RX400h

I think this is how the Mazda 3 SHOULD look - no bulging fenders, please. And make no mistake about it; the Lexus gas mileage will be far higher than that of the Mazda 3's.

I would not worry about it. The next time you bring your vehicle in for any kind of service, ask the service advisor to have the technician listen to it. Just make it clear to them that you will not pay $40 for them to just listen to the noise. I've ben hearing something similar for the last year or so; other than the noise, there hasn't been any problem with the brakes.

I'll bet they are somewhere between the Prius and 250h. I am looking forward to reading about the first road test. Dave

Of course, that's what our sophisticated active handling is for! :) Dave

What I meant to say is for most people. Obviously, if you tend to drive your SUV in a similar manner as you do a sportscar, you will feel the difference, but anyone who lives in or near a large city knows that handling characteristics mean nothing when you're cruising along at 30-50 MPH on heavily-congested streets. And being that population density is far greater around large cities, I think it's safe to say that the majority of non-retired owners "see" average speeds of well under 50 MPH. I believe my average speed is 35.

Nice (and should be very efficient)! http://www.lexus.com/fcv/ct200h.html?s_oci...0:Image1:CThFCV

Do you belong to a credit union? Some offer extended warrantees on members' vehicles. But if there's any one brand that does not need an extended warranty, it's Lexus. Our 2006 is almost 5 years old and hasn't had a single thing wrong with it. Now that's a good sign for future reliability.

I believe ours was doing the same thing for a while but no longer makes any noise. I'll have to pay close attention, though, the next time I drive it.

The one thing that is unknown: How quiet are the tires when they have 25-30,000 miles on them? The Alenzas were super-quiet until about 27,000 miles. Since you have a year, perhaps we will find out before you or I need to buy a new set.

Rey, Take a look at this page; it should explain most, if not all: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/tec...e.jsp?techid=33 Dave

Consumer Reports has an independant lab test each tire for tread wear. I'm not sure, but I believe the rating is based upon a comparison to the longest-lasting of the tires, no matter what the speed rating. Keep in mind that many people compare their tires' longevity to that of their OEM tires, which rarely last longer than 30,000 miles. Some OEM tires last less than 20,000 miles, so a set of General Grabbers that last 30,000 miles would seem like they are superior in this regard. By the way, do you know what the speed rating is for the Grabbers?

The General Grabbers do get high marks, but their tread life is worse than average (about the same as the Alenza's tread life).

If the Tours far oulast the HPs and yet still provide decent handling, why not save some money? It would be nice if the Tirerack had compared the two so that they could let us know whether there is a significant steering response difference. I'm not as concerned about the speed rating, but if the steering resposnse slows down noticably, I may stick with H or V-rated tires. Decisions, decisions.......

I'm not sure if they are similar, but the Nitto NT 555s did very poorly among tires tested by Consumer Reports (ranked 20 out of 21 tires). Noise level was worse than average - not good for a luxury vehicle. On the other hand, the Nitto Neo Gen ZR did fairly well, placing 2nd among 15 all-season tires.

Having a V-rated tire on a 4600-lb vehicle whose suspension was really not designed for handling is overkill and unnessarry. IMO. The 60,000 mile rating of the Bridgestone Alenzas is a joke, as there is little chance that those tires can come anywhere close to that mileage. H-rated tires often provide a smoother ride and longer tread life, so I would not rule them out as replacement tires. A quick check with a Tirerack rep confirmed that almost all tires in the size required for our vehicles have more than adequate load capability. The Tirerack rep highly recommended the Michelin Lattitude Tour if ride comfort and low noise are top-priority requirements. It is T-rated (118 MPH max), but I don't think the RX400h can surpass that speed, anyway.

Rey, those are considered truck tires and are rated "much worse than average" for tread life. Fortunately, they ARE better than average in most other performance categories. I admit that this is a tough decision!

I agree about the load rating. The narrower width may look odd, especially if you currently have 255s. Still, there's no doubt in my mind that those are excellent tires.

We do occasionally get torrential downpours during Winter months, but the majority of tires out now are very competant on wet roads. By the way, Rey, did you check the difference in cross-sectional width? I would think that the 225s would be narrower than the stock 235s.

I had them set to 35 psi, but the center of each tire was wearing faster than the inner and outer areas. I now have them set to 32-33 psi.

Unfortunately, at approximately 25,000 miles, our Alenzas are starting to hum. I generally have rotated them every 5000 miles. For this reason, I may try another brand when they wear out, which will certainly be long before 65,000 miles.

Jim, Rey lives in Los Angeles and as in my case, does not need to worry about having to use all-season tires. The temps here rarely dip below 45 degrees. How long has the Parada Spec been out? I was under the impression that it is a relatively new tire and thus, does not have many reviews - at least that I've seen.

Rey, You might want to check out either the Continental ContiExtremeContact (235/55/18 - much better-than-average tread life and rolling resistance and better-than-average comfort and noise) or if handling is an ultimate priority, the Goodyear GSD3s in 255/55/18 (I have these-wider profile- on the Corvette and they are AMAZING on dry and wet roads). They won't last as long as the Contis, however. lwleedy, Just about every Michelin performs well when it comes to hydroplaning.

This is rare, indeed but in any case, you still can't compare that 420 treadwear rating to one published by any other manufacturer. Consumer reports does include treadwear comparisons in their ratings and they show the V-rated Versado getting a "worse-than-average" rating while the T-rated Versado achieved a "much better-than-average" rating. The Michelin MXV4 achieved a better-than-average rating in the H category.

Almost universally (among same manufacturer's tires), a higher speed rating means shorter tire life. This is not because of the speed capability of the tire; rather, most higher speed-rated tires have stickier rubber compounds. you'll notice that tires having the highest mileage guarantees are all in the lower speed rating categories. In addition, you cannot compare tread wear ratings among different manufacturers, since there is no global "standard" to which the ratings are calculated. As a general rule-of-thumb, an H-rated tire will outlast a V, Z, or W-rated tire quite handily.

This appears to be a V-rated tire. Is that correct? If so, expect tread life to be quite a bit less than that of an H-rated all-season tire.