Snow Tires And Wheels

[Desty]

I have a 2002 LS 430 and with the winter we're having I want to purchase a set of snow tires and wheels. The car has 17 inch wheels and I'm not sure if 16" wheels will work. I'm inclined to consider Blizzack but I don't know if the w-50's or revo's would be a better fit.

[dcfish]

I have a 2002 LS 430 and with the winter we're having I want to purchase a set of snow tires and wheels. The car has 17 inch wheels and I'm not sure if 16" wheels will work. I'm inclined to consider Blizzack but I don't know if the w-50's or revo's would be a better fit.

What most owners do is put winter tires on the stock wheels and buy nice summer wheels/tires. I wouldn't put 16's on that car, Stay with 17"s. Go Brewers

[Lexusfreak]

Or pick yourself up another set of OE alloys & put the winter rubber on them......you will find a bargin at an autowrecker or salvage yard. :) You can actually get a set of 16" alloys & put the 225 60 16 size on for winter or stick with the 225 55 17 size.....the 16's will be much cheaper however.

I'd go with the Blizzak WS line personally.

[tgcLS430]

I have a 2004 LS430 that I bought last September with OEM 17" tires. I bought 4 mounted snow tires from Tire Rack for winter use because I live in New England. The tires are 215/65R16 Blizzak WS-60 (the new tread design, replaces the WS-50) and they are mounted on 16" alloy wheels. I am completely satisfied with the tires, they are great in the snow. In my opinion the 16" snows ride and drive the same as the 17" summer tires, with only a little bit of tread hum at highway speeds. The whole package was just over $800 delivered to my door. I would recommend the Blizzak WS-60 snow tires.

[1990LS400]

Desty, this thread has exactly what you need: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...c=44440&hl=

16" wheels were standard on the 2002 LS430 so I suppose your car either has the optional 17" Lexus wheels that were available in the 02 model year or aftermarket wheels.

There are advantages in using 16" wheels for snow tires on your LS430 - extra cushioning on winter potholed roads and less expensive to buy snow tires for them.

Blizzaks provide a very pleasant and quite ride for being a full blown snow tire and I'd bet they will provide a nicer ride than the 17" inch wheels and tires you have on your 02 LS430.

My recommendation is to stay away from the 215/65R16 tires mentioned by a previous poster. Snow tires already have reduced braking capability and you need the standard 225 section width for safe braking on dry pavement. I know you could "get by" with 215 section snow tires but there simply isn't a good reason to try it unless you are continually driving at substantially reduced speeds in very deep snow.

[new2mud]

Another option is to mount some of the newer all-weather tires that have the heavy duty winter "mountain & snowflake" rating--this way you can have true snow tires yet run them in summer without the typical adverse wear effects of running them on dry pavement. This is a good option if you don't want to keep 2 sets of wheels and don't want to swap out tires twice a year.

[Lexusfreak]

Another option is to mount some of the newer all-weather tires that have the heavy duty winter "mountain & snowflake" rating--this way you can have true snow tires yet run them in summer without the typical adverse wear effects of running them on dry pavement. This is a good option if you don't want to keep 2 sets of wheels and don't want to swap out tires twice a year.

Tires like that (The Nokian All Weather Plus comes to mind) are great......except, be prepared to listen to quite a bit of road noise from those tread designs in the summer months.....fuel economy will drop too.

[new2mud]

Tires like that (The Nokian All Weather Plus comes to mind) are great......except, be prepared to listen to quite a bit of road noise from those tread designs in the summer months.....fuel economy will drop too.

Not necessarily. Traditional snow tires will provide unacceptable (to me) noise and tire "squirm" in transitions. However, the Nokian AWP tires, while slightly noisier than most all-seasons, are well below the noise levels of other snow tires I've had in summer months. Also, fuel economy was not adversely affected to any noticeable degree. They do have a little more squirm in transitional maneuvers than all-seasons, though not nearly as bad as dedicated snow tires.

They are still a slight compromise from running dedicated summer and dedicated winter tires, but from what I've experienced, they are the most acceptable compromise currently on the market.