Replacement Tires

[Tad]

I just bought a 2000 RX300 and it needs a new set of tires. I want a beautiful, quiet, soft-as-butter Lexus-type ride...nothing bouncy, hard, or trucklike. Would you recommend the Michelin Cross Terrain SUV, the Michelin LTX M/S, the Firestone Destination LE, or something else? I do all onroad city and highway driving. Many thanks!

[ford212.809]

I just bought a 2000 RX300 and it needs a new set of tires.  I want a beautiful, quiet, soft-as-butter Lexus-type ride...nothing bouncy, hard, or trucklike.  Would you recommend the Michelin Cross Terrain SUV, the Michelin LTX M/S, the Firestone Destination LE, or something else?  I do all onroad city and highway driving.  Many thanks!

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I have owned the LTX M/S and the Destination and are great tires, either way. Both of them offer a terrific, "car-like" ride and are very quiet. The Cross Terrain however, came as oem's on my '02 Explorer. They wore out at 40k miles. I was disappointed with them because they are VERY expensive. The Firestone's are a great value and performed very well. B)

[dal]

I just bought a 2000 RX300 and it needs a new set of tires.  I want a beautiful, quiet, soft-as-butter Lexus-type ride...nothing bouncy, hard, or trucklike.  Would you recommend the Michelin Cross Terrain SUV, the Michelin LTX M/S, the Firestone Destination LE, or something else?  I do all onroad city and highway driving.  Many thanks!

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I can offer a recommendation of the Michelin Cross Terrain on a 99 RX. They have 55k on them now and getting ready to replace with the same. Significant improvement over Integrity, not bouncy, not hard ride - don't know about buttery, but very quiet and the profile seemed to have more rubber on the road (more square) for what I thought was excellent handling.

Lots of other threads on this topic so search around. See reviews at tirerack.com I do note that persons who reported negative experiences seem to be ones with heavier vehicles (and US makes) - could be a factor.

[mikey00]

I put Cross Terrains on my 01 and they were a big improvment over the Bridgestone Duelers that came on it, in both handling and ride. The Duelers wore out at 30k. I now have 50k on the Cross Terrains and they look like they have quite a bit left on them. Check out tirerack.com for ratings and watch Costco for Michelin sales.

[SW03ES]

Run a search, there was a huge thread on RX tires about 3 weeks ago.

[sgriffith]

I just bought new tires for my RX 2 months ago....and highly recommend the LTX/MS. I nearly went with the cross terrains, but they would have had to order them and I didn't want to wait. I am glad I went with the LTXs and will purchase them again. They are MUCH quieter and ride MUCH smoother than the tires I had before (Kelly Safari).

[RX in NC]

Many folks sing the praises of the Michelin LTX M/S which has been around for at least a decade. Most owners get long life and a decent ride with proper care (which means checking your tire pressure EVERY WEEK and rotating every 5,000 to 7,500 miles). Although pricey, the LTX M/S is less expensive than the CrossTerrains. Michelin has done a good job hyping the much-overpriced CrossTerrains to all the soccer moms out there in SUVLand.

Like many, I hated the Bridgestone Duelers that came standard on my wife's 2000 RX300 AWD. She experienced short tread life (42,000 miles), lousy wet traction, poor snow traction, all the standard complaints that most Dueler owners will tell you. When I researched replacement tires between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2004 (and I over-research everything that has to do with spending significant money on our vehicles), I boiled it down to three choices: the Yokohama Geolander HT-S G051 (originally my first choice), the aforementioned LTX M/S, and my most unlikely choice of all, the Firestone Destination LE.

I never thought I would buy a "stone" (Bridgestone/Firestone) tire again, especially Firestone with their borderline criminal behavior involving the Explorer rollovers about five years ago. But the more research I did, the more praise I uncovered for the Destination LE tire. It's built with top-notch technology, it carries a 60,000 mile warranty, and at the time it sold for a mere $70 (plus shipping) through tirerack.com. It's wet weather handling, longevity, and ride comfort were all rated in the top three out of approximately 70 tire choices for the SUV category. It was rated higher than both the LTX M/S and the CrossTerrain, and was priced almost 50% below the CrossTerrain. So I gradually came to terms with my Firestone mental block and decided to order a set in mid-December. Tires, shipping, balancing, valve stems, mounting, and a fresh alignment combined came to just under $400. The Michelins would have been at least $150 to $200 more.

I rotated the Destinations for the first time last Saturday at just over 5,000 miles. They're still in perfect condition with the original 12/32 tread depth intact. The ride is comfortable, the wet weather handling is phenomenal, and the snow traction is solid. I'm glad I decided to give Firestone a chance with these tires. They learned some very expensive lessons from their Explorer experiences, and this tire apparently is one of the results of those lessons. If you're looking for a highly-rated all-around tire for the money, I think it's going to be hard to beat these Destinations. My only unanswered question now is whether they can really do 60,000 miles and more. If they can, I'll probably stick with this tire on this vehicle for as long as we own it.

Good luck to you, hope this has helped, and let us know what you decide to go with.