Asking NE/Mid-Atlantic GS AWD Owners for All Season Tires Suggestions for 18" Wheels
12-29-09, 08:28 PM
#31
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Evel,
I would not get my tires from nor will have them placed on the car by Costco. They cannot balance tires well and do not have the top of the line Hunter Road Force Balancing Machine that road forces the tires onto the rim for smoother ride and perfect dynamic balance. I buy all my tires from tirerack and so do alot of other people these days and I get them placed on by my Lexus Dealership. I also get the tires from tirerack and get them road force balanced for a premium for all 3 of my german cars. Only luxury car dealership have a good adapter to placed our own OEM wheels on the hunter road force machine to place the tires on them better without scratch and match mount the tires properly on the rim. That is my experience. I avoid discount tire, belle tire, and costco in my area.
I would not get my tires from nor will have them placed on the car by Costco. They cannot balance tires well and do not have the top of the line Hunter Road Force Balancing Machine that road forces the tires onto the rim for smoother ride and perfect dynamic balance. I buy all my tires from tirerack and so do alot of other people these days and I get them placed on by my Lexus Dealership. I also get the tires from tirerack and get them road force balanced for a premium for all 3 of my german cars. Only luxury car dealership have a good adapter to placed our own OEM wheels on the hunter road force machine to place the tires on them better without scratch and match mount the tires properly on the rim. That is my experience. I avoid discount tire, belle tire, and costco in my area.
I hated and dislike the Bridgestone Pole so much that I only had them on my GS for 10 days. I have never experience such lousy tire as the Pole. They are harsh like all other bridgestone tires and had a very bad dead center feel with no good connection to the road and vibrated on grooved tarmacs through the steering wheel. The new Michelin Pilot A/S last very little miles up to 25 or 30K before becoming noisy loud and with some vibration. They are terrible in snow more than 4 inches and I feel very insecure in the car. I live in Michigan and I bought the size 245/45/18 (slightly thicker tire) in the Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires since it does not comes in the standard 245/40/18 we need for the 18 inch rims. These tires are out of the world. They are smooth, comfortable yet sporty with 60 thousand miles warranty and are absolutely amazing in deep and light snow and are very quiet on the highways. I have done 20k miles on it so far and it still good as new in terms of thread dept. No need to get those high performance all season tires, too much trade off. You get those for sport cars and coupes.
I will see if my now ~10K Michelin Pilot A/S wears out at 25K. But these tires have been working well so far.
12-30-09, 08:06 AM
#32
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Two Interesting & Very Different Posts -
You are right on point. The forum provides good info, but it can become overwhelming trying to sift through facts, personal preferences, & etc. For every 3 good reports received for a particular tire, you get a negative report. Quiet tires were not quiet, tires with 40-50K mile treadwear warranty go bad at 15K-20K miles, use the Tire Rack survey data vs what the survey doesn't tell you about a given tire. Shopping for new tires has been an experience.
Thanks for your feedback on your Mich's.
12-30-09, 09:38 AM
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You are both correct! And if you think tires info is tough to sift through, try electronics at avsforum, or google dog food if you want to spend the rest of your life trying to figure out fact from fiction and personal opinion.
So Evel, have you made a choice on the tires?
So Evel, have you made a choice on the tires?
01-02-10, 09:59 AM
#34
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Tire Decision? Not Yet
You are both correct! And if you think tires info is tough to sift through, try electronics at avsforum, or google dog food if you want to spend the rest of your life trying to figure out fact from fiction and personal opinion.
So Evel, have you made a choice on the tires?
So Evel, have you made a choice on the tires?
No I have not made a decision yet. I got a early start on the search, but won't be forced to buy new tires until the VA state safety & emissions inspection is due in February. Two of the tires won't pass due to inside tread wear.
Out of the original 3 recommended tires: Bridgestones, Michelins, & Continental, I'm leaning toward the Bridgestone ($$191-$199 range) as my high end budget tires & the Continentals ($135 - $178 range) as my low end budget tires. I'm trying to stay at or below $1000 total tire/install/road hazard spend + cost of alignment. The Michelins seem to be top dog & I had good experience w/Mich's when I had my Acura CL, but I'd be looking at $1200 to $1300+ with alignment factored in. I admit, the cost of all three are much less than what the original Dunlop run flats would cost me (mid$300's-$500 a tire), but I've never spent over $200/tire in the past, so I guess there's a mental barrier "thang" at play too. I'll enter a post when I make a decision.
