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Pirelli vs Continental vs Bridgestone

17K views 52 replies 9 participants last post by  Ehucman1022 
#1 ·
I have done half of my research on tires that fits 245/50R20. My final top 3 options are:
  1. Pirelli Scorpion Verde A/S Plus II
  2. Continental Cross Contact LX25
  3. Bridgestone Ecopia H/L 422 Plus
I only had experience for #3 on a 15" and 17" sizes (15" for our old 99 Accord LX, 17" for our old 05 Odyssey EX-L), but haven't had any experience for #1 and #2. Please give your experiences for any of these tires as it would really help me on making my final decision on which tires to get.
 
#2 ·
I have a 2005 MDX Touring with 260k, I have only purchased the Pirelli SCORPION VERDE Season Plus Touring Radial Tire - 235/65R17 104H for the last 10 years. I buy them on Amazon for $90-$100 each and have them installed fr about $20 a tire at a local Goodyear Auto Service Center. They look great and feel great on the road. Hope this helps.
Danny
 
#3 ·
I just got a quote from Costco for Michelin Primacy Tour A/S and BridgeStone Ecopia. The Michelin is costing near $1100 (OTD) and the Bridgestone is near $1000 (OTD), and I have to order them. Right now, as my research is going, the Michelin is out of the question, since it doesn't offer any advantage over others. The Bridgestone is still #3 choice, but I will not be shopping with Costco.

Right now here is the data I have collected so far regarding the tires I am looking at (my top 3 choices):
ContinentalCrossContact LX2570k miles / 7 year warrantyTire price: $787.96 (set of 4 from Tire rack)Tread depth: 12/32ndsCountry Made in: PortugalTire Size: 245/50R20
PirelliScorpion Verde A/S Plus II65k miles / Unlimited time warrantyTire Price: $823.60 (set of 4 from Tire rack)Tread depth: 11/32ndsCountry Made in: MexicoTire Size: 245/50R20
BridgestoneEcopia H/L 422 Plus70k miles / 6 year warrantyTire + installation price: ~$1000 (set of 4 from Costco)Tread depth: 10/32ndsCountry Made in: USATire Size: 245/50R20

I am going to hit up my tire guy pretty soon (well known person with amazing customer service in the Central Florida car community), for installation prices for the tires.

@Dankap911 Thank you for your input on the Pirelli Scorpion Verde tires. How is the road noise in the cabin coming from the tires as they wear?
 
#4 ·
My ranking would be;
1. Continental
2. Brdigestone
3. Pirelli

The only ones I have actually driven on myself were the Pirelli's. They came OEM on a 2016 Ford Explorer company car I had. Took them off after 40K 90% highway miles because they got slippery on wet roads at about 6/32 tread.

PS - give your local tire shop the chance to meet/beat TireRack on pricing. Most times they will.
 
#5 ·
My ranking would be;
1. Continental
2. Brdigestone
3. Pirelli

The only ones I have actually driven on myself were the Pirelli's. They came OEM on a 2016 Ford Explorer company car I had. Took them off after 40K 90% highway miles because they got slippery on wet roads at about 6/32 tread.

PS - give your local tire shop the chance to meet/beat TireRack on pricing. Most times they will.
I will give my tire guys the chance, once I get a good understanding from many members from here on feedback on these tires. Thats when I will call around my tire guy and few tire shops for the best price. I got a quote for just mount and balance for all four tires is $85 from my tire guy.

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#6 ·
I replaced the Conti LX Sport with the LX25. It has a more aggressive appearance and has been terrific in the torrential wet we’ve had. The (low) rolling resistance for both is great, maximizing my MPG. Certainly the LX25s have a higher mileage rating than the Sport (that came on the car). I stayed w stock size. I paid ~$1k and stayed with stock size. I’m meticulous with maintaining quality tires on my, and wife and two daughters’ vehicles and after ~5k miles, I am very pleased with the LX25.

Note: I say this but have historically been Bridgestone loyal. Alenza Plus on my three other vehicles.
 
