Yokohama Parada Spec-X

[Corin]

I'm in the market for new tires (again, way too soon) and am looking at the Yokohama Parada Spec-X. There have been a few threads on this forum mentioning this tire, but I'm hoping someone can comment now that they've had them for a while?

They get excellent ratings on TireRack, but the problem with those ratings is that it's not necessarily for the Murano, so I'd like to know how people like them specifically on the Murano.

Most important to me is wet traction, with a close second being road noise. And ideally I'd like those factors to stay good throughout the life of the tire (as long as possible, anyway).

The other tire I'd strongly consider is the Cooper CS4, which several people on here seem to really like, but it's hard to get reviews on that tire since it isn't offered by very many places. I was going to talk to Discount Tire and see if they can order it, and if so how much, and if they know anything about it see if they can give me a recommendation between the Paradas or CS4s.

(FYI, my current tires are the Yoko YK520, and I'd put them on par with the OEMs. At first they were really nice (quiet, good traction) but they degraded quite quickly and then were just an "average" tire for the remainder of their 40k lifespan. And likewise, the reviews for that tire have gone down quite a bit since they came out a few years ago.)

[red kiosk]

Corin,

I've had my 255/50-20 Parada Spec-X for about 7,000 miles. Very quiet, great handling and fantastic in the rain. I recently completed a 9.5 hour trip from Rochester to Chicago, with the majority of it in pouring rain. Pretty much like I was glued to the road. They are a totally different tire from the Toyos that came with the car. I'm a very happy camper! Hope this helps. Take care!

Jim

[Corin]

Tire rack is good, but I've always been pleased with Discount Tire's service as well and if you factor in shipping TireRack is $13 cheaper per tire only. Then you have to get them mounted, and some shops (not sure if Discount Tire does this) will charge more if you don't buy the tires from them. Or, rather they give you a discount on mounting if you buy from them (same thing, different wording). Besides, last time they matched the TireRack price for me, AND could get them on same day.

If there were a significant price difference, I'd definitely go with TireRack. They're a good company. But $13/tire when I'm spending close to $900 (including tax, mounting, everything) that's just not a huge savings.

Although, now that I'm thinking of it, I'm not sure if TireRack charges tax. If not, that would add a bit to my savings going through them. I'll have to check on that.

[Corin]

BillArf, how long has your friend had the Paradas? And why isn't he on this forum?

Anyone had them for longer? My current Yokos were really quite good for the first 10k miles or so, but that's when they went really downhill. I'm wondering if the Paradas will be the same way.

[nitely]

Tire rack will have to charge you delivery and tax if they have a warehouse in your state which is the case in NV. Soooo no savings.

[pittdoc]

i have heard great things bout the cooper cs4, including on this forum...but i cant find that tire anywhere around me

im putting the fortera tripletreds on mine, i decided to go with that over the YK, cooper, and alenza

[Corin]

Originally Posted by pittdoc

i have heard great things bout the cooper cs4, including on this forum...but i cant find that tire anywhere around me

im putting the fortera tripletreds on mine, i decided to go with that over the YK, cooper, and alenza

I looked at the TripleTreds, but if you read the reviews that people have written with a vehicle comparable to the Murano, people aren't too pleased. Particularly with road noise.

Seems those tires are great for heavier truck-type vehicles, but for lighter crossovers and especially when you get in to the Rav4 size people start complaining quite a bit.

Seems like for cars similar to ours (Infinity FX, Lexus 330, etc) the top two are really the Paradas and Alenzas. And the Paradas are significantly cheaper, at least right now.

Back to pricing, turns out that I can save about $125 (Paradas) overall going with TireRack and the Goodyear Service Center for install versus going with DiscountTire for everything. Most of that is the fact that TireRack is not charging me sales tax. I think I'll try giving DiscountTire a call and see if they'll negotiate a bit on that price difference. I'd be willing to pay a little more to do DiscountTire since I've appreciated their service in the past, but not THAT much more.

[red kiosk]

What size are you planning to purchase? If you go up to the 255 width, I would highly recommend having them RoadForce balanced. Taker care!

Jim

[Corin]

Originally Posted by red kiosk

What size are you planning to purchase? If you go up to the 255 width, I would highly recommend having them RoadForce balanced. Taker care!