01-02-10, 11:05 AM
#35
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Happy New Year HomieG!
No I have not made a decision yet. I got a early start on the search, but won't be forced to buy new tires until the VA state safety & emissions inspection is due in February. Two of the tires won't pass due to inside tread wear.
Out of the original 3 recommended tires: Bridgestones, Michelins, & Continental, I'm leaning toward the Bridgestone ($$191-$199 range) as my high end budget tires & the Continentals ($135 - $178 range) as my low end budget tires. I'm trying to stay at or below $1000 total tire/install/road hazard spend + cost of alignment. The Michelins seem to be top dog & I had good experience w/Mich's when I had my Acura CL, but I'd be looking at $1200 to $1300+ with alignment factored in. I admit, the cost of all three are much less than what the original Dunlop run flats would cost me (mid$300's-$500 a tire), but I've never spent over $200/tire in the past, so I guess there's a mental barrier "thang" at play too. I'll enter a post when I make a decision.
No I have not made a decision yet. I got a early start on the search, but won't be forced to buy new tires until the VA state safety & emissions inspection is due in February. Two of the tires won't pass due to inside tread wear.
Out of the original 3 recommended tires: Bridgestones, Michelins, & Continental, I'm leaning toward the Bridgestone ($$191-$199 range) as my high end budget tires & the Continentals ($135 - $178 range) as my low end budget tires. I'm trying to stay at or below $1000 total tire/install/road hazard spend + cost of alignment. The Michelins seem to be top dog & I had good experience w/Mich's when I had my Acura CL, but I'd be looking at $1200 to $1300+ with alignment factored in. I admit, the cost of all three are much less than what the original Dunlop run flats would cost me (mid$300's-$500 a tire), but I've never spent over $200/tire in the past, so I guess there's a mental barrier "thang" at play too. I'll enter a post when I make a decision.
Yes, I never spent over $200 for a tire either. While the Bridgestones were about $150 each for our SL (with lifetime rotation and balance), when I got my GS300, it needed new tires (had crap Chinese-made BCT tires on it). After my research, I ended up with Kumho KU27 Ecsta Platinum LX's for the GS. It was a choice between handling, road noise and price. I needed 18" tires because the first owner of the GS had the Lexus 18" wheel put on it. The Kumhos ended up at about $190 each, mounted and balanced (with lifetime rotation and balancing), so that wasn't too bad. And I am very happy with them too, performance and lack of road noise (though they do stink in the mud, after I got stuck in some at a local restaurant extended parking lot, not that I intend for that to happen again). And somebody actually bought those BCT's from me for $200 for the set.
Good luck with your choice and please let us know what you do, and how you like them once you've got the new set of tires.
Happy New Year to you, and to all CL members as well!
01-05-10, 08:00 AM
#36
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Evel,
I would not get my tires from nor will have them placed on the car by Costco. They cannot balance tires well and do not have the top of the line Hunter Road Force Balancing Machine that road forces the tires onto the rim for smoother ride and perfect dynamic balance. I buy all my tires from tirerack and so do alot of other people these days and I get them placed on by my Lexus Dealership. I also get the tires from tirerack and get them road force balanced for a premium for all 3 of my german cars. Only luxury car dealership have a good adapter to placed our own OEM wheels on the hunter road force machine to place the tires on them better without scratch and match mount the tires properly on the rim. That is my experience. I avoid discount tire, belle tire, and costco in my area.
I would not get my tires from nor will have them placed on the car by Costco. They cannot balance tires well and do not have the top of the line Hunter Road Force Balancing Machine that road forces the tires onto the rim for smoother ride and perfect dynamic balance. I buy all my tires from tirerack and so do alot of other people these days and I get them placed on by my Lexus Dealership. I also get the tires from tirerack and get them road force balanced for a premium for all 3 of my german cars. Only luxury car dealership have a good adapter to placed our own OEM wheels on the hunter road force machine to place the tires on them better without scratch and match mount the tires properly on the rim. That is my experience. I avoid discount tire, belle tire, and costco in my area.
2) It has been reported by three different people including me that the design of the Michelin Pilot Sport Plus (yes the new design) for the stock Lexus GS third gen 18 in rim can cause the car to pull. Do a search and you will find this. Michelin is a good company if you have an issue they will replace your tires for you. I ended up with the PS2 and so far it is a great tire.
