All weather tyres advice

John Walker · September 26, 2023

Will soon have to get new tyres for my RX and was thinking if any of you have some good recommendations for all weather tyres?

I was considering Michelin CrossClimate 2 but apparently they are not great in wet which is what we mostly get in UK (excellent on snow and dry though)

Then Hankook Kinergy 4S2 SUV (great in wet and dry but just average in snow) but couldn’t find anywhere in the right size (235 55 20)

MartinH · September 26, 2023

I've had good service from Michelin CC and they stay planted in very wet conditions. One tactic of course is to slow down a bit when it's very wet

Illogan · September 26, 2023

I fitted Michelin Cross Climates 2 to our RX

I've never managed to have it misbehave in wet weather!

Sundance · September 26, 2023

You may have already found this thread John, there are some tyre reviews therein, if not here it is ...

I fitted a set of Avon AS7s (18") back in Feb and thus far am very happy with them (quiet, comfortable, economical etc) although to be fair we've not had any truly rough weather in which they can be realistically put to the test.

They are not highly rated overall in reviews and some critics suggest that they are a mid-range tyre but with premium qualities. I bought them thanks to a particularly good deal on offer that I simply couldn't refuse, one which is still a significant saving on pretty much all other options today.

Neilo · September 26, 2023

Had Bridgestone Weather Control 005 on my wifes previous Ford, excellent in the wet - it never snowed much while we had the car so cannot comment - they're not rated the best in snow but we picked them as we'd rather have those than summer tyres in Winter.

Sundance · September 27, 2023

16 hours ago, Neilo said:

Had Bridgestone Weather Control 005 on my wifes previous Ford, excellent in the wet - it never snowed much while we had the car so cannot comment - they're not rated the best in snow but we picked them as we'd rather have those than summer tyres in Winter.

That's a very good point Neil. Whereas in Summer the all season tyre will probably wear more than the average Summer tyre, the choice of boots (in my case) is very much a driver preference in terms of feeling secure and confident in the ability of your vehicle to react more positively to adverse conditions throughout the year - without having to change tyres to suit the season.

Bluemarlin · September 27, 2023

I've had the Crossclimate SUVs for a couple of years now and am very happy with them. They're good in the snow as I drove through Germany and Swizerland a couple of winters ago, and had no problems. They also seem to be perfectly fine in the wet as far as I'm concerned, but I guess that varies depending on how one drives. They're also pretty quiet and comfortable compared to the Dunlops it had when I bought it.

J Henderson · September 27, 2023

3 hours ago, Sundance said:

in Summer the all season tyre will probably wear more than the average Summer tyre

In the case of Michelin CrossClimate 2s, this doesn't appear to be a factor. I had a set fitted last July (lol) and removed them last week due to a puncture. 10K miles covered, mostly in warm/mild weather and they still look brand new.

As for wet performance, no complaints here either. There's been a few nasty storms during the past 16 months or whatever and the tyres have never felt anything other than totally safe. They're rated "B" according to the EU label

Neilo · September 27, 2023

5 hours ago, Sundance said:

That's a very good point Neil. Whereas in Summer the all season tyre will probably wear more than the average Summer tyre, the choice of boots (in my case) is very much a driver preference in terms of feeling secure and confident in the ability of your vehicle to react more positively to adverse conditions throughout the year - without having to change tyres to suit the season.

Yes I totally agree Rowley, I would rather pay a bit more and have some decent quality all season tyres for safety's sake in winter.

Although my IS250 is shod with Bridgestone Turanza's it wont be moving anywhere if the weather gets harsh - I have a different car for that.

Herbie · September 27, 2023

Michelin Cross Climate or my own personal favourite, Goodyear Vector 4Seasons.

The main problem is getting anything in the 20" size!

BlackCat · September 28, 2023

On 9/26/2023 at 1:03 PM, John Walker said:

Will soon have to get new tyres for my RX and was thinking if any of you have some good recommendations for all weather tyres?

