sorry guys. i refuse to go to lexus they charging 1200 plus taxes and fees and they charge to swap my summer tires back on in the spring and vice versa with the snow tires in the winter. i'm thinking of going to town fair tire here in CT.

1.my question is does it matter what snow tire you put on? the cheapest price for the snow tire i heard was 159 each for a nexton brand? (not sure if i spelled it correct). should i pay more?

2. he said it's good to have all the snow tires the same size as the front. my front is 225/40 r18 and rear is 255/40 r18. is this ture?

3. i have 18in rims on and he said another option is to run 17in tires on too. it's about the same height but different width? im clueless on all this haha.

 

Depends on driving conditions. I bought studded Michelin x-Ice for ~$280/each including installation. I ended up buying those after a couple of near "oops, lost it" events on icy roads while on Bridgestone Potenza M+S tires. Go and check from tirerack, they do have ratings and user feedback.


Go for a set that you can rotate i.e. all tires are the same size. Nothing weird in that, it's a standard config in AWD. And yes, 225 is better than 255 in winter tires.

Buy a set of 17" rims and high profile snow tires. >45 tires are usually cheaper. You could also go for 16" rims & 225/50 for snow tires. That does have an impact on "looks", but you'll save money and you'll get comfortable ride.

 

Switching between snow tires and summer tires on the same wheels year after year tends to scratch up the wheels and damage the tire beads -- I've done it on one car but won't do it again.

I'd get a set of standard 17" IS250 wheels and a set of good 225/45-17 snow tires -- that's the size that was standard on the IS250 AWD. By "good", I mean snow tires that have the mountain/snowflake symbol on the sidewalls. 17" snow tires will be a bit less expensive than 18" snow tires too.

My opinion is that if you are going to the trouble of buying snow tires, go all the way and get "Studless Ice and snow" tires and skip the "Performance" snow tires.

Maybe your Lexus dealer has some used "take-off" 17" wheels for a decent price or you could buy used or refurbished wheels online -- or maybe on eBay or Craigslist. Aftermarket wheels are "OK" but they can become unavailable if you trash one and need a replacement after a couple of years.

Tirerack.com is a great place to buy snow tires and to research what's available. Except for one set, all the tires we've bought for the past 20 years have been from Tire Rack. I love the Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires -- mine are on their 7th and final winter -- unusual for a snow tire to last over 30,000 miles.

I'd suggest a set of Blizzak WS-60 for your IS -- nice combination of ride, quiet and performance in rain, on ice and in deep snow ... check the survey results on Tirerack.com. My Blizzaks ride nicer and are almost as quiet as the high performance Z-rated directional summer (not all season) tires I use in the summer.

If you need an additional set of TPM sensors, you can buy them on-line or at a Toyota dealership. Tire Rack sells TPM sensors too but I don't know if you have to buy their aftermarket wheels to get them.