FLYCT

Before i pull the plug, HAS ANYONE INSTALLED THE MICHELIN A/S PLUS RUN FLATS? If so can you post your experience with ride comfort and road noise?

I currently have Dunlop RFT and I hate feeling every pebble I drive over and the road noise. The Dunlop's have lots if meat left but the harsh ride sucks so they have to go.

The local Lexus tech told me the new breed of Michelin run flats ride just like standard tires. The service advisor suggested to go non-run flats.

So far Sears has the best deal on the 245/40ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus Run-Flats. $1,170 out the door with lifetime rotation and balance. Plus they have a $70 mail in rebate so the net is $1,100. The NON run flats at Sears are only $16 less for a set of 4.

JR

sebtown

I bought mine with newish plus runflats and have put about 12k miles on them. I would not say it is a totally smooth ride like I expect from Lexus but they aren't bad and are wearing evenly.

FLYCT

sebtown,

Thanks for the feedback.

I wish there would be a way to test drive tires. It would make these decisions so much easier.

JR

KBALL

There's about a dozen reviews of the tire on an sc430 on tirerack.com. Most are very positive but with few miles driven. One guy said he like it but tires wore badly at 25k.

You could take one for the team here and get them and then let us all know if it was worth it.

FLYCT

Your idea got me thinking. I live in south Florida and all season tires are not necessary. Reading the reviews and feedback about the SuperSports was interesting. Mostly IS F drivers had them installed and they all had excellent feedback. The only downside was tread wear was listed at 300 vs 500 for the A/S tires.

amazon.com sells them for $248 each with no tax, and as a prime member they offer free 2 day shipping. Of course I loose the $70 rebate card offered by most other local dealers but local dealers want more for the tires.

They are asymmetrical but not directional so they can be cross rotated unlike the directional A/S tires. The tread pattern does not seem as aggressive as the A/S all season tires but we never see snow here and that would tend to make them ride quieter.

JR

sixonemale

A very good point - they will ride quieter IMO and may even be better for MPG. The A/S Plus tires due to the directional pattern can be noisy at times on certain roads, but can also be very quiet tires on other roads. When I changed mine out from non directional RFT's I did notice a drop in MPG. I bought A/S Plus's as a very good all around tire that could tolerate rain very well, better than average tread life, great past experiences with Michelin tires, in addition to having very sturdy side walls vs. other tires that were considered at the time.

rgvolo

Just put the Michelin Pilot AS Plus Run Flats on my 07 SC430. I was nervous to go with the run flats after reading what some have written in general about them. Let me say that I am completly happy with my choice of the run flats. I feel like I went from a car with square tires to one with round tires! The original tires had 19K on them (Bridgestone Turanza run flats) and I hated them. The road hard and tracked in every crevis or seam in the road. My car even turns better at slow speed, like backing out of the driveway. I would reccomend going with the Michelin run flats so you don't have to mess with a spare or any of the other "fixes" I've seen suggested. I paid $1200 out the door including the alignment.

FLYCT

Hi rg,

THANKS...

Just the review I was looking for.

How is the road noise? Who installed the tires and were they in stock?

JR

rgvolo

Compared to the Bridgestones there is no road noise, I drive a lot with the top down, but with it up I don't even notice road noise. I bought them at Kauffman Tire in St. Petersburg, they have other locations. I paid $1221 out the door including an alignment. I am so glad I went with the run flats! My friend has a 08 corvette he just bought and didn't even know his tires are run flats. Turns out he has the same ones I just bought. They usually stock them but I've been buying my tires there for 20 years so I called ahead to make sure they had a set. They can usually get them in one day from their main warehouse.

sixonemale

I have to agree with your experience of no road noise with the top down. Although my A/S Pluses are not RFT's, I was probably a bit overly critical on road noise that occurred only on certain roads, which would have probably occurred with any tire on those particular roads. With the top down driving down to the coast, the car is quiet as a mouse with the exception of the sound system!

FLYCT

I decided to install Michelin Pilot Super Sports (non-run flats). $1028 out the door.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The jarring is gone. Road noise very very low. Tire noise eliminated. SMOOTH SMOOTH RIDE.

the deal included alignment. Alignment showed very slight toe out both front and rear. Since the tires wore very evenly and it tracks straight I elected to not do any adjustments.

I have a Mazda RX-8 mini spare for road trips. I ordered the F-Sport Onboard Tire Repair System from Sewell. It includes an integrated sealant cartridge and 12 volt compressor.
http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...2008/4343.html

JR.

FLYCT

UPDATE;

As i previously posted I put Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my 08 SC 430. These tires cost me $1,028 out the door with alignment. I am happy to report they are extremely smooth.

Since then I bought an additional SC 430 for my wife. It's an 07 with 15,000 miles on it. It came delivered with new Continental DWS tires. They tend to flat spot after sitting overnight. We get a steering wheel vibration for first 3-5 miles and then it settles out after the tires warm up and get round. Mind you, I live in south Florida and cold for us is 70 degrees. I even had tires rotated and rebalanced, which helped, but there is a noticeable difference in smoothness between the 2 cars. The one with the Michelin SuperSports wins hands down.

The down side is the Michelins wear rating is 1/2 of the DWS tires. We don't drive the cars much so I expect they will rot out before needing replacement.

Don't get me wrong. The DWS tires ride much better than run flats but just not as nice as the Michelins for smoothness. If I didn't have the other SC with the Michelins I would not be as critical.

To add; FYI, I have a Mazda RX-8 mini spare for the 08 and a Dealer provided Lexus Sc 430 spare tire kit for the 07. Both tires remain in the garage but I keep a Lexus 12 volt compressor in the trunk of each car. On road trips I throw a spare in the trunk. The Mazda spare is 1/2 the weight of the Lexus spare. Mazda is alloy and Lexus is steel rim.

JR

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

I have had the DWS tires now for about 3 years now and I live in Virginia where it is now 18 degrees. I have heard the issues of flat spotting from other sources also. I have never sensed a flat spot no matter how cold it has been. I'm not saying others are wrong, but it does seem odd that I have never noticed anything even remotely similar. I drive my SC every day so it is not a situation that I am missing the cold days or just driving on warm top down days.

FLYCT

Lolmaster,

If I only had the one SC 430 and had removed the run flats and installed the Conti DWS tires I would be ecstatic. They blow away the run flats for comfort and smoothness.

Being I have another SC with new Michelin Super Sports to do a side by side comparison I am just reporting that the Michelins ride smoother and BTW a little less tire noise. I have a very sensitive butt to vibration and the DWS tires shake a little for a few minutes after bring parked where the Michelins do not. Just my observation.

If I lived up north, where is snows occasionally, I would not even consider the Michelin Pilot Super Sports as they are summer tires. My choices would be either the Continental DWS or Michelin Pilot A/S for additional traction..

I put Continental DW's (not DWS) on my Toyota Avalon and I was disappointed with the tire noise but very happy with traction in heavy rain. Everything in life is a trade off.

JR

gstanton

Oops....just noticed this much debated thread. Gotta be the contrarian here. I've had the Michelin a/ s run flats on about a year & there isn't anything I dislike about them in all driving condition with the exception of snow which I try real hard to avoid driving in due the high level of inept foul weather drivers around here. i canned the original dunlops more from a time perspective than anything. May ultimately be false hope but the ability to continue on from perhaps the middle of nowhere is worth a lot, or is to me. Need tires, get a set of these I doubt you would be disappointed