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Best comfort tires for 2011 RAV4 Sports

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timewarrior

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hi
My big complaint from RAV4 is the ride comfort. Money is not an issue. So which would be the most comfortable tyres for my 2011 RAV4 sports. Would really appreciate help on this.

Thanks
Anand
 
#2 ·
timewarrior said:
Hi
My big complaint from RAV4 is the ride comfort. Money is not an issue. So which would be the most comfortable tyres for my 2011 RAV4 sports. Would really appreciate help on this.

Thanks
Anand
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Seems like you bought the wrong car!?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk
 
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#5 ·
Or go to a '-1 option', i.e., switching from the 18" wheels to 17" wheels. You will need 225/65R17 tires which has taller and softer side wall to soak up road shocks.

As Carbon said, 'Touring' tires are usual designed for quieter and cushy running characteristics.

The 17" wheels & touring tires option will get you a slightly firmer ride than the Limited model, due to the stiffer struts & springs of the Sport model.

I do run 17" steel wheels with snow tires in the winter, and found the ride to be much less harsh than the run-flat tires/18" alloy wheels in the summer.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
CanuckRAV4 said:
Or go to a '-1 option', i.e., switching from the 18" wheels to 17" wheels. You will need 225/65R17 tires which has taller and softer side wall to soak up road shocks.

As Carbon said, 'Touring' tires are usual designed for quieter and cushy running characteristics.

The 17" wheels & touring tires option will get you a slightly firmer ride than the Limited model, due to the stiffer struts & springs of the Sport model.

I do run 17" steel wheels with snow tires in the winter, and found the ride to be much less harsh than the run-flat tires/18" alloy wheels in the summer.
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This is a good idea. What is the difference in comfort between the 17in non-RFT and the 18in RFT.

Thanks
 
#7 ·
timewarrior said:
This is a good idea. What is the difference in comfort between the 17in non-RFT and the 18in RFT.

Thanks
Click to expand...
The difference is huge. If you go with a non-runflat, you'll probably want to carry a patch kit and a compressor, just in case.

I'm sure you'll find tons of people willing to trade their 17" wheels for your 18" wheels straight across or even pay you to cover the difference.

Just as an aside, I believe "runflat" has been licensed by Goodyear to describe their tires which can run with zero air pressure. Other manufacturers have also licensed names to describe their zero air pressure technologies. Michelin calls theirs "ZP" for zero pressure, and Dunlop calls theirs DSST, for Dunlop Self Supporting Technology. I think Goodyear also calls their EMT, for Extended Mobility Tire. All pretty confusing and not sure it makes any difference, but just some trivia in case you run into Ken Jennings.
 
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#8 ·
rav4two said:
The difference is huge. If you go with a non-runflat, you'll probably want to carry a patch kit and a compressor, just in case.
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Or keep your AAA membership current (and maybe get the version with the extended tow service).

Only 20,000 miles on mine and I only put on ~8,000 miles/yr. So I've got a couple of years before I have to decide if I'll want to change to a conventional tire or replace with RFT's.

You could go down to a 16" if you wanted even more sidewall.
 
#10 ·
Admitted, they are snow tires, but running 225/70-16 means a LOT of sidewall. Cushy, for sure, but also squirmy and imprecise. I think the sweet spot is really the 225/65-17 with a slightly firmer than average tire.
 
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Discussion starter · #12 ·
Thanks for suggestions everyone. 225/65R17 Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring might be a good choice. I will consider going for steel wheels and store the alloys till I want to see the car.
BTW the car has done 8k miles and is 10 months old. Its a 2011 V6 AWD, SAP, backup camera, moon roof etc. How much can I expect for the car if I do a private sale. I got it for 31k+taxes an year back.
 
#13 ·
timewarrior said:
Thanks for suggestions everyone. 225/65R17 Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring might be a good choice. I will consider going for steel wheels and store the alloys till I want to see the car.
BTW the car has done 8k miles and is 10 months old. Its a 2011 V6 AWD, SAP, backup camera, moon roof etc. How much can I expect for the car if I do a private sale. I got it for 31k+taxes an year back.
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It's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for the car. It's hard to say. Expect the car to lose 30% once it leave the show room.
Wow you pay 31k+tax for the car? That's a lot of money. Isn't that the sticker price?
 
