Ahhh c'mon. I'm driving a car that has 30 year old tires on it, they're not nearly as dangerous as the fools on the roads. But I agree that the original Bridgestones are horrible. Mine were on there until about 25k miles, and they were horrible when removed.

 

It's just not a good idea. Everything has a lifespan, and the age span of a modern tire is well shorter than 9 years old. At this point the rubber is brittle and cracking, failure could happen at any time. On top of that, he isn't getting as much out of the car as he could be on good tires.

Driving a classic car gingerly on antique tires is different than a daily driver modern car driving around on tires that old.

A set of tires for this car is ~$1000. Only part of the car that connects it to the road. Small price to pay for safety and enjoyment out of such an expensive car IMHO.

Do some reading on the subject:

http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/tires...-in-six-years/

 

Holy cow! In reality, I just got through doing a big ole smoky burnout a couple days ago! And these 30 year old tires are not Michelins (I.E. they're not exactly quality). I drive the Scamp harder than the LS! When I was on the crap tires on the LS, I took full advantage of the Mark Levinson and didn't really notice anything detrimental with the crap tires. It's not like I was then, or am now, trying to set lap records at road Atlanta. I just cruise the big LS boat.

I'm not disagreeing with you SW15LS, but I'm expressing my perspective. I do think it's a good idea to send those Bridgestones to the scrap heap.

 

If you're driving it that hard, I wouldn't do that on tires that old. That's still a different thing though, it's not a car you put a ton of miles on or rely on daily, and those tires are from another era, construction is different. Modern tires, NHTSA and IIHS and other independent sources say you shouldn't keep tires that long, and for safety's sake that's good enough for me.

 

Michelin and others advise replacing tires every ten years regardless of tread wear, with checks every year after 5 years. Check your date stamps on the sidewall to check production date. Your environment is a huge factor in rubber condition. If I lived in Arizona for example, I'd probably replace the tires at 5 or 6 years.

 

[QUOTE=SW15LS;9878661]It's just not a good idea. Everything has a lifespan, and the age span of a modern tire is well shorter than 9 years old. At this point the rubber is brittle and cracking, failure could happen at any time. On top of that, he isn't getting as much out of the car as he could be on good tires.



A set of tires for this car is ~$1000. Only part of the car that connects it to the road. Small price to pay for safety and enjoyment out of such an expensive car IMHO.



The Uniroyal Tiger Paw's the seller put on my car feel great and a set will only run you under $600 mounted.

 

Even cheaper! No reason to ride around on old tires. Especially crappy tires like those Bridgestones

 

OLD THREAD

but wanted to throw my two cents in since when I was recently looking at tires for my car I read this post and wanted to echo the comments for future lookers

I bought an 08 ls460l came with old michelin mxm whatever on them. The ride was very rough, even when I deflated tires to 30 psi. After much reading on here for my other LS460 base 2 years ago I purchased pirelli cinturato p7 and it was smooth as butter compared to the michelins on LS460L.

I purchased a set of pirelli Strada's after reading that they are somewhat the same tire as the P7's.

I couldn't be happier.

NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE. even my wife was like the car rides a lot smoother and softer.

From now on the pirelli will be the only tire I put on my LS460's just like Michelin were the tire of choice for my Mercedes I used to own...

 

I've had the Pirellis on my car 4 or 5 years now. Probably mentioned putting these Pirellis on in this thread. I have 55k miles on the car now. Seems like I have about 30k miles on the tires now. They are plenty worn, ride kind of hard and don't feel so balanced. They were much better when new.

Not saying these tires are bad, but I expected more from them and will go back with another brand ... likely Michelin.

 

All tires are much better when new lol

I really wish I could get these tires on my S560...I tried the new Michelin Tour A/S and returned them, I have the older Michelin Primacy MXM4 and they are okay, bit not as soft and quiet as the Pirellis.

 

Wow, I had the exact opposite experience of both of y'all....maybe my Michi's I got on car were Garbage....

 

To be clear, I'm saying the Pirellis are much better tires than the Michelins.

 

Gotcha...other person who posted stated dissatisfaction with Pirelli's...

 

Off topic... never mind. Found thread. Thanks

 

New post for 2023. What is everyone enjoying on their LS these days?

I just picked up my L model and am looking at all seasons prioritizing (you guessed it), comfort and quiet. Current tires are Bridgestone Turanza EL42 (245/45R19), which appear to be the car's original set from 2015.
These also have to be some of the worst reviewed tires on Tirerack: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/bridgestone-turanza-el42

For the cherry on top, the dealer inflated 3 of them to 50 PSI, one to 40.
Still managed to ride well despite that and being nearly worn out, but now I'm even more excited for proper tires!

Pirelli Cinturato P7 appear to be unavailable in my size.