Stu

If this is your choice based on your research, go for it. I hope it works out great.

Many other tire makers make good tires, and some will work "better" than others depending on the car, the driver, and where and how you drive. Ride comfort, ( smoothness and road noise ) , traction, tread life and winter performance will differ depending on which tire you choose.

Even though I have the Michelins and am happy, it is not the only tire out there that will work on the car.

jpv7774

Hey JFF706......Im a lighthearted guy. I do enjoy the banter back and forth and some funny jabs...but I dont want to offend anyone. My boating forum gets like that and people get all bunched up about it. So that being said.......I get my Pirelli's installed this Tuesday......I am no tire expert at all.......decision based on hours of reading reviews and 2 conversations w Tire Rack " sales people " who have personally driven test vehicle with these tires on them.......my decision is kind of a shot in the dark.......I would have jumped on the MXV4s if it wasnt for the negative reviews as I have now stated 3 times.....

The negative statements were

tires slip easily when accelerating on wet pavement
very noisy on cut pavement
they wear quickly
highest priced
and many complained of tire being noisier then expected in normal driving conditions

Fingers crossed the Pirellis are quiet and smooth.......if they arent I will be the first one to tell you and I will switch to the Mich team....if u will have me

Galco

Like you, i have done a lot of reading about the P7 and they are my first choice come replacement time, which is soon. Running MXV4s now. Great tire. While Michelin is a great brand, they carry a high price tag that go with that reputation (earned or unearned). Therefore, i am very interested in your observations once the P7s are installed. I would like to add that i agree with you on the P7s, one of the highest rated tires by consumers with miles to back up their ratings. Also, reviewed well by pros and including 'sales people'....

Please keep us posted.

LSGarry

I'm also glad to hear that there is an alternative to the MXV4's and will look forward to hearing your reviews.
In the meantime, my '02 has 63K on the MXV4's and the tread depth covers the top part of Lincoln's head on a Lincoln penny and my '05 has 42K on the MXV4's and covers a bit more of the head. Have not experienced any tire spin during acceleration (live in Seattle area), have been very quiet IMHO and they are obviously wearing very well. I do have them rotated, balanced and pressure checked regularly by Costco.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

My favorites are the Michelins of course. The car is governed at 135 mph... More are:

Continental DWS
Hankook H727
Pirellis.

jpv7774

wow LSGary 63K on MXV4s and still rollin......man thats impressive. You report excellent wear......quiet ride....and no slip upon acceleration. Honestly if I was sitting in your position I wouldnt even have to do any shopping or review reading. That is simply hard to beat. Others on this forum have had similar success which seems to make the MXV4 or the Premier A/S a no brainer. Im not going with the Pirelli's because they are less expensive.......really just to eliminate road noise......

as for the speed rating and driving over 130mph.....I dont have a copy of my invoice and again I am no tire expert.......and I dont feel like reading more info on tires......I will just say I believe the P7 comes in a couple diff ratings.....I can only assume one of the ratings would be under 130mph but from what a few of u guys have said....maybe not. I will report back in my review which rating I purchased...thats right....I have no idea

warminwisc

245/45/18 V
225/55/17 H or V

jayclapp

I got 49,000 miles on my MXV4 on my UL. I think that's the most mileage I have ever gotten on any car I have ever owned. And the new MXV4 have an even higher treadwear number.

jpv7774

Ok folks......The tires were finally installed today. Im just going to be completely honest....take it for what it is. I should mention that I am kind of a perfectionist....so my thoughts might not match up with a laid back nothing bothers you type of person........

First impressions when I pulled up and saw the car in the parking space.......Phew!!!! Glad those weird side walls look good. I was worried about them....turned out to be a non issue. Michelin side walls are plain and classy no gimmicks....Pirelli's have that Italian flair.........I would say the Pirelli's give the car a slightly sportier look.

First drive..........ehhhhhhhhhhh not blown away or overwhelmed by any means. I am coming from brand new Kuhmo Ecsta tires so the car was already riding smooth and 7 out of 10 quiet. I only drove about 15 miles but covered every type of pavement. I noticed very very very minor improvement over the Kuhmos if any. Im still at about a 7 out of 10 for road noise.

NOTE!!!!!!! To be fair to Pirelli.....its a cold, windy, rainy day here in Northern Va....these tires are fresh off of the rack.......AND the shop OVER INFLATED the tires!!! I called the shop and asked why my tires were at 35psi vs the door sticker number of 32? They said to compensate for the cold weather.

So I think for this to be a helpful review for you guys I have to put minimum 500 miles on the tires for break in......and also try them at 32psi.

