Since I will be upgrading to 18", I am shopping for tires as well. I usually buy summer tires for my cars, but in my Lexus' cases, I'm trying to pick between summer tires or grand touring all-seasons.

The reason why I'm considering grand touring all-seasons (more specifically, Continental ContiProContact), is because the Lexus is such a quiet car that noise from the 17" summer tires I currently have is very prominent. I don't know really but maybe because they may be a lousy tires anyway (it's got a set of Nexens in like-new condition when I bought the car). Rides great, but noisy that my wife mentioned that "Lexus was supposed to be quiet, isn't it?".

Since my car will stay with its soft stock suspension, I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to maximize the summer tires' potential anyway. Do you think it would it be beneficial to just stick with grand touring all-seasons for a more quiet ride?

Anyone with experience with ContiProContact tires?

 

I had those on my GS with 18 inch rims and they where by far the best tires out of the 4-5 sets that I had tried. The continental are soft tires so you will need to inflate them to 38-39 psi instead of the 33 recommended by lexus. The car handles turn with these tires with a breeze and stops very well. These tires are so smooth and handles bad roads very well especially in Michigan and are very good in deep snow during our winter months. Summer time the car does very well in the rain. I recommend these tires and nothing else as a grand touring all season.

 

Thanks for the feedback on the tires, Rexus. What other tires have you compared them to? And how about noise? The current tires I have makes really prominent "ka-plunk" on every highway markers there is made worse by the very silent cabin of the Lexus. I never heard this kind of sound in my other cars but very solid sounding "thuds" instead.

Regarding the choice of GT All-Seasons over Summer tire, I feel that summer tires may just be too much for the soft stock suspension but, however, I would like to hear more opinions on how summer tires would benefit the stock suspension over a "good-enough but more quiet and rides better" grand tourers for this particular model of Lexus.

 

I don't have broad experience with various tires, but I was very impressed with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 summer tires that came on my car. I found them smooth and quiet with incredible grip. Basically, to me, they enhanced both the luxury and sport aspects of the car, not detracted from them. If I lived where they were a viable year-round option, I'd go with them in a heartbeat.

One thing they seem to have over most other summer tires (according to this review) is that they are formulated for longer wear. A big plus for moderately expensive tires.

 

I have used the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S which is an all season verson of the Pilot Sport PS2 (which I would recommend as a summer tire base on reviews and my feeling with the A/S version) and I have tried continental contiextremecontacts(defective) and Bridgestone Potenza Pole 960RE (harsh and cause vibration on some rough highways in Michigan). I currently have Michelin Primacy MXV4 with comes in a larger size only at 245/45/18. So, between Contiprocontacts and Michelin PS2 depends on whether you want ride and comfort or more sporty and grippiness. The Contipro have a longer thread life of course.

 

i'm gonna try contiprocontacts for my next set. relatively cheap price.

merc and bmw use them. they've gotta be decent.
tread life is always a plus.

 

Very true base on my experience. To be honest, contiprocontacts are well worth the price and have the best all season balance. I have an SSR runflat version on my BMW 335xi Coupe also.

 

I have the Conti's and I've put on about 6 - 8k miles on them thus far. They have been pretty quiet and good. I don't think they are the best handling tires, but the ride is pretty nice and I would probably buy them again.