New Es 350 Owner

[AllisonL]

Hi everyone! I just bought my first Lexus, a slightly used ES 350, with less than 2500 miles on it. I'm thrilled!

[Steve]

Hey welcome to the Lexus Owners Club

[LEXIRX330]

Welcome to LOC!

[Uncle Ben]

Same here Allison, a brand new 2013 ES 350 with the Touring Package. I took one similarly equipped for a quick spin, both on the highway and city streets... I was impressed. Unlike other posters, although it's not what the purists would call a "driver's car," handling is substantially improved IMHO, without any penalty whatsoever in terms of comfort and quietness. I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow--deep sea mica with ivory interior.

I don't know if this is the right place to raise this question, but I'll give it a shot any way. The car comes with 18" wheels and P225/45R18 tires. Any suggestions as to what I should do for snow tires, not about the make, but size? The sales rep seemed to favour 17" wheels and rubber, which increase wheel-fender gap I would think. He didn't so, he said that the tires would be narrower but larger in diameter than the existing tires, such that the wheel gap would remain more or less the same.

[pj8708]

Greetings Uncle Ben, and congratulations on the beautiful new ride.

Even though I live in the mid-west and not the land of Polar Bears and permafrost, we do get our share of snow and I use snow tires on my 2010 ES350. My snow tires are Michelin X-Ice ; 17" dia. For summer use I use Michelin Primacy MXV4 and 17" ; and you'll probably find that most late model ES owners use Michlen Primacy. However, since the 2013 is so new there isn't enough info or feed back to know what works the best.

Getting back to your reason for being here, lol, IMO, the 17" work great. I'm a little puzzled about your question. You don't really say why it would be so important to have either 17" or 18". One of the basic problems I've found with wider snow tires, is that their larger dimension throws more snow up into the wheel well, making it more difficult to steer and limiting the ability of the treads and lugs to clear themselves of snow before the next revolution of the tire.

I would stay with the 17". It also saves you from buying another set of rims.

Paul

[pj8708]

Hi everyone! I just bought my first Lexus, a slightly used ES 350, with less than 2500 miles on it. I'm thrilled!

Welcome Allison to the Lexus Owners Club.

First question. Where did you find a ES350 with only 2500 miles? Did you mug an old lady? LOL. Seriously, when you fill out your profile when joining it is important to include the model year of you Lexus.

We ALWAYS love pics of the new baby and any stories about buying it , salesman funnies etc.

Stay in touch with us.

Paul

[Uncle Ben]

Greetings Uncle Ben, and congratulations on the beautiful new ride.

Even though I live in the mid-west and not the land of Polar Bears and permafrost, we do get our share of snow and I use snow tires on my 2010 ES350. My snow tires are Michelin X-Ice ; 17" dia. For summer use I use Michelin Primacy MXV4 and 17" ; and you'll probably find that most late model ES owners use Michlen Primacy. However, since the 2013 is so new there isn't enough info or feed back to know what works the best.

Getting back to your reason for being here, lol, IMO, the 17" work great. I'm a little puzzled about your question. You don't really say why it would be so important to have either 17" or 18". One of the basic problems I've found with wider snow tires, is that their larger dimension throws more snow up into the wheel well, making it more difficult to steer and limiting the ability of the treads and lugs to clear themselves of snow before the next revolution of the tire.

I would stay with the 17". It also saves you from buying another set of rims.

Paul

Hi Paul. Sorry for taking so long for getting back to the forum ... I was too busy learning "the buttons." Thank you for your comments. The car is currently on 18" all season. For winter tires, the owner's manual recommends using tires of the same size...and yet, the salesman was suggesting to go down to a 17", claiming that the wider the tire the more hydroplaning I'd get. But after some drilling on the internet, a good snow tire, be it 17" or 18", will not hydroplane (e.g. Micheline ice X2/3, Nokian Hakka R.)

I was also planning on getting a separate set of rims. But that would mean an additional cost up front of about $250 for the TPMS sensors; and then more expenses with every seasonal tire change because each time the senson system would have to be reprogrammed.

So I think I'll keep the OEM rims for the winter. I don't really like to do this, because the twice/yr changeouts do damage both the rims and the tires and eventually lead to slow leaks. But since I don't expect to keep the car beyond 4 years, I think it will be just fine.

Comments? Thanks again for your help.

[pj8708]

Sounds like a plan. And you also get hit with the balance and mount cost (about $30 dollars each here) each time you change every season. I'll be putting my snow's on before Turkey Day and hoping it will be an exercise in futility.

Take care and thanks for writing back.

Paul

[Uncle Ben]

Sounds like a plan. And you also get hit with the balance and mount cost (about $30 dollars each here) each time you change every season. I'll be putting my snow's on before Turkey Day and hoping it will be an exercise in futility.

Take care and thanks for writing back.

Paul

You know Paul, about that $30 for balancing.... I had my snows on rims on the Camry 2007 that I traded and more often than not, I had to take the car back for balancing. Take care and have a nice day.