Jim Rohr

Somebody suggested I try a set of Pirelli P6 All Road 225/55R17 on my 2001 LS. They were ordered from Tire Rack in South Bend and mounted/balanced locally. I absolutely dislike these tires. The abnormal road noise is incredible; not what I expect to hear in my Lexus driving experience. I have 15,000 miles on them and the noise gets progressively louder.

I took the car into my Lexus dealer and told them of my woes. They did a road force measurement balance test (for a $120!!! ) and came back with a recommendation that I replace 3 of the 4 tires. I called Pirelli NA and told them that I wanted to pursue a warranty claim on the remaining life of the tire. They sent me to a Pirelli tire dealer who came back with his view that the tires are not balanced correctly citing a Lexus Service Bulletin SU003-00 re: 17 inch Alloy Wheel Balancing procedure . Is anyone familiar with this bulletin? Does the Pirelli dealer know what he's talking about?

I don't know if I'm going to get anywhere soon with Pirelli, but everyday I get more aggravated by the mile with these tires on my car. Could the bottom line be that this tire is absolutely unsuited for the type of ride Lexus engineers had in mind for the LS430? Suggestions anyone?

Lexusfreak

Pirelli won't do anything about your concern now.......I'd get as much mileage out of these tires as you can & replace them with something like the Goodyear Assurance Triple Treads or another good premium all season.

Here is the Pirelli chart:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=1

Here is the Goodyear Triple Tread chart:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=6

The Triple Treads have a 80,000 mile warranty to boot! Something to consider down the road. The Pirelli's you got are not a very good tire for your LS I'm sorry to say.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

I had some Pirelli P6 tires a few years ago on an E-class MB. They were hands-down the biggest POS tires I've ever owned. Period. They would not stay balanced for more than a few hundred miles at a time (balance them, they run good for a few miles, then start bouncing, rebalance, run good for a few miles, then start bouncing again, repeat) and they were noisy. I took them back to the dealer and told him that they belong in the dumpster. The dealer was nice enough to give me full credit towards a set of Michelin MXV4s (if I recall correctly), were were wonderful on that particular car.

Jim Rohr

I6Turbo was fortunate that his tire dealer was so customer satisfaction oriented and took the disappointing Pirelli tires back for credit towards some Michelins. I was wondering how long you hung on to the tires hoping they'd improve? I've been living with these horrible tires for 15,000 miles. Like others responding to my post, I kept re-balancing the tires in hopes they'd get better. They only got worse. I wonder if the folks at The Tire Rack would be so generous with their return policy?

Lexusfreak

If you have 15,000 miles on the tires now, they will get worse before they get better.

Contact Brandon from tirerack & see if there is anything they can do.....even some sort of a 'pro-rated' credit towards another set of tires. I would give serious consideration to the Goodyear Assurance Triple Treads personally.......80,000 mile treadlife & they are off the charts in the traction department! Good Luck & keep us posted. Check out....

www.goodyearassurance.com

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=6

The Goodyears also come in the same speed rating as the Pirelli which is 'H' which is what Lexus calls for.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

I hate to admit that I shopped there (whole other argument on whether Wal-Mart/China Direct is a good thing for the country or not), but I got them at Sam's Club. If I recall, I probably had about 3 or 4 K miles on 'em when I gave up. Of course Wal-Mart (Sam's) can just tell the supplier (Pirelli) that they are warrantying the tires and the supplier will have to eat it. Other dealers don't have quite as big a hammer as Wal-Mart, so it'll be a bit more tricky to get satisfaction at this point. They should be willing to pro-rate them at least.

Lexusfreak

It would be nice if they could do that, but I wouldn't hold my breath personally.