Tire Type

[LuvmyLexus]

Can anyone tell me what type of tires were original equipment on the 99 LS400?

thanks

[1990LS400]

Can anyone tell me what type of tires were original equipment on the 99 LS400?

thanks

As shown on http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/1999/1999LSspecs.pdf , the standard and optional tires were:

Summer Bridgestone Turanza ER33 P225/60R16 97V

(Code: 035629) or All-Season Dunlop SP Sport 4000

P225/60R16 97V (Code: 0207-55).

[SW03ES]

Niether of which are very good tires. I would recommend the Michelin Primacy MXV4. I've had those tires plus several others on that car, and the Michelins are the smoothest and quietest. The Dunlop 4000s aren't made anymore, you can still find them online but Dunlop replaced them with the Sp Sport 5000. Its a quiet smooth tire but treadwear is VERY poor...around 20,000 miles. I have the Primacy on my car now and they have about 40,000 miles on them and probably have another 10k left.

[LuvmyLexus]

Can anyone tell me what type of tires were original equipment on the 99 LS400?

thanks

As shown on http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/1999/1999LSspecs.pdf , the standard and optional tires were:

Summer Bridgestone Turanza ER33 P225/60R16 97V

(Code: 035629) or All-Season Dunlop SP Sport 4000

P225/60R16 97V (Code: 0207-55).

Thanks for the info...

[billydpowell]

I run Michelin Symmetry on my 97 & 99 LS's, have used them for years on various cars and get 60 to 70k... but the main thing is QUIET & smooth..

[SW03ES]

The Symmetry though is not of a speed rating where I would feel comfortable putting them on the LS. The Symmetry only comes in an S speed rating, and the LS' suspension geometry is designed around tires with a V speed rating. The lowest I would go is an H.

[Micah.Berry]

Niether of which are very good tires. I would recommend the Michelin Primacy MXV4. I've had those tires plus several others on that car, and the Michelins are the smoothest and quietest. The Dunlop 4000s aren't made anymore, you can still find them online but Dunlop replaced them with the Sp Sport 5000. Its a quiet smooth tire but treadwear is VERY poor...around 20,000 miles. I have the Primacy on my car now and they have about 40,000 miles on them and probably have another 10k left.

Exactly the kind of information that I was looking for!! The dealership that I bought my 99 LS from put brand new Goodyear Integrity tires on, and they are noisier that I would think an LS should be. While I'm not going to replace the tires very soon, I am a planner - thus am already gathering information useful for my next tire purchase. I am quickly realizing that the priorities for tires that I had for my Miata are NOT the same as for the LS. Even given that the tires transmit more road noise than I think appropriate, the car is still quiet at speed, and one can have a "normal-voiced" conversation. It's the best travel car that I've ever been in.

Micah

[billydpowell]

The Symmetry though is not of a speed rating where I would feel comfortable putting them on the LS. The Symmetry only comes in an S speed rating, and the LS' suspension geometry is designed around tires with a V speed rating. The lowest I would go is an H.

just how fast do you drive??

I run 70-80 on the highway,and have run the Symmetry for over 20 years without a single instance.

[SW03ES]

Exactly the kind of information that I was looking for!! The dealership that I bought my 99 LS from put brand new Goodyear Integrity tires on, and they are noisier that I would think an LS should be. While I'm not going to replace the tires very soon, I am a planner - thus am already gathering information useful for my next tire purchase. I am quickly realizing that the priorities for tires that I had for my Miata are NOT the same as for the LS. Even given that the tires transmit more road noise than I think appropriate, the car is still quiet at speed, and one can have a "normal-voiced" conversation. It's the best travel car that I've ever been in.

That Integrity tire is a POS, bordering on an unsafe tire for the LS.

I would replace those tires now actually...they are awful.

just how fast do you drive??

I run 70-80 on the highway' date='and have run the Symmetry for over 20 years without a single instance.[/quote']

It has nothing to do with how fast one drives. Tires of different speed ratings have different sidewall construction and different load ratings. The LS is a heavy car and Lexus saw fit to put V rated tires on it from the factory. Not all cars are created equal. In fact...most shops wouldn't even mount those tires on the LS.

Its your decision, but I and my family would never ride in that car with those tires. Its only an issue if it becomes an issue, but Lexus itself, the vehicle manufacturer has said the car needs a V rated tire for proper suspension geometry...and an S rated tire like the Symmetry (or the Integrity) is 3 speed ratings beneath that. Unsafe.

[SRK]

just how fast do you drive??

I run 70-80 on the highway,and have run the Symmetry for over 20 years without a single instance.

