LFA replacement tires
Thread Starter
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,285
Likes: 43
From: NV
LFA replacement tires
I was surprised to be told by Lexus that Bridgestone only made one production run of the OEM S001's designed specifically for the LFA, and that run ended in 2012. So all the OEM special S001's are at least 5 years old, and my dealer has basically said they won't install tires that old on any car.
So what are other owners putting on their LFAs for replacement tires?
So what are other owners putting on their LFAs for replacement tires?
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,378
Likes: 2,778
From: Calgary, AB
Quite ridiculous, if you ask me, but those S001 tires were OK at best.
Good thing is, there are better tires for LFA than the S001. The P4S is the best tire these days that everyone is raving about. You can try the Nurburgring Edition RE-070 tires, but looks like the P4S would all around be the better tire. My RCF is still too new with only 14.000 KM, but I plan on putting the P4S on my RCF in two years once I have to replacement. Best of all, they are XL tiress, which means "Extra Load". Essentially, they have some reinforcements in the tire wall to resist tire roll under high G turns. My RCF's PSS it came stock with are non-XL versions and despite the suspension being very stiff, I had to inflate rears up to 38 PSI and fronts at 36 PSI to get decent tire wall stiffness.
Anyway, P4S is the best tire and luckily it is available in LFA size and are only available in XL for all applications. Everyone has been raving about them. Also, they are infinitely better than the so-so S001 tires LFA came with. I think you will notice better handling characteristics and traction with these tires.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+4S&frontTire=635YR0PS4SXL&rearTire=03YR0PS4SXL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Lexus&autoYear=2012&autoModel=LFA&autoModClar=
Good thing is, there are better tires for LFA than the S001. The P4S is the best tire these days that everyone is raving about. You can try the Nurburgring Edition RE-070 tires, but looks like the P4S would all around be the better tire. My RCF is still too new with only 14.000 KM, but I plan on putting the P4S on my RCF in two years once I have to replacement. Best of all, they are XL tiress, which means "Extra Load". Essentially, they have some reinforcements in the tire wall to resist tire roll under high G turns. My RCF's PSS it came stock with are non-XL versions and despite the suspension being very stiff, I had to inflate rears up to 38 PSI and fronts at 36 PSI to get decent tire wall stiffness.
Anyway, P4S is the best tire and luckily it is available in LFA size and are only available in XL for all applications. Everyone has been raving about them. Also, they are infinitely better than the so-so S001 tires LFA came with. I think you will notice better handling characteristics and traction with these tires.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+4S&frontTire=635YR0PS4SXL&rearTire=03YR0PS4SXL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Lexus&autoYear=2012&autoModel=LFA&autoModClar=
Last edited by 05RollaXRS; Dec 18, 2017 at 11:14 AM.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 20
Likes: 3
From: Ny
I replaced my oem on my standard lfa last year with new Michelin pilot sport cup 2’s. Tires only have a 5 year shelf life for safety reasons. Sport cups will give you way more traction in dry conditions on warm/warmer days. If you track your car at all you are probably looking at 3 to 4 seconds difference per minute. Thats how much better they are. I will be having the sport cup 2’s put on my Nürburgring lfa in spring. FYI I literally joined just to respond to your post. The other tires mentioned in this thread are not made for an LFA
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,378
Likes: 2,778
From: Calgary, AB
I replaced my oem on my standard lfa last year with new Michelin pilot sport cup 2’s. Tires only have a 5 year shelf life for safety reasons. Sport cups will give you way more traction in dry conditions on warm/warmer days. If you track your car at all you are probably looking at 3 to 4 seconds difference per minute. Thats how much better they are. I will be having the sport cup 2’s put on my Nürburgring lfa in spring. FYI I literally joined just to respond to your post. The other tires mentioned in this thread are not made for an LFA
You are right, the Cup 2 (as far as ultimate grip goes) are the best tires especially for LFA that came with performance street tires with rather modest grip and the difference with be very substantial with racing slick tires. If one wants to be able to dry in both dry/wet then P4S would be the best choice.
Thread Starter
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,285
Likes: 43
From: NV
I replaced my oem on my standard lfa last year with new Michelin pilot sport cup 2’s. Tires only have a 5 year shelf life for safety reasons. Sport cups will give you way more traction in dry conditions on warm/warmer days. If you track your car at all you are probably looking at 3 to 4 seconds difference per minute. Thats how much better they are. I will be having the sport cup 2’s put on my Nürburgring lfa in spring. FYI I literally joined just to respond to your post. The other tires mentioned in this thread are not made for an LFA
Tons of guys over on the Cayman/911 forums have said they've had no problem in the wet with PSC2 either (apparently massively improved over the original PSC), so cold weather is my only concern and it doesn't usually get too cold here.
Last edited by gengar; Dec 20, 2017 at 04:24 PM.
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 20
Likes: 3
From: Ny
First LFA bought new in 2015 from local dealer. Didnt spec vehicle
(1st one)LFA ring was bought used within the last 2 monthsDont have many pics
Last edited by Goldenboys; Dec 23, 2017 at 07:39 AM.
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 20
Likes: 3
From: Ny
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 20
Likes: 3
From: Ny
Thanks, and welcome to the forums. I had already asked my dealer to check with corporate if they knew if any owners had put the PSC2 on (although still waiting to hear back). I think that's the best choice at this point.
