Continental CrossContact LX20 Tires on a 17" Rim

Anybody have these? need some advice, see details in Tires Section

(sorry Mods, but need to get as much info in the next 24hrs, under a deadline, please this thread for a few days if possible, thanks!!!)

Wow! You're mounting all season tires in mid-December in Alaska? Why not go with the TruContact? http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ssContact+LX20+with+EcoPlus+TechnologyThey're both T-rated and the TruContacts get higher rating on TireRack; plus they're cheaper. An alternative would be the General Altimax RT-43 which are H-rated and cheaper still http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...r=2013&autoModel=CX-5&autoModClar=Touring FWD
That's what I went with a month or so ago and I'm happy with them. BTW, Continental owns General Tire.

paris1 said:

Wow! You're mounting all season tires in mid-December in Alaska? Why not go with the TruContact? http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ssContact+LX20+with+EcoPlus+TechnologyThey're both T-rated and the TruContacts get higher rating on TireRack; plus they're cheaper. An alternative would be the General Altimax RT-43 which are H-rated and cheaper still http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...r=2013&autoModel=CX-5&autoModClar=Touring FWD
That's what I went with a month or so ago and I'm happy with them. BTW, Continental owns General Tire.

Click to expand...

Very happy with the 17" True Contacts on my Wife's RAV4. Bought my daughter a set of RT-43's for Christmas.

Only 2600 miles on my CX-5, but will probably put True Contacts on it when the OEM tires need replacement.

I like the looks of that General RT-43 I called tire rack today and they said with the CX-5 they would recommend the Pirrelli 1st, then the crosscontact LX20, then the LE2. I asked them about the truecontact and its higher rating, and they said its more of a passenger car tire, and I shouldn't compare ratings from one catagory to another. But the CX5 is dam near a passanger car. I jacked the car in the air and had an "assistant" put it in gear to check for out of round on my Firestone Destination LE2s, and they were almost perfect, but that doesnt show the variance in sidewall stiffness that the road force machine can feel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQxVAssnbp8


OMG you should have seen my ABS.TCS/TPMS/CEL lites go crazy because some wheels were turning backwards, tryed to do a TPMS reset, no help. But in about 100 yards of driving the all the faults cleared ... almost had to break out my scan tool to extinguish the 4 yellow lights!!

I once had a Trans Am that vibrated at 80, and then went through another band of resonance around 110, and smoothed out on the way to 120.

I took it to Wal-mart of all places, where this tire tech named "Cayo", an older Hispanic guy, spent literally 2 hours balancing my tires.

It was smooth as glass up to as fast as I ever took it, after that. I felt for sure the tire was out of round or something, and multiple tire shops had tried to balance the tires. All it took was one who was willing to spend the time and who maybe knew a little something something.

Just a story/thought for you.

Passenger Grand/Standard Touring All-Season tires、Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season tires、and Light Truck Highway All-Season tires are indeed different and shouldn't be compared to one another. But for CUVs like CX-5 we should be able to use passenger tires. Some people like them as those grand touring tires are a little softer and compensate CX-5's firm ride nicely. T-rated Continental CrossContact™ LX20 Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season tire is fine and should be much better than O.E. Yokohama Geolandar G91A Light Truck Highway All-Season tire. But since the top speed for our CX-5 is 120 mph, I'd stay with at least H-rated tires as T-rated tires are designed for the top speed of 118 mph. I personally would choose H-rated General AltiMAX™ RT43 tire for its light weight、high 51 psi maximum inflation pressure、better 700AA UTQG、low price、and good rating.

Here are partial lists of 225/65R17 tires in different categories with good TireRack consumer rating and O.E. tire for your comparison:

Light Truck Highway All-Season Tires:

Grand/Standard Touring All-Season Tires:

Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season Tires:

XL = Extra Load
TR = TireRack.com

Performance Category Rank from TireRack.com:

Highway All-Season Tires:
Michelin Defender LTX M/S - #1 out of 32
Firestone Destination LE2 - #3 out of 32
Yokohama Geolandar G91A - #24 out of 32

Grand Touring All-Season Tires:
General AltiMAX™ RT43 - #5 out of 41

Standard Touring All-Season Tires:
Continental TrueContact™ - #1 out of 20

Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season Tires:
Pirelli Scorpion Verde™ All Season Plus - #2 out of 21
Continental CrossContact™ LX20 - #5 out of 21

thanks for the outstanding information. I would have done the pirellis but those long parallel groves just dont look right. My options at this point are to keep the LE2s or swap for the LX20s, they got a set ready if I want. decisions, decisions!!!!

ctbale said:

thanks for the outstanding information. I would have done the pirellis but those long parallel groves just dont look right. My options at this point are to keep the LE2s or swap for the LX20s, they got a set ready if I want. decisions, decisions!!!!

Click to expand...

If you hesitate to get General AltiMAX RT43 tires for softer and smoother ride, and want to choose between Continental CrossContact LX20 and Firestone Destination LE2, I'd pick CrossContact LX20 tires as they look better on specs with the only drawback of T speed rating. And you've tried Destination LE2 tires anyway and you didn't like them.

If I could do it all over, I would have put the Generals on. They have excellent reviews on TR!! Light weight tire, with an H rating. and the tread pattern looks good for snow. But the Firestone guy had a set of LX20s delivered to the store per my request. Actually not their brand, but this store has great customer service. The only thing I am afraid of is if you sort the LE2s reviews on TR and a few other sites, and read the bad reviews first, vibration at highway speed is never an issue. The LX20s, the main two issues is they dont make 70K and vibrations. Especially on Consumer Reports. The up side is this store has a new Hunter Road Force machine so if there is an issue, I would hope the tech would either address it, or reject the tire. I have a 130mile road trip today, I will decide after my 2 hr ride. Thanks for everyones help!! keep the suggestions coming!!!! Thanks for pointing out the T rating. I never go faster then 75, and usually in the 60s.