One note about discount.. If you go into their shop and say you are concerned about your rims, they will get someone to do the job carefully. From personal experience, I can say that is not the case with Lexus. Discount will also let you watch.. So, why all the negative statements? Do you have personal experiences with Discount? If requested, Discount will not even touch your car with an impact wrench.
Did you also drink the cool-aid for the nitrogen tire fill?
01-05-10, 09:48 AM
#37
GS2006,
Yes, I had a bad experience with 2 discount tire places. They did not balance my tires/rim right and did not notice that 2 rims were slightly bent leading to some vibration in the steering wheel and seat for 3 months. I gave up on going back to them many times and went to my Lexus dealership in Ann Arbor. The mechanic there was more knowledgeable and balanced the tires and spotted the bad rims and had them straighten for me at a very good cost and I am vibration free. I buy my tires off tirerack because they are good people and have good customer service and a good tire protection plan. I prefer to avoid Discount. You are right that they are very nice in not scratching your rims but you have to pick the right guy to be sure. The lexus dealer cleaned and polished all of my rims. There was another Lexus dealership near my home that I loathe because as you said they don;t do a perfect job in caring for your tires/rims and charge a high price. I was fortunate to find a good dealer near my work (40 min from home) that does the job just right. I am very happy now and that all that matters. You are also right about the Pilot Sport A/S pulling, and I had that before Michelin was kind enough to replace 2 of the tires. I have the Primacy MXV4 right now and they are suberb.
I avoid Nitrogen filling.
Yes, I had a bad experience with 2 discount tire places. They did not balance my tires/rim right and did not notice that 2 rims were slightly bent leading to some vibration in the steering wheel and seat for 3 months. I gave up on going back to them many times and went to my Lexus dealership in Ann Arbor. The mechanic there was more knowledgeable and balanced the tires and spotted the bad rims and had them straighten for me at a very good cost and I am vibration free. I buy my tires off tirerack because they are good people and have good customer service and a good tire protection plan. I prefer to avoid Discount. You are right that they are very nice in not scratching your rims but you have to pick the right guy to be sure. The lexus dealer cleaned and polished all of my rims. There was another Lexus dealership near my home that I loathe because as you said they don;t do a perfect job in caring for your tires/rims and charge a high price. I was fortunate to find a good dealer near my work (40 min from home) that does the job just right. I am very happy now and that all that matters. You are also right about the Pilot Sport A/S pulling, and I had that before Michelin was kind enough to replace 2 of the tires. I have the Primacy MXV4 right now and they are suberb.
I avoid Nitrogen filling.
01-06-10, 01:42 PM
#38
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GS2006,
Yes, I had a bad experience with 2 discount tire places. They did not balance my tires/rim right and did not notice that 2 rims were slightly bent leading to some vibration in the steering wheel and seat for 3 months. I gave up on going back to them many times and went to my Lexus dealership in Ann Arbor. The mechanic there was more knowledgeable and balanced the tires and spotted the bad rims and had them straighten for me at a very good cost and I am vibration free. I buy my tires off tirerack because they are good people and have good customer service and a good tire protection plan. I prefer to avoid Discount. You are right that they are very nice in not scratching your rims but you have to pick the right guy to be sure. The lexus dealer cleaned and polished all of my rims. There was another Lexus dealership near my home that I loathe because as you said they don;t do a perfect job in caring for your tires/rims and charge a high price. I was fortunate to find a good dealer near my work (40 min from home) that does the job just right. I am very happy now and that all that matters. You are also right about the Pilot Sport A/S pulling, and I had that before Michelin was kind enough to replace 2 of the tires. I have the Primacy MXV4 right now and they are suberb.
I avoid Nitrogen filling.
Yes, I had a bad experience with 2 discount tire places. They did not balance my tires/rim right and did not notice that 2 rims were slightly bent leading to some vibration in the steering wheel and seat for 3 months. I gave up on going back to them many times and went to my Lexus dealership in Ann Arbor. The mechanic there was more knowledgeable and balanced the tires and spotted the bad rims and had them straighten for me at a very good cost and I am vibration free. I buy my tires off tirerack because they are good people and have good customer service and a good tire protection plan. I prefer to avoid Discount. You are right that they are very nice in not scratching your rims but you have to pick the right guy to be sure. The lexus dealer cleaned and polished all of my rims. There was another Lexus dealership near my home that I loathe because as you said they don;t do a perfect job in caring for your tires/rims and charge a high price. I was fortunate to find a good dealer near my work (40 min from home) that does the job just right. I am very happy now and that all that matters. You are also right about the Pilot Sport A/S pulling, and I had that before Michelin was kind enough to replace 2 of the tires. I have the Primacy MXV4 right now and they are suberb.