#14 ·
You're seriously considering getting rid of your car because of the stiff ride? Did you test drive it when you bought it? I test drove one Sport (non-SAP), one Limited, and two Base models, and I could tell the difference when going over uneven surfaces.

KBB says the value is $26,748 +/- for excellent condition. And that's if you find a buyer (if I were in the market, I'd buy a new one at low APR for that price differential). So that's $4000 depreciation (plus sales tax and license fees), plus your payments. For 8 months of driving enjoyment. Now that's a very poor investment. You should just keep it. Deal with the ride for now, and switch to more comfortable non-runflat tires when the first set is worn.

Another option would be, in addition to switching out the tires, switch out the Sport suspension for the Base/Limited suspension. I don't know if it's 100% compabible, but it probably is. I'm sure it's cheaper than the loss on selling the vehicle and buying something else.
 
#15 ·
I'm just wondering why did you pick the Sport model in the first place if you don't like the ride enough to consider selling it already?
 
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#16 ·
rav4two said:
Admitted, they are snow tires, but running 225/70-16 means a LOT of sidewall. Cushy, for sure, but also squirmy and imprecise. I think the sweet spot is really the 225/65-17 with a slightly firmer than average tire.
Click to expand...
If Timewarrior really wants a cushy but somewhat more precise ride, I think he could go with your 16" wheel suggestion, plus higher speed-rating (H, V or Z) all season tires to reduce the squirminess.

What d you think?
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Hi Everyone
I really appreciate all your suggestions. Basically what I figure is that now that I have already taken bulk of depreciation, keeping the car for 2-3 more year is just like $150 per month. So most likely I will keep the car.
Going for smaller sizes will lead to TPMS bugging me all the time. The route I might take is just replace the tires with Goodyear assurance comfortred touring 18" on my current alloys.
 
#18 ·
CanuckRAV4 said:
If Timewarrior really wants a cushy but somewhat more precise ride, I think he could go with your 16" wheel suggestion, plus higher speed-rating (H, V or Z) all season tires to reduce the squirminess.

What d you think?
Click to expand...
I don't have any recent experience with 70 series tires other than these Altimax Arctics, but there is a noticeable difference between these and the G91's in terms of squirminess and precision that seems greater than extra tread depth and tire compound would suggest. They're both 225 width. On our BMW, we go from 225/50-16 summer tires to 195/65-15 rain tires and there the difference is big too, but in a different way. I think the extra height of the Rav accentuates or magnifies sidewall height flex. The BMW feels less precise like our Rav on the Altimax, but it doesn't feel like it gets as tippy. I would think the difference would be greater on the BMW because the summer tires have a super stiff tread and sidewall, and the rain tires are comfort oriented.

I still think there would be tons of people willing to do a swap with 17" alloys and make up some money in exchange. The only thing the OP would need is to get some way to handle an emergency puncture. I think the costs would be pretty minimal to do that swap.
 
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#19 ·
timewarrior said:
Going for smaller sizes will lead to TPMS bugging me all the time. The route I might take is just replace the tires with Goodyear assurance comfortred touring 18" on my current alloys.
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I expect the rate of air loss in an 18 inch tire is the same (or maybe even more) than for a smaller wheel. Why? The 18-inch tire will have less air in it. The (surface area) / volume will be a tad more for 18 inch. However this is going to be a very small difference.

Not having to buy new wheels or to store the 18 inch wheels is a significant advantage to running the 18 inch wheels that you have.

I wonder if you might not make some money by selling off the RFTs one at a time. Imagine somebody with a sport who needs a tire due road hazard. Of course then you have to deal with shipping or maintaining a Craigs List listing. Not fun. I lost one of 5 matching tires to road hazard. I bought a matching tire (with more wear) via Craigs List to use as a spare.
 
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