#8 ·
I replaced the Conti LX Sport with the LX25. It has a more aggressive appearance and has been terrific in the torrential wet we’ve had. The (low) rolling resistance for both is great, maximizing my MPG. Certainly the LX25s have a higher mileage rating than the Sport (that came on the car). I stayed w stock size. I paid ~$1k and stayed with stock size. I’m meticulous with maintaining quality tires on my, and wife and two daughters’ vehicles and after ~5k miles, I am very pleased with the LX25.

Note: I say this but have historically been Bridgestone loyal. Alenza Plus on my three other vehicles.
I prefer Bridgestone too but now I'm gearing towards the Conti CC LX25s. Whats the mileage difference have you seen since you put on the LX25s? And is there any road noise difference between the two?

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#10 ·
My tire guy said the Conti LX25s are super expensive, which means I gotta take the tire rack route, order and ship them to my house, load them into the trunk of the MDX and pay my tire guy $85 to install them (he doesn't have an alignment system so probably might end up stopping by Honda for the alignment or my indie mech).

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#11 ·
My tire guy said the Conti LX25s are super expensive, which means I gotta take the tire rack route, order and ship them to my house, load them into the trunk of the MDX and pay my tire guy $85 to install them (he doesn't have an alignment system so probably might end up stopping by Honda for the alignment or my indie mech).

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If he is not a Continental dealer that would be true. Every tire store can get every brand, but I faced the same issue with Michelin because I wasn't an official dealer.
 
#15 ·
I just looked at Discount tire online and they have the same price as Tire rack. Looks like a better value than going elsewhere based on the price of the tires and free tire rotation (I don't believe tire rotation should be expensive, even at $20, as $10 is more justifiable).

Anyone who has experience with Discount Tire, do they offer alignments with the $100 upfront fee?
 
#17 ·
My Acura SA just told me the tires are literally unsafe to drive on and have no tread life left. Just got an OTD quote from the dealer for the LX25 which is coming out to $1078.63. Definitely going to go with Discount Tires at this rate.

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#18 ·
My Acura SA just told me the tires are literally unsafe to drive on and have no tread life left. Just got an OTD quote from the dealer for the LX25 which is coming out to $1078.63. Definitely going to go with Discount Tires at this rate.
If the dealer does all your service, see if they will match the Discount Tire price. I did this with my wife's 13 Lexus ES300h when the dealer said it needed tires. Went online and got DT quote that was about $250 cheaper, and dealer matched it.
 
#23 ·
While Acura dealers may not do "free" tire rotations, tire rotation is 1 on the Maintenance Minder sub-menu. If you get service at an Acura dealer the tire rotation will be part of that service. Everyone has their own opinion, but to me, the incremental cost of rotations at the dealer is not worth the hassle to take the vehicle somewhere else for a tire rotation. Now if you don't get your vehicle serviced at the dealer, then that is another matter. Also, since the Maintenance Minder is not based on mileage, you may want your tires rotated more frequently. So no right or wrong, just preference.
 
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#24 ·
While Acura dealers may not do "free" tire rotations, tire rotation is 1 on the Maintenance Minder sub-menu. If you get service at an Acura dealer the tire rotation will be part of that service. Everyone has their own opinion, but to me, the incremental cost of rotations at the dealer is not worth the hassle to take the vehicle somewhere else for a tire rotation. Now if you don't get your vehicle serviced at the dealer, then that is another matter. Also, since the Maintenance Minder is not based on mileage, you may want your tires rotated more frequently. So no right or wrong, just preference.
This.

Much easier to do tire rotations as part of another service. Added cost is often nominal.


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#27 ·
I just put new tires on my MDX size 255/55/20 Mich Defenders. They are a little larger bcs I wanted the tire to stick out further from the rim to protect it, and I wanted a smother ride over pot holes and I like it when the tires fill out the wheel well. For us the vehicle is a cruiser, I don't care that I lost some handling, at 4500lbs the perception of handling is a perception, even though the MDX is outstanding for an SUV. I got 34K miles out of the contis, and probably couldn've gone a couple more thousand miles, but the hydroplaning was getting scary. So I pulled the trigger when discount tire offered me so much off the price. They ended up beating Costco, and discount even included their warranty, and they beat them by almost $70 all said and done. Doesn't seem like much when you are spending $1000, but I will only end up spending $900 after taxes, I love getting a deal. I love the mich defenders too, they are not exceptional handlers, but they are good jack of all trades, and excel in wet conditions. We can get btw 70"-100" of rain a year in the south end of the smokies. So rain is my biggest weather concern.
 
