; the Scorpion is a much better handling tire.

nmnunna32

If you used Nokian WRG2 on your third Gen RX350 would you please post some feed back.

I didn't find anything in the tire thread... I am specifically looking for WRG2. They are supposed to be all-season.

Thanks.

kitlz

nmnunna32, what made you look at the WRG2s? Have you had Nokians before? From what I've read online, I see them referred to as an all-weather tire instead of all-season, great in snow but maybe a little noisy on dry pavement.

nmnunna32

Anita,

Thanks.

I guess I don't understand the difference between all-weather vs all-season. Should I stay away from all weather category then?

A friend of mine got these for his minivan and he is happy. He said these are great for snow driving but he has not yet driven them in summer though.

kitlz

It's good you know someone with some real time experience with the Nokians. From what I read (admittedly not much), it appears all weather tires have an advantage over all season in the snow but can be noisy on dry pavement. I guess that's the compromise you make. All season is all I've had. They've worked well for me over the past 15 years in the RX, including some brutal winters.

Do you have a favorite tire store that you've dealt with in the past? Maybe they can tell you more about the WRG2s,.

CodeRed

Not sure about Toyota/Lexus lease agreements, my friend got scooped by Nissan on the maxima, he got charged $1,000 for tire replacement after a 39-months lease because Nissan claimed the treads did not meet minimum depth according to their policy.

RX330inFL

Does not surprise me. Depends on the brand and the dealership doing the inspection. Sometimes they will give you a pass. I leased a few vehicles when it was possible for me to write them off on my taxes for business. Was something mentioned to me on a couple of occasions when I turned them back in, however, I never was charged.

This is one reason why you will see a number of previously leased vehicles on dealer lots with cheap/crappy tires on them. The previous owner/lessee was told they needed to put new tires on the vehicle and instead of being charged what the dealer was going to hit them with in penalties they went out and slapped the cheapest set of tires on the vehicle they could get away with.

edevo

GRMick: thanks for rating charts from PMC Tire in Canada. Saw the Continental Cross Contact that i mentioned earlier was at top on the list. Makes me even more interested in them now.