Honestly the car's only really been driven home from Discount Tire since I had them put on. That being said they ride great with a tad bit extra sidewall. I expect the grip to be better than the stock Stones and better life and wet weather to boot.

Agreed the car is severely under-tired from the factory. Painfully obvious that the chassis was never designed to pack this much power from the onset. Glad they shoved the V8 in here, but a 4,000lb 475hp sedan with a 235/265 stagger is comical. In a perfect world I'd like to get some front camber arms, a spare set of rear BBS 9.5" wheels and run a 275/34-19 square setup on the car.

 

What you're seeing is a tire with aggressive wheel rim protection versus one with less wheel rim protection:



Lou

 

Yes, I know what a rim protector is, but they're ugly and they really only save your wheels in the most minor of bumps.

The main issue and why I moved tires is that the Bridgestone S001L is a Lexus only specific tire model made in only 2 sizes that performs worse than the standard Bridgestone S001. They initially developed this tire for the IS350 F Sport which is lighter and less powerful than the IS500. I can only assume at the time Lexus wanted the performance of the original S001 but with less road noise or something as the tires are quiet, but they've lost grip somehow. Then a decade later they just continued to put the same tire onto our cars that they'd put on the 350 all those years. I can't say why they didn't choose a different tire for the 500, but the tire they continued to use isn't up to the task of managing the weight and power of the IS500. The original S001 was released back around 2010 and tire technology has moved on considerably since they were developed.

 

Yeah, I found the S001L suited my IS 350 better than my IS 500, but Idk... it just seems all-around worse than the tires with which I replaced it on each car. On my IS 350, that was the Pilot Sport 4S, and on my IS 500, it was the Continental ECS02. The Continental seems to split the difference quite nicely between the two. It's not as sharp as the Michelin in terms of its steering response, but it rides better and is quieter. However, it's still much grippier than the Bridgestones were, which is especially noticeable when accelerating in first and second gear.

Sadly, the Contis lack any rim protection, but hey, I have a 360 camera and auto-tilting mirrors. I am screwing up big time if I curb one of these wheels.

 

Agreed, arguably some of the least impressive tires ive ever driven on considering their price.

Exactly. No reason to be curbing wheels with all this technology.

 

 

Went for a rip in the mountains today...

 

Stunning scenery! 💙

 

is that lake Titicaca!?!? 😜

 

My son bought himself a car and hired me as his chauffeur

picking up some time next week

 

Detailing my wife's car so needed the entire garage for the weekend. First time both my cars out together at same time. Usually one is acting as the garage queen while the other is getting some road fun.

 

Nice pics!

I loved the Z4. I regret not going for a Z4 M when I had the opportunity. I thought it was the best styled BMW of the Bangle era.

 

Here's simply a few sunset photos of the beast. 😎

 

^^ great pics and always am captivated by how nice this color is!! I need to start taking more pics of my beast (the car that is)

 

Thank you! Values on the Z4 M have plateaued in recent years. Never too late :-) The only other car I still want to add to my garage is an E39 M5. Passively keeping an eye out.