Tire Selection Help For My Rx

[koroush]

Hello Everyone,

My RX300 is due for new tires. it has 110K miles on it, and I'm looking to keep this car for a couple more years. 99% of driving is city/highway and I'm looking for a very comfortable tire with low noise. I live in California, so driving in snow is not a requirement, but the rain is pretty heavy in the winter months. the car had the Good year integrity as OEM tires, then the Michelin M/S, but because of uneven tire ware, I had to change two of them. now I have dueler HT on the front and Michelin M/S on the rear.

Since I'm not planning to keep this car for say 30K-40K more miles, I figured the Michelin Latitude touring or the M/S2 tires are overkill even though they are considered the best. I heard some good stuff about Kumho's KH16 as well. So I've narrowed down my choices to the following:

Kumho Solus KH16

Yokohama AVID TRZ

General Grabber UHP

Michelin Latitude Tour

General Grabber HTS

Michelin LTX M/S2

Your guidance is appreciated in selecting the best value and most comfortable tire other than the Michelin. In the Michelin is the only choice, I was going to pick the latitude tire based on what I've read. Do you agree?

thanks in advance. there is a comparison table attached from the tirerack data as well.

__www.tirerack.com_tires_CompareTires.pdf

[RX in NC]

I assume you have 16-inch wheels. If so, the best bang-for-the-buck tire for your vehicle is the Firestone Destination LE tire. 60,000-mile treadwear warranty, great in the rain and light snow, and relatively quiet. Had a set on my wife's previous 2000 RX300 that did more than 55,000 miles with absolutely no problems and they never hydroplaned even in the nastiest storms. Had a set on my daughter's 2000 Grand Cherokee with the same results. Three weeks ago I put a set of them on my 1999 Dodge Ram in size P265/75R16, much larger than what your vehicle requires. I bargained with the local Firestone store and got my cost down from retail at about $600 to $487 by asking for a buy-3-get-1-free deal. They agreed. Throw in the $50 mail-in rebate they were offering, and my final cost dropped to $437 balanced, mounted, and out-the-door. No one else could come close to that, including tirerack.com and Discount Tire....

My experience with these tires is that they are an outstanding product for the money. Work your best deal for a set with your local Firestone stores. When you call, ask to speak with the manager. He has far more leeway to deal than the regular reps do. If he won't work a deal for you, then call another local Firestone store and try again. Most cities have at least a handful of stores. Our particular area has at least 6 or 8 to choose from. I found the best one years ago, wrote down the manager's name, and always deal with him now. He saves me significant money every time....

[cduluk]

A couple of years ago i was in the same boat, looking for the perfect set for my Rx300.

Ended up going with the Bridgestone Dueler Alenza tires because of the fantastic ratings and recommendations from other Rx300 owners on this site. They were EXCELLENT tires, incredibly quiet and handled VERY well in the rain and even in the snow.

Since you don't need them for snow, there may be others out there that are quieter, but i can tell you the Alenza's were PERFECT.

[carguy07]

I have the KH16's very good tire over all.

[Karl K]

I have the KH16's very good tire over all.

I live in Florida and don't have to worry about snow and I don't go off-road.

All I want is a smooth, quiet ride and the GoodYear Assurance Comfortread sure delivers it.

I got them at Sam's.

[koroush]

Thanks Everyone. I'm still undecided, but narrowed it down to: michelin Latitude touring, Khumo or the Bridgestone Dueler Alenza. I really am looking for quite tires, good gas milage, and wet traction.

[blueridge]

I went with the General Grabber HTS tired about a year ago. So far, I like them a lot and especially the price. They also look good too which isn't a big concern for me, safety and comfort is. The wear on this tire seems to be holding up well, I do rotate every 6K and run 3 PSI over recommended pressure. Last, I did run them through a good 3-4 snows and they did well.

As far as Khumos go, I'd stay away with them. I had them on our Camry and removed them after 20K.