I avoid Nitrogen filling.
You are one of the few I've run across using the Primacy MXV4. I think these are the tires I had years ago when I had a Acura CL. You are in Michigan, so they definitely are all-season. If it's the same tire, I had good experience with them & got a little over 50K miles on them. These tires are actually a little more expensive than the Pilot AS/Plus, correct?
Finally, what's the knock on nitrogen filled tires vs regular compressed air? I thought nitrogen was the new "in thing" way to go; especially if you want to eliminate triggering the TPMS so frequently during the cold weather months. The system seems to be very system. One tire was about 1lb off & it triggered the alert & you know not knowing which tire is low is a pain when you're out in the cold check each tire. Brrrrrr!
01-06-10, 05:59 PM
#39
Evel,
Yes, I have the Primacy MXV4 all season tires in the 245/45/18 rather than the 245/40/18 size, so its slightly thicker by 1/4 inch. Its an amazing tire. I already have 20k miles on it. My Pilot Sport A/S wore out at 28k miles and had alot of pulling. The Primacy are much cheaper than the Pilot Sport A/S at $215 dollars per tire on tire rack rather than $265 per Pilot Sport A/S.
There are 2 other people on this board that have put on the new Primacy MXV4 with the thicker size since it does not come in our standard 245/40/18 and they both love it. I can not get another type of tire for this car. I love them!! They are so predictable in the deep snow up to 8 inches or more and are very quiet, smooth, and long lasting tires. They have a 60k mileage warranty and that you cannot beat.
Yes, I have the Primacy MXV4 all season tires in the 245/45/18 rather than the 245/40/18 size, so its slightly thicker by 1/4 inch. Its an amazing tire. I already have 20k miles on it. My Pilot Sport A/S wore out at 28k miles and had alot of pulling. The Primacy are much cheaper than the Pilot Sport A/S at $215 dollars per tire on tire rack rather than $265 per Pilot Sport A/S.
There are 2 other people on this board that have put on the new Primacy MXV4 with the thicker size since it does not come in our standard 245/40/18 and they both love it. I can not get another type of tire for this car. I love them!! They are so predictable in the deep snow up to 8 inches or more and are very quiet, smooth, and long lasting tires. They have a 60k mileage warranty and that you cannot beat.
01-07-10, 11:10 AM
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Evel,
Yes, I have the Primacy MXV4 all season tires in the 245/45/18 rather than the 245/40/18 size, so its slightly thicker by 1/4 inch. Its an amazing tire. I already have 20k miles on it. My Pilot Sport A/S wore out at 28k miles and had alot of pulling. The Primacy are much cheaper than the Pilot Sport A/S at $215 dollars per tire on tire rack rather than $265 per Pilot Sport A/S.
There are 2 other people on this board that have put on the new Primacy MXV4 with the thicker size since it does not come in our standard 245/40/18 and they both love it. I can not get another type of tire for this car. I love them!! They are so predictable in the deep snow up to 8 inches or more and are very quiet, smooth, and long lasting tires. They have a 60k mileage warranty and that you cannot beat.
Yes, I have the Primacy MXV4 all season tires in the 245/45/18 rather than the 245/40/18 size, so its slightly thicker by 1/4 inch. Its an amazing tire. I already have 20k miles on it. My Pilot Sport A/S wore out at 28k miles and had alot of pulling. The Primacy are much cheaper than the Pilot Sport A/S at $215 dollars per tire on tire rack rather than $265 per Pilot Sport A/S.
There are 2 other people on this board that have put on the new Primacy MXV4 with the thicker size since it does not come in our standard 245/40/18 and they both love it. I can not get another type of tire for this car. I love them!! They are so predictable in the deep snow up to 8 inches or more and are very quiet, smooth, and long lasting tires. They have a 60k mileage warranty and that you cannot beat.
Rexus300,
Thanks for the tip. The Primacy's are grand touring tires vs high performance or ultra high performance all season tires. I've got no problem with that, as the '06GS300 AWD is far from being a muscle car
I have been thinking about going to the higher profile aspect of 45's vs 40 with the hope that it will result in an optical illusion of shortening the wheel gap, as I have not elected to lower my car yet. Not prepared for the amplified vibration drama yet. The Primacy's are actually more expensive than the Pilot Sports A/S Plus, right?
