GS430 Tires
 

Drove the wifes 2001 GS430 today, for the first time in about six months. The tire noise is a joke. Sounds like it is running on "Greyhound Regrooves". The car only has 3,000 miles on it and now I see why I never drive it. What is a quiet tire that will not degrade handling? It almost sounds like it has four bad wheel bearings. Hard to believe that Lexus would put such a noisy tire on such a nice car. My GX470 does not have anywhere near the tire noise, and it is an SUV!! Tried the search thing, but most threads were a couple of years old. Looking for the best tire that I can put on. Thanks, Skip

skip...

do you have stock bridgestone 030 tyres? if so, they are quite noisy..BUT not that loud..perhaps have the dealer take a look

when needed, these are good choices:

-SP5000, dunlop
-yokos ES100
-yokos, avs db
-sp 9000, dunlop
-falken st115

in random order..

btw, 01 and only 3 k miles..wow

the GX..... that's all season tires i believe, and that's not low profile tires like that on the GS, of course its not noisy. it would be a shame if it's noisy

the tires on the GS are summer performance tires, it's for performance and it's a bit low profile so it's a bit noisy. you can get some all season and it would be a lot quieter, but you lost performance, so it's up to you

What is the exact tire size on the car? & are you thinking of replacing them?

The tires are 235/45-17. They are RE030s. The noise that they make is more of a growl at low speeds. You can even feel it in the steering wheel. I have had many cars with performance tires and never had a sound like this. My Ford Lightning truck has 295/45-18 Goodyear F-1s and they are quiet compared to the Bridgestones on the Lexus. Due to their size, SUV tires make more noise than car tires. The tire noise that I have is not a high speed noise. They are not "singing" at speed, they are growling at low speed. Skip

I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM
 

Skip,
I had the same problem with the 17's, and there is no easy answer. It all depends on your "tolerance" for noise. I was looking for a car with the 17's a few years back, and I found that I could not stand the noise. The Bridgestones are "tolerable" when new, but that fades quickly. 3000 miles on a 2001 is low miles indeed. I wouldn't expect them to be that noisy at such low miles.

I decided to go with the stock 16's for quietness and haven't been disappointed. I've done it twice. After the first car was wrecked, I started checking around again. I REALLY wanted the 17's because I like the way they look and how the car handles. But I use my car EVERYDAY, and I found the noise too objectionable to handle. I also tried a car with 18 inch wheels, and got a lot of "roaring noise". Nothing against anyone else, but if you can stand the noise go for it. I do like comfort, so for me, it was a no brainer to go back to 16's. The second car has the Michelin Pilot A/S tires, and they are pretty stiff, but no noise. They are a lot stiffer than the Yokohama's I had on the first GS.

I realized that I compromised, but tires are all about compromise anyway, aren't they? You give up something to get something. So for me, the 16's are fine. Just my $.02

GSEREP1

I'm personally not at all a fan of Bridgestone tires (not specififally your model) but one suggestion would be to try & sell your existing tires since they have very low mileage on them & get your self a set of new ones (are you staying with the same size?). Check out www.tirerack.com or www.tiretrends.com I would recommend (for an excellent "all season" high performance tire) either the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S or the Continental Extreme Contacts. Toyo also has a brand new tire called the Proxes 4 but it's so new, I have not heard much about them from those who have them.

Quiet
 

For the quietest choice in your size I recommend the Bridgestone Turanza LS Z or the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S.

The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, Continental Extreme Contact or the brand new Toyo Proxes 4 would be on my short list (Tire rack unfortunaltely does not carry Toyo tires but go to several tire shops that do carry them as well as the others to get some other opinions). You can also check out www.tiretrends.com make sure you put the tire size in on the right side of your screen to get all the available brands in your size. :)

Buy Pirelli PzeroNero M&S They are all season, ultra high performance, quieter than all the other recommendations, outperform, and about $700 a set of 4 for you 17's. Trust me on this I have had the rest any questions pm or email me. Buy the way I have a GS430 and from a stand still in the rain they won't break lose with out power braking them.

The Pirelli's do not have as good an over rating as the Continti's nor the Pilot Sport A/S, pretty much the same treadlife, traction & temperature rating however........same with the new Toyo Proxes 4. It depends what your requirements are & how you want the tire to perform. I'd suggest to phone several good tire dealers that carry all the brands mentioned here & ask them what they would recommend & why. Tell us what they said & compare prices. I personally have never driven on a better tire in heavy rain & huge puddles of standing water than the Pilot Sport A/S! They were awesome to say the least. Good Luck. :)

Out of the Pilot A/S or the Conti's The Pzero-Nero is quiter alot cheaper and the ratinh difference is by .1 !! I have had friends with the Pilots on a GS and they hated : noisey, brake loose to easy, and way too Expensive.
So its:
Pilots::thumbdn:
Conti's:thumbdn:

:thumbup: Pirelli Pzer-Nero M&S :thumbup:

:rolleyes: The Pilot Sport A/S were not noisy at all :rolleyes: Did you drive with the PS A/S tires on your car? :egads: Fairly expensive yes, but there isn't a UHPAS tire better in the rain (especially heavy rain) than the Pilot Sport A/S......except perhaps the Falken 512's :thumbup: And as I mentioned before, it depends on what requirments you need in a tire. And they are Pzero, not Pzer as you have them. ;)

Thanks for the spelling lesson Lexfreak :egads:

These are the Ratings of the two tires and below is the price

Pilot A/S P-zero Nero M&S

HANDLING RATING 8.70 8.80
DRY TRACTION 9 9
WET TRACTION 8.8 8.7
SNOW TRACTION 7.3 7.3
RIDE COMFORT 8.3 8.7
NOISE COMFORT 8.1 8.8
WEAR 8.1 8.5
$192 $122

Pilots are good tires Lexfreak just feel the Nero is better and $70 cheaper a tire Thats $280 a set :eek2:
No hard feelings Lexfreak

I have the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 17" 245/45 on my GS. They were quite when they were new. After 4000 miles or so, the tires became noisy. I do like the rougher ride, (not like a RAV4 where I can barely hear the passenger talk) but a cross between an ES and a mini ford pickup. The rim guards on the Pilot Sport is terrible though. Anyone know a tire with a performance of a Pilot Sport but with great rim guards? The pot holes in my area are killing my rims. I pay over six fgures in property and misc. taxes last year and I would love to see the day at least one pot hole will be repaired. ( Again that's another story.)