Thinking about purchasing the IS 500. What wheels and tires would good to put on the car for roads with tons of potholes.

 

Is swapping the wheels and tires to reduce pothole damage common practice in NYC? If not then you’re approaching this problem wrong.

 

I bought a seven year wheel & tire protection package from the dealer for $800 or something like that. Doesn’t answer your question but worth looking into.

Also others have put 18” wheels on with winter tires. The extra sidewall would give you additional protection. Do have to shop the 18” wheels carefully as the clearance is tight between the rim and caliper.

 

Oh man, good call! I’m already shopping 18s for winter and hadn’t considered the brake clearance. Any tips for what to look for or ask? Thinking I will get a package from Fitment Industries, and I hope they’d be good enough to consider that when helping me shop for them.

 

Boy, I'd be weary of frequently driving the 500 in pothole infested manhattan without taking extra, extra care. Absolutely, the extra sidewall protection with the 18" wheels will help.

 

Watch for front apron separation too. All that extra jarring may cause it to separate faster, unless they’ve fixed it for the new year.

 

I have the 500 in Chicago which is probably just as bad as nyc and it’s actually the best car I’ve had out of my b8 s4 or b9 s5 in the city. The lack of run flats and the fact that this car is still a Lexus makes it better than fine. I agree though the things mentioned above are more susceptible of happening because of the roads but at the end of the day the car is still a Lexus and not an F car.

 

As someone who unfortunately lives in NYC myself, I can suggest a few things: 1) you should be able to get away with keeping the original OEM rims and tire size and run all season tires (I suggest either the Michelin Pilot Sports 4 or the Goodyear Eagle Exhilarates) if where you regularly drive isn’t too bad with the potholes and they’re at least avoidable, you should be okay. 2) if you do plan on running the OEM rims and there is a lot of potholes, I suggest going with a wider tire size giving you meatier tires to absorb the impacts depending on how deep the pot holes are (although I think the speedometer might not read correctly, but not sure if the ecu will correct this on its own) or 3) you can go with a smaller rim setup and a taller sidewall as some have suggested on here. But again, the speedometer might not read correctly.

Edit: I forgot to mention just as a warning, the OEM Bridgestone tire setup doesn’t seem to do too good in < 30 degree weather as you might lose grip easier being that the IS500 comes with summer tires and is a rear-wheel-drive car. So it would behoove you to at least get some quality all-season tires anyway for the colder months if nothing else.

 

When I had my ISF (same tire profile as the IS500), I bought my tires through TireRack, which came with a road hazard warranty. They replaced 2 of my tires for free due to sidewall bubbles (one time it popped completely) from potholes. I also had a winter tire/rim set with 18's (225/45/18). I didn't get any sidewall bubbles, but I only used them for 1 season.

If I were you I would just take the L when your first sidewall bubble or rupture inevitably comes, order a new tire from tire rack, and get your free replacements when necessary thereafter. 18's would make sidewall damage less likely, but still very possible. When I had my Hyundai Sonata with 225/50/17's I still got a sidewall bubble from a pothole on the BQE - never popped though. Only truly high profile tires are immune from NYC potholes. My Honda Pilot with 235/70/16's has 45k miles of most NYC and urban NJ driving on it's current tires, and the sidewall is still fine - and i rarely slow down much for potholes. Yeah each tire was patched at least once (some twice) due to nails, but I still got useable tread left for at least 5k more miles. When I get my next 2UR GSE, I'll still be using my Pilot for urban driving and street parking, and my Lexus will be parked off the street and used for trips outside the city.

@Weapon F may also have some advice for you.