Gainesvill

Anyone with jitter problem talked to dealer yet? I am bringing it in this coming Wed.

By the way, isn't wheel/tire insurance only for blowouts / obviously bent wheels? I was offered the insurance when I bought the car, but I cornered the Sales Manager to admit that they will not replace / pay anything unless the tire blows out or if the wheels are very obviously messed up.

Mike_TX

The wheel and tire insurance coverage may vary by provider, but basically it covers tires that are not repairable, so it doesn't necessarily have to be a blowout ... just not repairable. For instance, a nail in a sidewall area is considered not repairable. Ditto for punctures beyond a certain size.

But my coverage pays for repairs as well.

As for the wheel, you would have to damage the wheel sufficiently that it will no longer hold air, or in such a way that it would be considered unsafe. Unsafe could mean a cracked wheel or one with, say, a piece of the lip broken so that it might cause a bead break or loss of air in the future, etc., or one that is bent so as to cause an alignment issue.

IOW, it's not for minor stuff, and it certainly doesn't cover "stupidity", like curbing your wheel while parking. It's intended primarily for major damage, and when you consider the cost of one wheel - or even a tire - it's not really a bad deal, IMO.
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Gtidan

Having just purchased a new IS250 and coming from a Mercedes I too had the feeling the Lexus rode hard. But look at the tires you have. I went from 205/55s to 225/40s. No doubt about it the lower profile tires are not going to give you a soft ride. I did learn tonight, however, that the tire pressure was off. They were pumped up to 41 psi when the book calls for 35 front and 37 in the rear. After adjusting I found the car did ride 'a little better' but still very, very firm. But the handling? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh those tires really stick....

vlkcheng

I found the car very bouncey and nervous on bumps even with my first test drive with 17" alloys on. I then drove another one which has 16" alloy and found the ride was spot on. But then the car look very silly. I've planned to get 18 inch alloys with Kumho SPT KU31. I heard those tyres have very soft sidewall, I hope this will help to compensate the ride even though they are considered as low profile tyres.

ff_

Or the uneven tire wear. Or the loss of control in "emergency" situations.

StockIS350

depends what car you came from, to me the is350 is in bad need of a suspension kit, too soft, too much nose dive, too much body roll, to the stock suspension is too soft.

al503

FWIW, I just switched to Michelin PS2's up 10mm in width both front and back (235/40 and 265/40). Front tire noise went down as well as the choppy ride. It's still there but it is noticeably reduced.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I still want to talk to Penske or Moton about really fixing the problem.

Gainesvill

Mine is fixed. Dunlop tires suck. Dealer helped me out and swapped it with Bridgestones. Much better, very smooth now.

Gtidan

Forgive the 'newbie' here....but reading these threads reminds me of when I was a member of the Mercedes forum. Same sort of comments about the ride, the power, whatever. My question was than and is now this: Did you drive the car before you bought it? I did. And my first comment to the salesman was: Wow, this car rides pretty firm compared to my old C-230 Kompressor. In spite of this I purchased the car last Saturday and I'm slowly getting used to the ride. I have the 18 Inch rims. What I did do right away was check the pressure and found they were all jacked up to 41 psi. Once I adjusted the pressure to 35 front, 37 rear the ride, while still firm, is no longer what I would call harsh. In fact now I getting to like the feel.
And hey, it's week old and no malfunctions. With my C-230 it was already in the shop for a 'brake assist malfunction that took four trips to the dealer to finally fix. Needless to say...........I'm a happy camper so far

Gainesvill

There is an inherent problem with all Dunlops tires, IMHO.

Last Wednesday, the head diagnostic tech and I spent 2 hrs comparing the ride of my car to three other cars on the lot, two with Dunlops and one with Bridgestone.

All cars with Dunlops have the same characteristics: constant jitter/hop / bumpiness on the seat / thighs.
The car with Bridgestone (as well as my friend's Matador Red 250 AWD) does not have the jitter.

My previous car was 2000 BMW 323Ci - it also came with Dunlop (SP Sport 2000). It also has the jitter problem, along with shimmy. When I finally replaced the tire, all the problems went away.

When my BMW warranty expired, I went to a reputable BMW-only independent shop. The guys there told me that most Dunlops are considered "out of round" if compared with other tire brands.

al503

[QUOTE=Gainesvill;2089994]There is an inherent problem with all Dunlops tires, IMHO. QUOTE]

As I mentioned above, the choppy ride in mine was noticeably reduced when I went to the PS2's. However, at least mike_tx has the issue and I know he's riding on the bridgestones.

So, I think the dunlops are definitely not helping but I also think it's not the entire cause either.

Gainesvill

Update:

One week since Dunlop SP5000 replaced with Bridgestone RE92. Took car to a 3hr trip last weekend.
Ride difference is night and day. RE92 is much smoother; SP5000 is very bouncy. Love it!!

Downside is nosie level is significantly increased, but with the smooth ride, I am still very happy.

No Dunlops for me (also prior bad experience with Dunlop SP2000 on my previous '00 323).

omgitsroy

iTrader: (1)

i think it's very smooth... it handles nice also ... it turns very smooth.. i don't think people understand that there's a tradeoff between handling and ride comfort..

a previous post .. a guy that had a m3 before said that his ride was bumpier... his suspension is more tuned for handling not ride confort.

Your car is not responsive if it is overdamped. Overdamping will result in less control of your car. Have you guys taken hard turns in these cars? Now take the same turn with a different car and softer suspension..

this suspension is very very confortable in my opinion... people should really reconsider buying a different lexus model if they don't like the "sportier" feeling.

i'm loving my ride.... there's too much complaint about bouncy harsh rides here.. lexus didn't make this car for pure luxory.. it's sport luxory


am i wrong here? please someone correct me if i'm wrong

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

Got my IS350 with sport package last week, love the ride, no complaints, no vibrations no alignment issues (bridgestones came on the car woot), ride quality is good considering this is a sports sedan. I also came from a lowered prelude with rubberband like 215/35/18 tires. I guess I may be more tolerant to sportier and harsher rides. Mom rides in the car sometimes (she uses a avalon normally) and she doesnt have any complaints

just wait until those RE92s start wearing they will get very noisy and start losing lots of traction, had those tires on my prelude and it was terrifying in wet weather when they were getting past 60-75% worn. To give you an idea, if the road was wet and the road surface changed from asphault to concete or vice versa the RE92s would lose grip for a split second just driving over the two different road materials normally, happened many times and it was bone chilling. Check out RE92 reviews on tirerack if you dont believe me

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....l=Potenza+RE92
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=Potenza+RE92A