Shelley

Okay, first of all, I'm a girl, so the tech stuff here is over my head. My question is kind of simple. I bought my 02 SC430 in May 2004 and it had 12K miles on it. Carmax had replaced the original runflats with Dunlop runflats and they were brand new. The car now has 32K on it and the tires are pretty bare. I didn't love the ride of the runflats, so I wanted to get some tires that provided a softer ride, plus I live in Maryland and need to be able to drive the car in light snow. So, I was thinking of buying an all seasons radial and not getting the runflats again. Can this be done? Also, if it can, is the Michelin Pilot the tire to buy (still expensive). Importantly, can I use my tire pressure monitoring system on non-runflat tires, or will that need to be disabled?? Thanks for your help, I feel stupid.

Gojirra99

I (& many here) have the Michelin Pilot Sports A/S & are quite happy with them, but even with A/S, they won't be too useful for driving the car on anything worse than very light snow. They are great with rainy weather in winter, but I personally would avoid driving the SC430 at all when it snow, but there are usually only a few days of snow here.

You don't have to disable the Tire Pressure Monitor System with regular non-runflat tires, they would work just as well.

petergerst

Gotta chime in here with my 2 cents:

I still have the runflats on my car, replaced them with new Bridgetone REO50's from tirerack about 2 months ago. I was having a terribly harsh ride on the original runflats and have to say the new REO50's have improved the ride significantly. I'm not sure if it's just that they're new (or possibly they are slightly improved from the original REO40's), but it really improved the roughness of the ride. I too considered switching to a more all-season tire but was advised that it would improve things very little in the snow. Gotta relay my truly horrific story when I took my SC out in the snow last blizzard in the NYC area last year. I nearly destroyed my car and could have been killed in the process. I'm a physician and got called into the hospital and didn't realize what I was doing. The SC has no traction at all when the road is covered with even a fine sheet of white. I literally kept having to recruit bystanders in Manhattan to push my car even to get a little grip, only to get stuck again 20-30 feet ahead. Finally, I had to bail on my car in a local garage and rent a car to work. I personally am an emergency physician and really appreciate the luxury of the runflats in not having to worry about getting stuck on the road with a flat tire. I did get a flat with the original runflats and was able to cruise to work and back without interrupting my busy schedule. That's my 2 cents. The runflats do offer a reliable ride without having to use up the trunk for a spare (personally I couldn't spare the space because I have to carry bumper pads for the NYC garages). Good luck.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

so the a/s is very bad on snow? of course i have no idea, they are all sesaon tires already and i thought they would be reasonable on snow

margaux01

Shelley, don't feel stupid. Your question benefits me as well as I am a guy and car is not my specialty Most of the guys here are real nice people and give very good info and advice on a lot of SC topics.

DetMich1

Shelley,
Give the folks at Tire Rack a call and ask them for their adivce. In addition to good prices they offer worthwhile information in the tire selection process.

bigmalik00

is that the normal life for these tires? (32K) Could there be another problem?

doc s

Shelley,
I have an '02 Sc430 and switched from the run flats to Michelin Pilot Sports. The difference in the ride will impress you. Tire Rack is a great outfit to do business with. Also, if you're in the DC Metro area and just across the Potomac, Craven Tire in Northern Virginia will meet and beat anyone's prices and do the install as well. They're good people and have a number of locations.

Gojirra99

They are different from real winter tires Plus the SC430 is RWD, & I have driven the car only in light snow only once, & it's already marginal going up the hill where my house is. I had no problems at all with all season tires in light snow with my former FWD Acura.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

ah ic, good info. obviously i have zero clue on snow driving

runflats wear fast. around 20k for the tires i am not surprised. that's why i see almost no gain in using them

TAMR_GUS98

Your right about that Henry. I've seen some wear out in 10-15k miles. Also when you buy the car new, there is a sticker in the window that warns you of the wear characteristic of these tires.

Shelly, you should not have any problems using the tire pressure monitoring system on a non runflat tire. But keep in mind that you are negating the purpose of using runflats.
i.e:Not needing a spare tire, being able to drive the car with no air in the tire, etc.
Also, if you get a flat with a non runflat tire, you could damage the sensor.
Good luck with your next set of tires,
-Will

Arraco

Not sure if this input helps but I "resoled" my '02 with the Fusion ZRi about 10 months ago...I love 'em (especially at $125 per tire)...quiet and great grip..a significant difference. I've found that no tire works well in the snow on this car unless they are true snow tires ...just use the trac control and use an extremely light foot accelerating and braking. I tried "all season" and found no difference ..lower the airpressure to 30 (your TPS lamp may come on, but it's not an issue) and you will increase traction a bit more. Not sure if you use Pohanka, Lindsey, Silver Springs or Annapolis (I am MD as well) but the install is a bit tricky in that it is rather easy to break the TPS sensor when you remove the old tire. If you use a non Lexus/Toyota shop they'll need to know that they must re initialize the system which means airing the tires up to 45 PSI and then backing off to 35. Regarding runflats and carrying a jack....I feel the quality of tires is such today (and I have AAA) that flats are not so much an issue today (watch me pop a tire in the next few days..) as it was years ago. The reality is, how many flats has anyone had in the last 10 years?

MBoom

Peter--If you're an ER physician, odds are that you're a pretty smart guy . . . but it appears that you skipped the course on tire technology when you went to medical school.

It's really a bad idea to attempt to drive on snow with summer performance tires. There are several problems, but they boil down to two things: the tread pattern on summer tires is not designed to "bite" into snow and, more importantly, the tire compound loses nearly all its traction at freezing temperatures and below. Winter tires and, to a lesser degree, all-season tires have tread designs and compounds that grip snow and ice, but a summer tire is going to give you almost no traction on those surfaces.

As an example, I owned a VW R32 prior to buying my SC430. The R32 is an AWD car that was configured from the factory with summer performance tires. Many owners have reported accidents in even light snow with the summer tires. But, with all-season or, better yet, winter tires, the R32 was easily as maneuverable as any big-*** SUV in snowy conditions.

I've only driven my SC430 once in snow, but I'd opine that it handles those conditions as well as any RWD car I've driven with all-season tires. Seriously, nobody should drive any vehicle in winter conditions with summer tires. It's, well, an invitation for a visit to the ER.

Max707

I have Non runflats on my SC430 PZero Nero's they are mud/snow rated and cost around $160 each on tirerack. Contact your local Lexus dealership and have them shipped to the dealer for install. I also have one of the little spare tires in my trunk, got it from Lexus parts and it fits just fine. I've had a flat and used the spare worked fine. The PZero Nero's are OK for when you are out and it starts snowing and you are within 50 miles from home, but in my area we might get 2-3 snow events a year where the streets are bad for a couple of days. When that happens I pick up the phone and call enterprise rental, they pick me up and bring me home when I turn in my rental and it costs $100-200 per occasion. Hope that gives you some ideas on how to get through the winter. Plus my sensors work great before and after the flat tire.

Cruizing

Be aware there is a big difference in the Pilot Sports between PS1, PS2, and A/S. I have PS1s 275/35-18's runflats on the rear and I am amazed how slippery they are once the temp gets below 10 degrees C. I was on the skid pad and with these tires I had a difficult time keeping the rear end from stepping out when the VSC was off. The PS1's are great summer tires but even when just cold and wet are difficult. Snow would be disaster.