On Summer Tyres And Winter Tyres For Nx...

[te0xdsm]

Happy new year to everybody!

For what I have seen many people have gone over this subject for other models, and the discussion with Jamie a few weeks on a separate part of the forum was quite revealing too, but let me add a bit of a twist here.

My NX 300h F-sport came with Bridgestone Dueler H/L 33 tyres (225/60 R18). These are classified as summer tyres (no M+S marking or snowflake) - no surprises there.

With my previous car, I always had a set of chains in case things got really bad, however, for the NX, the user manual clearly mentions you cannot mount snow chains on 225/60 R18 wheels.

Living in the South East, my plan was to switch to M+S tyres (Michelin Latitude Tour HPs or similar) at some point (I know they are not true all season, but I think they would do the job in 2-4 inches of snow). However, the problem comes should I decide to go to the Alps - since tyres without snowflake symbol are not accepted and I cannot mount chains:

I have considered switcing to winter tyres all year round - but there is very little information about what happens to those when you drive in lets say 35 C heat (trips to Spain in the summer). The very few reviews/articles I have found seem to suggest that they degrade very fast - in fact so fast that you would run the risk of pucture/explosion. But again, there is very little information and nothing cosistent - manufactures do not seem to publish it.

So a few options:

- Buy set of winter tyres (without wheels) on 225/60 18 size and swap them with the summer ones every 6 months... the process of taking a tyre off the wheel and back seems to me to cause stress to the tyre, I do not feel very conftable with that approach.

- Buy set of 17 inch wheels (225/65 R17) and have winter tyres on them. Then swap wheels every 6 months... would I need a set of TMPS valves with them if so that is getting a very expensive proposition?

- Buy set of 17 inch wheels (225/65 R 17), fit all-seasons to them with snowflake symbol (Vredenstein Quatrac 3 SUV or similiar) and store/sell the 18 inch wheels - I really like the 18 inch wheels so I do not like that option, but it may be most practical one!

Have you got any thoughts? I guess I am not the only one thinking about it....

Thanks.

Dom.

[ColinBarber]

If you purchased a second set of wheels then yes you would need another set of TMPS valves.

[te0xdsm]

Thanks Colin,

Acutally I have done a bit more research since I posted, and I am between 2 options at this moment:

- Keep the Duelers (and/or go with M+S when the Duelers are less than 4 mm) and have a pair of autosocks if the all wheel drive is not enought to keep me moving.

- I have found Nokian does a "proper" all season tyre - WRG3 - amazingly 225/60 R18 100W (I wonder which model they were for that required certification up to 270kmh).

Not sure which one I will pick between those two, but I am happy that I have the whole range of options covered now. I am ful aware that no tyre will cover summers in Spain and winters here without some tradeoffs.

[ColinBarber]

If the NX is anything like my old RX400h then you should be fine in the south of the UK with just the standard tyres until they need replacing, I never had any problems with traction in the snow.

[Jon.A]

In my opinion the sooner your Duellers are bald the better ! Having run Rav4's for many years I have been unfortunate enough to have had Duellers on two brand new cars, they're not in the same league as Yokohamas in poor weather, however, their worst feature is the amount of road noise they create. Having changed Duellers to Yokos on more than one occasion the difference in road noise and ride quality is incredible.

[Scoops]

While you could run winter tyres all year round you are going to suffer a few issues:

Increased wear meaning more changes

Increased road noise and possibly a change in feel to the car due to the tread pattern being used

Increased stopping distance (in warm weather compared to a summer tyre according to Michelin)

It depends where you live and the conditions of course but for the urban population, winter tyres should be more than sufficient - snow socks are for extreme weather conditions and short/low speed distances. Every test I have seen of winter vs summer outline just how superior they are but I reckon have separate winter/summer tyres and changing them every 6 months (or whatever the average temp below 7 degrees is in months) is the best way to go..

[te0xdsm]

My plan was to try the Duelers in the snow this year - my driveway is on an gentle upward slope and then make decission in time for next years service (since I do low mileage - around 5K year - I am on the yearly schedule). Though I am beginning to have my doubts if we will have snow this year....

