Hello I am relatively new to lexus and new to cars in general I would appreciate some help selecting winter tires.

I have a 2013 lexus is 250 awd and I am located in Canada.
Do I need different front and back tires?

I was looking the costco website and I found this:


Michelin - X-IceŽ Xi3
Item #: 361021

Tire Size: 225/45R17/XL 94H
Tire Type: Winter
Sidewall: Black Sidewall

Does anyone know if these tires will be sufficient? Better yet, if you are in ontario canada and bought your wheels from costco which one did you use and why?

http://tires2.costco.ca/SearchResult...b-5c062f6a4072

thanks,

 

Welcome to CL. You need 225/45R17 on all four tires. The Michelin X-Ice are good. I have Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 and I haven't had any problems driving on snow/ice. Can't go wrong with either of those two tires.

 

Alright thank you, this is good to know since I was wondering if I needed different wheels for front and back.

 

i run ws70's from costco too. The stock sizes from the car manufacturers are in their computer so they would have told you 225/45/17.

I actually had a problem with them b/c the computer said my tires were staggered (i have RWD) and I wanted to run all four the same for winter so I could rotate. In the end, they sold them to me but I had to take them to get installed somewhere else.

 

I am about to get winter tires for my 2IS and was going to Costco to get the Micheline X Ice Xi 3s. The sales person told me that I need to stagger the winter tires front 225/45/17 back 245/45/17. I guess I don't need to stagger the winter tires? Isn't it better to have all 4 wheels 225/45/17 for winter? Thanks.

 

you can stagger them if you want but then you can't rotate. I prefer the ability to rotate and having a thinner tire all around for driving in snow.

 

I think the RWD version has staggered wheels. I went with the Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 last year since they didn't have 225/45/R17 Xice 3 last year yet. You can try down sizing to 16"

 

Thanks for the info guys. I am going to go and get the tires tonight. Will order the staggered set up if available.

Coilz, how does your 2IS perform in the winter after a storm with the Primacy PA3s? This will be my first winter with my 2IS, my first RWD. I am hoping that the Xi3s will suffice in the snow and ice.

 

I went through last year with Michelin Xi3 tires on my 08 AWD 250. Really good tires, but this was my first winter with the car and first time driving AWD (used to have good all seasons on a fwd before). I loved it in the winter, plenty of control, and I would only fishtail if I forced it.

With good snow tires you'll do great in the winter.

 

I live out here in Edmonton, it wasn't bad at all with the primacy. Obviously nothing short of an anchor will help on black ice but I felt pretty secure on both heavy snow and ice last winter. I have an awd 2is btw. I would go with the xice3, cheaper and better on ice and snow and that's the important part anyways. Just wasn't available for me last year . Hopefully you can do non staggered, maybe someone else can chime in to say if non staggered for the rwd 2is is ok or not

 

I'm sure non-staggered is fine, if anything you may just have to unmount the tires from the wheels to rotate them instead of just rotating wheels (so you avoid putting the wider wheels up front, or two 8.5s on one side, etc).

 

I wouldn't stagger if your AWD only because its more expensive for the rears, and it really wont be worth the cost for of a minimal difference traction wise. I live upstate NY (so kinda close to canada) and you have to kind of treat driving a car in the snow like driving a motorcycle in the rain or bad weather. Front wheels are primarily for steering and major braking, rears, other than drivetrain, its only function is only to control from spinning out and proper braking. Your front wheels slip, you run off the road, into a tree or something, your rear wheels slip, you can still control the car. Unless your RWD, a wider rear really has no benefit to the AWD

also stagger can cause AWD drivetrain issues if not done right. I wouldn't trust the costco guy if he knew more about the car

 

I actually have the 2IS RWD. I went to the dealership and the parts guy told me that I can run 225/45/17s on all fours but Lexus apparently recommends the staggered set up for the RWD.

The sales rep at Costco is only following what the computer is telling him. Price wise the dealer and Costco is only 50 bucks a part which is not bad. The only problem is that the dealer ran out of 245/45/17s. Costco was out of stock until today. I have yet to make my decision, but should make it soon, as snow will come soon.

I asked whether I should have steel rims or alloys and was told there are both pros and cons. I went ahead and bought the steel rims since it will be heavier and more resistant to heavy road salt that they use here in Canada.

I am encouraged that so many of you have positive experiences with your set ups. But you all have AWD. It is the first time that I will be driving RWD in snow. Been reading the forums and watching some videos on youtube. It will be interesting so see how the snow mode works on my car.

Will give an update on my set up when I buy my tires later on this week.

 

Digging a little deeper I found this old thread talking about non-staggered 2IS https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...-on-a-rwd.html

 

I should also suggest to be weary of buying SNOW ONLY tires to ride around year round. Im sure most of you all are putting it on a winter set of wheels but if you ride around year round on snow tires, they may only make it one winter. I had a set (a few cars ago) that the summer heat rounded off the edges of the tires making turning in the snow impossible.If you search there are a ton of articles about this

http://autos.aol.com/article/winter-tires/