Best tires for 3IS
03-28-15, 05:15 PM
#17
Lexus Champion
just wanted to share my experience with my new tires on my IS350 F sports. I bought the continental extreme contact DWS to replace the factory installed Turanza EL400-02. Took advantage of the recent discount tire direct $100 off every $400 deal on ebay. The rears worked out to be $338 after the $100 discount and the fronts $308 after the $100 discount and buying 28 steel valve stems as fillers. The fronts before the discount was $324. I managed to trade the valve stems in to my tire shop for $30 off my installation of my tires. They charged me $20/tire for a road force balance and installation. So total amount spent was $696 including installation. I was happy with my deal.
Here is my mini review.
I would like to start off by saying that i am not a very aggressive driver and my top few priorities when looking for a tires are road noise, comfort and handling in that order.
Firstly, the biggest thing i realized is how much lower the road noise is compared to the OEMs. These tires really make the car feel like a Lexus in the cabin. In the past, my back seat passengers could not hear me talking and i had to talk really loudly before they could barely hear me. The asphalt surfaces are still a little loud, but compared to the OEMs, they are a world of difference. Only tires that were quieter than the DWS were non ultra high performance tires. On my 2IS, i had Primacy MXM4s and they were comparable. A little quieter on smooth surfaces i would say.
Comfort is pretty good. Going over small and large bumps seemed somewhat comparable, if not slightly better maybe because the softer side walls helping to cushion?
Handling honestly is good enough for me. As i mentioned, i am not a very aggressive driver, but once in a while, i enjoy cornering hard and stepping on the gas. A little slower to respond to fast adjustments, but i am definitely willing to sacrifice it a little for better road noise.
Wet performance is better than OEMs. I felt that i was in control in heavy rain and braking was better.
Have not had the opportunity to test the snow performance, but reviews online are excellent.
Just to give a little background, i had this tire mounted at a tire shop with a Hunter 9700 road force balance. The first time it did not need any more than 1 oz of weights and road force numbers for the front were low single digits and 10-12lbs on the rears. I drove it around for a day but felt a little of a high speed shimmer.
Took it back to the shop the next day and had them re-balance it and road force it. Till this day, i really cannot understand the accuracy whole road force and balance thing. Especially with the road force, running it again always gives different numbers. And the balance was off by 0.25-0.75 oz. I am on pretty good terms with the guys at the tire shop so i asked that the machine be calibrated on the spot so we get a very good balance. Given the volume they have at the shop, i wanted that piece of mind. So they recalibrated the machine and rebalanced and road forced it. Rebalancing it required 0.5-1 oz of weights in the front and 1-1.75 oz of weights on the rears.
A couple of tires especially the rears showed really high road force numbers in the 20s and we did a rim run out and tire test to match the tires and the rims. The road force said that the best we could do was about 18lbs after the match, but we seem to have got it down to about 10 and 13lbs. So we put the 13lbs one on the passenger rear. Made sure everything was balanced well too. High speed shimmer is gone.
This tire seems to have a bad rep with vibrations, needing a lot of weights to balance and it being out of round. There are a lot out saying out there about bad batches. Personally, when i owned my 2IS, in 2009, i tried the DWS and was a victim to a defective set. I gave up and got the primacy MXMs. However, reading the reviews again, i decided that since i have a 350 now that i really did not want a touring tire and decided to try the DWS again and good thing it has worked out for now. It has been a week and i am satisfied so far.
Overall, i give this 9.3/10. 0.5 off for handling and 0.2 off for possibly better ride comfort, but that is me being harsh on it. I am extremely happy with this tire given my strong preference for low road noise. Hope my mini review is a good reference to others.
Here is my mini review.
I would like to start off by saying that i am not a very aggressive driver and my top few priorities when looking for a tires are road noise, comfort and handling in that order.
Firstly, the biggest thing i realized is how much lower the road noise is compared to the OEMs. These tires really make the car feel like a Lexus in the cabin. In the past, my back seat passengers could not hear me talking and i had to talk really loudly before they could barely hear me. The asphalt surfaces are still a little loud, but compared to the OEMs, they are a world of difference. Only tires that were quieter than the DWS were non ultra high performance tires. On my 2IS, i had Primacy MXM4s and they were comparable. A little quieter on smooth surfaces i would say.
Comfort is pretty good. Going over small and large bumps seemed somewhat comparable, if not slightly better maybe because the softer side walls helping to cushion?
Handling honestly is good enough for me. As i mentioned, i am not a very aggressive driver, but once in a while, i enjoy cornering hard and stepping on the gas. A little slower to respond to fast adjustments, but i am definitely willing to sacrifice it a little for better road noise.
Wet performance is better than OEMs. I felt that i was in control in heavy rain and braking was better.
Have not had the opportunity to test the snow performance, but reviews online are excellent.
Just to give a little background, i had this tire mounted at a tire shop with a Hunter 9700 road force balance. The first time it did not need any more than 1 oz of weights and road force numbers for the front were low single digits and 10-12lbs on the rears. I drove it around for a day but felt a little of a high speed shimmer.
