New Tyres; recommendation needed

[Gaurav Bhandari]

Hi, All,

I have Lexus and looking forward to get Yokohama Blue Earth E31 installed for front 2 tyres. Just checking if anyone would recommend any other tyres? and I will get all 4 replaced. What all should I look forward for as I need 17 inches tyres.

[LenT]

2 hours ago, Gaurav Bhandari said:

Hi, All,

I have Lexus and looking forward to get Yokohama Blue Earth E31 installed for front 2 tyres. Just checking if anyone would recommend any other tyres? and I will get all 4 replaced. What all should I look forward for as I need 17 inches tyres.

I know nothing about these specific Yokohamas, but as a general observation on the rare occasions I’ve had a car with them fitted, I replaced them at the earliest opportunity.

They always seemed to generate more noise and less wet weather grip than, say, the equivalent Michelins or Goodyear.

But more importantly, Gaurav, there are two other points to consider.

Firstly, whatever tyre you choose, they should be the same on all four wheels.

Secondly, if you’re just fitting two new tyres, then they should go on the rear axle irrespective of whether the car’s front or rear drive.

As for alternative brands, well that may well depend on what characteristics you personally feel to be most important.  Noise, comfortable ride, wet road grip, wear rate, an aggressive driving style and so on.  Personally I go for either Michelin CrossClimate or the latest Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 - but you might find looking up a few practical tyre reviews will be helpful.

[wharfhouse]

7 hours ago, Gaurav Bhandari said:

Hi, All,

I have Lexus and looking forward to get Yokohama Blue Earth E31 installed for front 2 tyres. Just checking if anyone would recommend any other tyres? and I will get all 4 replaced. What all should I look forward for as I need 17 inches tyres.

I think you have mistyped the tyre name? The original OEM tyres on the IS 300h 17" wheels are Yokohama BluEarth E51 - 225/45R17 91W. I have replaced like for like on my car over 134k miles - the fronts always last 40k miles and the rears 20k miles. Personally I have found them a good all round tyre. I get them changed at my Lexus dealer as they have always been cheaper there than any of the local tyre places. TBH you will get many different recommendations on here for tyres - everyone seems to have their personal favourites... 

[Notamech]

I have goodyear asymmetric 6 and am happy with them. They weren't too expensive and noise and comfort are good. In terms of grip as well its great never had squeals when cornering or braking. Id recommend them but what i cant comment on is how they stack up vs offerings from other brands like Continental or Michelin as i haven't tried those on this car. 

[wharfhouse]

2 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

I think you have mistyped the tyre name? The original OEM tyres on the IS 300h 17" wheels are Yokohama BluEarth E51 - 225/45R17 91W. I have replaced like for like on my car over 134k miles - the fronts always last 40k miles and the rears 20k miles. Personally I have found them a good all round tyre. I get them changed at my Lexus dealer as they have always been cheaper there than any of the local tyre places. TBH you will get many different recommendations on here for tyres - everyone seems to have their personal favourites... 

Actually the OEM tyres are Yokohama BluEarth E51A - 225/45R17 91W. The "A" after E51 is important - apparently it's something to do with OEM tyres that have rim protection - there is an E51 (no A) that looks the same but with no rim protection. Found all this out when I had an unrepairable puncture and couldn't get to Lexus to change the tyre so used a tyre place and had to use the non-A version for one tyre for the best match. Lexus have always supplied me with the A version. 

[Gaurav Bhandari]

2 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

I think you have mistyped the tyre name? The original OEM tyres on the IS 300h 17" wheels are Yokohama BluEarth E51 - 225/45R17 91W. I have replaced like for like on my car over 134k miles - the fronts always last 40k miles and the rears 20k miles. Personally I have found them a good all round tyre. I get them changed at my Lexus dealer as they have always been cheaper there than any of the local tyre places. TBH you will get many different recommendations on here for tyres - everyone seems to have their personal favourites... 

Thanks Phil, you are always very helpful 🙂 I might have mistyped the name as I copied it from other group or this group, but that you for correcting it. I was not aware of the "A" Label that you mentioned. I can see lots of cracks in the front tyre's which I believe is because the dealer moved the rear tyre to the front. I will go with the one you recommended then. I can see some recommendations for "F1 Asymmetric 6" but that I will go for while replacing all 4 (Budget constraint for now).

 

1 hour ago, Notamech said:

I have goodyear asymmetric 6 and am happy with them. They weren't too expensive and noise and comfort are good. In terms of grip as well its great never had squeals when cornering or braking. Id recommend them but what i cant comment on is how they stack up vs offerings from other brands like continental or Michelin as i haven't tried those on this car. 

Thank you so much for the info, will keep in mind when replacing all 4

8 hours ago, LenT said:

I know nothing about these specific Yokohamas, but as a general observation on the rare occasions I’ve had a car with them fitted, I replaced them at the earliest opportunity.

