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Toyota Venza Tires
I have standard Goodyear Eagle RSA tires on my 09 Venza V6 FWD (bought new in March 2010). I love the 20" tires but . . . . has anyone else experienced less than ideal handling in any amounts of snow or slush? I've had multiple vehicles over the years and have had ok handling in snow or better. This year has at least been normal here in Iowa, but this is the first winter for me driving the Venza and the handling has been so bad, that I'm either thinking of spending the money to get snow tires or just trading it in, taking my losses and get something else. I've white knuckled so many driving experiences, experiences that are normal winter driving here in Iowa (I'm 40 + years old and have lived in Iowa all my life, no stranger to winter driving), that I cringe when they talk snow. Is it just me, is it just the 20" tires on this vehicle, or is it the Goodyear tires, or is it Venza's as a whole?
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Like more of us lurking in the background, we are due replacing our car and the Venza is high on my list. I am considering the V6 but I have a real problem with the mandatory 20" wheels which are just (way) too big. I do hope that Toyota will change its mind and provide an option to "downgrade" to 19" or 18" which is much more suitable for this car, as attested by the 4 cylinder. Perhaps you can stress that to Toyota management...
Thanks!
Best,
Sacha
Is the wheel cost, $$, so much less than tire rubber that the Toyota beancounters are now dictating the safety factors to be built into your vehicles...??
Personally I would advise anyone driving this vehicle in wintertime adverse roadbed conditions to abandon those large wheels in favor of a smaller wheel and the appropriate wintertime tire tread to increase the safety factor.
Please don't make recommendations on the 20" wheels based on a few discordant opinions (they probably will never be happy with anything, so don't let them ruin it for the rest). The 20" wheels are awesome and they're one of the main reasons I bought my Venza!
My neighbor replaced his 17" wheels with 22" wheels on his Chevy Blazer and it effected his speedometer by 3 or 4 miles per hour. I would assume going the other way ( larger wheels to smaller wheels ) would effect the speedometer the same way. This would also effect your mileage and warranty so I am not sure you would even want to do this anyway.
My '01 F/awd RX300 got upgraded to 1.5" wheel spacers all around, 17X8 wheels and the appropriate +1 tire shortly after purchase. Wider tread, more CSA, wider stance against rollover, and space for the use of rear tire chains instead of the patently UNSAFE tire chain method recommended, and limited too, by Toyota/Lexus. No discernable lack of accurracy of the odo or speedo in comparison to the GPS/Nav.
A larger wheel will almost always dictate a lower/shorter sidewall and that not only results in less traction but a stiffer ride unless the spring rate is lowered. What I was suggesting is a smaller wheel along with winter treads since ANY tire tread on a larger wheel will yeild less traction in wintertime conditions, conditions for which you bought a F/awd equipped vehicle.
Checkout the tirerack.com as a good source for tires. They show a couple of 20 inch Blizzak winter tires, but they cost $240+ each. You are correct that you need to maintain overall tire diameter when changing wheel size or it will mess up your speedometer, odometer, cruise control and a few other sensors. Here is a nifty web site that calculates equivalent tire & wheel sizes link title (or copy & paste http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html if the link doesn't work). This will show that 245/50-20 and 245/55-19 and 245/60-18 all have the same 29.6 inch diameter. Just be careful when changing wheels to make sure they are compatible with your vehicle. And always use four matching tires, especially with winter tires - they are just as important for braking as they are for accelerating. In the past, I bought used wheels from tirerack and they mounted winter tires on them. That way, I saved money and was able to switch tires as the seasons changed.
If you are trying to make the other side of the argument, namely, "Why produce an AWD crossover that cannot easily be fitted with winter tires that don't cost a fortune?" then I do agree completely.
That's a misleading statement regarding the 20" tire. It's been stated multiple times: look at the options on tirerack.com. There are 8 replacement tire choices from 5 manufacturers ranging from a mediocre $99 Goodyear to a $268 Michelin (ironically, Toyota uses both for OEM). The others are in between. That's not exactly the "debacle" some have made it out to be.
On the other hand, the Venza 4-cyl and Highlander 19" tire (245/55-19) has only one replacement at tirerack.com at $172 each. I think the complaint about a lack of replacement options here is justified.
Looking at the Highlander's 17" tire (245/65-17), there are 51 choices. However, the cheapest -- a Firestone -- is $96 each. So the assumption that a smaller tire size (or more choices) leads to vastly cheaper replacements is not necessarily true.
