caverman

I'm going to see if I can find these. Right now, all I can find on DiscountTire and TireRack are the "T" rated ones which I don't really want to do.

I'm still researching though and haven't completely made up my mind. Everyone has their opinions and pros/cons for the different brands. I have to live with whatever I get for the next 4 -5 years so obviously I don't want to go out and pull the trigger on just anything. I'll probably second guess myself no matter which one I go with. I don't have to tires today of really even this week but I definitely need to get something pretty soon.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

Dont worry about the speed rating you shouldnt be hitting speeds of 110mph in your ls430 anyways, get what you can afford and make sure your shop does not use pound on wheel weights. Avoid ohtsu and falken there tires are crap and wear quickly, also get all seasons summer tires are a softer compound and wear out very quickly.

Bocatrip

No licensed installer should/will install T rated tires on your car. If they install anything under the recommended load rating of your car they can be liable. When I purchased my car 9 years ago, it came with brand new BF Goodrich tires. The car felt like jelly on the road with almost no steering control and wandering all over. I found out the old lady who owned it previously went to Sears and had the wrong load rating installed. I went to my local Sears and they immediately told me to pick out any other tire (W or V rated) with correct load rating and I can pay the difference if more expensive. No charge for exchange. I of course picked out the Michelin MXV4s which were available at that time.

caverman

Ugghhhh....chatted with someone on Tirerack.com and they recommended the Pirelli P7 which does have good reviews but I could have sworn I saw where some users were having an issue with them on highway driving.

They recommended the Michelin Premier over the Defender T&H (which looks to be the new passenger car version for the Defender). At least that one has an "H" rating.

Johnhav430

I've been dealing with them since I think the 80's as a child. My parents always ran 4 snows and they let me choose what to get. I think it was done by phone and a credit card back then. So you're not going to be too far off if you listen to their recommendation. Once I even got rims with the wrong offset, and they took care of everything at their expense, top notch.

With us, we have options because we can either drive to the TR distribution center (no ship, no tax, which I did for the LS430's snows/rims), or more often than not now, Costco in DE for no tax. I like Costco because it seems the warranty will be good for life. Pretty sure TR includes something for free now to compete.

Bocatrip

Caveman.....I was one of those users who purchased the P7s from tire rack and after 1,000 miles returned them because of the isolated feel on the highway. I replaced them with Michelin MXM4s purchased at Costco which I absolutely love. Good luck with whatever you decide.

caverman

And then the guy I talked to the other day at DiscountTire said to go with the Yokohama over the Michelin since they were just as good but would save me $150. The difference would be about $750 for Yokohama vs $900 for Michelin.

deadguy

The T&H is what I have, and I would choose this tire over the Premier any day after driving on both.

Gronemus

Liable for what??? There is no law against putting a lower rated tire on your car. Almost all winter tires are significantly lower in rating than the standard tire spec'd for that same car...

Bocatrip

Gronemus

But you are confusing the load index with the speed rating. The question was whether he can use a T rated tire instead of an H rated one. T and H are speed ratings not load. See here: linky...

warminwisc

OK one more time some of you might have known this was coming, lol as I have posted this B4.

I got some Turanza T's for my 98 Honda as my 2003 mini van called for T's and I saw the wear ratings on T's where like 70k miles but Honda was rated for H's (but I got the T's thinking I would get more miles than the 45k rating on the H's.) After 3 days my arm was so tired driving 90 miles R/T to work I took em back and got the H's and my car did not seem vague and I did not have to constantly steer my Honda and my arm was fine. The two tires where identical tread and tire in every way but speed rating.

Now cars may vary but this experience was an eye opener for me.

Bocatrip

Johnhav430

I think you guys are overthinking this...they're tires.....you are often going to get what you pay for, so you can go to the head of the class by getting Premiers. What will you complain about then? The price, and the appearance of the outer edges having slivers falling off (personally I don't like it, Michelin says normal and don't worry), and the shallow tread as it starts at 8.5/32, not 11/32. Will your car suffer as a result? Not likely.

Or, you can go the other extreme, and get what came on my car, Rydanz Roadster 02's, they cost about $90, and what will happen? Nothing, they will be great in the wet, great in the dry, and 20k miles later, they will have more tread than a Premier starts out at....the Rydanz are W rated to 168 mph (this is self reported so I wouldn't take the LS430 up to 168 mph, I don't even think it can go beyond 130, unlike the original which may do 147). Just my thoughts, there is nobody here that has enough money, to conduct their own tire test of say 12 tires, and rate them over 1,000,000 miles, and then provide a scientifically valid report. So why not let the folks who can do this, make some recommendations, and follow them knowing ymmv....come's a time, when the blind man takes your hand, says don't you see

caverman

I'm know I'm starting to beat a dead horse here but I'm just about to pull the trigger. Every time someone recommends a tire someone else will have a reason not to buy it. Over in the 4th Gen LS section someone just happen to post that Pirelli will have a $70 rebate for a set starting in 3 more days and they also recommended the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus. I think I've narrowed it down between the Pirelli and the Michelin Defender T+H. The Pirelli is a "V" tire and the Defender is "H".

I called DiscountTire (TireRack's prices are higher for both) and they would have to order both brands and it will take a day to get here. The turn key price for the Pirelli is $671 ($600 if the rebate does happen in a couple days) and turn key price for the Michelin is $796. I'll probably wait out the next few days but if they do give a $70 rebate then I'll probably just pull the trigger on Pirelli. Even without the rebate I'm leaning to Pirelli just due to the price and just hope they are as good as some have said.