They always seemed to generate more noise and less wet weather grip than, say, the equivalent Michelins or Goodyear.

But more importantly, Gaurav, there are two other points to consider.

Firstly, whatever tyre you choose, they should be the same on all four wheels.

Secondly, if you’re just fitting two new tyres, then they should go on the rear axle irrespective of whether the car’s front or rear drive.

As for alternative brands, well that may well depend on what characteristics you personally feel to be most important.  Noise, comfortable ride, wet road grip, wear rate, an aggressive driving style and so on.  Personally I go for either Michelin CrossClimate or the latest Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 - but you might find looking up a few practical tyre reviews will be helpful.

Thank you for the info, good to know that they should be the same. I will get the rear to the front and get new rear Tyres.

[LenT]

3 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

I get them changed at my Lexus dealer as they have always been cheaper there than any of the local tyre places.

I think this is a very interesting point - and may well come as a surprise.

When on a previous occasion that I was buying new tyres, I was also arranging a service with Lexus.  Thinking it would be convenient to have new tyres at the same time, I asked them to quote.

To my surprise, they matched the price from my regular local tyre shop!  In the end, I went with the tyre shop because I was also having a set of Alloygator rim protectors fitted.

But it certainly doesn’t hurt to ask - especially if you want to have new TPMS valves fitted at the same time.

[wharfhouse]

15 minutes ago, Gaurav Bhandari said:

Thanks Phil, you are always very helpful 🙂 I might have mistyped the name as I copied it from other group or this group, but that you for correcting it. I was not aware of the "A" Label that you mentioned. I can see lots of cracks in the front tyre's which I believe is because the dealer moved the rear tyre to the front. I will go with the one you recommended then. I can see some recommendations for "F1 Asymmetric 6" but that I will go for while replacing all 4 (Budget constraint for now).

Cracks are usually age related rather the mileage related. I do about 15,000 miles per annum and so tyres all tyres are replaced within 3 years and I never see any cracking in that time. Tyres that are circa 5+ years old (which if often the case on my wife's car that doesn't do much mileage) do start and exhibit cracking, though mild cracking between the tread blocks isn't usually an issue, sidewalls would be though. As I also do a lot of miles (relative to many people) and hence go through quite a few more tyres that most, I personally have been very happy with the Yokohama BluEarth E51A - 225/45R17 91W, especially for the price (at least what I have paid at my Lexus dealer) - they are significantly cheaper (especially cumulatively given the number I go through) than others mentioned and given much of my mileage is motorway travel they have always served me well. I can understand others however opting for more performance related tyres, particularly if they do less miles and drive fast on country roads, or cross climates if they live in areas where cold weather is more likely than down here in the south. Certainly worth a call to your Lexus dealer if you opt for the Yokohama BluEarth E51A - 225/45R17 91W to see what price they quote you. BTW I use Lexus Reading.

[wharfhouse]

21 minutes ago, LenT said:

I think this is a very interesting point - and may well come as a surprise.

When on a previous occasion that I was buying new tyres, I was also arranging a service with Lexus.  Thinking it would be convenient to have new tyres at the same time, I asked them to quote.

To my surprise, they matched the price from my regular local tyre shop!  In the end, I went with the tyre shop because I was also having a set of Alloygator rim protectors fitted.

But it certainly doesn’t hurt to ask - especially if you want to have new TPMS valves fitted at the same time.

Yes, found this out when I needed tyres the first time alongside a service and Lexus quoted me for the tyres - checked online and couldn't get them any cheaper. Since then I've always used Lexus and keep an eye open online too just in case they change their policy of price matching - but to date Lexus have always worked out no more then anyone else around me and often cheaper. Toyota also have the same price matching policy too (at least at our local dealer), which may or may not be of interest to some (we also have a Toyota).

[rayaans]

4 hours ago, Notamech said:

I have goodyear asymmetric 6 and am happy with them. They weren't too expensive and noise and comfort are good. In terms of grip as well its great never had squeals when cornering or braking. Id recommend them but what i cant comment on is how they stack up vs offerings from other brands like continental or Michelin as i haven't tried those on this car. 

My words of wisdom (or not?) would be to go with a good premium touring tyre. Doesn't really matter about the brand but you can't go that far wrong with a Goodyear / Michelin / Hankook / Bridgestone / Continental etc 

On 17s I would avoid the asymmetric 6 and tyres akin to it which are more premium sporty tyres

Whilst great in summer I've found the Goodyear's a pain in colder weather. It took them 40 mins of driving under 12 degrees to get them warm and the grip in these conditions was abysmal. Under 7 degrees and they spin / snake at every boot 

[Mr_Groundhog]

Im gonna sound like a broken records here but all i can say is im super happy (including the cold spell last winter) with michelin primacy 4 VOL and after 6k miles, they're like new (they're hard tyres). Noise levels good too.