rubypoo Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 At 25,000 miles I'm having to replace my OEM Dunlops on my 2003 LS430. Does anyone have good experience that they can relay for a replacement tire? I do average driving in Southern California. TIA.
monarch Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 You might want to get another set of identical Dunlops. Alot of people base their tire choices on the ratings given at tirerack.com, BUT those ratings are biased because owners tend to overrate the virtues of recently released tires and underrate the virtures of older tire designs. I just learned this the hard way myself. I recently bought a set of Goodyear Comfortred tires for my LS400 because tirerack gave them super good ratings for quietness and ride comfort. But I found the quietness was only a trifle better than my antique Goodyear Eagle GA's and the ride on good roads was worse because the Comfortreds transmitted every tiny road imperfection (although they absorbed big bumps well). Directional stability on the highway was also worst with the "state of the art" Comfortreds. And gas mileage had dropped 2 MPG because the Comfortreds have high rolling resistance. So I'm really mad I just spent $350 on a set of tires that have actually deminished the overall ride quality and driving enjoyment of my Lexus. I think tirerack should be renamed tireracksucks.com
HRP Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 We've always been partial to Michelin and have been stuck with other brands far too often, always with a bad experience. We insisted on Michelin A/S Pilot Sport tires for our new 2002 LS430. They do increase the road noise, but handle great and have nearly 35k on them with at least another 5 - 10 k left. The tires are rotated & balanced every 5k and the car is aligned every 5k also. I also run Michelin A/S Pilot Sports on my 91 Buick Reatta and Michelin MXV's on my 77 Excalibur. You might consider the new Michelin Hydro-edge, I will when I need new tires again. BTW, I was able to find a local Michelin distributor who would match the best price I could get on-line, mounted and balanced.
blake918 Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 I love and will replace my current Michelin MXV4 Energys(H rated with the same tires. The LS loves them-they are always balanced, aligned, and never wear unevenly. I know this is really bad(or is it? I think my LS drives better without my hands on the wheel, and they are wearing evenly.), but I haven't done any tire roataing, balancing, or alinging in over 20,000 miles. I'm getting my strut rods replaced either this weekend or next(whenever JPI can take me), so after that I'll go in for a balance, rotation and alignment(how nice would it be if he did tire work too! I'll have to ask.). Brief pro and con list for the Energys' Pros: always a perfect balance, wear, and alignment, excellent tread life upwards of 60k miles Cons: expensive-approx. $130 per tire, and because of the great tread life, they are occasionally loud on some really rough roads...not bad unless you really listen for it.
SW03ES Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 TireRack doesn't suck, the ratings system is not all its cracked up to be but thats because of the reviewers, not tire rack. Tire Rack has excellent customer service, good prices and a comprehensive interface that makes shopping and learning about tires MUCH easier. I always buy my tires from TireRack, except this time because they didn't have the tires I was looking for. You can't go wrong with the MXV4 line from Michelin, pretty overpriced but its a sure bet especially now that they just revamped the line (I'd get the new ones, the MXV4 S8 I had an RX330 loaner with them and they were good and quiet. I also am very satisfied with my Toyo Proxes TPTs and they're a little cheaper than the Michelins. My dad put them on his 04 LS430 and likes them too. The Dunlop is an okay tire, but as you've figured out they don't last very long.
silvermate Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 i had the dunlop sp sports on too, they are very sticky on dry pavement, but i thought they were below par, in wet traction, i got sideways a lot getting on the throttle turning and merging, i just got the Falken Ziex ZE 512's 225/60/16 a couple of weeks ago, and i love em so far, tread pattern is cool, and they offer very good wet traction as well (its been raining here since i put them on) Tirerack is awesome, although they don't carry some really good brands, but they offer a heck of a deal, with cheap shipping too. there are many threads about reccomended tires, in the tire section, you might want to do a search. as most members have offered their oppions many times around here.
rwallican Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 I recently purchased the Yokohama Avid V4S for my 96. They are great! Just got a little rain and they gripped the road very well. You'll get confused by all of the suggestions and tire reviews. Well, at least I did. One person will absolutely love a certain tire while someone else blasts it. Pick one and stick with it! Good luck.
SW03ES Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 silver's description of the Dunlops is right on, the rubber is very soft which makes for a good ride and a quiet ride with good dry traction but not great wet or snow traction and they're short lived.
silvermate Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 I recently purchased the Yokohama Avid V4S for my 96 Agent (99lsguy) recently purchased those as well, and i beleive is really pleased with them. i was either going to go with those or the Falken's that i ended up getting. it was a coin flip, but i found a deal i couldn't pass up on the Falken's
SW03ES Posted January 7, 2005 Posted January 7, 2005 How do you like the Falken's Silver? How's the ride and noise?
texagun Posted January 8, 2005 Posted January 8, 2005 At 25,000 miles I'm having to replace my OEM Dunlops on my 2003 LS430. Does anyone have good experience that they can relay for a replacement tire? I do average driving in Southern California. TIA. ← Take a look at Yokohama EVS-100's. I was going to replace with Pirelli P-6's, but after looking at the reviews from dozens of users, I went with the Yokohama's on my dealers reccommendation and after checking the reviews on the internet, and have been VERY pleased with them. I previously had Continentals on the car and they worn out at 25.000 miles and were extremely noisy and hard riding. The Yokohama's have been great.
