Need New Tires For 1995 Lexus Ls400

[patelhim]

I have a 1995 Lexus LS400 with 150000 miles on it and need new tires for it. I know this question has been asked many times but in Boston, I need something that will give quiet ride with good snow performance. I have MXV4+ V rated right now and I have gotten 65000 out of them now. They ride nice and quiet but are expensive at 165+ each so I am looking for a cheaper alternative. I have read reviews about Bridgestone Turanza, Yokohama AV4(bad reviews on snow) but a local place is suggesting Bridgestone Potenza G 009. Wanted to know what you all think about that one. Tirerack reviews are great for that tire... Also, is H rated ok on this car ? I am not a performance driver..my driving is mostly highway at high speeds.

[Otto]

I have a 1995 Lexus LS400 with 150000 miles on it and need new tires for it. I know this question has been asked many times but in Boston, I need something that will give quiet ride with good snow performance. I have MXV4+ V rated right now and I have gotten 65000 out of them now. They ride nice and quiet but are expensive at 165+ each so I am looking for a cheaper alternative. I have read reviews about Bridgestone Turanza, Yokohama AV4(bad reviews on snow) but a local place is suggesting Bridgestone Potenza G 009. Wanted to know what you all think about that one. Tirerack reviews are great for that tire... Also, is H rated ok on this car ? I am not a performance driver..my driving is mostly highway at high speeds.

My tire guy and friend who works out of a shop at his house keeps telling me i gotta put that tire on my car,now he knows i am not due for new ones yet it is just he is really excited about this tire for my car 90 ls 400. I really think it will be my next tire , when i asked about more michelins he just looked me in the eye and shook his head and was back to ranting about this "potenza"it exemplifies elegance , its smooth like glass , floating on a cloud, quiet , ect.....well

i trust this guy enough to put the tire that almost put ford out of business on my car! so let me know how you like them because i have never owned a bridgestone.

[nc211]

I have a 1995 Lexus LS400 with 150000 miles on it and need new tires for it. I know this question has been asked many times but in Boston, I need something that will give quiet ride with good snow performance. I have MXV4+ V rated right now and I have gotten 65000 out of them now. They ride nice and quiet but are expensive at 165+ each so I am looking for a cheaper alternative. I have read reviews about Bridgestone Turanza, Yokohama AV4(bad reviews on snow) but a local place is suggesting Bridgestone Potenza G 009. Wanted to know what you all think about that one. Tirerack reviews are great for that tire... Also, is H rated ok on this car ? I am not a performance driver..my driving is mostly highway at high speeds.

Michelin MXV4...worth the money...trust me...went through this myself recently. search for nc211 in the tire section, you'll see the thread. Blake has some Goodyears on his I believe that he likes as well. But I think the overall votes are for the Michelin's on these cars. Might be pricey upfront, but as I learned, you get what you pay for in tires. plus, with a car that is soooo sensitive to ride components, I recommend the michelin's to keep the true composure of the car's ride.

[SKperformance]

moved to the tire section.

[Lexusfreak]

Have you considered the Goodyear Assurance Triple Tread, H speed rated? B)

[razahyde]

ive got michelin hydroedge in 225 60 16 with maybe 2000 casual miles on them

[blake918]

Patel, I found myself in the same situation a little while ago, that is, I loved my Energy tires, but wasn't up to spending $140/tire. I put BFGoodrich Traction T/A T rated (118mph) tires on my '95 LS about 5 months ago , and I have nothing but positive things to say about them after riding on them for almost 12,000 miles. They are much cheaper than the Energy tires @ $90-$100 (depending on where you buy them). I find them very quiet, and they are excellent in the rain. I put 20k-25k miles on a year, so treadwear is an important factor for me--the Traction T/As have a 620 tread rating which is better than the Energy tires.

H rating is fine. I read that going down in speed rating can degrade your ride quality and/or handling, but I have not noticed any difference when I dropped down to the T rated tires from H.

[SW03ES]

I would not put anything lower than an H speed rating on these cars. My fear would be that you'd notice the difference in an emergency maneuver or something like that when the result could be catestrophic. I just don't think the money you'd save is worth it.

I think probably, in a perfect world the MXV4s are the best tire for the car. BUT, it does have 150k on it. If you think you're going to have it another 65k miles, I'd put the MXV4s on it again because its going to be cheaper in the long run. If thats not the case however, there are alternatives.

I'd look at the Dunlop SP Sport 4000 A/S or the Sp Sport 5000 in V rated. They run $80-$100 a tire from TireRack and the 4000s are just as quiet and smooth as the MXV4s (the 5000s a little less so) but they're not going to last nearly as long (I'd say 35k).

