Best Tires for Pacific Northwest

[codman232]

Hi,
New owner of a 2006 4runner SR5 and I am going to have to buy new tires soon. My predicament is that I live in the Pacific Northwest and needless to say it rains a lot. What would be the best tires for rainy weather, and when I say rainy weather I am saying it rains about for about 7 months straight. I am looking for tires that handle the best in the rain and on road conditions to keep my new born safe. Any and all insight would be very helpful. Thank you

 

[Derek G]

For those applications I would recommend a Michelen.

 

[JB.]

Hi,
New owner of a 2006 4runner SR5 and I am going to have to buy new tires soon. My predicament is that I live in the Pacific Northwest and needless to say it rains a lot. What would be the best tires for rainy weather, and when I say rainy weather I am saying it rains about for about 7 months straight. I am looking for tires that handle the best in the rain and on road conditions to keep my new born safe. Any and all insight would be very helpful. Thank you

Short answer: Continental CrossContact LX20 or Michelin Latitude Tour.

Long answer: All Season tires listed by overall rank within certain subsets of tires in Consumer Reports recent tire tests yields the following on their 5 point scale (5 being best).

Subset 1 -- Wet braking 5 Hydroplane 4
Continental CrossContact LX20
Michelin Latitue Tour HP
Michelin Latitue Tour

Subset 2 -- Hydroplane 5 Wet braking 4
Michelin LTX M/S 2
Michelin X Radial LT 2
Hankook Dyanapro HT
Nokian WR G2 Sport Utility

Subset 3 -- Score of 5 on both
Nokian HT Sport Utility
It should be noted that this tire scored a 1 in both snow and ice. The others were in the 3-4 range.

Given that hydroplaning is so easy to address by adjusting driving speed and that just about any tire in good condition with decent tread will handle reasonable highway speeds without hydroplaning (I forget the typical threshold, but 60mph is a pretty safe baseline), the three tires in subset 1 seem to address your criterion the best unless you weight it so highly you'd want the Nokian from subset 3.

 

[codman232]

Short answer: Continental CrossContact LX20 or Michelin Latitude Tour.

Long answer: All Season tires listed by overall rank within certain subsets of tires in Consumer Reports recent tire tests yields the following on their 5 point scale (5 being best).

Subset 1 -- Wet braking 5 Hydroplane 4
Continental CrossContact LX20
Michelin Latitue Tour HP
Michelin Latitue Tour

Subset 2 -- Hydroplane 5 Wet braking 4
Michelin LTX M/S 2
Michelin X Radial LT 2
Hankook Dyanapro HT
Nokian WR G2 Sport Utility

Subset 3 -- Score of 5 on both
Nokian HT Sport Utility
It should be noted that this tire scored a 1 in both snow and ice. The others were in the 3-4 range.

Given that hydroplaning is so easy to address by adjusting driving speed and that just about any tire in good condition with decent tread will handle reasonable highway speeds without hydroplaning (I forget the typical threshold, but 60mph is a pretty safe baseline), the three tires in subset 1 seem to address your criterion the best unless you weight it so highly you'd want the Nokian from subset 3.

This is one of the most thorough replies I have ever seen. Thank you for the stats and I will probably make my decision off of your feedback. Thank you very much

Cody

 

[codman232]

what about the goodyear triple tread forteras? would they be a good choice? and what would be the difference in a 265/65/17 or a 265/70/17? would gas mileage be affected?

 

[ebg18t]

Honestly the nokian wr's I ran on my car were some of the best wet and slush tires I ever owned.

 

[HOJeepster]

Living in Seattle for many years I really liked my Duratracs in the rain, and great in the snowy Cascades too. mpg took a hit though

 

[swanny]

Living in Seattle for many years I really liked my Duratracs in the rain, and great in the snowy Cascades too. mpg took a hit though

Same here. Although mine are on a Silverado. The 4Runner has a basic highway tread BFG can't recall the exact model since my wife isn't home. But they have been good in the rain and for going over the passes. Not much offroad driving in them yet though.

 

[MeganMarie]

I live in Bellingham Wa, just bought used 4runner in April 2024. back tires get squirlly af on wet streets. did you find one that works for you?