Being in Vermont I'm always thinking of inclement weather. That brings me to my next topic...WINTER tires!

My 13 GS AWD takes 235/45 18s. Another possible size i could go with is 245/40 18s.

I have a couple questions...

1. Does anyone have any used winter tires in either of those specified sizes with good tread left?

2. If I decide not to put TPMS in the winter wheels and tires will it just be a light on in the dash or will it continually beep at me?

Thanks in advance!

 

Excellent question. First of all I have a 2013 F Sport which came with 235/40/19 tire size and its an odd ball size as few tires for this choice on tire rack and I hated the Bridgestone Turanzas. So I went with 245/40/19 Michelin Primacy MXM4 all season tires and I am loving them. No issues with this size so you should not have any issues with getting 245/45/18 winter tires for your GS for rim protection from bad roads. It will fit perfectly. People have mentioned that they are baffled as to why Lexus put narrower tires on the 18 and 19 inch rims since the older GS had similar spec rims but wider tires.

As for the types of winter tires, we have been using Bridgestone Blizzaks LM-60 on our 2006 Audi A8L and already put more than 20k miles on them and there is till greater than 60% thread left on them. They are excellent in the snow but the highway ride is not as smooth like the all season tires. So I recommend getting the Michelin Alpine PA3 tires. Those have great reviews and good snow traction with comfort.

Get a good winter set with tires with the TPMS included from tirerack road force balanced properly for smooth ride and have them shipped to your home this fall.

 

My local tire stores (Discount Tire & Belle Tire) say federal law prohibits them from installing wheels without TPMS on vehicles with that feature.

Also, my Belle tire store manager recommends using your factory wheels for winter use as they usually hold up better in the corrosion than any nice aftermarket wheels. Of course, they want to sell you a nice set of summer wheels.

 

I've still got my 18inch OEM rims from me SC430 that I plan to mount the winter tires on. Rims aren't the issue...just didn't know if I could get away with no TPMS. I don't mind a light on in the dash...I've done this on so many other vehicles before, but I can't stand it if it will beep at me continually if it doesn't sense them.

 

I just changed my 19's to 20's on my F Sport. I took the TPMS's of the OEM wheels and put them into the new set. They didnt work for some reason. Took it to Lexus. What they do is scan them from the outside of the tire to read the numbers on each and then program them to measure the new set up. Unfortunately it didnt work on mine!

What happens is the little yellow light flashes and then goes solid. No beep, nothing. I will probably get a new set for my winters. For now I am driving with the light on. No big deal!

 

Perfect, thank you! Now, i know I just need to buy winter tires and I'm all set.

 

I got a winter set of tires/ wheels from "Discount Tires" I downsized from 18" to 17" and chose to go with Blizzak tires mounted on MOMO whells, About a $1600 package. I bought there non OEM TPMS sensors (designed for Lexus) because i didn't want to tear down my wheels every year. They offer free changeovers plus no cost reprogramming of the TPMS's.
Notes- The 2013 GS4 is not yet in their database
- The initial attempts to program didn't work
- The solution was to use their APP for the 2012 Camry. Now everything works OK
including the individual tire pressure readout.
- If you use Non OEM sensors, the Toyota dealer says they can't use their equipment
to program recognition (which costs $50 anyway)
I'm all happy now. during the time I drove before getting the programming set, the indication I got was a flashing warning light and no readout on tire pressures. There was no buzzer.

 

Quick question, I still have to get my TPMS in the winter set initialized to the car at my dealer but do we have to do this every year when we swap them out to the summers? Or does the car have 2 programs that can each hold 4 TPMS? My Audi and BMW can initialize easily with the TPMS via the onboard computer.

 

There is a tire reset button underneath the steering column near the dashboard that you have to press to reset the TPMS reading so that it will initialize. More of it is in the manual. Not sure if its working or not for you right now.