After contemplating for long periods of time, researching and reading countless reviews, and finding an unbeatable price I decided to buy new tires. Mind you, I had already purchased 4 brand new tires under a year ago but wanted new ones because the Falken 512's just didn't suit my tastes(BTW, I'm looking to get rid of these so look in the org classifieds if your interested). I finally decided to get the Bridgestone Turanza LS-Vs in 225/50/17 and am glad that I did. These tires have changed the whole feel of my car. The handling is 100 times better and I feel so much more sure-footed. Bumps are definately less noticable and it almost feels as if my braking power has increased. Sounds weird but feels true. The best part of my purchase was that I found an unbeatable price. I looked everwhere online and Tirerack had the best price. I then went to Costco and I got them for $150 each installed with lifetime rotation, balancing and road hazard. There is no way anyone can beat that. They didn't have my size in stock and had to special order them for me at no additional cost. They arrived in 4 business days and the installation was superb. Tirerack wanted about $150 for the tires and you still had to pay for shipping, installation, tire stems, and none of the above was included. In any case, just wanted to save any of you that are looking to get these tires some time. I will post a follow up once I have put more miles on these bad boys.

 

This is in fact, correct. I just went to a costco on LI and got a price quote of $151/tire installed for the 225.50.17's. Needs about a week to get them in----will be ordering them this w/e!!!!

 

Grateful1- I realize that you just picked up the Turanza's, but I was wondering if you could spare any feedback, especially on any wet/icy conditions that you may have encountered. I want new tires, actually correction I NEED new tires. I almost wrapped myself around a tree coming down from upstate NY last week. Need to get the OEM rubber off before the snow comes down here too. Thanks for your help.

 

Of course this is correct, would I make this up?? I'm glad that you got the same quote as I did as the prices shouldn't vary that much from store to store. Hope you like them, I do.

 

I haven't been able to drive them in icy conditions yet but it did snow a little today. I intentionally slammed on my brakes a couple of times and the tires definately held their own. However, I have driven in moderately rainy weather and the tires performed excellent. I would like to give you a more definitive review of these tires but I really haven't had them that long. All I can tell you at this point is so far so good. Good luck with your decision.

 

We got about 1 inch of snow with crazy winds today which created pretty bad driving conditions. I must say, these tires held their own. They performed as I expected and I felt the most confident driving in these conditions in comparison to any other tire I have driven on.

 

Finally got off my lazy @ss and ordered them today. Most of that had to do with the fact that I saw a HUGE crack in the sidewall of the driver side front tire.

Hustled over to Costco---they should be in Friday.....

 

Word. Let me know what you think.

 

Hey grateful, I have the same car as you and I'm agonizing over what tires to buy to replace the OE Turanzas.

I have been shopping around and finding very few options at most local shops because the 215/55/R17 isn't a popular size I guess. I'm currently considering the Michelin Energy or Pilot, and the Pirelli P6 Four Seasons. I'm leaning toward the Energy since I haven't found much info on the Pirelli, and I'm not sure if I'll be happy with a harder ride and less wet/icy traction from the Pilot.

I noticed that you bought a 225/50/R17, which I would never have thought of doing. It's not a perfect match for the stock size, but I looked on the tire size calculator and I see that it's only 1.7% faster.

Are there any other sizes that would be a close match?

Did you consider the Michelin or Pirelli at all?

 

NickK,

I almost pulled the trigger on Turanza LSVs earlier today, but then decided to wait after talking to a manager a local tire shop. I am also looking at Michelin Pilots and Pirelli Neros in a 225/50/17 on my 2002 SE. The manager at the shop was pushing Toyo TPT Proxes, he said that it was a superior tire and you weren't going to pay for their blimp which flies around at races. He also told me that they run quiet and are extremely responsive. He told me that the Pirelli shred up easily and that I would need new tires after 10,000 miles. Who knows he might be scoring a great commission off of them. Now I am back to the drawing board. Off to do some research on the Proxes. DOH

 

Alot of the local shops on LI push the Toyo.. I had a pair of the FZ4's on the my prelude and they were so so....

You really go in circles shopping for all seasons for this car!

 

Hey Nick, I did a lot of research before I bought the LS-Vs. From what I have read, a lot of people like the Pirelli's but apparently they wear fast and road noise is quicker to appear. It didn't seem like the Energys were a big hit on Tirerack so I didn't really look at those. The Pilots are debatably the best tires you can buy but there seems to be a pretty strong consensus that the cost is what deters people from buying these tires. That and some people complain about road noise but all tires eventually get loud.

In any case, the 225/50/17s are a really close match to the stock GLE size. After looking at the few tires that did come in GLE stock size, I decided to go with the above mentioned.

I'm not sure if in xsipnos case that whoever he spoke to was talking him out of the LS-Vs but the people that have purchased them on Tirerack have all but good things to say about them. Furthermore, after searching high and low for tires that suits my driving style, I can say that the LS-Vs are awesome. They grip and handle well and so far are excellent in the rain and snow. If you liked the GLE stock Turanza EL-42s then you will definately like the LS-Vs. Good luck with your tire search.

 

Thank you for the reply grateful1.

I bought the Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 today because it's snowing again and I couldn't wait any longer. The OE tires had 46k on them and were down right dangerous in the snow.

I decided against the Pirelli for the reasons you stated. The Turanzas weren't in-stock here, but the Michelins were, so I got them even though they cost more. Plus they come in the stock 215/55/R17 size which is nice.

I'm sure the Michelin Pilot is an even better tire than the Energy, but I think they would be too stiff for me, I really get annoyed with road noise. I must be getting old, heh, sacrificing performance for comfort.

