kaslead

Since I live in the snow belt (Chicago), I'm getting ready to buy winter tires for my IS350. Having trouble deciding between buying tires only and using my OEM 18" rims, or buying a whole second set.

The tires only will be a lot cheaper - any major downsides? Anyone do this instead of buying a whole second set? How much would I expect to pay to swap tires, balance, etc.?

Thanks!

Lenscap

I'm in the Chicago area also and have been holding out on getting an IS 350 to see if a coupe becomes available. My understanding is you want to get a new wheel/tire combo. Switching the tires can cause leaks. And the salt from the road is not great for the wheels, so I would say get a set of cheaper wheels with tires for the winter.

I've never dealt with this before but will have to when I eventually get the car. As an aside, a guy I know with an M5 switches in the winter from his OEM 19" wheels to 17" wheels with winter tires.

VitB6

I am also in Chicago and am about to purchase winter tires for my IS350. I am looking at the 17" Blizzak LM-25 staggered setup. I will also buy 17" alloy rims all from Tirerack. Will cost me about $1100. Well worth it, IMO. The most important thing in the winter is to get the smallest tire possible. On this vehicle it is 17". If I could go 16" for the winter I probably would. Spend the extra $400 some dollars for the 17" rims and buy the 17" tires.

TorontoIS

Lexus seems to offer winter tire/rim packages up here in Canada, does anyone know if they're a reasonable combination? Reasonable in terms of snow performance as well as cost?

kaslead

I also had looked at Tirerack, but they don't have a 17" rim/tire package for the '07 350. I thought the '06 350 package would work, but I think the TPMS sensor is the problem. On the Sewell parts website, there are different sensors for pre- and post-April '06 build date, so maybe Tirerack doesn't have the sensor needed for '07 models. Would you buy the tires and wheels, and have Lexus put in the sensors?

Also, might it be better to go with a non-staggered set-up? Instead of 225/45-17 in front and 245/45-17 in back, why not go 225/45-17 all around? I understood narrower tires had better snow drivability.

BTW, being a newbie, this is a great forum here!

skorpio

I live south of chicago and when I got my car in december, we had snow on roads and I couldnt even drive up my driveway. My friends had to help me push the car in the garage. So I went to discount tire and got a set of 17s", non staggered setup. Enkei GF1 and Michelin Pilot. Both look nice and those Michelins are really quiet. I dont regret the purchase, snow mode was never necessary and discount tire will match tirerack price. There are 2 problems tho, one is swapping wheels and the other, i have no TMPS on winers so the warning light is always ON. The best thing is that I got the whole setup for around $680. I was their first IS350 customer, and even tho I said I need the staggered setup, they assured me that Lexus is dumb and all they did was installed little wider tires on the back. i said OK, paid the bill and walked away. They ended up giving me different rims and tires. Rims Ive paid for did not clear the brake caliper and tires were too big. Overall I was happy, altho it took well over 3 hrs to leave the store, it was well worth it.

Regards, Bart

skorpio

Another pic.

regards, Bart

ff_

From my standpoint, going with a dedicated set of winter wheels/tires is the only way to go. Continuous mounting/dismounting of tires is probably not good for them, and it's also expensive. It's also nice to let a set of cheap wheels endure the inevitable potholes and stray chunks of ice that litter midwestern roads in the wintertime. I'd go with a set of cheap wheels from tirerack, and a good set of Blizzaks. Preferrably in the narrowest width available, front and rear. I'm guessing that it'll probably be 225's (?), or maybe even 215's.

When I lived in MN, and drove a 330i, I found a set of 16" aluminum wheels that tirerack had developed specifically to fit over the 330i's large brakes. Soft Blizzak MZ-01's in P205 size, and that car went through snow better than any FWD car I'd ever owned.

clubfoot

My 18" winter setup:

ToothDoc

My winter setup is the OEM 18inch rims from ebay ($595), 4 tires from Tire Rack - the Pirelli 240 (only 18 inch I could get at the time) for $800. Then got the Lexus dealer to get 4 TPS and install for about $800. 2K is a lot, but well worth it if you don't have a spare car to drive in Chicago winters.

VikH

iTrader: (5)

Which Discount Tire did you go to?

I live in Chicago as well and just purchased an IS350. I'm interested in a winter setup as well. Let me know what you do and where you go.