#28 ·
Well, change of plan. I just checked and realized my Honda dealership has a buy 3 tires and get 1 for free, plus FREE tire rotations. So I will be going to get my tires replaced at Honda now, with this sweet deal.
 
#29 ·
Not to overstate the obvious, but pay exactly zero attention to buy 3 get one free and focus on out the door. That deal equates to a 25% discount, but if they are overpriced that keep eat up the savings or potentially not even be a good deal. I'm sure you know, but...
 
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#31 ·
I don't know about buy one get one free, I always disregard those commercials. I mean their not going to give you a tire, somebody is losing somewhere and it ain't the dealer (cars or cards), you can't beat the house.

I use Costco as a measurement, and maybe Walmart, then I look at discount and Mavis and talk to my contacts and see what I can work out. I have been buying a set of tires every year for the past few years so I actually know the people at my discount tire. They did give me a free rim and tire one time, but that is bcs the rim was damaged and the tire bcs they were so slow in getting the rims and tires to me. I bought 5 tires and 5 rims at the same time, ended up not paying full price for 4 rims and 4 tires, 5th was free. discount tire was or are offering a labor day deal this past week, but so was costco.

I like the new Defenders (255/55/20) I put on mine, but I had to let some air out. Discount had them at about 38psi and the handling felt weird so I aired them down to 33psi and they felt great. No rubbing so far and I just put 600 miles on them. They handled the curves in the mtns fine and I really didn't want to push them for a little while. I like the tires but I love the way they fill out the wheel wells.
 
#32 ·
I have to see if the dealer could get the tires I finalized on, and if they don't I am literally going to order online from Discount Tire. I held my decision today even with my front two tires starting to crack and rip.

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#33 ·
I have to see if the dealer could get the tires I finalized on, and if they don't I am literally going to order online from Discount Tire. I held my decision today even with my front two tires starting to crack and rip.

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I'm betting DT will be a better price. BTW, my earlier comment about making sure to check the bottom line compared to other options was really directed at others that might come along and read the thread. You had indicated earlier that you were looking well beyond individual tire prices.

As I have investigated the buy three or buy one get one deals over the years I have never encountered a scenario where it was a deal on anything I wanted. NTB runs buy one get one on off brands sometimes, and when I say off brand I'm talking China or Vietnam cheap. Other stores or brands when they run the buy 3 get one it typically means the first 3 are at MSRP (if there is an MSPR established) which may turn out to be a slightly better deal than normal if you had priced the same tires the day before the promo, but I've never seen it equate to a true free tire. On top of that they often still charge for mount and balance, again a tactic that does not result in the bottom line 25% less than the normal sale price. Continental/General runs $60-$120 rebates on a 30 day cycle and I've never been able to determine any particular pattern. Goodyear also runs rebates on a 30 day cycle and they have been somewhat predictable in that they peak in July and tail off heading into fall as people are more likely to be putting on new tires before winter.
 
#34 ·
Good advise earlier comment, Goodyear was I think offering $110 of a set of 4 at discount. I looked at the GY Max tires also but then I heard about the all lives, blue lives, etc HR program at GY, I bought the Michelin’s. Even though I paid more, all lives matter to me... companies should stay away from politics period.
 
#35 ·
Honestly, everything that isn't politics should literally stay out of it if they want to earn business. They do have one tire with an 85k mile warranty, but they literally had to go out of their way and loose my business. I know DT is offering $110 off for Yokohama tires as well.

I just got a price quote from the Honda dealer we bought our MDX brand new from, they are literally pushing to get Michelin. Looks like they are a Michelin authorized dealer, but the price is outrageous honestly. $1300 OTD. Clearly out of my budget!
 
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#38 ·
$1300 for MDX tires is high, really high. I paid $1200 for truck tires one time for BFG TKOs but I was in Alaska, and they were special snowflake rated heavy duty tires for my F250 diesel (6,700lbs vehicle). I'm still a firm believer in Costco, but they won't let you play with tire sizes, its oem size or nothing with them (usually). I rarely get OEM, bcs I don't care so much about gas mileage; I put rain handling, longevity and looks on top.
 