I would also love to ride in someones LS430 with MXV4s on it.....then back in my car to compare apples and apples.....I live in Chantilly VA if someone lives near by and wants to compare.

I will check in again soon after another couple of outings in the car.....Feel free to ask questions.

XJSFan

I'm sure they will be nice tires but I would drop the pressure down to 33-34 PSI. I am not a fan of 32PSI because I feel like they seem underinflated at that pressure(the LS feels like a boat). I really can tell a difference of 1-2 psi driving the LS 430. Start with 33PSI and see how that feels.

Galco

I too am considering the P7s for the next set of tires on my wife's 2004 LS 430. Ironically, i had a loaner from my Audi dealer while my A8 was in the shop. The loaner was 2014 All Road with, you guessed it, a set of P7s with about 7K miles on them.

My impression where positive, yet not perfect. The ride is very smooth and quiet. Handling was great and felt very secure, no flimsy feel in the sidewalls in the corners. The only thing that i was disappointed with was the impact noise they make when hitting uneven pavement or expansion joints on the local freeways. Its not harsh or very loud, just not as quiet as the current set of Hankooks Noble S1s on my Audi A8 or the Michelin MXV4s on the LS 430.

How would you describe the impact "noise" if any on your LS430?

It may be a tough choice between the P7s and the Michelin Premier A/S once $$$ are taken into considerations..

jpv7774

Well.....the Premier AS is supposed to be the cats meow. My guess without giving it much thought is to tell u to go with the Premier. Given so many LS owners loving the MXV4s I would think the Premiers would be even a notch better. Given the 2 cars that you own suggests you can afford the more expensive tire as well.....My thoughts on spending an extra $200 on a set of tires that are going to last 5 years is just do it. For me , my goal was to get a super quiet tire....I didnt give the cost much thought but was happy to learn the Pirellis were less expensive then the MXV4s. In addition I had Kumho tires on my car.....they were brand new and performing well.....but I wanted the best..... so I made the switch.
Now to finally answer your question......I have only driven approx 15 miles on my new Pirellis. As stated above I didnt notice much improvement over my Kumhos. My feeling was that I could hear whatever type of road I was driving on...and I didnt want to hear anything. When I say I could hear the road noise it was faint.....not loud at all....but I was really hoping it would be the kind of quiet you get when driving on a freshly paved perfect road. Now when I was on smooth pavement it was dead quiet. I did not notice the impact sounds that you mentioned...I had read that in reviews of the P7 and I was listening for the impact sounds.....it was not bad at all. I wonder if the P7s on the Audi u drove were a different size then we have on the Lexus....that could make a big difference. I plan to lower the psi on my Pirellis to 32psi and put about 100 miles on my car tomorrow. I will report back after my cruise. Im not sure if there is a break in period to a tire.......so keep in mind when your reading my reviews that I rarely get to drive my car....so racking up a couple thousand miles will take me a long time.

Bocatrip

I would not be keeping my 17 inch V rated tires at 32lbs. I've had my Primacy MXV4s at 35 since I purchased them and they are wearing evenly across every tire. 32 makes the car steer like an aircraft carrier. With regards to the Premier A/S, the jury is still out as the reviews are based on a total of 300,000+ miles while the Primacys are based on 22million+ miles. . If the Primacys are still at number 4 in the Grand Touring category after all these years....what does that say? Yes, I believe the Pirellis are very good tires as well. My brother has them on his Sonata and says they are very quiet.

jpv7774

Hey Boca.....My P7s are H rated.....the installer was kind of correct by setting the psi at 35 during install knowing that I dont drive the car often......my concrete garage floor sucked a pound or two from the tire and I ran em today at 33psi.

UPDATE.....UPDATE......UPDATE.........

Drove the car today with new P7s at 33psi a nice 70 degree day.......from Chantilly VA to Harpers Ferry WV....about a 130 mile round trip. All speeds and road types were encountered. Two things I wanted to mention............
1. Huge improvement on rolling resistance over my Kumhos....the tire doesnt hold u back....it wants to coast and feels like there is no tire drag. I found it easy to get up to speed....and it holds speed effortlessly.

2. I gave the P7 some handling tests today on ramps and tight turns.......she holds and corners better with the P7s over my Kumhos. This surprised me because when u look at the P7s....they appear to have a rounded edge vs a hard edge.......

again I listened for hard impact sounds and I would say this is a non issue with the LS430 on 17" rims

Again I was really listening hard for road noise........sure the car is quiet.......rides like a dream.....but I do hear some light road noise when driving.....I just dont know how it compares to the MXV4........

XJSFan

I really think 33 or 34 is the sweet spot for those tires... But it comes down to personal preference.