In October last year, I had 5 new Bridgestone 225/55R16 ER300 tyres fitted to new 16" x 7" rims on my TJ AWD. I've driven just over 8000 km on them so far, and I'm rotating them every 5000 km to even out the wear, including the spare. I've found that keeping the pressures at 36 psi front 33 psi rear gives me an ideal ride / handling compromise. I bought them from a Bridgestone dealer, who got me a fresh set barely 6 weeks old, $900 fitted and balanced for the lot.

So far, wear has been very slight - three of the tyres have worn down from an original 11/32" tread to 10/32". Taking average tread depth over all 5 tyres, this equates to a potential useful life of about 70000 km. Since I only do about 12000 per year, the tyres will probably get too old (> 5 years) before they wear out! I really wasn't looking for particularly good wear rates with these tyres, since I put handling and braking performance first. However, they are wearing very evenly across the treads, with no visible difference between front or rear wheels.
Wet weather performance is very good and they don't "squirm" in corners in the dry. And no, I don't drive like a granny.

The possibility of having a set of tyres last a few years drives me to include the spare in a rotation scheme. After all, ER300s may not be made in another 5 years, and I hate being forced to mix different tyres on a car.

the ER30 Turanza was dropped to make way for the ER300 i believe. So I doubt you'd be stuck having different tyres especially if you are rotating 5 tyres rather than the lazy way of 4 tyres. Then again, if you cop a bad punchure you're in a pickle, I too would prefer same brand and same model of tyres for my cars, but its just a personal preference.

I had the ER30 in my TF (205/65/15) they did the job well enough.

interesting u run different tyre pressures on front and rear on an awd...

wats the tyre plate recommend for front and rear?

interesting u run different tyre pressures on front and rear on an awd...

wats the tyre plate recommend for front and rear?

It depends on the weight (number of passengers, amount of gear, etc) and whether you're doing constant freeway speeds, but the recommended pressures are consistently about 3 psi lower at the rear. The main reason for that is, I believe, the fact that the car has more weight up front (no surprise there!). It really makes no difference how many wheels are being driven - just the weight distribution on those wheels.

Then again, if you cop a bad punchure you're in a pickle, .



A bad puncture would simply turn the rotation into a 4 wheel scheme. Of course, I would have to get some sort of new spare tyre, but that would have to be an "orphan" and be used only if I had to.

The biggest problem with spare tyres is they can easily be "forgotten" and 5 years later it's never been used and yet it should then be written off as too old.

It depends on the weight (number of passengers, amount of gear, etc) and whether you're doing constant freeway speeds, but the recommended pressures are consistently about 3 psi lower at the rear. The main reason for that is, I believe, the fact that the car has more weight up front (no surprise there!). It really makes no difference how many wheels are being driven - just the weight distribution on those wheels.

would be fairly even on an AWD with the rear diff helping to balance things out.

My dad had the Turanza on his SVZ wagon and they lasted 55,000KM without a rotation. Bear in mind that they were absolutely ****ed when they were changed last week

would be fairly even on an AWD with the rear diff helping to balance things out.

My dad had the Turanza on his SVZ wagon and they lasted 55,000KM without a rotation. Bear in mind that they were absolutely ****ed when they were changed last week

Yes, the rear diff and extra driveshaft do help the weight distribution a bit, but for the AWD it's about 55:45 (front / rear) when empty and about 56:44 at max payload. So, it still needs a bit more pressure up front.

In October last year, I had 5 new Bridgestone 225/55R16 ER300 tyres fitted to new 16" x 7" rims on my TJ AWD. I've driven just over 8000 km on them so far, and I'm rotating them every 5000 km to even out the wear, including the spare. I've found that keeping the pressures at 36 psi front 33 psi rear gives me an ideal ride / handling compromise. I bought them from a Bridgestone dealer, who got me a fresh set barely 6 weeks old, $900 fitted and balanced for the lot.

So far, wear has been very slight - three of the tyres have worn down from an original 11/32" tread to 10/32". Taking average tread depth over all 5 tyres, this equates to a potential useful life of about 70000 km. Since I only do about 12000 per year, the tyres will probably get too old (> 5 years) before they wear out! I really wasn't looking for particularly good wear rates with these tyres, since I put handling and braking performance first. However, they are wearing very evenly across the treads, with no visible difference between front or rear wheels.
Wet weather performance is very good and they don't "squirm" in corners in the dry. And no, I don't drive like a granny.I take it you're ignoring the 1.6mm tread wear indicator height, taking down your predicted range to 57,000kms.

Just had a thought, in your situation rotating including the spare works really well, but not in all cases. It just crossed my mind that I kept my good 18" tyre from my car when I got 2 replaced after a puncture, only to realise just now, that being directional, if I was to have an 18" spare like I want, it would be bloody useless if the puncture was on the wrong side of the car! lol

So really you can only do a 5 way rotate if you have uni-directional tyres, if its directional you can't do much but back to front unless you want to get the tyre itself rotated.

I take it you're ignoring the 1.6mm tread wear indicator height, taking down your predicted range to 57,000kms.

No, I'm actually assuming calling it quits at about 5/32" tread depth - it's too dicey taking it to the legal limit. However, my estimate is based on very early data - the tread gauge may simply be too inaccurate to predict the tyre life yet.