I'll also add: I like the 20" wheels on my Venza.
Regarding the opinion that Toyota should have made a range of wheel sizes optional, that takes us back to trying to please everyone like the domestic auto makers tried with a thousand different option configurations. That's inefficient and expensive. The 20s won't please everyone, but Toyota went out on a limb and I'm glad they did.
That's an interesting metric. There's 35 tires available at Tire Rack for my '99 minivan. There are 36 for my '97 wagon. Prices run from $50 to $128.
We've tire-kicked the FWD Matrix for a while now. The '09 Matrix offers two OEM sizes for the S FWD version. There's 150 tires available for it in the 205/55-16 size, starting around $62. And there's 64 available in the 215/45-17 size. The Matrix has been around for what, six years now?
8 is better than a couple of options, but how long should you expect to wait for a couple of dozen replacement tire options? And will the larger tire size always limit your options?
My '82 Tercel that I drove for 17 years had 13" tires and I remember replacing the whole set for well under $200, mounted, balanced, etc. Of course, Tire Rack carries zero tires that would fit it.
And that's great. If someone wants to make a buying decision between a '99 minivan and an '09 Venza based on the available number of tire replacement options, then I'd agree: the minivan wins.
My point is that the concerns about the replacement cost of the 20" tire should be driven by facts and not assumptions that the huge tire will be way more expensive than a smaller tire.
I could be persuaded to adopt these over sized tires as acceptable if I could see what the advantage is. However in all the discussion I have not seen anyone explain what the benefits of these low profile oversize rims have including Toyota. The tires and rims are one of most important part of a vehicle for safety, ride quality and affordable replacement.
Advocates please list the actual benefits over a conventional size wheel and tire for all here, Sell me, thanks.
Cost is less important to me, tires seem to last quite a long time and regular maintenance costs are so high alraedy that that issue is relatively unimportant to me (I don't need snow tires). But ride quality is very important to me.
I have all but written off the Venza 4-cylinder because of this. Michelin may add this size this summer. So, I'm now waiting for the 2010 Subaru Outback, although the Hyundai Elantra Sport may be a less-expensive option. The Matrix is smoother and quieter, but the Hyundai drives with a taut feel that the Matrix doesn't have.
TPMS questions are welcome too.
The even more interesting point is that should I wish to shod the V6 Venza with nice and quiet, comfortably riding, summer use only tires then according to Tirerack those do not exist AT ALL.
So if you want a nice and quiet, comfortably riding Venza, you might need to go all the way down to a 17" wheel.
Strange.
I will not be considering the purchase of a Venza until I see the I4 adopt DFI, with the appropriate displacement downsizing and a CVT, or an HSD version, whichever comes first.
But should I purchase a Venza the wheels would immediately get downsized to say, 17X8, and shod with the quietest and most comfortably riding tires I can purchase.
No "boy-racer" mentality "here".
Probably because Toyota has been so successful in the US that they are beginning to become too internally focused forgetting about the customer, just like GM did.
I hope Toyota avoids GMs mistake in trying to please everyone in every situation.
If you look at a lot of GM models, they offer 4 or 5 different wheel/tire choices. Just think of how many combinations there are, combined with multiple trim levels and other options.
Toyota went out on a limb with the standard 20-inch tire on a relatively low-volume vehicle. Not everyone is going to be happy. Moving on.
http://www.tuningnews.net/photo_preview/081021a/22/toyota-venza-sportlux/
I hope you're passing along the negative feedback on the oversize 20" and lack of tire availability on the 19" tires as well. My tire dealer informs me there are only two brands on the market in the P245/55R19: Bridgestone and Toyo. And those tires are over $200 or more each! Why did the engineers pick those particular size rather than the more available 16", 17", or 18"?
Other comments: The 20" wheel rims look disproportionate large to the vehicle and personally I don't care for the "gangsta" style look. The 19" rims are somewhat better, but still disportionately large. Combined with the low profile 55 tires reminds me of the early 1920s-vintage automobile spoke wheels and tires.
Halwick
Toyota's southern California engineering and styling design center, still the land of "fruits and NUTS".
And no disparagement of the gay community intended or implied.
My only gripe at this point...the amount of lead they had to use to balance the Eagle Tires on the car!! WOW...there must be a row of 10 leads on the worst tire (inside of wheel-- stick on weights)...that my friends is a sign of crappy tires, as I doubt the wheels are that far out. I'm pretty picky though...suppose I'll quit staring at that gob of weights some day.