[blake918]

My fear would be that you'd notice the difference in an emergency maneuver or something like that when the result could be catestrophic.

I can tell you first hand that you don't have anything to worry about as long as you aren't on the Autobahn. I was going 85mph in the middle of no where, Arkansas when I swerved to miss a skunk. I, my tires, and car are all still here to tell the story--they performed flawlessly.

Very, very rarely do I go more than 85mph, so having a tire that is capable of 150mph is very unimportant to me. The T and H rated Traction TA tires where the same price, the Z's were $5 or $10 more/tire. The T rated ones have greater tread ratings, so that's why I picked them.

[SW03ES]

Still though, theres more to speed ratings than the top speed. The rigidity of the sidewall, the composition of the belts, and the composition of the rubber all change depending on the speed ratings, and those things change how the tire behaves under different types of load. The suspension was designed for V rated tires, and I'd put V rated tires on it, or at least H rated tires. I've never heard anyone involved in car design or maintenance tell someone its okay to put tires of a lower speed rating on a car than what came from the factory.

I realize its been okay in your situation, but I still wouldn't reccomend it. No need for Z's, but I would have bought the H rated tire, ESPECIALLY for the same price.

In my opinion, T rated tires are an unnaceptable safety risk on the LS.

[patelhim]

Thank you all for your recommendations. I would agree with SW03ES as no shop recommends anything lower than what vehicle is designed for, in this case V rated for the exact reasons he describes...thickness of sidewalls and impact it has on suspension... I had an Acura Legend that asked for V rated and I had H rated on it and put 60000 miles on them without feeling any difference. I have also heard that for practical pursposes, you should not go below H rated. So finally, I have decided to get BFGoodrich Traction T/A V rated at 110(H rated at 101) a piece installed . The tire looks good. Thanks Blake !!!

[SW03ES]

Not a whole lot of difference between H and V (I still wouldn't, but thats me), but theres a lot of difference between V and T.

As a matter of fact tiremakers make fewer and fewer S and T rated tires every year because they're not applicable to modern vehicles.

[blake918]

I'm much too lazy to argue about this--well, maybe that's a lie, I just don't care (they are not overloaded (load rating wise) nor do I exceed their limits.), so I'll leave this as it is. I'll post back from the hospital and let you say I told ya so when I blow these tires up and severely injure myself! LOL

Pat, you'll love them. Just wait until it rains, they are fantastic!!

[SW03ES]

I'll post back from the hospital and let you say I told ya so when I blow these tires up and severely injure myself! LOL

Wear a helmet ;)

[rwallican]

I bought the Yokohama Avid V4s about a year ago and have put 20,000 miles on them. I heard a lot of great things about them on this site. I'm not too impressed. They are quite noisy. So, after a lot of researching, I'm back to find another set !

[W201 sweden]

I have Z rated Bridgestone Potenza (made in Poland...) on my -95 LS, and I find them too noisy, at least on Swedish roads. Probably the Bridgestone guys did all the test driving in Germany, on the very smooth autobahn... ;)

[LS4hundy]

I have the bridgestone turanza and I think they are fine. Granted I have not tried anything else on the car yet.

[95LS400Bob]

I have a 1995 Lexus LS400 with 150000 miles on it and need new tires for it. I know this question has been asked many times but in Boston, I need something that will give quiet ride with good snow performance. I have MXV4+ V rated right now and I have gotten 65000 out of them now. They ride nice and quiet but are expensive at 165+ each so I am looking for a cheaper alternative. I have read reviews about Bridgestone Turanza, Yokohama AV4(bad reviews on snow) but a local place is suggesting Bridgestone Potenza G 009. Wanted to know what you all think about that one. Tirerack reviews are great for that tire... Also, is H rated ok on this car ? I am not a performance driver..my driving is mostly highway at high speeds.

Michelin MXV4...worth the money...trust me...went through this myself recently. search for nc211 in the tire section, you'll see the thread. Blake has some Goodyears on his I believe that he likes as well. But I think the overall votes are for the Michelin's on these cars. Might be pricey upfront, but as I learned, you get what you pay for in tires. plus, with a car that is soooo sensitive to ride components, I recommend the michelin's to keep the true composure of the car's ride.

Thanks for all your research to find the right tire for my car...even if it did cost you money to too do it for me. :) NC211....did you get the V rated Michelin...and was it the + tire or not? I want the EXACT same tire you did.