#41 ·
interesting, covid thing for me. I was due to buy tires this past spring, but we almost stopped driving or drove very little and I just now replaced the tires. we usually do about 800-100 per month. I put some pics of the new Mich Def 255/55/20 in this post.
Land vehicle Vehicle Alloy wheel Tire Car
 

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#44 ·
Looks like DT has been finalized. Honda was offering me tires that are not my preference at all. Just ordered Yokohama YK740 since DT was giving $110 discount and is rated in 2nd under "traveler" category. Getting my tires replaced on Wednesday (mounted and balanced) and an alignment on Saturday at Honda.
 
#46 ·
Yup. The fam said stay with what Acura recommends, otherwise I would have opt-ed for the 255/50R20.

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#47 ·
Just got the Yokohamas installed this early afternoon and the ride quality overall has improved. Stopping is much better (yeah, its new) and my father and brother were impressed that these tires are bigger than the OEM tires. The SA at DT was really surprized that our set of LX Sports lasted 42k miles. I will need to do an alignment this weekend and it'll be perfect.


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#48 ·
PROBLEMS WITH THE CONTINENTAL LX25
I just bought the Conti Lx25 for the great ratings. I have about 400 miles on them to date. So far, I really like many things about the tire but there is one BIG problem for me. Here in Denver, many of our highways are cement with small grooves along the direction of travel spaced about a 1/2" apart . These tires are terrible on those roads. The walk and even jump all over the place and will not track a line. So noticeable that my wife doesn't even like to drive the MDX. I've been back to the installation shop to check alignment again (had them aligned with the tire installation). The toe in was off quite a bit, which tells me the shop did a crappy job on the first alignment. They set them for 0 degrees right in front of me. This helped but not enough. The tires still wont track on these highways.
I've called Tire Rack and the best they will do is replace with another Continenal or General tire but the choices are really only one single general tire. I am not sure what to do. Has anyone else experienced this on these or other tires?
 
#51 ·
PROBLEMS WITH THE CONTINENTAL LX25
I just bought the Conti Lx25 for the great ratings. I have about 400 miles on them to date. So far, I really like many things about the tire but there is one BIG problem for me. Here in Denver, many of our highways are cement with small grooves along the direction of travel spaced about a 1/2" apart . These tires are terrible on those roads. The walk and even jump all over the place and will not track a line. So noticeable that my wife doesn't even like to drive the MDX. I've been back to the installation shop to check alignment again (had them aligned with the tire installation). The toe in was off quite a bit, which tells me the shop did a crappy job on the first alignment. They set them for 0 degrees right in front of me. This helped but not enough. The tires still wont track on these highways.
I've called Tire Rack and the best they will do is replace with another Continenal or General tire but the choices are really only one single general tire. I am not sure what to do. Has anyone else experienced this on these or other tires?

What you are experiencing is known as ‘groove wander’. It has to do with the geometry of the tires/tread, along with the spacing of those Denver road grooves. They catch the tires in a way that tries to steer it abruptly.

A reputable tire shop or Acura dealer should be able to recommend something compatible that has worked for other MDX drivers in your area.

I would be tempted to look into some Nokian tires (all weather).


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#49 ·
I have experienced this before. In my navigator, it has to do with low profile tires and oversized rims. Try to bump up the height of the tire. It allows the tire to bend or flex more. Keep the pressure as recommended on door, the ride will be softer with taller tires, and it won’t handle the curves as well bcs the sidewalk will be taller. But it can handle expansion joints and cracks, etc better. As an example on the navigator I went from a 275/60/20 to a 275/65/20, it helped. I just replaced the tires on my MDX and went from 245/40/20 to a 255/55/20 and my tire pressure to no more than 35psi. The problem in a nut shell is caused by too much rim and too little tire. Hope this helps.
 
#50 ·
Another quick thought. You could lwr the tire pressure to 32/33 psi and see if that helps. IMO contis are excellent tires. And the new version the ones you purchased are good so try to lwr pressure and if that doesn’t work try the taller tire.
 
#52 ·
Well, goodbye Yokohama, hello Goodyear! I had Dunlop's on my previous car for the entire 109k miles, and they were super quiet.
 
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