Tons of guys over on the Cayman/911 forums have said they've had no problem in the wet with PSC2 either (apparently massively improved over the original PSC), so cold weather is my only concern and it doesn't usually get too cold here.
Tons of guys over on the Cayman/911 forums have said they've had no problem in the wet with PSC2 either (apparently massively improved over the original PSC), so cold weather is my only concern and it doesn't usually get too cold here.
Driving normal in the rain they are fine. Sincewe have snow winter isnt an issue either for me since car is stored 4 months out of year during winter. Warm weather grip is amazing. Night and day with the oem tire. Go for the heat cycling from tire rack. I did and compared to the cars i have with same tire without heat cycle grip is up quite a bit plus it saves you from breaking them in incorrectly
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,378
Likes: 2,778
From: Calgary, AB
Cool. Thanks for the awesome pictures. Good to hear the Cup2 tires work very well even in rain. Not sure why Lexus fitted such a high performance supercar with modest grip. I believe chief engineer Tanahashi once said, he wanted the car to easy to oversteer on the race track to be rewarding for the driver. That is the only reason I can think of.
Thread Starter
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,285
Likes: 43
From: NV
Just as an update, Lexus corporate says they won't recommend any specific tires. It's amazing how much a night and day difference things are now compared to when the car was first released in terms of owner support. I remember way back when Lexus corporate was batting around creating a private, LFA-owner-only internet community which would allow direct interaction with other owners as well as with corporate specialists. That never wound up coming to fruition, but still, now they don't even care enough to figure out long-term OEM tire support for the cars or even just see what tires owners are putting on.
To be fair, it does seem they are doing a good job with the airbag recall (at least based on other owner reports - I haven't had the recall done yet), but the lacking response from corporate makes me a little concerned about long-term support.
Anyway, I ordered the PSC2s and will update further.
To be fair, it does seem they are doing a good job with the airbag recall (at least based on other owner reports - I haven't had the recall done yet), but the lacking response from corporate makes me a little concerned about long-term support.
Anyway, I ordered the PSC2s and will update further.
Pole Position
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,551
Likes: 185
From: IL
While it feels strange, I can see some content for them not "identifying" a new tire.
The example comes from my NSX experience.
I asked one of the Acura Corporate based NSX Specialists if the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S would be recommended for the car.
The reply was that they do not expect to. They have had issues with previous some unnamed Michelin tires regarding how they do with repeated mounting and dismounting.
My understanding is that Michelin was asked to go back and work on the issue and some how the relationship went South.
So basically Acura wants a certain amount of performance in xyz categories in order to make a recommendation. We currently have the Sport Contact summer tire all cars are delivered with and pretty much no one wants, the Trofeo R track oriented tire, Sotto Zero 3 or Pilot Alpin 4 for winter.
Maybe the tire companies do not see enough in it for them a t this point to spend the money to get a tire recommended for the LFA.
The example comes from my NSX experience.
I asked one of the Acura Corporate based NSX Specialists if the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S would be recommended for the car.
The reply was that they do not expect to. They have had issues with previous some unnamed Michelin tires regarding how they do with repeated mounting and dismounting.
My understanding is that Michelin was asked to go back and work on the issue and some how the relationship went South.
So basically Acura wants a certain amount of performance in xyz categories in order to make a recommendation. We currently have the Sport Contact summer tire all cars are delivered with and pretty much no one wants, the Trofeo R track oriented tire, Sotto Zero 3 or Pilot Alpin 4 for winter.
Maybe the tire companies do not see enough in it for them a t this point to spend the money to get a tire recommended for the LFA.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,378
Likes: 2,778
From: Calgary, AB
Very odd no one is picking up NSX with the Trofeo R slick tires considering the car was tuned to run on slicks.
While it feels strange, I can see some content for them not "identifying" a new tire.
The example comes from my NSX experience.
I asked one of the Acura Corporate based NSX Specialists if the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S would be recommended for the car.
The reply was that they do not expect to. They have had issues with previous some unnamed Michelin tires regarding how they do with repeated mounting and dismounting.
My understanding is that Michelin was asked to go back and work on the issue and some how the relationship went South.
So basically Acura wants a certain amount of performance in xyz categories in order to make a recommendation. We currently have the Sport Contact summer tire all cars are delivered with and pretty much no one wants, the Trofeo R track oriented tire, Sotto Zero 3 or Pilot Alpin 4 for winter.
Maybe the tire companies do not see enough in it for them a t this point to spend the money to get a tire recommended for the LFA.
The example comes from my NSX experience.
I asked one of the Acura Corporate based NSX Specialists if the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S would be recommended for the car.
The reply was that they do not expect to. They have had issues with previous some unnamed Michelin tires regarding how they do with repeated mounting and dismounting.
My understanding is that Michelin was asked to go back and work on the issue and some how the relationship went South.
So basically Acura wants a certain amount of performance in xyz categories in order to make a recommendation. We currently have the Sport Contact summer tire all cars are delivered with and pretty much no one wants, the Trofeo R track oriented tire, Sotto Zero 3 or Pilot Alpin 4 for winter.
Maybe the tire companies do not see enough in it for them a t this point to spend the money to get a tire recommended for the LFA.