We just bought a 2001 RX300, indigo pearl blue w/ factory crome wheels, Like the wheels hate the tire size. Does anyone have any suggestions on tire size, my husband knows it is a close fit, but can he change the with size? Any suggestions? PS we don't load vehicle down with weight it is just the 2 of us, combined weight of the 2 of us is maybe 250 wet!

 

235/70-16 is the largest you can replace the factory 225s with without rubbing on the rear strut.

 

Thank You, that is what he was thinking of but, wasn't sure if the 1/2" would matter. Hate to spend all that money on tires to have rubbing issues. Do you know if it affects the ride of the vehicle or not?

 

I've not upgraded our RX tire size and so can't speak from experience but, if anything, ride might be slightly softer since there would be a tad more sidewall to provided additional "cushion". That assumes same brand of tire, same number of plys, etc, etc. The bigger variable is actually the choice of tire.

If the Goodyear Integritys are the OEM tire, I'd suggest almost anything EXCEPT more of those. On the plus side, they are quiet and cheap. On the minus, they have poor traction in both wet and dry conditions, track poorly, and make the steering feel as if it's merely making suggestions as to where the RX should go. Michelin CrossTerrains and Bridgestone Dueler H/Ls are popular replacements (and the H/L is, I believe, now the OEM tire for the RX330). Just as quiet, just as comfortable, much better traction, handling, and steering feel, but more expensive.

Fwiw, my wife (who is not particularly a car buff or gearhead) cannot stand to drive the loaner RXs at our dealership any longer since they all have the Goodyears and feel so "floppy" compared to her RX. Fortunately, the RX300 loaners are being rotated out for 330s and IS300s. She's much happier now.

 

My husband and I could not agree with you more, the tires that come with the RX suck! I live in PA so there are a lot of hills, we are headed into snow season! We just bought the RX 1 month ago. I love it except for the tires! I have no traction. Thank you for your imput, it is greatly appricated, Michaeline

 

SC400, when roads are slippery I with cold/wet or icy conditions I run mine at the recommended pressure of 30 psi I believe, in snow I drop them to 27 psi, helps a lot imo. Had no probelms here in flatland, and love it in winter.

 

Thank you, I'm not sure about the tire presure, husband takes care of that, he is a gearhead from way back in the day. (he'd kill me for saying that, hehe). I will mention it to him. This will be our first winter with it, we bought it from Texas, like yours it is not 4 wheel drive. I think it will be fine. Definatly better then my SC400 was!

 

Haha! At least your 400 had/has TRAC. Lexus never did provide that for the SC300 5 spd manual (tho it was on the Supra TT), and traveling when it was very slick was exciting, to say the least. But then, that's why I bought the RX...........when you get to be my age, you don't need that much excitement anymore.

 

ROTFLMAO, I hear you, especially by the time I owned my SC400 I was 36. I damn near pissed my pants a couple of times! No I don't like driving in the snow and I deffinatly don't want to wrap my RX around a pole, thats why we need to get better tires. He (husband) was looking into some tires from the tire rack, I think dunlap or yakom??? type tire. Not to bad in price, for some reason I thought they would be more exspensive.

 

For my wife's RX330 I just got a new set of Bridgestone Blizzaks, Model WS-50 in a 235/55-18 inch size, pre-mounted on a set of Mille Miglia Spider 11 wheels in an 18 x 8 inch size, from Tire Rack. These look great and were mounted on Wednesday night. So when the snow flies she will be all set, and her stress level when driving in harsh conditions will be reduced considerably! Plus, I found that the ride and handling of these tires on dry pavement is much better than I anticipated.

Not sure if your husband is looking at all season tires or dedicated winter tires, but after doing a lot of looking around I believe that for RX330 owners who live in the north or in the mountains, the Blizzaks are the way to go. In fact, to the best of my knowledge the WS-50's are the only winter tires currently being made in the stock 235/55-18 inch size, and even these just came out about 2 weeks ago.

 

Thank You JRB!