jloftus

My Fellow Lexonians,

I have 21k miles on a 2016 ES 350. Lexus dealer says I need new tires. What would be best if all you care about is a smooth ride in a pothole-heavy area?

I have Michelen Primacy tires on it now, and they're OK, but I wonder if there are better. I think they're 17 or 18 inches, I'm not sure.....

John L.

Poppa

Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus... put these on my car about a year and a half ago and have been very happy with them... if you look into these, make sure you look at the tire with the Plus designation, as Pirelli makes another Cinturato P7 tire ( without the plus ). I was a little skeptical when I bought these as I have never owned a set of Pirelli's in my life ( and I'm 63 ) but so far I'm very pleased with these. btw, sorry about the font size... don't know why it's so large and can't figure out how to reduce it.

Freds430

Tire Rack has a new # 1 for the ES. It is the Vredestein Quatrac 5. Michelin Premier A/S is #2 and the Pirelli P7 Plus all season is #3. Don't think you could go wrong with any of these.

jloftus

Hi Poppa and Freds. I don't mind the large font. Are there different sizes? Cause everyone says like 17 inch is better than 18 or 19.

A lot of people have mentioned those Pirelli

I wish I could try them out before committing, but it's probably not possible.

Do you guys get your tires put on by your Lexus dealer, or just some tire company. I was thinking about Jack Williams Tire, here in NE Penn.

I guess the 'Tire Rack' is based on an overall rating? I literally only care about a smooth ride. I'm in an area with a huge pothole, rough road issue.

John L

jloftus

hmmmm, Vredestein Quatrac 5 has some pretty explicit comments about how smooth the ride is, however, it seems the Pirellis are more well-known. So

now I'm not sure which ones to go wirth. The Vredestiens are also more affordable......

ALL4SPL

Pirellis are a well known brand, the other one while it is #1 currently only has 28 reviews, while the Pirellis has over 850 reviews. I would say the Pirellis have proven themselves as the better tire. As for price difference, i'd rather spend more on a tire that is proven vs saving a little for a tire that hasn't been out that long.

jloftus

Good point !

BradTank

Are you sure you really need new tires just because the dealer said so?

A quality set of tires should last way longer than 21k miles.

If you only got that out of them, you might want to see if Michelin has some sort of warranty and can prorate them for you. The Primacy's have a 55k mile warranty, but not sure if that applies to ones that came new on a car.

jloftus

I didn't know that ! Yeh it seems a bit soon. I think he said it was like 4/32 or 3/32, something like that.

The lease is up in a year, and maybe they just want me to turn it back in w nice new tires on it. :-)

It does seem a bit funny, I'll check w Michelin, and also maybe just pull it into a tire place and see what they say.....

John L

Maikerusan

Seems like nonsense from the dealer. Those tires should run much, much longer than 21000 miles

lesz

For a couple of dollars, you can buy a tire tread gauge at any auto parts store. Get one and measure the tread depth for yourself.

Tires are illegal for use when they get below 2/32 of an inch. For me, I'm not comfortable with that little tread. I start to think about replacing tires at between 3/32 and 4/32, especially if we are going into winter.

Maikerusan

Perhaps in Illinois, but not everywhere.

In my area it is this:


3. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a tire shall not be worn to the extent that in any two adjacent major grooves at three equally spaced intervals around the circumference of the tire,

(a) the tread wear indicators contact the road; or

(b) less than 1.5 millimetres of tread depth remains. (this is less than 2/32 of an inch)

lesz

In the US, what is legal varies by state, but most states have a minimum requirement of 3/32".

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16854703

From the above link. "Most states require a minimum of 2/32 of an inch (approximately 1.6 mm) of tread, but two require less, some have no requirements, and some defer to the federal criterion for commercial vehicle safety inspections. The requirement of 2/32 of an inch is consistent with the height of the tread-wear bars built in to passenger car tires sold in the United States, but the rationale for that requirement, or other existing requirements, is not clear. Recent research indicates that a minimum tread depth of 2/32 of an inch does not prevent significant loss of friction at highway speeds, even for minimally wet roadways. The research suggests that tires with less than 4/32 of an inch tread depth may lose approximately 50 percent of available friction in those circumstances, even before hydroplaning occurs."

Poppa

John... it's "possible that you might be able to test them out. But I would think you would have to find a Pirelli dealer in your area, and even then, they may not have a "test it" policy. I know that in the past I have purchased Toyo tires for my Avalon as well as Yokohama's for my 4 Runner and both times there was a policy in place that if I didn't like them I could bring the car back in and they would swap them out for another brand.. But in both cases, the tires were purchased a tire store that happened to carry both of those brands. I don't know anything about the tire mentioned above as the new #1 tire at Tire Rack, so I can't comment on it. I can tell you from first hand experience I am happy with my Pirelli's... I've also had Michelin tires on other cars in the past and I've like them just as well.... to answer another part of your question, I have not had tires put on at Lexus.. always bought my tires at a tire store... in my case they give you free tire rotations if you purchased the tires thru them. You also mentioned ride quality between 17 and 18 inch rims.. the 17's will give you a bit more of a smoother ride... and that's because when you go up to the 18's, you're losing 1 inch of sidewall cushion.. It's not a huge difference but it is certainly noticeable. When I test drove the ES i actually test drove one with 17" rims... BUT I ended up buying an ES off the showroom floor.. never test drove it and it came with 18" rims.. I noticed the difference almost immediately after I drove off the lot... but part of that rough ride was the oe tires were over inflated and also because they were Bridgestone Turanza's... they're horrible in my opinion.. when I switched to the Pirelli's the ride quality improved dramatically... I think you would be fine with either the Pirelli's or Michelins... You also asked about tire sizes.. My Pirelli's are 225/45R/18 (XL)

Roland

jloftus

Geez. Could it be that they just want to make sure I turn it back in w new tires? He said like 4/32 or 3/32 or an inch. It's hard to believe. Michelen Primacy really good tires apparently,

unless I'm driving it so much differently than most other people....