I was considering Michelin CrossClimate 2 but apparently they are not great in wet which is what we mostly get in UK (excellent on snow and dry though)

Then Hankook Kinergy 4S2 SUV (great in wet and dry but just average in snow) but couldn’t find anywhere in the right size (235 55 20)

I had a set of Nokian All Season all round, and found them absolutely excellent in the wet. But because the front pair wore down very bad, despite being tracked, balanced etc, I replaced them with 2 Michelin Cross Climates (largely due to the support on this forum). However in the last big storm in August I found they aquaplaned 3 times on heavy motorway rain. It is fair as someone said, slow down, but I have never had that happen in 4 years with the Nokian - and always felt completely safe on them in the wet.

John Walker · September 29, 2023

15 hours ago, BlackCat said:

I had a set of Nokian All Season all round, and found them absolutely excellent in the wet. But because the front pair wore down very bad, despite being tracked, balanced etc, I replaced them with 2 Michelin Cross Climates (largely due to the support on this forum). However in the last big storm in August I found they aquaplaned 3 times on heavy motorway rain. It is fair as someone said, slow down, but I have never had that happen in 4 years with the Nokian - and always felt completely safe on them in the wet.

Did you tried the Nokians in the snow? What model exactly it was?

John Walker · September 29, 2023

On 9/27/2023 at 1:52 PM, J Henderson said:

In the case of Michelin CrossClimate 2s, this doesn't appear to be a factor. I had a set fitted last July (lol) and removed them last week due to a puncture. 10K miles covered, mostly in warm/mild weather and they still look brand new.

As for wet performance, no complaints here either. There's been a few nasty storms during the past 16 months or whatever and the tyres have never felt anything other than totally safe. They're rated "B" according to the EU label

They are rated C in the rain for the size 235 55 20 unfortunately

John Walker · September 29, 2023

Most of the people seem to be ok with Michelin CC2 however since the RX is my only car i drive it a bit like I shouldn’t sometimes therefore I was looking for the “perfect” all weather tyres but probably doesn’t exist. A good option would be Michelin CC2 in the winter and Pilot Sport 4s or 5 in the summer but that’s too much hassle

Fsport · September 29, 2023

Many CC2 in 235 55 20 size is for cars. Not sure if Michelin have recently updated them with the SUV version.

CC2 in 255 50 20 is for SUVs and have stiffer sidewalls.

Yes you can put 235 55 20 on a SUV but just be aware that they were made for cars.

John Walker · September 29, 2023

11 minutes ago, Fsport said:

Many CC2 in 235 55 20 size is for cars. Not sure if Michelin have recently updated them with the SUV version.

CC2 in 255 50 20 is for SUVs and have stiffer sidewalls.

Yes you can put 235 55 20 on a SUV but just be aware that they were made for cars.

But the 4th gen RX comes standard with 235 55 20, does anyone has 255 50 20 on a 2016+ RX?

Fsport · September 29, 2023

Yes many people have put 255 50 20 on their cars but just not on these forums. Many on the US forums have.

I have 255 55 20 which are even bigger to get better ride comfort.

A lot of people like to stick to OEM size and brands because they want to be safe in their choice. One thing I will say is that Lexus did not pick the Bridgestone Dueler/Dunlops as OEM tyres for their performance. They most likely picked them because they offered the cheapest large scale deal for Lexus.

Nearly no car enthusiast would look to buy Bridgestone Duelers/Dunlops for their replacement tyres given the vast better choices available. Duelers have a wet C rating despite being a summer tyre. All summer tyres should have an A wet rating. Only Winters and All Seasons should be allowed a B wet rating given that they have to compromise for snow and ice.

235 55 20 sizes have a terrible selection of tyres.

