do all LE models come with bridgestone turanza or is it a mix depending on region? i glanced at the tire at the dealer but did not see the turanza model. anyone know? is it the el42 or el400 or something similar?

 

got the car today. it has turanza el400 tires. there was another le next to ours that had michelin energy mxv4 tires. thats what our former car had. so-so traction in snow but fairly smooth.

 

stock tires in my opinion are always junk....granted they are designed for the car and its handling etc...find a good brand you like and stick with it...ive already went thru 2 sets and now on my third set. 2nd set of falken ziek's 912 model i love em..

i do like however the full size spare i still have yet to use..

 

read some reviews online for the el400. everyone hates them. am trying to find some used rims with winter tires. not hard since the wheels seem to be pretty common with honda/nissan as well.

 

The Brigestones with the 260 treadwear rating on my 09 LE V6 were half worn at 8000 miles and were very poor in the handling department. Dealer told me --- and it's all over the net -- that they last about 15-20K miles. OEM Michelin MXV4 S8's are treadwear rated at 400 and last about 30-40K miles.

Also, I just could not stand looking at those cheap ugly plastic wheel covers on the 16 inch steel wheels. I bought a set of brand new genuine Toyota Avalon Limited 17" 9 spoke wheels at a whoelsale place that charged a fraction of what the dealer wanted.

I researched the tires to death before settling on the Primacy 215/55/17 - the same size used in the Camry SE and the Avalon. The improvement in how the car rides and handles is amazing. Not sure whether the improvement was due to the tire change, the wheel size, or some combination thereof.

Consumer Reports November 2009 issue rated Primacy MXV4 as the best tire. The Primacy has a 60,000 mile treadwear warranty.

Best wishes; I wish would have seen your post earlier. My insurance agent has an 08 Camry and he told me he "shopped the lot" to find one with Michelins.

 

so your stock rims/tires are sitting in the shed? or did you sell them? we had no trouble with the michelin tires the last 2 winters. we are easy on our cars. 8k/yr miles. tires are new so i expect decent performance this winter.

 

There is nothiing for you to do but use them; nonetheless - good luck.

Turanzas are among the worst rated tires on tirerack.com. Some people rate them as unsafe in on wet pavement and in snow.

I live in Kansas City but had the same basic experience as one of the reviewers with an 09 Camry who is in California (included in the link and copied and pasted below:

http://www.tirerack.com/survey/Surve...ommentStatus=P


2009 Toyota Camry LE More Tire Reviews for This Vehicle Buy/More Info
Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02 Miles driven on tires:5,200Location:Los Angeles, CADriving Condition:Mostly CityDriving Style:Average
</SPAN>
Initial Review, 5,200 Miles on Tires
October 20, 2009
These tires are pure junk. I have 5200 miles and the front two tires are bald. I didn't even get a chance to rotate the tires! Something is wrong with the "Bridgestone" brand since I an not the only one complaining about the short wear characteristics. But at this point, I question why Toyota wants to supply their highly reliable model with such junk. I know one think for sure, I will not buy Bridgestone.



Further, compared to the Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 which ranks 11th on Tirerack.com survey; Primacy MXV4 ranks tops; consistent with Consumer Reports. I was just trying give you some information for when you have to replace your tires in two years !!

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey....jsp?type=GTAS

 

worn out at 5200 miles? our michelin's were 1/2 wore at 24k miles when we got rid of it. a little surprising. i had a former car that went 150k miles on the goodyear eagle GA tires on the rear. never rotated. and still had some tread left. hard as hell but kept rolling. i did get new tires eventually. we got the camry for basic transportation. point a to b. if the ride is quiet and trouble free, than i will be happy. we will keep an eye on the tires and see how they work come winter.

 

purchased mine in DC area and it came with Michelins