Geolandar A/T-S

[bkowal]

I was considering installing Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S tires on my '08 GV. Does anyone have experience with them?

They seem to be a good combination of highway/offroad/snow tire. The stock size is 225/65-R17. I was considering going one size bigger, 235/65-R17. I know the speedometer would be off about 1.8%, which should put it right on since it currently reads fast. The other issue I had was the 235 tire has a higher load rating which may make it a stiffer tire and which may increase road noise and provide a rougher ride (which I don't want).

Opinions?

[Taras]

Geolanders are good tires. I've read alot of good reviews of them.

You will get road noise with any AT tire. But you'll get used to it in a week or so.

235/65 - there are two sides here - higher load rating -> stiffer ride, but bigger size gives you more rubber between the tire and the road which might compensate for the stiffness. Depens on how much higher the load rating is. 255-70-16 Nokian Vativas I had were a lot softer.

You should consider Nokian Vativas AT. I chose them over the Geolanders. You would be amazed how good they are in a winter. If I were to get AT tire I would buy them again.

[kons]

Try also the Toyo Open Country AT.
I have them and are impresive good.

[halokidoki]

I have the general grabber uhp m/s in the 235 size and I like them even off road. And the look good under the car because of the profile.
And abouth the speed be carefulle because the speed is more accurate.

[ammx_i]

Awesome tires, good choice, mine have Geolandar At/s G012.

[takeitallapart]

I put Geolander A/T S on my 2007 GV and replaced them after about 25,000km. After complaining to my Suzuki dealer about the factory geolanders wearing unevenly and having them do nothing, i had to talk to a Yokohama Rep, who gave me pro-rated warranty. I installed the A/T S tires and they weared unevenly as well. As these tires add a significant amount of road noise already, the uneven wear made the noise unbearable. I finally went in to a reputable alignment shop who immediately found a service bulletin(which my SUZUKI dealer did not find) correcting the GV's alignment(apparently this is a major problem). When i asked about Yokohama's tires, they were hesitant to comment, buit finally revealed that they had seen many, many sets of yokohama tires with irregular wear, regardless of the alginment. I immediately removed the Yokohama's and bought Goodyear Fortera Silent Armor. Much quieter and no irregular wear.

[geevee]

Congratulations takeitallapart, on getting your GV's alignment sorted out. Besides preserving your tires, that will increase mileage, make the handling much safer and reduce wear on the drive train.

I just put on our winter wheels and removed our set of rims with the original Yokohama's. They now have almost 40,000km on them, and have 7/32" tread depth remaining. The tread depth varies by less than 1mm over all surfaces of all four tires. We've never had an alignment done, and have rotated the wheels about every 5000km. The tires are starting to wear through the bottom of some of the tread pattern, and so are no good for winter use now.

[bkowal]

The great tire search goes on...

At first, I didn't even consider Michlens since they are expensive, but it appears that I can get the Michelin LTX A/T 2 for almost the same price as the Geolanders or the Toyo Open Country.

The reviews are very good for this tire. Does anyone have any first hand experience with the Michelin LTX A/T 2?

[geevee]

I used to avoid expensive tires. However I've come to believe that cheap tires cost more per unit of distance driven because they don't wear as well and they're more likely to get damaged. A damaged tire often means replacing the whole set. Meanwhile, better tires tend to provide better handling, better mileage, better traction, and less noise. There will be exceptions, but the best tires provide value beyond the price proportion to cheaper ones.

One thing to check when buying tires is tread depth. It varies a lot, and so will the miles you'll get out of them. Of course, in general deeper tread means more weight and less precise handling until they wear down to the depth of shallower tires. tirerack lists tread depth as a specification.

[MeowMeow]

I have changed from my stock from 225/65/16R (Bridgestone) to 225/70/16R (Yokohama AT-S) and immediately I felt my GV was floating after the changed. Before that my GV was having a very saloon car liked sort of handling but after the changed of 1 size rubber taller, I can no longer drive as fast around bends as I would normally do. The floating feeling is scary! When I was driving my former SUV the Honda CRV, I do not have this problem even when I had up graded the rim from a 15 inch to a 16 inch rim and also used other size rubber on that rim.