Coconut

It seems that everyone agrees that the Bridgestone Turanza ER33 tires are complete crap. What makes this particular tire so crappy anyways? Will there be a huge difference by switching to the Michelin PS2?

mikes rx

iTrader: (14)

Trust me, you don't realize how bad your tires are until you change them over. Or, you don't realize how GOOD other tires are until you change them over. I thought the factory dunlops were quite nice...until I changed them.

Dunlop to PS2 switch = less of a "choppy" ride on smaller bumps, less harshness over larger bumps, better dry traction (although my rears were pretty low depth wise- 4/32"), and a little less noise. I have no idea about wet traction.

llamaboiz

lol, even if you put coilovers, all the braces in the world, ultimately what connects your car to the ground is the tires BUT... good tires are $$$

FiveOhNine

ER33's tram, pull, ride terribly, are loud and handle like four civic donuts.....worst tires I've ever had to deal with.

Jenomic

+1

sucky tire...

Little E

iTrader: (2)

Yeah...bridgestone/firestone tires would not be my first choice. I was disapointed to find out my 08 IS came w/ bridgestones. So far no problems with them yet (knock on wood), but my next set will be something different.

josephdoc

It is not Bridgestone's fault!

*eidt*
-Apple and orange! By classification: PS2 is a summer-only tire, ER33 is a high performance all-season tire.
-I don't think there is a car come with stock PS2 (maybe some highend euro cars), and the most aggressive dealer stock tires is on the STI with Potenza S02/S03.
-If Lexus assign a summer-only model, there will be people complain wet traction and short thread life.
-The world is not perfect.
*/edit*

If you have a 2IS since 06, and you paid attention on recovery action done by Lexus, then you would not pointing finger at Bridgestone.

All 2IS from late 05 equipped with Dunlop tires but it suck out because Dunlop's mystery right-pulling problem reacting with 2IS.

After about 6 months releasinig 2IS with Dunlop tires, Lexus complimented all customers who complained about the mystery pulling, and replaced 4 new Bridgestone RE050 at free of charge, and packing all new release 2IS w/ RE050 for a few months (production April - Sept 2006).

After a few months of selling 2IS w/ RE050, Lexus found out RE050 was not an ideal model since RE050 is more of a summer-only tire, with very short tire thread height, and cost more than typical all-season high performance tires, so ER30 was chosen since September 2006. ER30 evolved till now the ER33.

My opinion, regardless which model/brand Lexus pick for their default tires, it is all about "business", which means saving cost and produce efficiently. I don't know why Lexus pick JDM tire brands only (Dunlop & Bridgestone), but I know the fact that Bridgestone is the largest tire manufacturer in the world, and Bridgestone has good lines of tires for any application.

If "denaro" is not a factor when designing a vehilce, then all vehicle manufacturers will pack top of line models from Michelin or Bridgestone only.

Now Lexus recommend both Bridgestone and Michelin for the isF, but noticed that its page listed "Bridgestone Potenza, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2". We sure know what PS2 is, but there are more than 10 different lines under Potenza. Choosing a proper Potenza is complicated, it really depends on your application..... and your budget.

No doubt Michelin and Bridgestone are the two best tire manufacturers in the world. I do prefer JDM vehicles stay on JDM tires, and I don't mind using PS2 if I have a european vehicle (not very possible).

Again, it is not Bridgestone's fault!

Joseph

sirkfc

Also, people tend to overstate the difference between tires upon switching out...

1) You are changing out your old tire in its worst possible state, for news ones. I'd take a new lower end tire over a worn out high end tire any day.

2) Possible placebo effects. Because the tire costs more, and isn't the stock tire, people think it must be better.

mikes rx

iTrader: (14)

I agree with statement 1, to a certain extent. But, as long as you aren't one the wear indicators, and have a somewhat decent amount of tread left, the "used" tires shouldn't be all that bad.

However, statement 2 is completely wrong, at least in all of my cases. I can tell a noticeable difference in ride quality when changing to quality tires. And, I do NOT wait for my tires to get to the tread indicators when making these comparisons.

The bigger problem is what Joseph said: MONEY!!! The manufacturers get a certain tire at an extremely good price, after some consideration in what the vehicle's owners require for everyday driving.

mikes rx

iTrader: (14)

I agree completely with Joseph.

I've had many sets of Bridgestones that were incredible. The RE050 may be a bad tire (I don't know by experience), but Bridgestone does make other AWESOME tires...unfortunately not in our tire size.

BTW, I don't remember having a problem with the factory dunlops pulling right

tqlla3k

iTrader: (1)

I only have limited experiences with Dunlops... but it wa enough to make me run away.

My SPSport 9000s on the 3000GT made the car very very unstable at highspeeds, the car would follow the road and turn into every dip in the road. Its wet traction was okay, but cold and show traction were non-existant.

On my 06 IS, the stock Dunlops were terrible. The steering felt very loose, and traction in light snow(less than 1 inch) was completely ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. I couldnt get up a friggin 5 degree incline, without the car sliding backwards.

The Bridgestone RE50As are much better all around. Tighter steering, more control, less traction loss... can drive in the snow... if necessary(even though they are summer tires)

I was considering the Turanzas as a replacment.
1) is it true they are all seasons?
2) Are they That bad compared to the RE50As

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

The Tire Rack site (as well as Lexus) lists the Turanza ER33 as a High Performance Summer tire, not an All Season tire. I quite like these tires on my IS250, but they (and the car) are brand new. Not sure how they will perform when they start getting old(er) and worn down.

FiveOhNine

Not sure where you are looking, but tirerack says 'grand touring summer' which is markedly different from 'high performance summer'. Fear not, they will start sucking very soon.

Edit: and so does the manufacturer

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Toyota did the same thing with the Supra. First model year, Michelin Pilot MXX3s specially designed for it. Second model year, still same Michelins. Third model year, Bridgestone in a cost cutting measure because the dollar/yen exchange was in major hurt (and a new Supra loaded was $54k!). Bridgestone from '95 on, and none of the magazines ever got a Supra to 0.98g on the skidpad again. Gee, I wonder why???

Now Lexus is going cheap on the ISx50 tires. Adding some extra margin back into the sale.

FiveOhNine

It's a little disappointing that this cost cutting is going on. I would have gladly paid another few thousand dollars for a car with no rattles and decent tires. Hopefully they will get back to what made them great.