Just had a thought, in your situation rotating including the spare works really well, but not in all cases. It just crossed my mind that I kept my good 18" tyre from my car when I got 2 replaced after a puncture, only to realise just now, that being directional, if I was to have an 18" spare like I want, it would be bloody useless if the puncture was on the wrong side of the car! lol

So really you can only do a 5 way rotate if you have uni-directional tyres, if its directional you can't do much but back to front unless you want to get the tyre itself rotated.

Spot on! I deliberately steered away from directional tyres for exactly that reason.

I also have the ER 300's on my KJ AWD in 225 55 16 size.
I recon they are a great tyre. Very Happy.
Have just done overe 20,000k's on them and they also are wearing great.
Nice quiet/comfort tyre but do grip well, much better than the er30's i replaced. The ER30 was a much firmer/rigid tyre where as the 300 is a softer/more absorbent tyre.
Little know fact also is that the er300's are a silica tyre. Dont know why they dont advertise the fact as silica sems to be the flavour of the month.
I too had them at round 36f/32r but you will find that if you pump them up to round 38f/36r it will feel much more stable/confident on the road. Does make the ride firmer and pot holes/big bumps louder but worth it.
The ER300 replaced the ER 30's in the 225/55 16 range but the ER 30 is still the only turanza avaliable in the stock 215 60 16 size.
The 300's also fit the rim better with the rim protector lip whereas the 30's did not have this.

I also have the ER 300's on my KJ AWD in 225 55 16 size.
I recon they are a great tyre. Very Happy.
Have just done overe 20,000k's on them and they also are wearing great.
Nice quiet/comfort tyre but do grip well, much better than the er30's i replaced. The ER30 was a much firmer/rigid tyre where as the 300 is a softer/more absorbent tyre.
Little know fact also is that the er300's are a silica tyre. Dont know why they dont advertise the fact as silica sems to be the flavour of the month.
I too had them at round 36f/32r but you will find that if you pump them up to round 38f/36r it will feel much more stable/confident on the road. Does make the ride firmer and pot holes/big bumps louder but worth it.
The ER300 replaced the ER 30's in the 225/55 16 range but the ER 30 is still the only turanza avaliable in the stock 215 60 16 size.
The 300's also fit the rim better with the rim protector lip whereas the 30's did not have this.

I think I actually started to investigate getting these tyres after you posted about getting yours, FamilyWagon.

I have also tried 38 / 35 psi, but for me there was a bit too much thumping into Sydney's wonderful potholes. Did you also fit 7" wide rims? These are an ideal width to support the tyre.

Thanks for the write up! I have Bridgestone Turanza ER592 (215/60/16) on my AWD, just had them rotated, and will likely get another 20000km out of them. (They have done about 20000km at the moment). I am finding the 60 series sidewalls a little to willing to "flex" when pushed, how do the 55 series go? (I have the factory issue AWD VR-X 16" by 7" alloys) Is there a compromise in comfort? (Boss likes the comfort factor).
Thanks,

I also still have the factory 16 x 6 rims.
The 225/55 have the same size/height wall on them than the 60, just wider.
Yeah the tyres do look large/oversized on the rim. Main reason was a. more grip, b, protect the rims from the every day driving/parking/misses.
This is why i keep them pumped up high, to keep the big sidewall from Flexing.
Use to get a little bit of tram trcking with the ER30's but none of that with the 300's due to the more rounded shoulder pattern.
Very hapy with these tyres overall.
Can see pics of them in my album.

No, I'm actually assuming calling it quits at about 5/32" tread depth - it's too dicey taking it to the legal limit. However, my estimate is based on very early data - the tread gauge may simply be too inaccurate to predict the tyre life yet.So at 4mm. We did stop using metric for general measurements a very long time ago.

So at 4mm. We did stop using metric for general measurements a very long time ago.
You mean stopped using imperial ? ;-)

No, I'm trying to confuse everyone, don't blow my cover!

So at 4mm. We did stop using metric for general measurements a very long time ago.

My tread gauge is marked in 1/32". I'm too lazy (and too old) to bother with the conversion.

Thanks for the write up! I have Bridgestone Turanza ER592 (215/60/16) on my AWD, just had them rotated, and will likely get another 20000km out of them. (They have done about 20000km at the moment). I am finding the 60 series sidewalls a little to willing to "flex" when pushed, how do the 55 series go? (I have the factory issue AWD VR-X 16" by 7" alloys) Is there a compromise in comfort? (Boss likes the comfort factor).
Thanks,

If you have 16" x 7" rims, they're perfect for ER300 tyres. They will tend to flex a bit on 6" rims, forcing a rise in pressure (as for FamilyWagon). I haven't noticed any compromise in comfort (and I like comfort!), but a great improvement in handling. Obviously, there are far sportier tyres out there, but if you want to stick to decent section height for road use they are a good product.

Great write up, I've been interested in this for a while. I've got 16x7 rims now, but with ER30's still. Are the ER300's too soft if you are doing alot of gravel / dirt road driving? I've stuck with the standard tyres for that reason alone so far.

No mate, they are not too soft. They seem to be wearing better than the ER30's.
If you think the ER30's are ok then you will be wrapped with the ER300's.
A much much better tyre.

No mate, they are not too soft. They seem to be wearing better than the ER30's.
If you think the ER30's are ok then you will be wrapped with the ER300's.
A much much better tyre.

+1 . I'm impressed by the even wear across the tread - no sign of premature wearing down at the edges.

Cheers guys, I'll keep this in mind for the next set of tyres I buy