235/50/17 Tires Awesome

[jim pittsburgh]

I've put about 7000 miles on the Conti Extremes so far... and they show no sign of wear... are still very quiet, handle the rain as well as any all season tire I've had... and handle much better than any all season tire I've driven.... If you can afford to have two sets of tires... I still very highly recommend them. The ride and handling is much better than stock, really changed my opinion of the car for the better.... I've played with the tire pressures and seem to like 33F and 32R the best so far...

[pj8708]

Hey Paul, how pronounced was the difference when you drove it after the Primacy's were installed?

Sorry for the late response my friend. You know, it wasn't a startling difference as one might think from the Consumer Reports write up, but you can immediately sense the quiet which is important to me, and a smoother but not mushy ride. The Bridgestone was more choppy (is that a word?) and stiff over railroad tracks. They also had pronounced road noise at highway speed. Especially on concrete. I went over a rough patch of pavement today and said to myself how much I like my Primacy's.

Paul

[SW03ES]

I'm trying to decide whether I should spend the money to replace the Bridgestones with Primacys when the Bridgestones are new, or just wait for them to wear some.

Won't be long, they have a 240 treadwear...

[pj8708]

I'm trying to decide whether I should spend the money to replace the Bridgestones with Primacys when the Bridgestones are new, or just wait for them to wear some.

Won't be long, they have a 240 treadwear...

This is a long shot but it has worked twice for me. My dealer reps. both Lexus and Volvo, along with Jaguar, Infinity, and Land Rover. When we bought my wife's S80 Volvo, they gave us a $200 credit for the tires that were on the car and I bought a new set of Cont. from the dealer to replace them. As you know I did a swap on the ES as well and they gave me another allowance. They apparently use these tires on pre-owned Certified cars. This dealer has a price match program for tires. This applies to advertisements on-line or printed.

Maybe your dealer will work something with you. Given the amount of exposure and influence potential your writings have, I would think that the dealer, (read that Lexus Corp.) would bend over back wards to further your goodwill.

The question is if it's worth the money to make the swap. If I drove as much as you do I think the comfort and the cabin environment experience would win out for me.

[SW03ES]

Worth a shot, I'll bring it up at the 5 k service...

[OH_Guy]

Just for my information, why do members dislike the Bridgestone Turanzas?

I have a 2008 ES350 with the original P215/55R/17 Turanzas. The car is very quiet, rides likes glass and I've never had any problems getting through snow in the last two Cleveland winters.

Last week I brought the car in for the 35K service. Odometer had 37,910 miles on it. Dealer recommended a buy new tires for it because each tire showed 4-5/32's tread left. They normally recommend replacement at 3/32 but during the winter they suggest changing at 4/32.

He suggested Michelins (without being specific) for over $1K (choke). I passed.

I read here that everyone loves the Michelins but there are comments to expect 30K mileage life not the 50K warranteed mileage. Yet the Turanzas will go 40K before hitting the 3/32.

Just wondering.

Thanks

[SW03ES]

The $1,000 for the Michelins is a joke. First off the dealer is probably selling the MXV4 S8 which is not the tire people talk about on here. We talk about the Primacy MXV4 which is cheaper and better.

From TireRack: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Primacy+MXV4&partnum=155HR7MXV4P&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Lexus&autoYear=2010&autoModel=ES%20350&autoModClar=

$556.00 for 4 + $40 or so to ship and $20 per tire to mount and balance brings us to $676 installed.

Compared to the Turanzas:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Turanza+EL400-02&partnum=155VR7EL40002V2&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Lexus&autoYear=2010&autoModel=ES%20350&autoModClar=

$624.00 for 4 + $40 or so to ship and $20 per tire to mount and balance brings us to $744 installed.

So you can see the Michelins are actually cheaper

Compare the tire's stats: Bridgestone Turanza EL400 / Michelin Primacy MXV4

Service Description (load capacity of the tire): 93/94 (Advantage Michelin)

Treadwear Rating: 260/620 (Huge advantage to the Michelin)

Treadwear Warranty: None/60,000 Miles (Advantage Michelin)

Consumer Survey Data:

Would Buy again: 1.0/10 / 8.9/10 (Advantage Michelin)

I mean...the tires are just not comparable. I have the Turanzas on mine and they are okay, but why would I pay more for a tire that is so poorly comparable to a much better tire? It just doesn't make any sense.

Tread life is so dependent on the drivers and where the vehicle is being driven, if you can get 40,000 miles out of the Turanzas...I bet you'll do better than the warranty on the Michelins...

Its something you may just have to take a leap of faith and try...but you won't be dissapointed.

[jim pittsburgh]

well the summer tire season has come to an end.... the Extreme Contacts were an awesome experement... until the temps dipped down into the 20s and low 30s ... then they are just not happy... coming back from Cleveland it was 26 and they were wondering on the highway.... so Sunday the Michelin winter HP tires went back on.... very different ride. I'll look forward to the warmer weather and the ECs going back on the car in the spring

Overall I'd have to give the ECs a 9.5 out of 10 for their performance.... they handled great, show minimal wear, stayed quiet... only put about 7500 miles on them April thru Nov....

I had run the car down 250 in WV into Virginia on the old stock tires, the trip which help make the decision to upgrade... I took the same great road on the new donuts and it was soooooo much more fun...put a smile on my face again.... WV 250 is really a great road if you haven't had the opportunity... take it.If you like linked corners and big elevation changes! It's not the Dragon but it's not bad, not too bad at all!