TripleL

Well my plan for getting new tires next summer got expedited last night when a pothole in front of a railroad crossing ripped apart my passenger front tire Oh well stuff happens but with 22K miles on my current tires (Bridgestone RE92s) I've decided just to replace all 4 tires now ipo next summer.

I've been researching this for the last year in preparation of getting new tires (225/50R17) as I'm looking for a Quiet, smooth running A/S tire that will take me through the rain and occasional light snow and ice we get here in New England.

My research here on CL and Tirerack brought me to the Serenity’s about 9 months ago. So before I pull the trigger: CL have you heard/experienced anything recently that you could share to either reinforce getting them or something that would tell me opinions have changed about this tire? Really appreciate any feedback.

The only other tire I'd consider would be the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus. I like Michelins a lot and have always had great experiences with them. Plus my brother has them (prev version to the Plus) on his LS and loves them. It’s the tire I would get if the Serenity didn't work out, but I think it’s 'too much' tire for me as I'm not a real aggressive driver and I have heard some people comment about some issues with these on GSs or something.

Thanks in advance for you comments and feedback.

Larry

RON430

The Pilot Sport is a high performance tire. It will always have better performance than the Serenity. Regardless of what you see posted, it will also always be noisier and harsher than the Serenity. The Serenity is not a high performance tire and when people talk about noise and ride harshness they are inevitably talking about within the category. So the Pilot is a quiet, good riding, high performance tire while the Serenity is a quiet, good riding touring tire. But the Pilot will perform better while the Serenity will be quieter and ride better.

I have been through a lot of tires on my 2k1 GS430. I finally decided that noise was my major concern. The Serenity is the quietest tire I have had on my GS and I have been through various Michelin, Pirelli, Goodyear, Yokohama, and Bridgestone tires. Handling is quite good for its class. Haven't looked at the Michelins lately but the Serenity, like most tires, advertises rim protection. This is the first tire I have had where I can actually see a rib in the tire close to the rim that is meant to protect it from rash. Can't say it will really work but at least it isn't marketing hype. The roads that I travel are awful and I am simply fed up listening to tires howl. Every tire I have had gets spectacularly noisy. And quickly. The high performance tires are simply not worth the howl to me. I don't think I ever came close to wearing out a high performance tire. I replaced them because I got fed up with the noise. I have probably 6K miles on the Serenity's and I am still happy.

Hope it helps. Good luck

TripleL

Thanks Ron430! Your response is extremely helpful. I remember (and saw in my search) you posted about these tires when you first got them and you were happy. I glad to hear you are still happy with them.

And Yes me too, I'm looking for quiet and smooth as my prioritys for sure. Our roads here must be similar to yours cuz they are harsh on tires so the rim protection would be nice too.

Thanks again for the detailed first hand response, I appreciate it. Will be interesting to see what others have to say too.

Larry

RON430

No problem, you are very welcome. It's hard for me to rationalize the Serenity's. Everyone likes to mod their car and tires are pretty easy. And you kid yourself that a set of uber tires turns your Lexus into a Porsche. Doesn't work that way. But I still enjoyed picking out ultra high performance tires.

I've replaced some of those things with not even 15K miles because I just couldn't stand the wailing. Occasionally I will be out and hit a stretch of good pavement and I am impressed how quiet my car is. But those stretches are few and far between around here. Like I said, I just declared defeat. There are still plenty of stretches of road where even the Serenity's are pretty loud but that's just what happens. Overall, I am pretty pleased with them. Ride is pretty good but I have Bilstein Sports and TRD Blue sways so I am definitely on the sporty side of the ride equation anyway.

SH212

perfect time to upgrade your rims

TripleL

@ Ron430 -- Agreed! that's exactly where my head is at now. Thanks again man!

@ Sholmy -- That would be nice, but not this time around my friend!

SH212

all good we'll wait on the next pothole you go threw

s_m

+1

I'm kicking myself for not putting these on my 06 GS300 sooner. If road noise is your top concern, then you will not be disappointed with this tire.

TripleL

Thanks again for the responses! The other day I posted a comment about tires in another thread and it occurred to me I hadn't followed up on this thread, so here goes....

I purchased the Serenity's in January from the dealer and had them on my car for about ~6 weeks. As many of you have stated they were quiet!!! They also handled, in dry weather, pretty much like the high performance RE92s that came standard on the car. To their credit the Serenity's handled much better then the RE92s in the rain and snow.

So why did I take them off after about 6 weeks? Simply put, I guess my tires came from a bad batch or something. The first day I drove home they really were not smooth. But I drove on them a week in hopes they would get better but they did not. So I went back for another road force balancing. Three of them were off so they rebalanced them. Driving home it was OK, but not great, and I drove on them some more and they got worse. Third visit (btw the dealer's service dept was awesome through this) they checked the tires again and 2 were off and 1 of them was actually not round. They showed me by spinning the tire you could actually see a 'high' spot or whatever you call it. So the replaced the tire and I'm on my way. Drove it some more and the ride quality was still OK but not great, brought it back and another tire had that 'high spot' on it.

At this point I just went back to old faithful and requested 4 new Michelin tires, specifically the Pilot Sport A/S Plus. They put em on and I'm happy as a clam. They are very quiet and smooth as silk. On dry pavement you can definitely feel a difference in handling (which you would expect from an Ultra High Performance tire) and they have been awesome in rain and light snow (haven't had them in deep snow yet).

After Driving on the Michelin's for 2 months now, I can honestly say I like them more and more each day.

GS2006

If it was not for the drifting, I would have been very very happy with the Pilot Sport A/S Plus.
I now have the PS2 and they don’t drift, but they sure are loud especially on concrete highways. When I went in for my tires, I was planning on getting the Serenity. They tire guy said he would give me the PS2 for the same price which was enticing. Then enticed with the 45k tread with A/S Sport Plus .. With less than 100 miles on the PS2, I like the feel of the A/S Sport tire better. No whine, howl or flutter with A/S like the PS2 .

TripleL

I've heard of drifting with the A/S (wasn't sure about Plus until I read your post here) on the 3GS. Hasn't been an issue on my 2IS thankfully, in fact she tracks straight and smooth. I didn't know about the noise with PS2s but I do know that tire is suppose to handle great!

PS speaking of price I think the Pilot A/S are within a buck or two of the Serenity.

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

Glad to hear you like the A/S Larry! I got a nail this morning and they're a tire I was considering

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Serenity is more to the Comfort side. The best summer tires, IMO, are the Yokohama S-DRive. Cheaper than Michelins.