Please recommend me a great all season tire that good in snow for P225 / 65R17

I had the Firestone Destination LE2's on my Rav4 that I just got rid of. Had them on the car for 3 "seasons"(April-October), while they had lots of tread left, the rubber was cracking on all 4 tires, in the tread block and the sidewalls.

For the winter, I have Goodyear Ultra Grip Winter's and they have been fantastic! Probably the best winter tire I've had.
 
No Yoko tire in the size your vehicle takes is worth a damn according to TireRack or Consumer Reports. GJ is just hard for them because he says Mazda "tuned the car to use them", which may well be so, but doesn't mean s***.

Better tires, are better tires. Period.
Yeah, I agree. Better tires are better tires. Period.

On the other hand, I do think OE Yokohama Geolandar G91A 225/65R17 100H on CX-5 is a very mediocre tire simply based on very poor 280 B A UTQG rating. Even the 100 load index is lower than every other tire which has 102 for the size. But I dont think its Yokohama at fault but its specified this way by Mazda apparently for cheaper cost. And thiss a common practice from car manufactures on OE tires.
 
Yeah, I am torn by the paralysis of analysis, and the fact that CR and Tire Rack and others disagree, lol

Destination LE2
LX20's
Truecontact

Those are kindof the 3 I'm waffling on.
How would the Altimax RT43 fit in to that mix? I imagine any of those listed would work but only the firestones are listed as H rated. Some shops are funny these days about installing tires with lower speed rating than oem.
As I mentioned earlier, the maximum rated speed on CX-5 is 120 mph. Speed rating on T-rated tire is 118 mph and H-rated is 130 mph. Its illegal in many countries putting a lower speed-rated tires than the maximum vehicle speed on a vehicle. Yeah Id get at least H-rated tires for our CX-5.
 
I had the Firestone Destination LE2's on my Rav4 that I just got rid of. Had them on the car for 3 "seasons"(April-October), while they had lots of tread left, the rubber was cracking on all 4 tires, in the tread block and the sidewalls.
Firestone Destination LE2 was rated #3 out of 32 Highway All-Season tires in TireRack.com when I was making the comparison table about 14 months ago but now is rated #6 out of 38.

One member was very dissatisfied with his OE Yoko 17 tires on his new CX-5 and replaced them with Firestone Destination LE2 when his CX-5 had only 800 miles. But his new Destination LE2 tires apparently were having hopping issue and got replaced with Continental CrossContact LX20 by Firestone store:

Yokahama Geolander G91 OEM tires junk! 800 miles

Continental CrossContact LX20 Tires on a 17" Rim
 
I replaced my Geolandar G91 OEM tires at 18,500 miles. One developed a sidewall bubble, plus their winter performance was bad.
 
As I mentioned earlier, the maximum rated speed on CX-5 is 120 mph. Speed rating on T-rated tire is 118 mph and H-rated is 130 mph. It’s illegal in many countries putting a lower speed-rated tires than the maximum vehicle speed on a vehicle. Yeah I’d get at least H-rated tires for our CX-5.

I get what you're saying, but how often do you go over 118mph? Do you think there is NO safety margin and the tire will fall apart at 118.1mph? I know you don't. Basically, you'd have to get a tire that is inferior for 99.9999% of your driving, just to hit a spec for 0.000001% of your driving, when the other tire is going to be just fine for that half-dozen sprints over 120 you MAY do during their lifetime.
 
Yeah, I agree. Better tires are better tires. Period.

On the other hand, I do think OE Yokohama Geolandar G91A 225/65R17 100H on CX-5 is a very mediocre tire simply based on very poor 280 B A UTQG rating. Even the 100 load index is lower than every other tire which has 102 for the size. But I dont think its Yokohama at fault but its specified this way by Mazda apparently for cheaper cost. And thiss a common practice from car manufactures on OE tires.