I'm with you on this one Billy. The S speed rating approves the tire for 10 minutes at 112 mph, and as you don't drive that fast, it's perfectly safe. Load ratings are also specified on tires, numerically, and that's an entirely different rating UNRELATED to speed ratings. You're perfectly safe with the Symmetry, assuming that it's load rating is also sufficient for the car. You can look that up online easily, and more than likely it meets the requirements of the LS weight.

I recall that this board has been around this topic, if one can call it that, many times. The facts are out there.

[billydpowell]

just how fast do you drive??

I run 70-80 on the highway,and have run the Symmetry for over 20 years without a single instance.

I'm with you on this one Billy. The S speed rating approves the tire for 10 minutes at 112 mph, and as you don't drive that fast, it's perfectly safe. Load ratings are also specified on tires, numerically, and that's an entirely different rating UNRELATED to speed ratings. You're perfectly safe with the Symmetry, assuming that it's load rating is also sufficient for the car. You can look that up online easily, and more than likely it meets the requirements of the LS weight.

I recall that this board has been around this topic, if one can call it that, many times. The facts are out there.

Thanks SRK, I feel better now. I didnt want to think I have been running on the ragged edge all this time...

[SW03ES]

The facts are out there.

All the facts I've seen support the idea that only tires of similar speed ratings as OEM should be used on the vehicle. Thats the viewpoint of Lexus, TireRack, and every tire manufacturer and retailer I have ever spoken to. In fact if you call Michelin and ask them if the Symmetry is an appropriate tire for the LS they would say no, and it does not come up on Michelin's tirematch database on their website as an appropriate tire for the vehicle.

Why does Lexus shod the car with V rated tires at the factory if it doesn't matter?

[SRK]

Good point. The reason the speed rating is applied to tire choice from the factory is the car is not speed limited, so a tire is chosen that meets or exceeds the speed the vehicle is capable of. My 94 Camaro Z-28 had the speed limited to 112 in the ECU, so it had S rated factory tires. The SS Camaro had the same drivetrain but no speed limiter, and came from the factory with Z rated. The LS, at least in Canada, has the limiter set at about 150 mph, like my GS does, and consequently the factory tires reflect that.

I've got Z-rated on the GS and H on the LS. When the GS tires wear out I'll be dropping to V-rated.

Even Michelin advises to not exceed the posted road speeds regardless of the tire used. Liability rears it's ugly head.

Achieving a higher speed rating does make for great handling tire in most cases, at the expense of ride quality and cost and wear. My point is that one can safely use a lower rating if observing the posted road signs is your habit.

[VBdenny]

I have had a lot of tires over the years. I currently run BFG Traction TA/V's on my LS400 and Yokohama Avid V4's on my ES330. The traction TA/V's are very nice handling tires at higher speeds. I don't run over a buck very often but they are very stable and pretty quiet. The Yokohama Avids are great tires and have good wear. I guess I could go with the H (119) tires but you never know.

Before I buy any tire, I spend a lot of time reading reviews on tirerack. I look for certain things including how well I like the looks of the tire and tread pattern. I usually always upsize 10mm on everything.

The Intergrity tires previously mentioned are in fact, junk. My wife had them on a brand new Chrysler 300 company car and they were horrible/ When I bought the ES330, it had them on it and I replaced them within a week even though they still had 3/4 tread. Tires matter, a lot.

[billydpowell]

Good point. The reason the speed rating is applied to tire choice from the factory is the car is not speed limited, so a tire is chosen that meets or exceeds the speed the vehicle is capable of. My 94 Camaro Z-28 had the speed limited to 112 in the ECU, so it had S rated factory tires. The SS Camaro had the same drivetrain but no speed limiter, and came from the factory with Z rated. The LS, at least in Canada, has the limiter set at about 150 mph, like my GS does, and consequently the factory tires reflect that.

I've got Z-rated on the GS and H on the LS. When the GS tires wear out I'll be dropping to V-rated.

Even Michelin advises to not exceed the posted road speeds regardless of the tire used. Liability rears it's ugly head.

Achieving a higher speed rating does make for great handling tire in most cases, at the expense of ride quality and cost and wear. My point is that one can safely use a lower rating if observing the posted road signs is your habit.

thank you, spoken like a real professional...

I copied this and put it in my file..

