Tires for 2014 Toyota RAV4 XLE

Joined
Oct 18, 2020
Messages
4
Time to get new rubber for our RAV4, the current Cooper tires (Grand touring CS5) aren’t even going to make it to 30,000. We live in the country, driveway is ¾ mile of gravel, and I have lost track of the number of flats on the cooper tires. We live in Tennessee, get a little snow / ice in the winter and lots of rain. What do you folks recommend for tires that will hold up better under country conditions, yet not howl on the interstate?
 
I hate to echo standard BITOGisms. But the truth of the matter is that the Generals RT43's are great tires if they are available in the size you need. I have a set on my wife's 2017 Santa Fe XL w/AWD are they are an excellent tire. Geat in snow and rain. Not sure about gravel.

Good luck on your decision.
 
Hi Steve. We've had the same RAV as you from new. The original Contis went 50k with no complaints and I replaced them with Conti CrossContact LX20 EcoPlus and have been happy with them. Smooth ride, quiet and they handled some snowy commutes well. We don't drive off pavement much with it can't comment on gravel. Check out the reviews on TireRack. (Looks like they were replaced with LX25)

Road noise can be bad in this model RAV and these are quieter than the OEM tires.
 
Tires are 225/60R17, got about 60,000 on the OEM tires, forgot what brand they were. I don’t fault the tire for the flat from a 3” spike, but the tiny fragments of stone that get caught in the tread and cause a flat I would like to avoid. Just went out in the garage, left front is down - UGH.
 
Hi Steve. We've had the same RAV as you from new. The original Contis went 50k with no complaints and I replaced them with Conti CrossContact LX20 EcoPlus and have been happy with them. Smooth ride, quiet and they handled some snowy commutes well. We don't drive off pavement much with it can't comment on gravel. Check out the reviews on TireRack. (Looks like they were replaced with LX25)

Road noise can be bad in this model RAV and these are quieter than the OEM tires.
The Conti LX25 was the first tire that came up on tirerack, however there were no reviews as it was new. Tire rack has a search tool where one can enter driving parameters, including if off road is important. When one says yes to off road, then it opens a menu where one can prioritize gravel, mud, rock etc. This led to the LX25 coming up, followed by the Michelin Defender LTX. Lots of reviews on the Michelin, positive on most points but many negatives on noise, especially on the RAV4. I will look into the Conti, thanks!
 
I hate to echo standard BITOGisms. But the truth of the matter is that the Generals RT43's are great tires if they are available in the size you need. I have a set on my wife's 2017 Santa Fe XL w/AWD are they are an excellent tire. Geat in snow and rain. Not sure about gravel.

Good luck on your decision.
Looks like the RT43 is available in 225/65R17, will research noise - thanks!
 
We had some RT43s on our Pontiac. Very smooth and quiet tires. We did get one out of round when we first purchased them and it cost me a total of $90 worth of of mounting and roadforce balancing fees. We live on a half tar & chip half gravel road and we never had issues with flats.

We have had even better luck with Continental’s offerings. 0/12 out of rounds in the past five years and no issues with flats. No personal experience with the LX25 but Continental is knocking out of the park with all of their newest generation of tires; I wouldn’t hesitate to put them on my RAV4.
 
Back
Top