It's already been stated, but yeah, not sure why brought up tires in a thread about rims. But it's a pretty common occurrence that stock tires suck. Hell, even the LS 500 comes with tires that owners complain about. I swapped my tires out immediately after getting the car with Bridgestone Quiettrack's and the ride is majorly improved.

 

Yeah. The dealer bullshat you about the tires being "noise reduction" tires. As for both OEM tire choices on the ES, they're like most: chosen for low cost and high MPG, because EPA regulations dictate that the gas mileage cycle has to be conducted on the exact same tires that come on the cars sold to the folks. There is a helluva lot of money in fines and penalties associated with even small reductions in a carmaker's results on the EPA mileage test.

 

Quick geek note: As a former Acura RL owner, I can mention that Lexus ripped off this technology from the last models of the Acura RL. It's a cylindrical chamber within the wheel that traps sound, called a "Helmholtz resonator."

Having recently had a non-Noise Reduction base ES as a service loaner for comparison, I'd agree with the consensus that the difference is small, perhaps enough to offset the inherently greater noise of wider tires on 18" wheels vs. the stock 17's but not much more. But, hey, that means a handling gain without a noise penalty. Every little bit helps.

 

That's debatable. If you compare Honda/Acura's implementation of Noise-reducing Wheels (adding resonators made from light weight resin to normally constructed wheels) to Lexus's implementation (specially constructed wheels with resonator cavities formed within the wheel structure itself) one can argue the implementations are different and both are founded upon prior decades of research and experimentation by other entities and a well known method of noise cancellation.

If you look at the sound frequency reduction comparison graph in the above Honda article along with the graphs in the "Development of a Noise-Reducing Wheel" research paper cited in my 2024 18" Wheels VS 2024 Sound Resistant 18" Wheels thread post #2 you'll see the vast majority of sound reduction is in two fairly narrow frequency bands with frequency maximum sound peaks at approximately 200 and 220 Hz with the maximum reduction occurring on rough road surfaces. For most people's hearing, I suspect it is a barely, if at all, perceptible sound component of the general passenger cabin background noise.

 

Check from 7:50.

 

Very interesting, thanks for taking the time to look for the video. I paired mine with noise reduction tires, and can say the end result is a very quiet ride. Wheels were refinished in pvd black chrome:

 

It is interesting! Thanks for sharing it. Sounds like it resonates less after the initial impact.

 

Like I said in another thread, I made the mistake of thinking that the noise reduction occurs on relatively smooth pavement. Apparently, that's not the case. The bumpier the pavement, the more the noise reduction wheels make a difference.

 

Those wheels are gorgeous in black chrome. Well done.