holtze1 Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 Hello all...Just bought a used 2006 Lexus AWD and was curious what all season tires have worked the best in the snow for everyone? Right now I have Yokohama AVD DS2s and they aren't so great...I feel like I am gliding too much and braking results in the ABS turning on just about every time. I read the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS reviews on tirerack and they sounded the best, but then I looked in consumer reports and they weren't rated the greatest so I'm not sure... Thanks!
Lexusfreak Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I had an IS 250 AWD as a loaner for a whild during the winter (fitted with Bridgestone Blizzak winter rubber). What a difference that makes in snow & ice compared to any all season tire you can buy. My suggestion is to get a set of winter rubber on sale from tirerack for next season (along with a good set of all seasons or even summer rubber for the other 3 seasons). In order to take full advantage of the AWD system.....especially in the winter. I will be getting 2 sets of winter tires for my wife's Subaru & my ES 330 for next season.....most definately. B)
holtze1 Posted March 22, 2008 Author Posted March 22, 2008 I had an IS 250 AWD as a loaner for a whild during the winter (fitted with Bridgestone Blizzak winter rubber). What a difference that makes in snow & ice compared to any all season tire you can buy.My suggestion is to get a set of winter rubber on sale from tirerack for next season (along with a good set of all seasons or even summer rubber for the other 3 seasons). In order to take full advantage of the AWD system.....especially in the winter. I will be getting 2 sets of winter tires for my wife's Subaru & my ES 330 for next season.....most definately. B) Thanks for the response. I was hoping to avoid the need for winter tires. My biggest concern with them would be that in Chicago it can be 50 one day and then 20 and snowing the next and I know driving winter tires in warmer weather like that is not good. Plus I would like to avoid the hassle if possible by having a good all season...
holtze1 Posted March 22, 2008 Author Posted March 22, 2008 What size tire do you need? 225/45/17 Before I bought this Lexus IS I had an Infiniti G35 Coupe with 18" wheels and 225/45/18 in the front and 245/45/18 in the rear with Avon Tech M550 all season tires - at the time these were the only all seasons I could find. I never had a problem stopping with these tires, just had problems going because of the car itself. Now in my IS 250 AWD I don't have problems going in the snow but stopping has not been good, like I said the ABS kicks on almost every time and I can only think that its the tires. I also feel at speeds above 40 that I am kinda just gliding across the road and don't have much grip. So I am thinking of going back to the Avon Techs, but I thought there was probably a better all season out there. Thanks again for the help.
Lexusfreak Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 Do you have a max price range your working with?
holtze1 Posted March 22, 2008 Author Posted March 22, 2008 Do you have a max price range your working with? I wouldn't say I have a max price range...I expect to spend about $200 a tire on the high end, but if it were more and it resulted in a great all season tire that I could stop in the snow with I would pay more... Do you have something in mind? Again, thanks for the help.
Lexusfreak Posted March 24, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Continential Extreme Contact Those 4 are very good bets based on what your looking for. B)
holtze1 Posted March 24, 2008 Author Posted March 24, 2008 Goodyear Eagle F1 All SeasonMichelin Pilot Exalto A/S Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Continential Extreme Contact Those 4 are very good bets based on what your looking for. B) Much thanks! I think I will be going with the Continental Extreme Contact...
Gaugster Posted March 24, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 Thanks for the response. I was hoping to avoid the need for winter tires. My biggest concern with them would be that in Chicago it can be 50 one day and then 20 and snowing the next and I know driving winter tires in warmer weather like that is not good. Plus I would like to avoid the hassle if possible by having a good all season... I also live in Chicago and was concerned about the wear I would put on dedicated snow tires on those dry winter days. I ended up getting a Performance Winter tire. Dunlop SP winter Sport 3D. They are V rated just like my OEM All seasons. Overkill for sure but....The driving characteristics are very similar to the all seasons, just with much better snow/ics capabilities. Some of the snow tires have really soft rubber and wear quickly on dry pavement. I can't say for sure but it seems like the Performance winter tires with higher speed ratings don't wear as quickly as the lower speed (<100mph) rated tires. There are other factors as well but check out the treadwear information from tirerack to aviod the ones that wear quickly. I am planning to put my all seasons back on next week if the weather permits. I will post some pics of my winter tire wear for all to see. Regards,
Lexusfreak Posted March 25, 2008 Posted March 25, 2008 Goodyear Eagle F1 All SeasonMichelin Pilot Exalto A/S Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Continential Extreme Contact Those 4 are very good bets based on what your looking for. B) Much thanks! I think I will be going with the Continental Extreme Contact... The Conti is a decent choice, but is several years old with many complaints of poor ride quality.....I'd go with the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S personally. ;)
holtze1 Posted March 25, 2008 Author Posted March 25, 2008 Goodyear Eagle F1 All SeasonMichelin Pilot Exalto A/S Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Continential Extreme Contact Those 4 are very good bets based on what your looking for. B) Much thanks! I think I will be going with the Continental Extreme Contact... The Conti is a decent choice, but is several years old with many complaints of poor ride quality.....I'd go with the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S personally. ;) Interesting...the reason why I chose Conti was Consumer Reports rated it highest for snow and it was also one of their recommended tires. Plus it was pretty highly rated on tirerack...I think it'll be a game time decision... ; )
Gaugster Posted March 25, 2008 Posted March 25, 2008 Just keep in mind the date(s) of the CR reports. New tires could have come on the market after the report. CR does a very good job when evaluating whereas the tirerack information is just a pole from individual users. I used the tirerack ratings as the winter tire I chose was not tested on CR yet. Everything worked out well for me. I know I keep talking about winter tires but the selection process is the same for any tire. It is all about what aspects of the tire you value most.
