Hey CL, just wondering what you all are using for tires on your ES' I would especially like to hear from you owners of the 97'-01' b/c i have a 2001 but others please chime in. I'm curious to know which tires you've had good experiences with or bad. I've checked out Tire Rack.com, but i would value your input on this one. Being in Canada, i drive with winter tires for about 4-6 months of the year and then summer/all-season for the balance. And i know everyone drives differently and under various conditions, so i'm not looking for the perfect tire, but simply getting your thoughts with your experiences. Thanks again.

Vas

Winter - Michelin X-Ice 205.60.R16
Summer - replacing oem Michelin MXV4 plus 205.60.R16

 

I had Goodyear Eagle GT-HR on my '97 ES and hated them.
3 of 4 ended up out of round after a minimal amount of miles.
They were slick in the wet and lousy in snow.
After a lot of looking I bought Nokian WR tires and they have been great.
Don't budge in wet and have done great in the little bit of snow we have had this year.
In a way I wish we would have gotten more snow to give them a really good test but I am
not complaining about a below normal snowfall winter.
Tires are on the pricey side but they have been great and highly encourage you to look into them.
Not affiliated at all.
Good luck.

 

winter in colorado can be interesting...like today its 59 and sunny....tomorrow supposed to rain and snow. so i wanted a good performing tire in the good weather and great performance when the weather turns. So i run the dunlop m3 sport. my buddy has the srt4 shown in my gallery(those were taken before the 10k in upgrades to his car) even though he's got 411fwhp he cruises just fine in the snow like i do, the other day at track day he was tearing up other cars on the track and his tires looked fresh as could be. the instructors were blown away. amazing what a little research can do.



summertime or cruisin at night i run pirelli's pzero 18x7.5 and they rock. it almost seems like there isnt a limit to how far i can push those tires. its really spoiling. Sure they wear out faster than most. but thats probably my fault for driving so hard on them

 

I'm running pirellis pzero nero a/s right now in upstate ny. They have good traction when its dry. But when it snows forget about it. Very little traction.......but enough traction to get me up hills tho. When I was driving up here with some hankook korean all season tires in my camry.....it was so dangerous......i couldnt go up any hills.....i was literally going backwards when i was WOT in first gear. =/

i find continental contixtreme contact the best all season performance!!!!

 

I'm riding Bridgestone Turanza LS-H on a set of '03 stockies in my '01 ES. The tires have only been on there since August '05 but they are great with no problems. Before that, I used to run Toyo Proxes TPT for a long time, and that IMO is an excellent choice for an all-season, performance tire for the Lexus ES

 

My tires came with dealer installed Michelin Harmony on my '00 es300. So far it is really nice and gripy on all surfaces and is also very quiet on highway driving ...

http://www.michelinman.com/catalog/t...inHarmony.html

But i am hoping to change it sometime in the future with something bigger and sportier. Havent decided from which company.. lot of thread is still left ...

 

My 02 ES came with Bridgestone RE92 (215/60VR-16)...........stay away from them. They are extremely quiet but have horrible traction in rain and snow.

I opted for Dunlop Sport A2 (215/60HR-16)............awesome traction in rain of all sorts and light to moderate snow. Downside is they got very loud and rough in the 2 years and 22,000 miles I put on them. Lastly, as expected and read about, the tread life was short. There wasn't much left when I recently got rid of them.

Last Friday I had a set of the newly introduced Michelin Pilot Exaltos A/S (215/60VR-16) put on. Now I have only put on about 150 miles but what a change. They are quieter than I remember the RE92s to be. We have had one rain storm and they held their own very well. No snow, so I can't speak to that. But I must say, they have returned by car to that smooth as silk ride I bought it for. Now it may be that they are just new, but I am overwhelmingly impressed with this new tire from Michelin. I only paid $130 each. That is what I paid for the Dunnies two years ago.


check out the michies.

steviej

 

General All-Season...

It's a '93 ES' @145k miles w/ stock rims, stock suspension, stock everything. Spending $500/4 or more on tires when I can spend $125/4 and still get nearly the same performance & capability in wet/dry conditions isn't appealing to me. Not to mention the Gen's give give double the tread-wear in terms of miles.

Now, if I owned an IS300, GS430, or SC300/400, obviously I'd use a performance oriented tire. Also, if my ES' had a sports-tuned suspension, different wheels/brakes, chassis/sway bars, and other upgrades, I'd be keen to use some rubber that would enhance all the mod's.

 

Running Contental Extreme Contact 225/40zr18 On 18x8 Rims In The Winter I Run Stock Rims And Tires On Michlin X-ice But Painted Rims Gun Metal

 

Dunlop Direzza DZ 101

 

Osiris i guess its "to each his own"
but when i lived in florida and texas i really couldnt care less. but here in colorado its worth the money to get good tires Not only are our speed limits 75 but the weather turns south pretty quick. I got caught with my pirelli's on and it decided to drop 30 degrees and snow between lunch time and when i got off work. lol boy that was fun.. but i also put more into my suspension and wheel/tire combo than most do.

kinda funny though how many people have to run 2 sets of wheels and tires. gotta love the change in seasons that some of us get.

 

3rdelemen, I know what you mean totally... when I lived in Penn, I needed winter tires for my Integra/Prelude & then summer tires. Talk about PITA!

I guess the premise of my post was that my ES' has been relegated to grocery-getter, family-cruiser, 'beater' status. I think a set of coilovers & aftermarket wheels would cost the same as the car's value, lol... and even then I wouldn't get the most outta them, the car's an ol' dog now sadly. It looks so damn good too.

I really don't mind that I can spend for (4) tires what I have to spend for (1) tire for the NSX... sigh! lmao...

Have a great weekend!

 

My LS400
stock summer 16's michelin mxv4 225/60 16
stock winter 16's michelin artic alpin
20 inch summers dunlop p9000's
being replaced with toyo t1r's 255/35 20 and 275 30 20

My ES300
stocks winter nordic trac 205/60 15(i think) have not used them in 5 or 6 years.
18 inch summers toyo t1-s 225/40 18
(never taken off for a few years as it is no longer driven in winter)

Buy tires from the states it is way cheaper

 

Factory size (205 60 16) Goodyear Assurance Triple Treads H speed rated. A fantastic, long tread life premium all season tire with awesome winter traction & wet weather grip! I would buy these again in a heartbeat.

 

i have a 96 with falken ziex 512.. they're awesome in rain and snow.. i barely dug my car out in that february snowstorm we had in nyc, while my neighbor's explorer barely moved. anyway they never let go of the dry pavement either. the only bad thing is road noise -- they transmit plently of it. but for $42/tire, it's an awesome deal.

stock wheels 205/65/15