Jim

I've learned from this forum that no matter what size you put on the Murano, you should get them road force balanced. I don't know if it's a Murano thing, or that the tire sizes that the Murano uses are just a little unique, but it seems that there have been a lot of people with tire balance problems with all different brands/models of tires.

Most tire places will roadforce balance at no extra charge, assuming that they have the proper equipment. Always a good thing to ask when talking to the tire store.

[pittdoc]

Originally Posted by Corin

I looked at the TripleTreds, but if you read the reviews that people have written with a vehicle comparable to the Murano, people aren't too pleased. Particularly with road noise.

Seems those tires are great for heavier truck-type vehicles, but for lighter crossovers and especially when you get in to the Rav4 size people start complaining quite a bit.

Seems like for cars similar to ours (Infinity FX, Lexus 330, etc) the top two are really the Paradas and Alenzas. And the Paradas are significantly cheaper, at least right now.

Back to pricing, turns out that I can save about $125 (Paradas) overall going with TireRack and the Goodyear Service Center for install versus going with DiscountTire for everything. Most of that is the fact that TireRack is not charging me sales tax. I think I'll try giving DiscountTire a call and see if they'll negotiate a bit on that price difference. I'd be willing to pay a little more to do DiscountTire since I've appreciated their service in the past, but not THAT much more.

yea road noise will be higher...but i live in the snow belt and i need a good all season tire
...i'll be disappointed at the 2 mpg i'll be losing compared to noise
i dont have the space, and money is tight , to have a seperate set of summer/winter tires

thats why I went with the fortera, good all round tire, like i said, i wouldve gotten the cooper if I could find it around (but no 1 carried it here)

[Corin]

Yeah, that makes sense. They're definitely good in snow. We don't get much snow here around Seattle other than going over the mountains once in a while, so my needs are a bit different. I want to focus more on dry/wet traction, and I'll carry chains for the 2 times a year when my MO sees actual snow!

I'm still interested in the coopers as well, but it's really hard to get information about them, let alone find a dealer that has any in stock.

[Corin]

The saga continues, figured I'd post back here with details in case others are considering this tire.

Stopped by DiscountTire today, and they agreed to match TireRack's price on the tires themselves (Yoko Paradas), and they didn't include the shipping charges, so they actually BEAT TireRack, which I was very pleased with. I ordered the tires.

But then an hour later they called me and said that these are on a national backorder, and that it would take them at least three months to get them in stock. OUCH! TireRack DOES still have some in stock, so I went ahead and ordered from TireRack. Now I have to go back and cancel my DiscountTire order. Since I paid for the entire order up front, I can't cancel it over the phone (they need my physical credit card for some reason).

Hopefully TireRack actually does have them in stock. Their status during order time, which they SAY is accurate, shows them being in stock, so we'll see.

Anyway, a Kudos to DiscountTire for actually being able to beat TireRack without any haggling on my part, but a shame that they can't get them anytime soon.

[pittdoc]

the forteras are not available on Tire rack at last check

i called them and they told me it would be in june


seems like hit or miss

[Corin]

Just wanted to report back with full details so far. Just picked up my MO this evening with the new tires installed (Goodyear Auto Service Center, which was recommended by TireRack). Obviously too early to give a fair report whether I like the tires or not, but they certainly look nice! That means that they're not completely bald like my tires were when I dropped off the car last night...

Here's some pricing info just in case people are interested:
$636.00 -- 4 Tires from TireRack @ $159 each (no sales tax)
$ 67.18 -- Shipping from TireRack direct to installer in Renton, WA (no sales tax)
$ 63.80 -- 4 tires mounted and balanced
$ 8.00 -- 4 tires disposal fee
$ 62.95 -- Alignment (includes 10% discount for TireRack customers)
$ 12.80 -- WA Sales tax of 9.5% on mounting, disposal, and alignment
------------
$850.73 -- Total


The alignment wasn't required, of course, but I asked them to check it and it was out of whack a little. Figured this is the best time to do it, so I told them to go ahead.

Not too bad, really, considering that last time I spent $910.88 overall for my set of Yokohama YK520 tires, which included hazard replacement, but did not include an alignment. And I expect the Paradas to be much better tires.

By the way, tires were ordered on TireRack on 5/19, shipped on 5/21, and arrived at the installer on 5/24. They were ready to install the next day, but I wanted to do it today instead.

[pittdoc]

congrats

so you ended up getting the Spec X?

the price is similar to what I am spending too, just different due to tax