Tire Performance With 18" Euro Wheel/tires?

[Mandingo]

I have an LS430 on order with Euro suspension. I have a couple of questions on the 18" wheel and tire combo.

I had an ES300 previously and was very happy with the car except that the tire wear was pretty aggressive - I recall getting the tires replaced at around 18,000 miles.

I notice that the LS430 has a disclaimer about tire life too - from Lexus.com:-

"Tires fitted with 18 x 7.5-in and 17 x 7.5-in wheels are expected to experience greater wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 20,000 miles, depending on driving conditions."

I drive an X5 currently and while I am not particularly happy with the car I can get 30,000+ miles out of the tires no problem (and it's AWD too).

Any current owners got experience with LS430 tire life?

Also would like to get some advice on driving in wet and icy conditions on these tires - good/bad/ugly?

I suppose what I am asking is am I likely to need to change the tires on the car during the Winter (I'm in Seattle)?

[amf6]

I just put on snow tires (with wheels) on my new LS 430 (17"). I'm in Philly where it snows enough (at least it has the last few years) to make this worth considering. Downside is a bit more tire noise. I'll know whether this was a good decision after we see how much it snows here this winter.