Replacement Tire recommendations - 255/60R18

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2019 CX-5 Signature
Trying to get a new set of tires for my wife's CX-9 touring AWD. Oddly enough, I seem to be having a heck of a time locating a decent tire in this size.

Anyone have recommendations or have experience with decent tires of this size? She currently has the OEM Yokohama G056 on them, but they leave a lot to be desired in the snow.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Edit: Any reason we couldn't go with 265/60R18s? Seems like having that extra 10mm width really offers up a LOT more manufacturers and options than the 255 width.
 
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Tirerack.com is showing 27 tires in that size. I buy tires and wheels from them all the time, they can even ship the tires to your preferred tire shop. Good luck!
 
Tirerack.com is showing 27 tires in that size. I buy tires and wheels from them all the time, they can even ship the tires to your preferred tire shop. Good luck!
The only issue is that none are highly regarded. I’d I consider the 265 width, a lore more, very favorable, tires are available.
 
As long as you have 1/4” of clearance in all directions for the increase in tire size, I would go with the 265/60/18 as well. Probably the Goodyear Assurance Weatherready if I was looking for a good all around tire. Cooper AT3 if I wanted a more aggressive tire. General Grabber or BFG KO2 if I was going for “that look.” Apparently you can get a mud terrain in that size too? I wouldn’t do it on the CX-9, but I think that would make a very interesting looking vehicle.
 
I had the weatherready tires on my Ford Edge, really liked them!
I had them on my Escape and they performed well. Snow, rain, dry, all good. I like a little more aggressive looking tire though so I probably won’t go that route this time
 
We have the Weatherready on my wife's 17 CRV Touring. An excellent tire IMO. Very quiet and excellent grip in all weather conditions. However, I still mount winter wheels/tires for all the snow we get around here.
 
Trying to get a new set of tires for my wife's CX-9 touring AWD. Oddly enough, I seem to be having a heck of a time locating a decent tire in this size.

Anyone have recommendations or have experience with decent tires of this size? She currently has the OEM Yokohama G056 on them, but they leave a lot to be desired in the snow.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Edit: Any reason we couldn't go with 265/60R18s? Seems like having that extra 10mm width really offers up a LOT more manufacturers and options than the 255 width.
You have a 2019 Mazda CX-9 GT AWD and you have 225/60R18 but not 255/50R20 tires? Depending on the area you live in, unless you change to snow tires for the winter season otherwise all-season tires wouldn't give you the best performance on wintery road conditions. But in areas like Dallas, Texas, all season tires is good enough to handle most snowing weathers especially with the AWD. No need to have extra set of winter tires and wheels just for occasional winter weather conditions.

Here are specs and prices on 3 stock tires on gen-2 CX-9:

TireSizeUTQGMaximum
Inflation
Pressure
Tread
Depth
Tire
Weight
WarrantyPrice*
Yokohama® Geolandar H/T G056BP255/60R18 107H280 B A51 psi10/32"35 lbs.5 Years$277.88
Bridgestone® Ecopia H/L 422 PlusP255/50R20 104V600 A A51 psi10/32"34 lbs.5 Years$235.99
Falken® Ziex CT50 A/SP255/50R20 104V300 A A51 psi10.3/32"35 lbs.5 Years$267.99
* Price from Tire Rack on 10/27/2021.

Here are specs and prices on most major brand 255/60R18 tires for your driving conditions (all-season or all-weather tires) based on good UTQG ratings and customer's reviews from Tire Rack for comparison:

