cerbum

Finish up those few hundred miles yet?

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

believe it or not, the tires are still back ordered...
I already paid for them back in May, so I am pretty sure I am on top of the queue at America's Tire..

Anyhow, I even called Michelin to ask them what's going on about 2 months ago, but they suggested that it'll take about 6 weeks to get the tires. The tires are still back ordered on Tire rack / Discount Tire..

I've never waited so long to get a set of tires.. If they don't show up soon, I might go with some Cooper brand tires. We have them on 2 other vehicles at home, and they've blown us away on performance and value.

I'll give the tire shop a call on Monday to see status...

tbilisi79

I have Michelin Pilot HX MXM 4. They go for about 240 or so.
They came with the car when I got it and I love them.
Very smooth, quiet, don't squeal. Wet traction is awesome . Dry is even better.

Will get a new set for the front soon

dal20402

Unless the car is extensively modified (like Shibumi1's) I don't think an extreme performance tire is the most appropriate fit for the car. If you are looking for the last hundredth or two of grip, why did you buy a big, softly suspended luxury sedan? I think on an appropriately driven stock LS an extreme performance tire will just degrade ride and create noise for no real benefit.

The car is capable enough (and fast enough) to warrant something better than a touring tire, though. I think the high-performance all-season category is the right compromise.

My car had Pilot Sport A/S 3s on it when I bought it. They had about 1/2 tread remaining across most of the tire but were suffering wear on the extreme inner edges because of improper alignment. They were firm-ish, but gripped very nicely in the dry (there was never rain while I had them on). I replaced them with ContiExtremeContact DWS06. The Contis are a bit softer, but not excessively so, and provide good grip and progressive breakaway both in the dry and the wet. Either one is a good choice IMO.

7milesout

I don't think there's a thing in the world wrong with running A/S 3's on the LS. I don't think it will degrade the ride at all. I say this with only experiencing the ride of my car on the air suspension. I run it in comfort mode. But wouldn't hesitate to run A/S 3's.

But the next set of tires on my car will be Continental ExtremeContact DWS. Although the last time I talked to TireRack, they said there was a new version of this tire coming out ... maybe the new version is the DWS06 that dal20402 mentioned.


- 7milesout

Luxofreak

Speaking of tires, which one would be the most quiet? My area has lots of concrete grainy freeways. On stock wheels, my car has 245 toyo tires and I don't like them much, now that they're older, they're very noisy for LS standards. I like quiet. Which one?

7milesout

The Conti had very good ratings for road noise as I recall.

retlex

I've been searching the answer to this question too. Many different perspectives on this due different driving styles or needs. I have a stock 460L with air and too would like to maximize the smooth, quiet comfortable ride. My next set of tires will be the Pirelli Cinturato p7 all season plus. I have the Bridgestone Serenity on my Camry and GS430 and they are ok. The Cinturato seems to have better reviews, so when the time comes i'll give them a try. Good luck

dal20402

The DWS06 is indeed the replacement for the DWS. I found a couple of reviews comparing the two, most of which said the DWS06 had slightly better dry grip, the DWS's main weakness, without any real compromise. I'm very pleased with them so far, although (as is expected) they aren't quite as grippy as a pure performance tire. They're very quiet and have a "just right" firmness level for my taste.

Without actually having tried them on the LS, I suspect the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 is going to be close to the quietest, if not the quietest. You'll give up a bit of grip and responsiveness in exchange for the quiet, compared to performance tires. Also worth looking at might be the Conti PureContact, Pirelli Cinturato P7, and Bridgestone Turanza Serenity.

Luxofreak

Seems like the Pirelli Cinturato P7 PLUS is the highest rated not just for noise levels. I'll probably try this tire in the next few months.

lexgolf

I replaced the crappy factory Bridgestones with Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3 bought from Costco, and could not be happier. These are quiet tires with great performance on dry and wet pavement. I no longer live in the snowbelt, so can't vouch for performance in snow.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

Finally received/installed the AS/3's after a 5-month wait.. I actually ordered the V-rated version but received the Y-rated version instead. I had the Pirelli P Zero Nero A/S before this set. Stock 18's 235/50/18, 35 PSI

First impressions: Definitely firmer. Definitely not buttery smooth. Overall I like it. I felt that our LS drove like a boat since new. It was very nice on a smooth, straight freeways, but when the car hit a dip or the steering wheel turned more than 2-degrees, the old Buick-like qualities came into play.

With the AS/3, the car felt less floaty. Normal take offs from red light felt much better, the car propelled forward instead of "dipping" then moving. I can tell the tires will not be tombstone quiet, I can hear the road a bit more now. I can also feel small imperfections on the road more. I might try dropping the PSI to 34.

The side to side lean/sway is MUCH less. It's perfect. I don't autocross or drive this car hard, but I can tell the difference on left/right turns when I get the green arrow. The car feels more like a 7-series now than a LS, which is what I wanted. With less flex and additional grip on the tires, cornering is more crisp. I probably need to put on a bit more mileage on these before a more comprehensive review, but first impressions are good. Definitely felt more confident driving this large car.

I am not sure if they are discontinuing the V-rated versions, but I heard those are just a bit softer on the sidewalls. Those might be a better option for the LS...

7milesout

joedaddy - Thanks for the update. I can visualize everything you say.

My take is this: The A/S 3's are an excellent choice. However, I tend to believe you would have had much the same feedback with the Continental Cinturatos, except maybe you would have noted them to be quiet.

I have to believe the handling you've noticed would be mostly the same with the Conti's. The A/S 3's would show a better handling performance if you were to autocross the vehicle. But that's not exactly appropriate with an LS!

I believe I'm going with the Conti's due to less noise, and I suspect longer life. But for me, the A/S 3's are are REALLY CLOSE 2nd place. I think the A/S 3's are awesome, and if I still had my 93 RX-7, that's what would have gone on that car.


7milesout

dal20402

My car had AS/3s when I got it. They felt great, but they had excess inner edge wear because of my shot control arms. So I replaced them with a set of Conti DWS06, which are the same idea (high-perf all-season). Other cars I test drove had either touring tires (Primacy MXM4) or cheap no-name tires. I concur with all of these impressions; the car is much more confidence-inspiring on the higher-performance tires, but rides a bit rougher. I also second the importance of not overinflating them. The shop that installed them inflated them to 40 psi cold for some reason and they felt like rocks. 35 is much better.

roadfrog

I don't understand why anyone goes against the recommended pressures listed on the door sticker. 34 psi is the standard and allows for the best combination of comfort, wear and fuel economy.