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20" Bridgestone vs 18" Michelins

7K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  jkruseelle 
#1 ·
How has it been running on the 20" Bridgestones? I read a lot of very bad reviews on them in general due to poor tread life and poor traction in the snow.

I have the 18" Michelin Latitude Tour HPs on my wife's Santa Fe and they are an awesome tire. It was like a new vehicle when we put those on it. I was disappointed that Nissan didn't use those for the 20" like they did on the 18".
 
#2 ·
Not having driven a Murano with the 18" wheels, I have no direct comparison. That being said, IN GENERAL the 20" wheels will ride somewhat rougher overall, just because the "thinner" the amount of rubber between the wheel and the road gets, the rougher the ride. I've run Bridgestones for years on my Auroras and the model I run gets 50,000+ miles to a set. Poor tread life is normally a function of how "sticky" the rubber is. The sticker the rubber, the less tread life you get.

I know none of this really helps, but it's all information worth knowing.
 
#3 ·
I was at a dealer today looking at the Muranos still trying to decide on a color and noticed that a few of the Platinums had Toyo tires instead of the Bridgstones that I've seen on all the others. Toyo proxes a20 p235 55r20 102t. I checked a few reviews and they weren't that impressive.
 
#4 ·
All 2009-2014 LE's and Platinum models came with Toyo Proxes. Been a pretty good performer but will switch to Yokohama Parada Spec X when the time comes.
 
#5 ·
I had the A20 as an OEM fitment on my 2012 Rav4 Sport (235/55/18) and they were O.K., a bit hard and noisy but this vehicle was a tin can with a very stiff suspension; the handling was quite good. I suggest you take a 2015 Mo for a ride and see for yourself as Rav4 and Mo are two different animals! I can't comment on wear and snow performance as I didn't keep the Rav4 long enough and I had Blizzak for winter. My experience with Toyo A20 and various Bridgestone Dueler tires (H/T, H/L Alenza, Ecopia 422) lead me to believe they're similar.


In general, OEM tires have poor ratings on Tirerack and they get worse as they wear out so of course, you slap a new set of tires and wow! Any new tire will be better than the old shoes one had.You have to take owner reviews with a grain of salt...I much prefer Tirerack own tests and Consumer reports. Good luck and let us know your findings, it may help when I decide to trade-in!
 
#6 ·
I regret getting the Platinum for this reason and not holding out for an SL w/Tech instead. I have had the continentals on both my Subaru outback and my ex-wife's impreza and they were great. Not at all impressed with the Bridgestones.

I already had to pay ~$250 to replace one of the 20"s at the dealer since Discount Tire doesn't carry them. (Note that if you can wait for them to be shipped you can get them at Costco.)

And the dealer road hazard warranty was like $875. : (

Love the car overall but regret the Platinum.
 
#8 ·
You could do like me and get new Continental tires and sell the new like tires that came with the vehicle on eBay! Generally speaking, I don't like the OEM tires...
 
#9 ·
I had thought of doing something like that. Michelin makes a Lattitude Tour HP that fits the 20" Murano that's an excellent tire. I really want the heated and cooled seats and the heated steering wheel that the Platinum offers but the 20" rim and tire combo has given me pause. I thought of switching the tires out and then trying to recoup some of the cost by selling the oems online.

Another option was to see if the dealer would actually switch the 20" rims on what I buy with a set of 18" rims from another vehicle. That way I get the Michelins I want (they are oem on the 18's), a smoother ride with the taller sidewalk plus lower tire replacement costs down the road buying 18s instead of 20s.
 
#13 ·
I finally got a chance to test drive a Platinum and an SL back to back. The ride quality on the 18's was substantially better compared to the ride quality on the 20's. The one thing in hindsight that I didn't think to check was the tire pressures on both vehicles.


I have had a Service Manager tell me that they intentionally over inflate the tires to prevent flat spots from them sitting in the same position for long periods of time. Not sure what would be worse, flat spots or bricked out tires during a test drive. I know my dealer would routinely inflate my tires on my Maxima every time I had them rotated to the pressure shown on the sidewall instead of the pressure on the sticker on the door jamb. 33 psi versus 44 psi on the sidewall made a very noticeable difference.
 
#15 ·
Ride quality on the 20"s is not bad. The suspension is not as good as my Outback but overall I'd say it's almost as good as my 08 Acura RDX.

Main problem with this car which is unrelated to the wheels is the exhaust that hangs only 3-4 inches off the ground just to the right of the centerline, midway back on the underside, and scrapes on the road humps that are ubiquitous here.
 
#16 ·
Main problem with this car which is unrelated to the wheels is the exhaust that hangs only 3-4 inches off the ground just to the right of the centerline, midway back on the underside, and scrapes on the road humps that are ubiquitous here.
Haven't had too many unfortunate encounters with road bumps (yet), but I agree it does hang down a bit too much.

When I was first checking out the car, it caught my eye to the point where I looked under to make sure there wasn't something snagged on the pipe. :nerd:
 
#17 ·
I too don't like the tailpipe hanging down so far:(, it looks to me that it could be hung about 2" higher so it wouldn't show so much. I painted mine flat black so it is not as noticeable. Also about the tires, I had the 20" Michelin Latitudes on my previous car, a Toyota Venza and got 75,000 miles and could have gone further as the tread was still very good but decided to replace them anyway. I have the 20" Bridgestones on my 2015 Platinum and I hope they will last as long, time will tell. As far as ride comfort they appear to be about the same although my Bridgestones came from the dealer with 41 PSI, which I feel it too high, I might lower them to about 35 PSI and see if they ride any softer.

Curt
 
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