Paul Mingay · October 5, 2023

Would the insurance company pay out if you have the wrong size tyre on though 🤔

LenT · October 5, 2023

On 9/28/2023 at 6:54 PM, BlackCat said:

I had a set of Nokian All Season all round, and found them absolutely excellent in the wet. But because the front pair wore down very bad, despite being tracked, balanced etc, I replaced them with 2 Michelin Cross Climates (largely due to the support on this forum). However in the last big storm in August I found they aquaplaned 3 times on heavy motorway rain.

I may have misread this, but you appear to say that you replaced the two front Nokias with new Michelin CCs.

This may have contributed to the aquaplaning you experience. Firstly, it’s not a good idea to mix tyres with different tread and compounds because they will react differently under challenging conditions.

It’s also the recommendation that the newer tyres always go on to the rear axles, irrespective of which axle is the driven one. If you still have this arrangement, you may find it beneficial to swap the wheels - bearing in mind that the Michelins are directional and the correct direction of rotation is indicated by an arrow on the outer wall.

First_Lexus · October 5, 2023

On 9/26/2023 at 4:26 PM, Sundance said:

I fitted a set of Avon AS7s (18") back in Feb and thus far am very happy with them (quiet, comfortable, economical etc) although to be fair we've not had any truly rough weather in which they can be realistically put to the test.

I’ve had Avon Tyres on a couple of cars and always found them to be very good. Mid-range price but good reviews.

The best Winter tyres I had were Falken Eurowinter, which were simply superb in challenging conditions. Amazing.

The worst I’ve had were Vredestein. Very highly reviewed but I found grip poor, noise levels high and to top it all they wore quickly!

As others have said, the issue with the RX is size for the 20”, but there seem to be a few more options now. Michelin - personally - I’ve never had great experiences with, but based on the reviews both here and elsewhere I think I’d be looking at either those or the Goodyear as @Herbierecommends.

Mark rx450h · October 7, 2023

Matador are made by Continental I had Continental cross contact on my last car (jeep grand cherokee) a different beast but the tyres was good. I put a pair of matador tyres on my sons leon fr a fast n at that good grip in the dry and wet. On a budget I had accelara tyres on the jeep when I first got it they was quite good. Look on black circles then Google the tyres you like for better prices.

Mark.

rayaans · October 8, 2023

On 9/26/2023 at 1:03 PM, John Walker said:

Will soon have to get new tyres for my RX and was thinking if any of you have some good recommendations for all weather tyres?

I was considering Michelin CrossClimate 2 but apparently they are not great in wet which is what we mostly get in UK (excellent on snow and dry though)

Then Hankook Kinergy 4S2 SUV (great in wet and dry but just average in snow) but couldn’t find anywhere in the right size (235 55 20)

Michelin CC2's are good in the wet, and the snow.

The ratings dont mean anything much - they're rated by the manufacturer themselves. All it means is that the wet performance may not be as good as the Michelin Pilot Sport 5s but they may be better than another tyre.

I've had absolutely no issues in the wet with them so I think it would be slightly foolish to discard them considering how good they really are as an all year round tyre

Goodplan53 · October 12, 2023

My 70 reg RX has only done 12K miles but I learned today when it was in to have the anti-theft plates fitted that the front tyres are almost down to 3 mil. Whilst they are still legal, this does seem odd - bought the car from the Lexus dealer only 6 months ago when it had just 11K miles.

Seems excessive - is that rate of wear normal on 20" Bridgestone Duellers?

mikey2001 · October 12, 2023

3 hours ago, Goodplan53 said:

My 70 reg RX has only done 12K miles but I learned today when it was in to have the anti-theft plates fitted that the front tyres are almost down to 3 mil. Whilst they are still legal, this does seem odd - bought the car from the Lexus dealer only 6 months ago when it had just 11K miles.

Seems excessive - is that rate of wear normal on 20" Bridgestone Duellers?

I would say this is a little excessive, but may be down to the driving style of the previous owner. Having said that, the RX is hardly a car to throw into the corners 😄 My 2019 RX still has it's original Bridgestone Duelers, and has about 5mm at the front at 6mm at the rear after 17k miles (owned from 3 months old where it had only done 7 miles).