So far I am pretty happy with the Michelin tires. They were fun on the dry freeway ramps on my way home today from work today. I also drove to my hockey scrimmage and back in light snow tonight and they were a huge improvement.

They were expensive, but I think they will be worth it overall.

Nick

 

Ok..Here we go. The tires came in yesterday and I had them installed yesterday evening at Costco...Good thing.. b/c the snow here in NY started at 10pm that night.

The first thing I noticed was that they filled the tires with nitrogen. <yawn> whatever.......

I jumped on 110N and noticed that the ride was somewhat stiffer than what I was used to. I had the OEM junktenzas on--4 years old and 33,000 miles on them.. only about 20% left on the tread. One of the front tires had a leak and a slit down the sidewall.. Another tire in the rear had a bubble.. Clearly.. they are shot.

So the fact that the ride was stiffer seemed normal. Nice feel to them..More road feedback... I was in traffic so I couldnt really push them...nor would I really even if I could. The dry traction was 100% better---but that was to be expected..

We had about 4-5 inches of snow fall, but only about 2 inches on the roads when I got rolling this morning. Outstanding.

Now I'm not sure if this is just because I drove the Maxima last year on the Potenzas or if the LSV's are really that good. I certainly could make them spin up with a flick of the ankle, but the car was predictable and stable through whatever snow was there.

Granted..it wasn't a whole lot of snow--in fact---it was mostly just wet on the main roads. I suppose the big test will be when we get 6-8 inches and I have to get home from work.

 

Bones,

Any comment on how noisy the tires are? I am soooo confused on what tire to get. Funny I went to Costco (Long Island) last night to price the Michelin Pilots, they quoted me 206.00 plus tax. They also confirmed the Turanzas are 150.00 plus tax. Thanks.

Xsipnos

 

We got about 4-6 inches of snow over the weekend which really was the first test for my LS-Vs. The tires performed better than I expected. The car was felt really stable and seemed to cut right thru the snow. I haven't felt this confident driving in snowy/icy conditions in quite some time. Everybody else on the road seemed to be driving so much slower than I was and I felt really safe even when driving at 50mph on un-plowed snow.

 

xsipnos...I didnt really notice a huge difference in noise...there may have been---but Im not really picky about that stuff. Drove on the LIE to work and it didnt come to mind...

just to let you know that the $150 includes, full installation, AND road hazzard. Great deal.

 

FYI - I went to Costco's website to order the Turanzas and of course they weren't available...keep in mind that they were available last week. At any rate I took a ride to Costco and spoke to the guys that work there and they told me that Costo is going to eventually stop selling Bridgestone tires early next year. I asked him what happens to the road hazzard plan and he told me that he wasn't sure. I also went to the Bridgestone/Firestone location in Westbury and they quoted me a price of about 695.00 for a set of four, includiing installation, rotation and road hazard if you sign up for a Bridgestone credit card. Hope this helps for those of you who live on Long Island.

 

235/50/17's are a much closer match to the stock size than the 225's. There is only a .23% difference in diameter than 1.75% difference.

 

I just wanted to add to this very heplful LS V's review, is that I had researched the best possible tire for my 2K 130t, and found the reviews about the Turanza's to be better than average. So I called two local Firestone shops and both claim this tire is discontinued. Both had no idea why. I called the local Costco and they could have them in 5-7 days no problem. There quote was awesome $640 for the set w/road hazard Weird... I'm thinking I might go ahead and order them, but what if something happens and I cannot get a replacement enters my head. Or should I wait 'til the Turanza replacements come out? Thx all!!

 

I talked at length with the tire place where I will be purchasing tires. All they do is tires and their reputation for knowledge and customer service is among the best. I narrowed it down to 2 tires. The Turanza LS-V's and the Toyo Proxes Tpt's. He informed me that the LS-V's are made from the same exact mold as the EL's, with a different tread pattern on them and said they were way overpriced. He said that the Toyo's were a better all around tire, especially considering the price. When I started talking about my Falken's he interupted and said, "let me guess. They were great for 10-15k and then started to become slippery in the rain and snow". He said that he received tons of people buying them because of Consumer Reports review of them and he tried his best to inform people of their long term performance issues. In short, I'm not trying to cause strife, but I would like everyone who purchased the LS-V's to keep us informed. All we have here is honestly on the word of someone we've never met. So far Maxima.org has never let me down.

 

I saw the turanza EL's as well. Their tread pattern looks way different..and the EL's are OEMs on some cars. This should tell you something.

The reviews of the ELs on tirerack are not good from what I have read.

Almost every place I have gone into doesnt have or doesnt recommend the LSV's. This brings up some interesting points.

1. Nobody stocks alot of tires in the 225/50/17. most places have to order the LSV in that size.. some places can't/ won't even order them.

2. Many places push the Toyos. Maybe they have tons of them? Maybe they make the most $$$ on them? I had a set of the FZ4 ( or something like that) on my Prelude.. and they were just ok.

3. One guy from Mavis Disount tire-- "I don't recommend them". Me -"Can you get them for me? How much are they?" Mavis-"I can't get them."

Do they not recommend them b/c they can't get them? Too much trouble?

Bottom line is that ALL stores are in business to SELL and make money. They are going to try and sell you the best tire in your budget that they have.

 

Bones45, very good observation. In my case the guy I purchased them from was very good friends with my coworker. He did have the LSV's in stock and they were more expensive. He said the markup on the LSV's were more than the Toyo's that he sold me. The tread pattern is different on the LSV's but the tire itself is constructed from the same mold. Only time will tell if the Toyo's are good tires. One thing is for sure. The Toyo's feel very different from the Falkens.