RAV4 Mk5 tyres

[Aygolite]

On 4/24/2023 at 4:52 PM, Dushio said:

I've booked in to have Michelin Crossclimate 2's fitted all round. Michelin had a special on with £20 per tyre discount so 4 x 225 60 r18 "w" rated XL tyres worked out cheaper than the 'h" rated Goodyear tyres at Costco.

For the RAV4, wheel-size.com are showing:

225/65R17 100H (not XL) fitted to 7Jx17 ET35 5/114.3 60.1 rims

225/60R18 102H (not XL) fitted to 7Jx18 ET35 5/114.3 60.1 rims

With the 225/65R17 tyre size, Michelin CrossClimate 2 are available in SL Standard Load, ie. not XL, and H-speed rating.

Selecting a tyre that has a speed rating up to 168mph instead of 130mph, and eXtra Load instead of SL will make the ride harder. With all other things being equal, 225/60R18 is already a harder riding tyre size than the 225/65R17, so increasing the speed index by two categories and adding XL instead of SL could make the ride significantly harder.

Adding unnecessary speed indexes and XL also adds weight to all four tyres on the car. This weight isn't just unsprung weight, but it's also rotating weight.

Michelin CrossClimated 2 225/65R17 100H (Euro label C B 71dB)

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m140b0s12715p211742/Michelin_Tyres_All_Season_Car_Michelin_Cross_Climate_2_SUV_-_225_65_R17_102H_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_C_Wet_Grip%3A_B_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_71dB

As you can see in the below ETRTO chart, 6.5J is the standard rim width for the 225/65R17 tyre size (hence highlighted in bold), so Toyota fitting the 225/65R17 tyre size to a 0.5" wider rim, ie. 7J, will give slightly sharper steering and handling. The 18" wheels were probably chosen by Toyota mainly for aesthetics, as I doubt many owners would have a problem with the RAV4's handling on 17" tyres.

ETRTO approved rim widths

225/65R17 6.0-6.5-8.0

A non-standard 18" tyre size that could be considered instead of 225/60R18 is 235/55R18.

235/55R18 has an outside diameter 1.2% less than 225/65R17 and 1.6% less than 225/60R18. 235/55R18 has the same load index as 225/60R18.

The below Michelin CrossClimate 2 has a surprisingly good A rating for rolling resistance.

Michelin CrossClimate 2 235/55R18 104H XL (Euro label A B 71dB)

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m141b0s11820p208514/Michelin_Tyres_All_Season_Car_Michelin_Cross_Climate_2_-_235_55_R18_104H_XL_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_A_Wet_Grip%3A_B_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_71dB

As you can see in the below ETRTO chart, the normal rim width for a 235/55R18 tyre is 7.5J (hence highlighted in bold). Fitting this tyre size to a 0.5" narrower 7J rim will increase ride comfort and help protect the rim from kerbing damage, as the sidewalls will bulge out a little more compared to fitting the 235/55R18 tyre size to a 0.5" wider 7.5J rim.

ETRTO approved rim widths

225/60R18 6.0-6.5-8.0
235/55R18 6.5-7.5-8.5

[Dushio]

Very interesting reply Bob and thanks for the options. I will stick with the XL tyres as potholes around here are off the scale "bad". As for the "W" speed rating, I read somewhere that the Michelin Cross Climates were prone to "lift" at higher speeds due perhaps to the tread pattern, by having a higher speed rating, this might be less of a problem - not that I drive at speed - I prefer to hyper mile and get 50 to the gallon at 65-65mph plus stop start driving. Costco didn't have a lesser speed rating tyre than the "w" so it was a take it or leave it kind of deal. I rang the tyre dept at Costco and told them that my current tyres were 'h" rating and not "XL" and the chap I spoke to said the tyres I had purchased would be fine. The tyres will be fitted in a couple of weeks so I will update this post once they are fitted.

[Dushio]

Tyres are now fitted, first impression is that the Cross Climate tread pattern looks a little strange. As for handling in the wet at 20 mph, they felt fine. I will rotate from front to back every 8k and would hope to see 40k out of them as a minimum. 

[Strangely Brown]

39 minutes ago, Dushio said:

Tyres are now fitted, first impression is that the Cross Climate tread pattern looks a little strange. As for handling in the wet at 20 mph, they felt fine. I will rotate from front to back every 8k and would hope to see 40k out of them as a minimum. 

I'll be very surprised if you get 40k from a set of Michelin tyres, let alone all season tyres. Michelin tend to be quite soft already and all seasons will be more so. 20 to 30k would probably be a more reasonable expectation. Bear in mind that you'll be wanting to change them at about 3mm anyway.

[ernieb]

Like lots of things with cars it depends on how you drive the car and pressures you maintain. I’ve had a few sets of CrossClimates on cars other than my R4P and have sold them before they needed changing but all have achieved around 25k with tread in the 4/5mm mark reminding.

[Dushio]

On another note, I have noticed that the tyres are noticeably quieter than the Dunlops ever were. As they say, time will tell. The XL tyres seem to be tackling the potholes / uneven surfaces better - not so much crashing of the suspension over the ruts-but it is early days. 

[ernieb]

The XL’s have a stiffer side wall, I had these on my last car. Subaru XV.

[Cyker]

I find with XLs I'd have to use slightly lower tyre pressures than I normally would, or the ride would be very hard (Although I usually run higher pressures than spec normally so it just brought them down closer to manufacturer spec!)

They should be slightly more resistant to pinch punctures when hitting potholes.

Michelins usually have quite good tyre life - They can be softer but they use better rubber compounds, which is partly why they're so expensive. One thing I hear with Michelins is they hold their performance right down to the limit, whereas with most of the tyres I've used the wet grip gets noticeably worse when you get down to around the 3mm mark.