I know that swapping summer and winter tyres would be best - but it would be be the cost of the wheels + tyres + TPMS valves, then storing the winter tyres (I think I could that that at home but I would have to think about exactly how, not easy). Then having them fitted every 6 months (although I could get a wheel gun and do it myself) and then I guess you need to do frequent wheel alignments.

For where I live and my mileage (I do not need the car for work), I do think it is a bit overkill - we do not get black ice patches here or at least on the roads I use.

The problem with running winters all year is that I do some trips to spain the summer - and there is little (or none at all) literature about how fast winter tyres degrade with asphalt temperatures of 40C+ (or 100F+). But what I have read is not good at all - quotes like "they would not reach the next oil change" and things like that for a test I found they did in California with winter tyres.

Autosocks would be a last resort "get out of jail" card in case it gets so bad the duellers or M+S tyres would not cut it.

[stevet]

I have all-season Hankook tyres on the RX and they have great with the snow (not much this year) and also our annual trip to the south of France. I can understand changing the tyres on a two wheel drive car but not a 4x4.

[rayaans]

Havent changed the factory Dunlop SP Sport 270 on my RX. Ive currently got 26k miles on the clock which equates to 10k miles a year and the fronts are on 4mm while the backs are on 5.2mm. Being primarily FWD, the fronts will wear quicker and dont make the mistake of sticking all season tyres only on two wheels when they wear out!

[te0xdsm]

Definitely not - when they go all 4 will have to go

[rayaans]

Definitely not - when they go all 4 will have to go

Not too sure if theyre made in the NX fitment but the blokes in the States are using Michelin Latitude Tour HP - apparently very good tyres and over there they are rated as all season. Very good noise levels and wear rate too, might be worth looking at

[te0xdsm]

Yes the Latitude Tour HPs are available on 225/60 R18. For reviews, I like this site:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=CSTAS

Pirelli Scorpion Verde all-seaons are better - but not available in 225/60 size.

The Continental LX20s are not sold here - but here you have the Continental LX2s which seem the same (at least have the same thread) - I am waiting for some review of the LX2s here in UK (or Europe), but those ones would be my pick.

[rayaans]

The pirelli scorpion verde's would result in a harsher ride do to the stiffer 105 rated XL load rating anyway.

Make sure the load rating and speed rating match as well.

People say speed rating doesnt matter as we never get to those speeds, I say thats a load of horse *******. Here's a detailed explanation as to why it does:

Speed ratings are somewhat a sticky subject. I hope to curb some things...

Lets start by saying that tires are a global product. The same tire you

drive on in small town USA is also used in Stuttgart, Germany or Nagoya,
Japan. In North America, we will likely never see the actual rating
that tire is speed rated for. In other parts of the world, they do.

Of course you will never see 130mph, but why does your vehicle require a
tire that is rated for such? As weird as it may seem, and for North
America, it really isn't about the speed the tire will see on your
vehicle. It is more about the stability of the tire at speed. If the
vehicle requires at least a V rated tire, and you install a T rated
tire, the tire can feel very lazy when driving at highway speed. The
best way to describe it is that once you make a steering input, you need
to wait for the tire to catch up as the vehicle makes its move. Making a
lane change at 70mph can be quite uncomfortable feeling with a lesser
speed rated tire.

Maybe I should try to describe this a different way. Think that a V
rated tire needs to have a certain level of construction to maintain a
149mph/240kph speed so it doesn't destroy itself at that speed. The
construction in a T speed rated tire (118mph/190kph) will be
significantly lower because it is not rated to move that fast. If you
use a lesser rated tire than the vehicle calls for, this difference will
be felt in the vehicle. Also don't forget that the tire is the first
part of a vehicles suspension system and the original equipment tire
speed rating was taken into account when the vehicle was designed.



All of that said, speed rating variances will be different for every
vehicle and sometimes some sub-models within the same model. Generally
speaking, you can drop 1 speed rating without issue.



Here is some more information about speed ratings on our website



I hope that helps!



-AJ
__________________

AJ | The Tire Rack

7101 Vorden Parkway

South Bend, IN 46628

aj@tirerack.com

Support Club Lexus!!!