01-07-10, 02:15 PM
#41
especially if you want to eliminate triggering the TPMS so frequently during the cold weather months. The system seems to be very system. One tire was about 1lb off & it triggered the alert & you know not knowing which tire is low is a pain when you're out in the cold check each tire. Brrrrrr!
01-07-10, 02:40 PM
#42
Rexus300,
Thanks for the tip. The Primacy's are grand touring tires vs high performance or ultra high performance all season tires. I've got no problem with that, as the '06GS300 AWD is far from being a muscle car I have been thinking about going to the higher profile aspect of 45's vs 40 with the hope that it will result in an optical illusion of shortening the wheel gap, as I have not elected to lower my car yet. Not prepared for the amplified vibration drama yet. The Primacy's are actually more expensive than the Pilot Sports A/S Plus, right?
Thanks for the tip. The Primacy's are grand touring tires vs high performance or ultra high performance all season tires. I've got no problem with that, as the '06GS300 AWD is far from being a muscle car
I have been thinking about going to the higher profile aspect of 45's vs 40 with the hope that it will result in an optical illusion of shortening the wheel gap, as I have not elected to lower my car yet. Not prepared for the amplified vibration drama yet. The Primacy's are actually more expensive than the Pilot Sports A/S Plus, right?The slightly higher profile did nicely fit my wheel gap and made it looked lower than it was before. The primacy MXV4 are much Cheaper than the Pilot Sport A/S tires. Primacy = $215 dollars, Pilot Sport = $265 on tirerack.com.
There is a very minor small rubbing when reversing full turn with the thicker rubber but I rarely reverse full turns. So far its highly recommended by me.
01-07-10, 02:45 PM
#43
Here are photos of my GS300 AWD with the primacy tires. As you can see the wheel gap is smaller. Go to link below and scroll down to see how the primacy looks on the car.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...s-gs300-2.html
I will be selling off my car this summer for the new generation 2011 BMW 535xi sedan that will be released on the market in April.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...s-gs300-2.html
I will be selling off my car this summer for the new generation 2011 BMW 535xi sedan that will be released on the market in April.
01-08-10, 09:45 AM
#44
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Here are photos of my GS300 AWD with the primacy tires. As you can see the wheel gap is smaller. Go to link below and scroll down to see how the primacy looks on the car.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...s-gs300-2.html
I will be selling off my car this summer for the new generation 2011 BMW 535xi sedan that will be released on the market in April.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...s-gs300-2.html
I will be selling off my car this summer for the new generation 2011 BMW 535xi sedan that will be released on the market in April.
Thanks for the link to the picture of the Primacy's on your car. Don't like the idea of rubbing, but will definetly keep this tire in consideration. Congrats on the forthcoming new Bimmer!
01-27-10, 02:01 PM
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After long debate & much analysis, fate ended up choosing the new tires for me. On my way home from work Monday evening I hit a pothole the size of a moon crater & blew out the right front run-flat. Immediately upon impact the tire pressure warning light came on in the color red, not yellow, if I recall correctly. The impact was so hard, I was sure the wheel was toast too, but luckily it was not. I made it to the nearby NTB & the attendant on duty worked all three of the usual suspects (Michelin's Pilot Sport +, Bridgestones Pole Position, & Continental DWS). Bridgestones were out of stock, he did not recommend the Cont's (said from his experience w/the non-DWS models, the treadlife did not hold up & they got noisy quickly w/wear). So long story, short he worked out a deal on the Michelin's. Their price was $273.99/tire, but agreed to go with the Tire Rack cost of $226/tire. He did not add the $45 Tire Rack shipping cost into the per tire cost, (so roughly a $185 discount off the tires), then gave me a break on the install pkg of $27.99/tire vs $40.99/tire charge associated with ultra high performance tires which included road hazard ins, lifetime balancing/rotation). Reduced their alignment of $99.99 by $20 for $79.99. After taxes & $16 in miscellaneous charges total price was $1186.00. I was leaning towards the Conti's before I blew out the tire, but for this area, I ended up with decent deal paying approx $290 more to get what many on this forum & Tire Rack reviews consider the #1 preferred tire for the GS owners getting rid of the run flats. Came out less than if I had gone to Costco too. With less than 50 miles on the new tires, the first thing I noticed is LESS noise...FINALLY! & a less jarring on bumpy roads. Now it feels like a Lexus. Smooooth, like butta!
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