Took it back to the shop the next day and had them re-balance it and road force it. Till this day, i really cannot understand the accuracy whole road force and balance thing. Especially with the road force, running it again always gives different numbers. And the balance was off by 0.25-0.75 oz. I am on pretty good terms with the guys at the tire shop so i asked that the machine be calibrated on the spot so we get a very good balance. Given the volume they have at the shop, i wanted that piece of mind. So they recalibrated the machine and rebalanced and road forced it. Rebalancing it required 0.5-1 oz of weights in the front and 1-1.75 oz of weights on the rears.
A couple of tires especially the rears showed really high road force numbers in the 20s and we did a rim run out and tire test to match the tires and the rims. The road force said that the best we could do was about 18lbs after the match, but we seem to have got it down to about 10 and 13lbs. So we put the 13lbs one on the passenger rear. Made sure everything was balanced well too. High speed shimmer is gone.
This tire seems to have a bad rep with vibrations, needing a lot of weights to balance and it being out of round. There are a lot out saying out there about bad batches. Personally, when i owned my 2IS, in 2009, i tried the DWS and was a victim to a defective set. I gave up and got the primacy MXMs. However, reading the reviews again, i decided that since i have a 350 now that i really did not want a touring tire and decided to try the DWS again and good thing it has worked out for now. It has been a week and i am satisfied so far.
Overall, i give this 9.3/10. 0.5 off for handling and 0.2 off for possibly better ride comfort, but that is me being harsh on it. I am extremely happy with this tire given my strong preference for low road noise. Hope my mini review is a good reference to others.
03-29-15, 07:52 AM
#19
Lead Lap
Patrick047....Which Toyo Proxes are you refering?
03-29-15, 08:06 AM
#20
There is virtually no road noises with oem tires on my is350 f sport. Its even quieter than my Mercedes SUV with bigger tires.
I do go through mountain roads at least twice a month and stock tires held up great. No tire squeaks or fades what so ever on a hour drive mountain roads doing well above speed limit. And the suspension is very neutral. No under or over steering.
I personally believe that these oem tires perfect for factory tuned is350. Anything more would be an over kill. Only advantage I see with stickier tire is at long sweeping turns in high speeds or with a stiffer suspension setup. But for AutoX's, the stocks will do fine.
I do go through mountain roads at least twice a month and stock tires held up great. No tire squeaks or fades what so ever on a hour drive mountain roads doing well above speed limit. And the suspension is very neutral. No under or over steering.
I personally believe that these oem tires perfect for factory tuned is350. Anything more would be an over kill. Only advantage I see with stickier tire is at long sweeping turns in high speeds or with a stiffer suspension setup. But for AutoX's, the stocks will do fine.
03-30-15, 11:40 AM
#24
I'm coming from a BMW 335i where the stock tires wire Run Flats (hated those like no other).
As soon as those tires wore out, I switched to Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Amazing tires that run a lot quieter than the RFTs and they do have very good rain performance. My car stays in the central valley to the Bay Area in Cali so it never sees any snow. If I was going All Seasons, I would look into the Michelin AS3.
I plan on switching the tires on my new IS 350 (hoping I sign tomorrow) to the PSS when the OEM tires wear out here too.
As soon as those tires wore out, I switched to Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Amazing tires that run a lot quieter than the RFTs and they do have very good rain performance. My car stays in the central valley to the Bay Area in Cali so it never sees any snow. If I was going All Seasons, I would look into the Michelin AS3.
I plan on switching the tires on my new IS 350 (hoping I sign tomorrow) to the PSS when the OEM tires wear out here too.
04-01-15, 10:44 PM
#25
im quite surprised that there is not an in depth discussion on AWD tires here. Looking at tire rack, i can only find one review for the 14/15 (3IS) using the Michelin PS A/S 3. Nothing for other tires.
Perhaps we have start with a list of preferred tires and have users provide some personal reviews?
Looking at the contenders, The Michelin PS A/S 3 and the Continental Extreme Contact DWS seem to be contenders? Are there anyone that can post suggestions or reviews?
Perhaps we have start with a list of preferred tires and have users provide some personal reviews?
Looking at the contenders, The Michelin PS A/S 3 and the Continental Extreme Contact DWS seem to be contenders? Are there anyone that can post suggestions or reviews?
I have a 2010 IS250 AWD and drive almost 30k miles/year for work.
I have had nothing but the Michelin PilotSport A/S+ tires and I am on my third set at 130k miles. The current ones on my car are the A/S 3.
I have driven in the icy mountains of Oregon, blinding snowstorms in Nebraska, and a blizzard in Northern Arizona at 7,000 feet above sea level.
Get them.
They are very quiet, grip very well in all conditions, and come with a 40,000 tread life warranty!
Tires are very important to me as I drive twice the amount of miles normal people drive--I am very aware of items that will be replaced regularly on my daily drivers.
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