One thing I don't understand is if the stock Yokos 17" are junk tires, I thought I saw on TR that they were $180+ ea. The Generals were around $120? Me, Im buying the Generals when I need tires. PS, I got my CX5 in November, 2k miles on it, were mid Feb!
 
One thing I don't understand is if the stock Yokos 17" are junk tires, I thought I saw on TR that they were $180+ ea. The Generals were around $120? Me, Im buying the Generals when I need tires. PS, I got my CX5 in November, 2k miles on it, were mid Feb!

I don't know why that is, either, but I do know the Bose speakers in the Corvette in 2011 sucked more than the "base" speakers that year. So there's that. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason.
 
One thing I don't understand is if the stock Yokos 17" are junk tires, I thought I saw on TR that they were $180+ ea. The Generals were around $120? Me, Im buying the Generals when I need tires. PS, I got my CX5 in November, 2k miles on it, were mid Feb!

Yeah they are like $200 tires. I don't get it.
 
One thing I don't understand is if the stock Yokos 17" are junk tires, I thought I saw on TR that they were $180+ ea. The Generals were around $120? Me, Im buying the Generals when I need tires. PS, I got my CX5 in November, 2k miles on it, were mid Feb!

I don't know why that is, either, but I do know the Bose speakers in the Corvette in 2011 sucked more than the "base" speakers that year. So there's that. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason.

Yeah they are like $200 tires. I don't get it.

gotta be a backroom deal or something... why else would they put bad expensive tires on a brand new vehicle? until i started joining auto forums, i never realized how many folks actually went out and bought brand new tires to replace the OEM ones on a brand new car.
 
I've come to the conclusion that snow tires are worthless. My LX20's handled snow like a boss, and I got 50K+ out of them, but NOTHING works on ice short of metal.

And based on what experience/analysis has the mind of unobtanium come to such a wrong conclusion? Look even if your LX20s are bosses in the snow(we traded before I could test but I'll take your word on it)- I know for sure they handle dry roads like crap..worthy tradeoff? For some maybe for me run best tire for the cold season (softer compound and sidewall to keep you out of ditches) and switch for warm season (firm it up for better handling, and efficiency)..end result it costs a little more but every time you drive you're rewarded with a superior experience vs the compromise that is the all season tire- any all season tire (just to varying degrees)..and there are ones that do decently in snow but those are 10/10 the ones that don't shine in most other non-winter related categories. Tires b4 guns..
 
Last edited:
Yeah but if he's cheaping out already by not switching..meh I'd go with the true contacts 117 on DTD or for (likely) better snow results Cooper SRX although they have worn faster than I expected on wife's car but they're pretty good at everything.
 
And based on what experience/analysis has the mind of unobtanium come to such a wrong conclusion? Look even if your LX20s are bosses in the snow(we traded before I could test but I'll take your word on it)- I know for sure they handle dry roads like crap..worthy tradeoff? For some maybe for me run best tire for the cold season (softer compound and sidewall to keep you out of ditches) and switch for warm season (firm it up for better handling, and efficiency)..end result it costs a little more but every time you drive you're rewarded with a superior experience vs the compromise that is the all season tire- any all season tire (just to varying degrees)..and there are ones that do decently in snow but those are 10/10 the ones that don't shine in most other non-winter related categories. Tires b4 guns..

Dunno what issues you had, but they did great for me in dry weather and in the rain, too.
 
Yeah but if he's cheaping out already by not switching..meh I'd go with the true contacts 117 on DTD or for (likely) better snow results Cooper SRX although they have worn faster than I expected on wife's car but they're pretty good at everything.

I looked at the srx
Seemed to have very poor reviews.

Continental and Michelin are kind of the top, imo
 
Last edited:
Actually based on my wear observation albeit on the much heavier and more powerful Highlander I'd go either Defender LTX or TH(didn't know about this one) or for better handling but slightly less winter grip- Pirelli Scorpion Verde, 3rd pick Conti true. You'll enjoy your CX-5 more with any of these..great deal on the Pirellis too...TR
 
Last edited:
Back