Lexusfreak Posted January 8, 2005 Posted January 8, 2005 At 25,000 miles I'm having to replace my OEM Dunlops on my 2003 LS430. Does anyone have good experience that they can relay for a replacement tire? I do average driving in Southern California. TIA. ← ruby, I have posted some help for you with the same post in the wheels & tires section. B) silver, how do you feel about your new Falken's? B)
silvermate Posted January 8, 2005 Posted January 8, 2005 I really like em so far, i think i've had em on there for about 2-3 weeks or so i love the tread and sidewall patterns.. they are a pretty quiet tire as well, maybe a little more noisy than my dunlops on the highway,not really that noticeable, but they probably just need to be broken in a little they have AWESOME wet traction, i haven't broken the tires loose yet, and its been raining here since i've put them on, it has made me a lot more confident in driving in the rain now....... the dunlops always made me nervous in the rain, or they "kept me on my toes", so to speak, as they would break loose and i would get sideways quite frequently, so i'm really pleased with that aspect so far. they also have the "water channel" in the middle of them, that really helps. they dont' really seem to have that really "sticky" feel on dry pavement that my dunlops had, but they provide really good traction, so thats all that matters. all in all i'm really pleased with them so far.. I would definately buy them again... we'll see how they hold up
Lexusfreak Posted January 8, 2005 Posted January 8, 2005 I really like em so far, i think i've had em on there for about 2-3 weeks or so i love the tread and sidewall patterns.. they are a pretty quiet tire as well, maybe a little more noisy than my dunlops on the highway,not really that noticeable, but they probably just need to be broken in a little they have AWESOME wet traction, i haven't broken the tires loose yet, and its been raining here since i've put them on, it has made me a lot more confident in driving in the rain now....... the dunlops always made me nervous in the rain, or they "kept me on my toes", so to speak, as they would break loose and i would get sideways quite frequently, so i'm really pleased with that aspect so far. they also have the "water channel" in the middle of them, that really helps. they dont' really seem to have that really "sticky" feel on dry pavement that my dunlops had, but they provide really good traction, so thats all that matters. all in all i'm really pleased with them so far.. I would definately buy them again... we'll see how they hold up ← Good to hear silver :D & you are correct, you might need to 'break them in' a little more & they should quiet down. My wife has over 7,000 miles on them now, no sign of wear & are quieter. B)
rubypoo Posted January 8, 2005 Author Posted January 8, 2005 Thanks for the info.. I've responded on the Tire & Wheel Forum!
Lexusfreak Posted January 9, 2005 Posted January 9, 2005 Thanks for the info.. I've responded on the Tire & Wheel Forum! ← Your welcome! B) Let us know what you decide once your mind is made up. ;)
plexus93 Posted January 10, 2005 Posted January 10, 2005 I recently purchased the Yokohama Avid V4S for my 96. They are great! Just got a little rain and they gripped the road very well. You'll get confused by all of the suggestions and tire reviews. Well, at least I did. One person will absolutely love a certain tire while someone else blasts it. Pick one and stick with it! Good luck. ← I have to agree- I've been running the Yokohama AvidV4S for awhile now and they have been excellent. They are V-rated and appear to be wearing well so far. I find them to be particularly quiet. They less than $75 at Tirerack for 225-60-16.
Lexusfreak Posted January 10, 2005 Posted January 10, 2005 I recently purchased the Yokohama Avid V4S for my 96. They are great! Just got a little rain and they gripped the road very well. You'll get confused by all of the suggestions and tire reviews. Well, at least I did. One person will absolutely love a certain tire while someone else blasts it. Pick one and stick with it! Good luck. ← I have to agree- I've been running the Yokohama AvidV4S for awhile now and they have been excellent. They are V-rated and appear to be wearing well so far. I find them to be particularly quiet. They less than $75 at Tirerack for 225-60-16. ← Good things have been mentioned about the Yoko's as well ple B) The H4S & V4S have good reviews. B)
doublesharp Posted January 10, 2005 Posted January 10, 2005 I replaced oem Dunlops with Michelin hydroedge on gs400 and am totally satisfied.
Lexusfreak Posted January 11, 2005 Posted January 11, 2005 I replaced oem Dunlops with Michelin hydroedge on gs400 and am totally satisfied. ← The brand new Goodyear 'Assurance line' of premium all season tires are wortha closer look as well........either the Comfortread or the TripleTread. www.goodyearassurance.com B)
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