Also...ride is very good IMO and on par to better then the 05 Accord I traded in with less road noise and nicer seat feel...BUT it was harsh at first so I checked the pressure, and the Dealer had 45 lbs in my 20" bricks! Dropped them to 34 and huge difference. Check your tire pressure if you have a harsh ride.
Or maybe contact Goodyear to get a cooperative adjustment.
Don't go to 19" wheels and tires on the Venza, go to 18".
The selection of available tires is much better in 18" than in 19" or 20". We just bought a new Venza and had to buy expensive aftermarket 18" wheels in order to find a decent selection of tires for the Venza. We needed tires that will handle better in the snow in northern NH than the stock tires that come with the car.
P245/55R19 OPEN CNTRY H/T 103S BLK
http://www.treadepot.com/tire/362850
Does someone know & have tested already?
http://www.trucktrend.com/roadtests/crossover/163_0906_2009_ford_edge_2009_nissa- n_murano_2009_toyota_venza_comparison/venza_four_cylinder_and_unsprung_weight.ht- ml
Toyota needs to take the bozo that approved the tires and make them change all four wheels on about 1,000 Venzas as a penalty. :mad: And, the person should do about half in the rain on the side of a real interstate. The other 500 tire changes should be done here in North Dakota in January in the snow when the wind chills are 40 below.
Does the tire/wheel combo look good...No!
Does it improve fuel economy...No!
Does it improve handling or unsprung weight...No!
Is this an example of Toyota losing focus...Yes! :lemon:
When it comes time to replace our Highlander we will be looking at the Outback/Forester . :P
They make the car look sporty and compared to my old crossover with smaller rims/tires the Venza rides much better.
Tires will go down in price and have better availability as time goes on. Initially this was a concern prior to purchase but I've seen these 20" tires as low as $90.00 and as high as $200.00 for the best quality which is in line to what I paid for tires on my mini-van.
If changing tires on the road has you concerned just consider the money saved in gas when comparing the Murano or Edge and apply that to a AAA roadside assistance plan.
We tried AAA, then they left us stranded one night when it was -17 degrees out. The earliest they would get us a tow truck was 2 hours. The policeman was able to get us a tow truck in 15 minutes. When I asked the tow truck driver what the deal was he said AAA doesn't want to pay decent rates after 6:30 PM. So no more AAA.....
The policeman was great. While sitting in his car waiting for the tow truck he commented that the call just before mine was an attempted suicide. He ended up just grabbing the gun out of the person's hand. What a job they have....
I'm in agreement with you. I'm a grandfather and I like the look of the 20" wheels on my Venza. I also noticed that the TireRack has new Blizzaks priced in the $160 range, so the price of Venza-size tires is not unreasonable.
For avalon02wh, I'm not sure I agree with your arguments against the 20" wheels. I think they look good, they probably do handle better than smaller tires, and as far as the weight: when changing a tire in 40 below wind chill, does a 57 lb wheel go on any easier than a 67 lb wheel? In weather like that, I'd probably call AAA to change the tire on my granddaughter's tricycle. Wheel/tire combinations always involve compromises. While larger wheels add to unsprung weight, they also help achieve higher ground clearance without using the suspension components or taller tires to do this. This could lead to a lower center of gravity and better handling. Times and technology also change. Twenty-five years ago, folks said that 15 or 16 inch wheels and 60 series profile tires were only for exotic sports cars. Today that is a standard size on basic everyday sedans.
To each his own, as they say. But I think if you eliminate the Venza from your list of potential new vehicles just because of wheel/tire size, you are eliminating one of the best overall vehicles in terms of style, utility, performance and value. Good luck in your search.
MD
As for expanded tire availability - maybe. There was a time when everyone followed GM, but today no one is dominant. Automobile competitors may choose not to offer these unique tire sizes. Less volume means less tire product will be available and prices on what is offered will remain relatively high. When an owner starts griping about what his tire replacement cost in the office, people may start to associate expensive upkeep with the Toyota brand. That can be a competive advantage to other makes.
The Venza is a nice car, but there are lots of good cars out there today. I own a Camry and like it, but I bought it because it didn't have a cost premium to similar products, otherwise I would have probably gone elsewhere. In the next few years the competition will only get stronger. If the Venza niche gains popularity, there will be plenty of products to choose from in a few years with similar quality. Toyota makes good vehicles, but it no longer rules "quality" and can no longer get huge price premiums or take actions that disregard the consumer. That is how GM got into its current pickle.