Just bought a used 2006 RX330 with factory 18" rims. It rides a little rougher and I hear more road noise than my previous 2001 RX300.

I want to know what tire and tire size would give me the quietest and softest ride possible.

Cost is an issue, don't need to go off-road... I live in Atlanta.

Thanks!!! Please reply ASAP. I need to buy them soon.

 

Goodyear Assurance Comfortread...not sure if you can get them in your size tho...check here:

www.tirerack.com
and here:

www.discounttiredirect.com

my 2 favorite places

EDIT: it is apparent that they do not come in your size...check the fortera line from goodyear. otherwise, my next choice for your application:



EDIT: ^JOKE, i forgot the smiley, sorry.
The falken Zeix ZE-512...one of the quietest tires i have ever driven on...but they wear...quite fast...30-40k miles at most.

 

I would venture to bet that the reason you are getting the road noise is from the wear patterns of the tires... If you have not been rotating them, there is definitely a possibility of some uneven wear, causing the tires to be louder than they should.

That being said, most products that fit that vehicle from Bridgestone or Michelin are going to be your best, most reliable options.

Looking at the available tires, the quietest, best all around tire is going to be the Bridgestone Alenza. A similar, more car oriented tire, from Michelin would be the HX MXM4. Keep in mind, you need to keep a V rated tire on there to ensure you get the same type of handling (or better) that the vehicle was intended to have with the original tires.

I definitely would not put the Falkens on your nice car. Although they may be quiet when new, because you cannot cross rotate them, they will get loud. On top of that, they are definitely not that great in the wet, and I've seen reliability problems with them as well.

 

Gah falkens..I trusted them way too many times. i will NOT be buying them again. They are quiet when new, but after 2k miles or so, you will hear them a lot more. i flip my tires so I can get more wear on the opposite side but I still get noise. Mind you, I had the ziex-512 before. I have the 452s now..they're better but still crappy when it comes to highway noise and wet performance. My OEM bridgestone summer tires have more grip and are a lot quieter. I'll gladly pay extra for quality.

 

Thanks for the recommendations! Should I try to get a taller tire in the hopes of getting a softer quieter ride? Should I replace my 18" OEM rims with 17" rims?

 

If you're okay with paying for 17s, you may want to do that instead. Tires for 17s usually cost less than 18s anyways. i dont know about quiet since quiet is more of a rubber compound thing than sidewall height. i went from 16s to 17s on my GS400 and the difference was quite noticeable in comfort.

 

wow, ok, LOL the falken thing was a joke first off. DIdnt think you guys would take it seriously LOL.

Secondly, The ZE512's have NO place on an SUV...they are a performance tire.

Michelin MXV4, GOodyear Fortera line etc...all premium tires i would look into. Stay FAR away from the following:

ANYTHING goodyear (with the exception of the Assurance/Fortera lineup, everything else has hellacious road noise)

and on an 18" rim, if your paying less than $120-$130 a tire...something is probably not right. you get what you pay for.

Bridgestone has a nice run of LT/touring tires as well.

 

alright, that's better

make sure whatever you get is not directional... directional tires will almost always wear unevenly because you can't rotate them to a spot on the vehicle as to make them spin the opposite direction - this is the number one cause of uneven tire wear...