Lexusfreak Posted March 25, 2008 Posted March 25, 2008 The Conti is rated 5th overall in it's category (ultra high performance all season), the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S is rated first overall in the high performance all season category... http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...ot+Exalto+A%2FS
holtze1 Posted March 25, 2008 Author Posted March 25, 2008 The Conti is rated 5th overall in it's category (ultra high performance all season), the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S is rated first overall in the high performance all season category... http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...ot+Exalto+A%2FS So that brings me to my next question...which is better...ultra high performance or high performance? I was only looking in the ultra high performance category, but now it looks like high peformance could be a good way to go... Thoughts...?
Lexusfreak Posted March 25, 2008 Posted March 25, 2008 A high performance all season is more than enough for the IS 250 AWD imo. You won't have as harsh a ride going that way either & still have excellent handling. :)
Gaugster Posted March 25, 2008 Posted March 25, 2008 A high performance all season is more than enough for the IS 250 AWD imo. You won't have as harsh a ride going that way either & still have excellent handling. :) I would focus more on the speed rating and other standard characteristics. I don't believe that the definitions of Performance, High Performance, Ultra High Performance are industry standards so it could be misleading.
Manolo1 Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 This is CR ranking for WINTER/SNOW tires: Michelin X-Ice 85 Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice 77 Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 76 Mastercraft Glacier Grip II 75 Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 74 Cooper Weather-master S/T 2 68 Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSI 64 Dayton Winterforce 50
Manolo1 Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 this is CR ranking for performance winter tires in 16" sizes: Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip GW3 H 85 Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 H 73 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 H 68 Nokian WR All Weather Plus V 66 Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 V 66 Continental ContiWinterContact TS810S V 65 Nokian WR All Weather Plus H 65 Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 H 62 Hankook Icebear W300 H 60 Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero H 56 Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 H almost identical for 17" size... and... from CR: ...Premium all-season tires continue to improve, our tests show. However, all-season tires aren’t the best in the wake of a severe winter storm, especially if you must be on road before the highway crews... ...Winter tires have treads with more biting edges for better grip on snow and ice, while their softer compound remains flexible even in extremely low temperatures. (See our report on winter tires.) On cleared roads, however, they might not grip as well as all-season tires, and they often wear more quickly. They do not have tread-wear warranties or grades and should be removed in the spring. ...
sanchez469 Posted April 16, 2008 Posted April 16, 2008 I own an 08 IS 350 with the 18 inch wheels. Now I know you guys have mentioned some all season tires above. Do those fit the 18 inch wheels as well? If not anyone know if some that I could look into more? Thanks
sanchez469 Posted April 17, 2008 Posted April 17, 2008 What size tire? Hi sorry for the late reply, here are my tire measurements for my 18 inch wheels-- 18 x 8.0-inch alloy wheels with 225/40YR18 tires front, 18 x 8.5-in alloy wheels with 255/40YR18 tires rear. I know i can look it up but i am just wondering what are the best all seasons for that size
bartkat Posted April 17, 2008 Posted April 17, 2008 I just took another 80 mile round trip across Sand Mountain and the Conti Extremes were very smooth, great handling and quieter than the Dunlops. I havent' run them in the rain yet, but I'm totally sold on them already. I really didn't think all season tires would be so good. I'm now really serious about getting a like pair for the front.
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