OK, Thanks...that might explain it..........except that stock all-seasons don't usually wear out in 20K miles or less, unless one drives like an idiot. Usually only summer high-performance rubber wears that quickly, because of the high amount of friction needed for road-grip.

Its really luck of the draw, and it may also be regionally based. For instance when I got my LS460L, all of the AWD cars up here had Michelins, but my RWD car which was shipped up here from Alabama had the crappy Bridgestones.

I guarantee they're touring tires. My LS has 45 series tires on 19s and they were Touring tires from the factory.

Lexus puts that placard on any cat with 45 series or below tires. My 2015 LS didnt have it (50 series 18s) but my 2017 did (45 series 19s). My GS did as well. My guess is if you see a new ES with the 18s it won't have that sticker.

OK, I think that explains it. I'll go back and add a note to the review, at the bottom, updating it. Thanks to all who participated in this discussion.

And certainly I meant "car" not "cat" lol

A couple of minor design details I like about the new ES:

Slim headlights look sleek and sporty.
Slim taillights with horizontal lines are classy and also sleek. I couldn't think of a more agreeable design.
The sideview mirrors are straight off a Ferrari. Very sporty and advanced for a luxury sedan. The IS and GS needs these.
Large, sporty tailpipe tips are a nice addition. Can have an elegant and modern body, but throw in some subliminal sporty details like these and you are good to go.

Very impressed with the new ES. It checks a lot of boxes and offends very little. It seems to have bumped itself up into some "mild sport." Curious to see what direction the IS goes based on the ES's new position.

Whats the fun in that? LOL

Yes, I'm well aware that new vehicles typically come off the transporter-truck with 40 PSI or more (I've seen it as high as 50 PSI on some occasions, despite maximum-PSI warnings warnings printed on the side of the tire). That's done either at the factory or by the transport companies (I'm to sure which), to prevent soft tires, especially with low profiles, from bottoming out on the wheel-rims when the stiffly-sprung trucks and trains rock over bumps and impacts, and rims from being damaged. The PDI (Pre-Delivery-Inspection) people at the dealership are supposed to bleed the tires back down the recommended PSI-range, which, for most everyday vehicles, is in the 32-36 PSI range (cold)....the correct figure is usually on a drivers' door-jamb or glove-compartment sticker. Sometimes they do.....often, they don't (Hey, what do you expect from people for minimum wage?)

With conventional tires, I can (sometimes) tell if the PSI is too high simply by pressing on the side of the tire and sense-feeing how stiff it is...that doesn't always work with run-flats, which have a different type of sidewall. All new vehicles, by law, have to have PSI-monitors, but some manufacturers use El-Cheapo monitors that simply use a sensor to compare three or more of the wheel-rotation speeds and trigger a warning light if one or more of them is too high too low....low tires will generally roll at different speeds than with the correct PSI. That, of course, doesn't work when all four tires are down (or up) by the same amount. So, more and more automakers, these days, do it the right way, by installing individual PSI sensors on each wheel, which transmit a numerical PSI reading for each tire on the dash. It sometimes takes a mile or so, on the road, for the readouts to stabilize after a cold start, depending on a number of factors. And, to specifically answer your question, yes, I carry both a good pencil-type gauge and a dial-type gauge, in my brief-bag, to use if (or when) I feel I need to check the PSI manually myself....and I use them if there is any doubt.

It's amazing how many salespeople and managers at dealerships are unaware of this simple fact....and these are people who sell new vehicles every day for a living. Some of them simply don't believe that vehicles can routinely come off the truck 10 PSI or more over specs....until I prove it to them wth the gauge or PSI readout. One time, a General Manager came out see for himself, and, when I showed him my gauge, he turned red-faced and offered me a job there at the dealership, right on the spot. No, Thanks.....I'm retired, and am going to stay that way LOL.