IS500 Tire choices
 

Hey, I know A/S tires are poo-poo’d around here, but I live in NC. I don’t need snow tires, and I’d rather not have to look at the gd forecast every waking second to see if I’ll be able to drive with my summers on for the next month or two.

It seems like our brand-new car here doesn’t have many options for A/S….got quoted for some bridgestone turanzas for a ridiculous price.

Anyone have A/S recommendations? Or am I being too scared to drive with my summers on?

I was eyeing the Michelin Pilot sport all season 4

I found them on tirerack for the is500

Looked at those as well on Discount Tire.
@SukB come pick me up!!

Those are the ones I think I’ll get if I decide to go all-seasons. Wish there was a Conti option, but it looks like we’re stuck with Michelins.

I would personally avoid the Turanzas. One - they are overpriced, and two - there are plenty of better options.

I had some Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate tires on my old GTI, which I had up until 2019. I liked those tires a lot. They are really grippy for an all-season and seem great in wet and dry conditions. What's more is that they were quieter than the Continental ControlContact Sport A/S tires that were on the car before.

If you can find them, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4 are the ones to get.

I have the Goodyear Eagle Sport all-season tires on my Jetta and like them.

That said, I think putting all-season tires on a car like an IS509 is a travesty. The car is under-tired as is. I hope the stock tires don't last long so I can put some better summer tires on.

The wife's GS F runs on Michelin A/S3+ year round. They're good enough for any street driving and even most "performance" driving done on the street. I wouldn't track them and expect they'd be good for a whole session, but the first three or four laps would work just fine. People get too worked up about differences they'll never be able to exploit on the street.

Even in my IS 350 I have managed to find the limit of the Bridgestone Potenza S001L summer tires (which are the same as the IS 500's tires outside of the Launch Edition). In fairness, it was only 50-something degrees F outside, but that's still well within acceptable temps of a summer tire. But I was pushing enough to where I got a little wiggle from the rear of the car - as ole Joe Raiti would say, I "squared off the turn" lol! I'm thinking Michelin PS4S tires would be a good replacement. If I had to go all-season I'd go with either the Goodyear or Michelin tires.

I will say, at least these factory-fitted tires aren't hot garbage like the all-season Turanzas that were on my 2016 IS 300... yeesh. :D

I will never buy Bridgestone tires again... I have had 2 sets in the past and hated both of them. Noisy, rough riding tires in my experience.

You can drive summer tires year round, but it's just a little dangerous. I spent a couple years on Pilot Super Sport tires with the C7 and survived just fine. The car could break traction on command at any legal speed when it was cold, just had to be easy on the gas. I ended up replacing them with Michelin AS 3+ tires when they wore out and never looked back. I didn't notice a loss of dry traction, definite improvement in wet and cold traction, and they didn't fling rocks every where from being so damn sticky.

When the tires need to be replaced on my future IS 500 I will replace them with whatever Michelin AS tires are best at the time.

I have worked for both Lexus and BMW. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires are arguably the best Max Performance Summer Tire available, in EVERY category. Their reviews are stellar, and are even BETTER than the Pilot Super Sport tires. I am getting a new set for my IS300 this spring! PHEnomenal tires. And these would be perfect for the IS500.

It's actually more than that.. https://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicl...-60-mph-times/

Also the 4.3 seconds in itself was a very conservative number. I have seen novice drivers, with the garbage Bridgestone tires from the factory, consistently nail a 4.3 second 0-60 time, in COLD weather where the car didn't even hook up correctly.

I could see in the right, reasonable conditions, with some nice sticky Michelins, getting closer to 4.0-4.1 seconds.

Remember that there is an enormous difference between 5.3 seconds and 4.3 seconds, and an astronomical difference between 3.3-4.3. Its not linear, for every second it takes an exponential increase in power, traction, elite and instant transmission shifts etc and in most cases AWD and launch control to start creeping under 4 seconds. This car does this without any of that, just a V8.

I put the MPS 4S’ on my IS 350 last year.

Total.
Game.
Changer.

Will immediately replace the Bridgestone’s with them when my IS 500 comes in.

Or mid engine :D

Bridgestone can and does make some very sticky tires - I think they still make the top tire for autocross street classes - but I think for a car like the IS500, comfort, noise and usability (meaning not flicking every damn pebble against the side of the car) are very important. What tires are supposed to come on the LE?