When I purchased an SC430 a number of years ago I had the dealer replace the standard run flats (HARDS) with a good set of tires. Never had a flat in over 6 years. Kept a cigarette lighter powered pump in the trunk

 

I guess that modifying the original fitment is a compromise some are willing to accept. Only two 21'' options are OEM homologated for the LC. The Michelin fitted on our cars (for North America and Europe) and a Bridgestone for the Asian market. Michelin had to develop over forty variations of their Pilot Super Sport before receiving final approval from the Lexus Engineers. Homologations are already common for high end German cars and I for one will stick with the Michelin upon replacement, even if though I hold a management position for a competitive tire manufacturer.

 

Wish I had the Michelin! Instead have Bridgestone (which I suspect is designed for the LC0 and am definitely not in Asia

 

I should of specified that the Pilot Super Sports are homologated for the performance package.

 

Thanks for the response, but I have the performance package (deployable spoiler, etc.) but still got stuck with the Bridgestones.

 

Then you should also have an homologated tire specifically tuned for the LC. The model should say S001 followed by the letter ''L'' as in Lexus. Not too shabby as this was also chosen to be OEM fitment on the LFA.

 

^^^^The S001 is very similar to the Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position S-04 replacement tire. I run the S-04 on my ISF. I think it's a GREAT tire.

Lou

 

The OEM Michelin tires performed better in track testing reports I've seen, and have better treadwear and traction ratings. However, the Bridgestone was specifically designed for the LC as an overall driving tire (not primarily for aggressive track driving). One cool (purely cosmetic) feature on the Bridgestone tire is the series of Lexus "L"s around the edge of the sidewall (yes, this was intentionally designed into this tire!).

 

 

Yes, that's what I have.

 

hey guys, I'm a relatively new LC owner here. Have a long history with Lexus and but this is a special car. Unfortunately winter is around the corner and looking at options for tires.

Wondering, those that drive their LC's during the winter, what tires are you using? Read in a few places Pirelli Scorpion winter's work in our size though they seems to be designed for SUV's.

Also, for TPMS, I've heard they're a headache (need to be reprogrammed every time you switch tires). Friend recommended I just deal with the dash warning during the winter and avoid hassle of reprogramming. If I don't reprogram, will the summer tires automatically work 4 months later without error? They'll be in storage since i'm using a second set of rims for my snows.

Appreciate the advice, look forward to contributing to the board.

 

From what I've seen on TireRack - the Pirelli Scorpion tire is the only winter-rated tire available in the LC stock size - and that's only for the 20" rims. If you have 21" rims - there are no viable options (summer-use tires only). And - the 20" Scorpion is not a run-flat tire, so you need to consider how you want to deal with potential tire damage while on the road (spare, jack & tools, tire sealant, etc). Clearly not the best winter vehicle.

Good TPMS question - not sure how long the the system will remember the programmed settings. I know they will automatically recognize the original sensors after a few days of being off the car (since I've done that several times), but not sure about 4 months. My guess is - the system will always remember the last programmed IDs, but it might be worth asking a Lexus service manager. You will get annoying notifications about the TPMS system error - if you have the Lexus app installed.

If you're gonna have the tires swapped onto the same rims each time, your sensors will of course still work. If you're getting a complete tire/rim winter setup, there are after-market companies that make cloneable sensors - so you can conceivably have a duplicate set of sensors with the same IDs. But do some research first... I've heard the after-market cloneable sensors sometimes have issues, like short battery life, and other flakiness.

 

Leaning towards the route of a tire sealant as a backup to lexus roadside (saved me twice on my last car). Any recommendations on a good sealant?

Yes, I purchased a set of the 20in OEMs plan on swapping each year. Hoping the tpms error notification won't be super annoying (will delete the lexus app as I don't use it anyways). Appreciate the advice uchujin!

 

Does the LC 500 support 2 sets of TPMS sensors like earlier Lexus models?

Lou

 

I heard from my service manager that Lexus/Toyota did away with that capability several years ago. I guess there used to be a button behind the glove box or under the dash somewhere to switch between 2 sets. I wish they still had this capability - seems so useful to me. The story that got relayed to me is - too many service calls from people not using it properly, and also not enough demand to justify the cost.