Hello

I recently bought a used 2008 IS 250 AWD with about 20k miles with standard Bridgestone tires. It's my first time owning a car with high performance tires and so far I find that ride has been really rough and and tires produces a lot of road noise. Also, what I am finding is that as I go through bumps on the road or hit the brake stopping on a bump the steering wheel seems to move to the right or left by itself.

Is this normal or do I need some kind of an alignment? On smooth surfaces, I don't seem to have any problems. The steering wheel stays put. So is this what they called "Bump Steer"?

 

Since, this kind of relates to my issue too I am going to slightly hijack the thread to get two birds killed by one stone. I have the same problem when I hit the brakes, the wheel tends to turn right.

 

i think that is normal for our isx50s

someone correct me if im wrong

 

WOW, i thought i was the only one. Yesss, my car has a bad alignment too and always turning to the right and i just bought it slightly used with 25k miles and its a 2008. Not to mention, already gotta brake squeal on the first wk i got it =/

 

Hi Lex,

My brakes are squeaking a bit too. Also my steering wheel and driver side door vibrates when I am at a stop light with the transmission in Drive. May have to take it to dealership and have it looked at.

So you guys all think that steering problem is normal for the AWD version of the IS? If so, why does it do that?

 

My steering also moves a bit too, under medium - hard braking. I think it's normal. Also the suspension is a bit rough so there is nothing to worry about there, yeah it's bump steer. Oh and I have 16k on the original bridgestones and they are very noisy.

 

That's a brake issue. One side of your brakes is grabbing much more of the other side, therefore pulling it to one side. Check brake pads for wear, rotors for deep scoring, and maybe your brake line.

 

I don't think it is the brake pads that is causing the problem for me. I just had them changed because of brake dust and I had this problem before the change. And the steering only moves when braking on uneven surfaces.

So I am starting to think it's these low profile high performance tires. They are great with handling but so far, the bridgestones have sucked when it comes to noise and handling on rough roads.

I am thinking of switching from High Performance Tires to Grand Touring tires such as the one here.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ta+LX+Platinum

Any thoughts if this would cut down on the bump steer and noise?

 

those will cut down on the roadnoise some what. but i would also look into hankook ventous evo 12's also. low road noise imo, and the handle really well

 

My tires are new and so are my brake pads!

 

i think this is normal. i heard of the tire noise and the steering wheel pulling to the right or left plenty of times on here. do a search.

 

That's why you 'think' it's normal. Pulling is not normal...

Even though your brake pads are new, your rotor is not. Brake grab is when you have a deep scoring in your rotor that your brake pad will grab onto. That's the only explanation that the car pulls when braking.

 

The only time it happens to my car is when I am on an uneven surface - for instance, if the road has particularly deep "troughs" or "grooves" dug into them.

 

bought the same car earlier this year (back in feb, an '08 awd with 11k on it) and had/still have the same issues. took it back to the dealer 2 times and they could not figure out what it was. after an alignment, balance, etc, my car still goes to the right by itself on certain roads.

seems like these crappy bridgestone tires and am hoping when i get my new ones in jan, it'll correct itself from what i've read on all the lex forums.

 

Recenly got a used IS250 AWD and I have the same problem...the cars is constantly thrown left or right...
I now have UHP summer tires with 30K miles on them and I think it's because of the tires (had the same issue with GS400). I purchased new tires ContiExtreme DWS, will install them next week. Hopefully this will fix the issue...