Yokohama AVID Ascend LX Review

Yokohama’s Avid Ascend tire has long been known as a world-class, well-rounded tire (pardon the pun). And that reputation and popularity has led to the brand splitting it off into two different tires, the Ascend GT and this tire, the Ascend LX.

PROS

  • Incredible tread life
  • Quiet
  • Amazing value

CONS

  • Somewhat limited in sizes

     

We hate to call this a “standard” all-season tire because that’s really under-selling what you’re getting here.

The design itself isn’t anything shocking with four circumferential grooves to evacuate water and prevent hydroplaning while the larger separations in the exterior tread blocks help to push water away as well.

A center tread row runs uninterrupted around the length of the tire providing not just great highway stability but responsive turn-in.

The tread pattern itself is quite dense and designed to provide a large contact patch. This naturally helps with both wet and dry weather performance, while also making for even tread wear over time. As a result of this, and the tire’s new L-2 tread compound, Yokohama is able to guarantee an amazing 85,000 miles per tire. This matches the Goodyear Assurance MaxLife, which we continually recommend for its warranty.

With first-rate wet and dry weather grip for this category of tire, it has some mild winter weather capability due to the 3D sips in the tread blocks, as well as larger notches cut into the interior blocks. These help the tire dig into snow, although we still recommend true winter tires if you live in a snowy climate.

On top of all this, the tread design was made with multi-pitch variations that help cancel each other out and keep the tire’s noise to a minimum.

Designed specifically for modern crossovers and SUVs, there’s a solid selection of sizes, but as this is a relatively new tire, there are some limitations, which we expect to be solved in the near future.

Beyond all that, pricing is more than reasonable, making this an extremely sensible purchase.

Who Should Buy This Tire?

A quality all season tire for both sedans and crossovers there are very few reasons to not opt for this Yokohama. It puts the priority on tread life and sacrifices some dry weather grip, and we think many tire shoppers will be ok with this exchange. All season capability is excellent so we have no hesitations in recommending it for different climates. In addition, pricing, while not on the budget side, is quite good for what you’re getting here.

Yokohama AVID Ascend LX Price

Pricing for the Yokohama AVID Ascend LX ranges from $90 per tire for a 15-inch fitment up to $180 per tire for an 18-inch fitment.

     

Yokohama AVID Ascend LX Warranty

Maybe the best feature of the AVID Ascend LX is its 85,000 mile warranty.

Yokohama AVID Ascend LX Sizes

15-inch sizes
195/65/R15
185/65/R15
195/60/R15
185/60/R15
205/70/R15
215/70/R15
205/65/R15

16-inch sizes
215/65/R16
205/60/R16
225/60/R16
215/60/R16
205/65/R16
205/55/R16
215/55/R16
225/65/R16
205/70/R16
235/65/R16
235/60/R16
195/60/R16

17-inch sizes
215/65/R17
215/60/R17
215/45/R17
215/50/R17
225/60/R17
215/55/R17
225/55/R17
225/65/R17
235/50/R17
235/65/R17
235/60/R17
205/50/R17
225/50/R17

18-inch sizes
225/60/R18
225/55/R18
225/45/R18
215/50/R18
235/45/R18
235/55/R18
235/60/R18

How Long Does the Yokohama Avid Ascend LX Last?

The expected tread life for the Yokohama Avid Ascend LX is an incredibly long 85,000 miles. This assumes proper tire rotation procedures are followed and that the tires are kept properly inflated. In addition, achieving this many miles on a tire will only come with responsible driving habits.

Yokohama Avid Ascend LX vs GT

The most obvious difference between these two tires is expected read life. The Ascend LX is made with a harder overall tread compound that’s designed to last up to 85,000 miles, compared to 65,000 mils on the Ascend GT. This difference in compound also means the GT has better overall grip on the road for sportier performance.

Inspect the tread design of these two tires more closely and you’ll see they actually have a lot of differences. The Ascend LX has a consistent center rib to help with turn-in capability, while, surprisingly, the more dynamic GT model has individual tread blocks. For the LX this is really a case of using tire design to overcome the chemical makeup of the tire and it works quite well. Look to the shoulder tread blocks and you’ll see that the LX has individual segments, while the GT’s blocks are actually tied together, giving it an edge in hard cornering. Overall, the LX uses a symmetrical tread design, while the GT’s is asymmetrical. The GT’s design puts more tread near the outside of the tire to further improve handling, while the interior of the tire has wider water evacuation channels to help with wet weather grip.