TireSizeUTQGMaximum
Inflation
Pressure
Tread
Depth
Tire
Weight
WarrantyPrice*
Continental® CrossContact LX Sport255/60R18 112V XL480 A A51 psi9/32"34 lbs.6 Years$189.70
Yokohama®
Geolandar H/T G056
255/60R18 112V XL720 A A50 psi11/32"35 lbs.5 Years$193.99
Pirelli® Scorpion Zero255/60R18 112V XL400 A A50 psi10/32"36 lbs.Unlimited Time$195.30
Pirelli® Scorpion Verde All SeasonP255/60R18 112H XL600 A A50 psi11/32"38 lbs.Unlimited Time$202.60
Goodyear® Eagle Enforcer255/60R18 108V420 A A51 psi10/32"34 lbs.6 Years$232.03
General® G-Max™ Justice255/60R18 112V XL440 AA A51 psi10/32"34 lbs.6 Years$241.34
Goodyear® Eagle Sport All-Season255/60R18 108W560 A A51 psi10/32"35 lbs.50,000 Miles
6 Years
$245.99
Goodyear® Eagle Enforcer All Weather255/60R18 108V500 A A51 psi?34 lbs.6 Years$247.52
Bridgestone® Alenza AS Ultra255/60R18 112V XL800 A A50 psi10/32"34 lbs.80,000 Miles
5 Years
$251.99
* Price from Tire Rack on 10/27/2021.


Here is the latest Tire Ratings Charts on Crossover SUV Touring All-Season 255/60R18 tires from Tire Rack:
Tire Ratings Charts_Crossover SUV Touring All-Season 255-60R18.jpg


Here is the latest Tire Ratings Charts on High Performance All-Season 255/60R18 tires from Tire Rack:
Tire Ratings Charts_High Performance All-Season 255-60R18.jpg


And here is the latest Tire Ratings Charts on Highway All-Season 255/60R18 tires from Tire Rack:
Tire Ratings Charts_Highway All-Season 255-60R18.jpg



With limited selections on 255/60R18 tires as you noticed, IMO you can look into Yokohama® Geolandar H/T G056 255/60R18 112V XL with "720 A A" UTQG for the price of $193.99. Be aware it's a different tire from your stock Yokohama® Geolandar H/T G056B which has very poor "280 B A" UTQG.

Bridgestone® Alenza AS Ultra 255/60R18 112V XL with "800 A A" UTQG can be considered a better tire in every category including better winter / snow performance If you're willing to spend $200 more for a set.

Goodyear® Eagle Sport All-Season 255/60R18 108W with "560 A A" UTQG is another good choice for higher price. It has decent and better winter / snow performance than most other all-season tires. And the W speed rating is impressive, as the tire actually is made in Germany for autobahn driving.

Continental® CrossContact LX can be a possible choice if the price is not the most expensive one at $253.82. And its "520 A B" UTQG isn't impressive either. It's unfortunate that Continental doesn't offer newer CrossContact LX25 for the size 255/60R18 as LX25 is the favorite choice for many CX-5 owners.
 
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Edit: Any reason we couldn't go with 265/60R18s? Seems like having that extra 10mm width really offers up a LOT more manufacturers and options than the 255 width.
Wider tire on the same model will have poorer performance in snowing road conditions.

And my stock 225/55R19 tires have left the rubbing mark on the front struts of my 2016 CX-5 GT AWD. I won’t consider any wider tires on my CX-5, even the one with the same outer diameter.

F4A38267-992F-496E-AD5A-344E8FA16FB6.jpeg
 
And I usually go to my local Discount Tire Store (America’s Tire in NorCal) and have them do the price match to Costco or online price. If they don’t have the tire I want, they can always find the vender and order tires for me. Discount Tire has excellent Hunter tire mounting and balancing machines and nation-wide network for free lifetime tire rotation、balancing、and flat repair. Better yet, when your purchased tires reach 4/32“ tread depth, DT will give you prorated mileage credit (if the tire has mileage warranty by manufacture) towards your new tire purchase which sometime would save you over a hundred.
 
@yrwei52 amazing stuff. Thanks for taking time to lay this out. This for my wife’s 2018 CX-9 touring. My 2019 cx-5 sig only has 13k miles on it :)

I’m considering the Bridgestone alenzas at this point.
 
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