At 76, I know my reflexes are limited and try noy to exceed them, but I do enjoy my LS's

[billydpowell]

Good point. The reason the speed rating is applied to tire choice from the factory is the car is not speed limited, so a tire is chosen that meets or exceeds the speed the vehicle is capable of. My 94 Camaro Z-28 had the speed limited to 112 in the ECU, so it had S rated factory tires. The SS Camaro had the same drivetrain but no speed limiter, and came from the factory with Z rated. The LS, at least in Canada, has the limiter set at about 150 mph, like my GS does, and consequently the factory tires reflect that.

I've got Z-rated on the GS and H on the LS. When the GS tires wear out I'll be dropping to V-rated.

Even Michelin advises to not exceed the posted road speeds regardless of the tire used. Liability rears it's ugly head.

Achieving a higher speed rating does make for great handling tire in most cases, at the expense of ride quality and cost and wear. My point is that one can safely use a lower rating if observing the posted road signs is your habit.

thank you, spoken like a real professional...

I copied this and put it in my file..

At 76, I know my reflexes are limited and try noy to exceed them, but I do enjoy my LS's

[SW03ES]

I've got Z-rated on the GS and H on the LS. When the GS tires wear out I'll be dropping to V-rated.

Achieving a higher speed rating does make for great handling tire in most cases, at the expense of ride quality and cost and wear. My point is that one can safely use a lower rating if observing the posted road signs is your habit.

So this begs the question, would you put an S rated tire on your GS or LS?

If acheiving a higher speed rating makes for a "great handling tire" then by that logic it does change the handling characteristics of the vehicle. So if you are running S speed rated tires on the LS which is designed for V rated tires...your vehicle will not handle as it was designed to by Lexus.

We're not arguing over H rated tires...we're talking about S rated tires.

FWIW, the ES is limited at 132 and it came with V rated tires.

The issue is, lets say a deer darts out at you when you're driving down the road at 70MPH and you have to react. How will your LS handle on thinner sidewalled S rated tires than the V or say H rated tires that the manufacturer intended it to be driven on? The answer is...we don't know.

Knowing that the car is riding on what the manufacturer intended it to ride on is worth a few bucks to me...

[billydpowell]

GREAT, you run V or H and I will run S. Oh, you wont have to watch out for me, I'm not returning to MD, I haven't been back since the 50's when I came out of Aberdeen Proving Grounds, heading for Korea.

Cheers.

[SW03ES]

GREAT, you run V or H and I will run S. Oh, you wont have to watch out for me, I'm not returning to MD, I haven't been back since the 50's when I came out of Aberdeen Proving Grounds, heading for Korea.

Cheers.

No reason to be snippy Billy. This forum is a source of information for many, and I believe its unsafe to run S rated tires on the vehicle...so does Lexus...so does Michelin...so does TireRack. In some european countried its illegal to mount tires of a lower speed rating than what came from the factory. If you choose to ignore those viewpoints that is your choice, but I'm not going to sit here and let you reccomend a tire to our members that I, the vehicle manufacturer, the tire manufacturer, the largest tire retailers in the world, and the governments of several european countries feel are unsafe without saying something about it.

Lots of great tires out there, and for the same money as what those tires cost someone can buy a set of tires that are appropriate for the vehicle.

[billydpowell]

GREAT, you run V or H and I will run S. Oh, you wont have to watch out for me, I'm not returning to MD, I haven't been back since the 50's when I came out of Aberdeen Proving Grounds, heading for Korea.

Cheers.

No reason to be snippy Billy. This forum is a source of information for many, and I believe its unsafe to run S rated tires on the vehicle...so does Lexus...so does Michelin...so does TireRack. In some european countried its illegal to mount tires of a lower speed rating than what came from the factory. If you choose to ignore those viewpoints that is your choice, but I'm not going to sit here and let you reccomend a tire to our members that I, the vehicle manufacturer, the tire manufacturer, the largest tire retailers in the world, and the governments of several european countries feel are unsafe without saying something about it.

Lots of great tires out there, and for the same money as what those tires cost someone can buy a set of tires that are appropriate for the vehicle.

I DO understand your position.. and appreciate it. just adding a little color.

[PSLexus]

Just joined the Lexus owners club.

I need new tires on my 04 LS 430. I loved the original Dunlap's. Hate my BF goodrich ones. Want a really quiet comfortable and smooth ride. Hoping to get above 30,000 miles on them though. I found Dunlop sp 5000 but they are 255/60/R 17. Is that ok instead of dealership recommended 225/55/R 17?

They also recommended the Bridgestone Turanza ER33 - ? any thoughts

Please advise.

Thanks.

[SW03ES]

I would buy the Michelin Primacy MXV4...The Dunlop is a smooth quiet tire, but very short treadlife.

The Michelin Primacy is the only tire I'll ever put on a Lexus again...they are that good.