New Tires And Alignment Transformed My Car!

[SADDLEBUM]

New Tires & Alignment… Ride & Handling Improved.

I bought my ’07 IS250 AWD a month ago, previously driving a BMW 328i. The Lexus had 16,000 miles on it and the Bridgestone Potenza RE92’s were more than half worn.

My initial driving impression was that the Lexus was “twitchy”. It just didn’t want to track. Upon inspection, the previous owner was running 28psi front and rear. I changed that to 36 psi front and 32 psi rear and about half the twitchiness disappeared. <_<

Still, although I thought the car rode like a dream on smooth roads, it rode like a truck on two lane New England back roads… much worse on the back roads than my BMW. So the big question in my mind was; “Is it the car or is it the tires?”

I did some research on the RE92’s at Tire Rack and compared them to the Bridgestone Potenza Serenities I have on my Beemer. You can duplicate my results by logging on to www.tirerack.com , select “Tires by Size” on the left side, enter the size (225/45/17, click the boxes for “High Performance All-Season”, “Grand Touring All-Season” and “Bridgestone”, then “Proceed to Results”. Select the “Compare” boxes for the Serenities and the RE92’s and you will have a great side-by-side comparison of the OEM tire and the one I am recommending.

I understand that I am comparing a High Performance All-Season tire (RE92) with a Grand Touring All-Season tire (Serenity) which is a bit of apples to oranges but understand my needs. I am not going to autocross the Lexus but am using it to “tour” the country in this, the first year of my retirement. I want a tire that is quiet, comfortable, handles well should I decide to “strafe an apex” and is superior in the dry, wet and snow.

Also please understand that I have ten years of track and autocross racing experience and have twice won my New England division championship in a slightly modified M3. As a mechanical engineer and a racer I am well versed in the nuances of tire construction and inflation pressures as well as the engineering changes needed in the suspension and chassis to build a winning racecar. I’m not trying to brag here, just to establish my credentials as a qualified observer.

So… here are my observations of the RE92’s.

1. They ride stiff.

2. They become unacceptably loud as they wear.

3. They don’t hold their directional stability (but this may be alignment or wear related).

4. They are excellent hard cornering tires in ideal (dry) conditions.

And… my observations of the Serenities.

1. They ride reasonably comfortably.

2. They are very quiet.

3. They hold their directional stability well.

4. They are acceptably good at hard cornering.

I have 225/45-17 Serenities on my Beemer and can tell you they are quite good in the snow. I’ve also had Blizzaks on this car and the Serenities’ are about 75% to 80% of the Blizzak’s performance in 3” to 6” snow. From that experience, and the Tire Rack “reviews” of the RE92’s, I have to conclude the Serenities’ will be a better tire in the snow than the RE92’s.

Next, to insure the poor tracking was not all in the tires, I had the car four wheel aligned today. What a difference! It now tracks on the highway and doesn’t require constant correction to keep it centered in its lane. As it turned out, both right side tires had toe-out.

Now with an alignment and Potenza Serenities, my IS rides comfortably, handles well, has much reduced road noise and tracks securely.

[vvernon]

New Tires & Alignment… Ride & Handling Improved.

I bought my ’07 IS250 AWD a month ago, previously driving a BMW 328i. The Lexus had 16,000 miles on it and the Bridgestone Potenza RE92’s were more than half worn.

My initial driving impression was that the Lexus was “twitchy”. It just didn’t want to track. Upon inspection, the previous owner was running 28psi front and rear. I changed that to 36 psi front and 32 psi rear and about half the twitchiness disappeared. <_<

Still, although I thought the car rode like a dream on smooth roads, it rode like a truck on two lane New England back roads… much worse on the back roads than my BMW. So the big question in my mind was; “Is it the car or is it the tires?”

I did some research on the RE92’s at Tire Rack and compared them to the Bridgestone Potenza Serenities I have on my Beemer. You can duplicate my results by logging on to www.tirerack.com , select “Tires by Size” on the left side, enter the size (225/45/17, click the boxes for “High Performance All-Season”, “Grand Touring All-Season” and “Bridgestone”, then “Proceed to Results”. Select the “Compare” boxes for the Serenities and the RE92’s and you will have a great side-by-side comparison of the OEM tire and the one I am recommending.

I understand that I am comparing a High Performance All-Season tire (RE92) with a Grand Touring All-Season tire (Serenity) which is a bit of apples to oranges but understand my needs. I am not going to autocross the Lexus but am using it to “tour” the country in this, the first year of my retirement. I want a tire that is quiet, comfortable, handles well should I decide to “strafe an apex” and is superior in the dry, wet and snow.

Also please understand that I have ten years of track and autocross racing experience and have twice won my New England division championship in a slightly modified M3. As a mechanical engineer and a racer I am well versed in the nuances of tire construction and inflation pressures as well as the engineering changes needed in the suspension and chassis to build a winning racecar. I’m not trying to brag here, just to establish my credentials as a qualified observer.

So… here are my observations of the RE92’s.

1. They ride stiff.

2. They become unacceptably loud as they wear.

3. They don’t hold their directional stability (but this may be alignment or wear related).

4. They are excellent hard cornering tires in ideal (dry) conditions.

And… my observations of the Serenities.

1. They ride reasonably comfortably.

2. They are very quiet.

3. They hold their directional stability well.

4. They are acceptably good at hard cornering.

I have 225/45-17 Serenities on my Beemer and can tell you they are quite good in the snow. I’ve also had Blizzaks on this car and the Serenities’ are about 75% to 80% of the Blizzak’s performance in 3” to 6” snow. From that experience, and the Tire Rack “reviews” of the RE92’s, I have to conclude the Serenities’ will be a better tire in the snow than the RE92’s.

Next, to insure the poor tracking was not all in the tires, I had the car four wheel aligned today. What a difference! It now tracks on the highway and doesn’t require constant correction to keep it centered in its lane. As it turned out, both right side tires had toe-out.

Now with an alignment and Potenza Serenities, my IS rides comfortably, handles well, has much reduced road noise and tracks securely.

I switched to Falken 225 45 18 front and 245 45 18 rear. The noise is gone and I have a wonderful ride.

[mr_raider]

New Tires & Alignment… Ride & Handling Improved.

My initial driving impression was that the Lexus was “twitchy”. It just didn’t want to track. Upon inspection, the previous owner was running 28psi front and rear. I changed that to 36 psi front and 32 psi rear and about half the twitchiness disappeared. <_<

Shouldn't it be 35/38?