As a new owner of a UL version of the ES350, I can attest to the stiffer ride. Actually, sometimes it feels like a truck. However, today I went and drove two ES' with 17" wheels on them. One had Bridgestone's and the other had Michelin's. Both drove better than my car, which I assume has everything to do with the 18" wheels on my car. The Bridgestone had a good bit of road feel and the Michelin's felt awesome. Working with Lexus to figure out how to get the Lexus ride back into my car that has 700 miles on it. The 18" wheels on this car was not a good idea!

 

I negotiated the swap of the standard wheels for the 18" wheels on my incoming ES300h. I now have buyers remorse after reading all the negative comments about the harsh ride the 18" wheels produce. I've emailed my sales person asking to leave the standard wheels on my car when it arrives. I'm very disappointed because I think the 18" wheels greatly improve the looks, but since I'm trading a 2013 RX450h because of the truck-like ride on all but smooth roads, I don't want to make another mistake.

 

Mike, I think the standard wheel on the hybrid is the 10 spoke 17". it's much nicer looking than the 6 spoke base wheel. Could be wrong, but all of the hybrids I saw had the 10 spoke on it. Think you will be happy with it. That may be the wheel I fall back to... now that I've paid $880 for the 18s.

 

I just had an email conversation with my sales rep who said she thought I would be happier with the 17" wheels. I'm not all that fond of the standard ES300h wheel, so I asked for the optional 17" ES350 wheels. Those are the "17" split 10 spoke alloy wheels with high gloss finish". These seem to be installed on all the ES350s at my local dealer. She agreed to the swap. I also asked that the Michelin Primacy tires be mounted on the wheels.

I hope you can reach a solution that will satisfy you. Keep us posted as to your progress.

 

Mike, I think you wheel be happy with that wheel. The 17" 10 spoke glossy is a nice wheel and what I'm probably falling back to. I've heard from multiple sources, even at Lexus, that people aren't happy with the ride of the 18. It looks great, but the ride just isn't there. Still working through the situation with the dealer and Lexus customer service. Will let you know what happens. Let us know when you get your car and how to like it.

 

Hopefully I have only a week more to wait, then drive 560 miles to get it. Maybe after picking it up I will be able to get some sleep

 

When I purchased my 2013 model, I also test drove a comparable 2012 model. One of the things I noticed immediately was how much quieter the 2013 model was. I started driving the 2013, then drove the 2012, then the 2013 model again. I am not sure what consumer reports is talking about, but my wife and I both agree that the 2013 model is significantly quieter.

 

I agree that the 2013 does seem to be quieter. I would have to agree with CR though, that the 2013 ride is a bit more stiffer.

 

I test drove a 2013 ES 350 last week and I also thought that the car was quieter than my 2008 ES. It was equipped with the standard wheels and tires BTW. I also noticed how much ligher the steering effort was with the new electronic assist system.

 

It's interesting hearing people saying how they feel the ride is uncomfortable with 18" wheels. I have an 04 ES 330, which came with stock 16" 205/60R16 wheels, and upgraded to 215/45R18 wheels. Both Michelin Primacy series tires. Before I upgraded my wheels I did a lot of research because I did not want to have a stiff ride with larger wheels. The ride is still very smooth and quiet, and I carefully monitored the ride and level of vibration before and after. This tells me that the ride quality has much more to do with the suspension and not the wheels, as the 4th generation ES is softly sprung, while later models have a somewhat stiffer suspension for less body roll.

 

I thought it was the 18" wheels giving me the rough ride because a lot of people were saying that, and Lexus also said it was the wheels and the low profile tires. In fact, I switched from Bridgestone's, or as I call them now, Brickstone's, and went to Michelin Primacy MXM4's and all my troubles went away. It's the tire, not the wheels.

 

I can't complain about the ride quality of my ES350, although I do think my 2010 Buick LaCrosse was slightly quieter.

Off-topic, but yesterday I had winter tires put on my ES350 and I was given a CT200h as a loaner. I could not believe how un-Lexus like that car was. The road noise was horrific and the suspension was so stiff that each minor bump I hit was bone-jarring. I expected this vehicle to ride somewhat like my old IS250 but was I ever wrong. I'm surprised that Toyota is trying to pass this thing off as a Lexus. The only Lexus-like part of this car is the price; sticker said $37K. For that kind of cash I would rather buy a Camry hybrid and have a better ride and money left over...

 

Cars on the lots usually have tire pressure set much higher because by nature, cars on lots sit for a long time from when they leave the factory. Think about the boat ride over from Japan, and then on the train or truck, and then on the lot. They are afraid of the tire getting a flat spot when it is not moved for a long time.

 

Just drove a long trip home over the weekend in a new UL ES350. Car is very quiet in terms of wind noise and the suspension reminds me of the previous generation LS which is really nice... HOWEVER on rough patches of freeways the road noise and ride suffer. It was especially annoying in places where for several miles you have expansion joints or deep bumps, not fun and jarring.

I have the "Brickstone" Turanza (had requested the Michelin) and based on what I've read, I fault the tires and am looking to replace ASAP. This does explain why there are very mixed reviews in terms of the car's road noise and ride characteristics. The Consumer Reports video at the top of this thread reviewed the Ultra Luxury version which I would wager had the same tires on them. Other reviews of the same car had a completely different experience.

sdloeffler is the only person so far with first hand experience on changing out the Bridgestones and having the road noise and ride issues go away. I originally thought of downgrading from the std 18 to 17" rims because of this concern, but in the hopes of solving this the same way, with new tires. I kept the 18s. I will report back once the Michelins are on the car.

Tire size is 225R45 18

 

here's my take on this. I just added 600+ miles on my 2 week old ES350, yes it was rough ride but it was okay. Going low profile tires means you sacrifice comfort to get better performance and handling.

On thing I notice though, the rim size looks like 18" x 8". Using 225/45 on an 8" wide rims seem to me is a bit undersized. If you would look at the side wall of the tires on your ES, it's not square on the side wall (no bulge). Meaning there is no flexing going on on the sidewall. My Honda have an 18"x 7-1/2" rim and tires are 225/45 aswell and the sidewall looks better. I have not yet seen the under chassis at full turn if adding 10mm wider on the tires would hit anything. I will check tonight if there's enough clearance inside the fender. I'm not sure though why Lexus undersize the tire width.

So, if we can go 235/45 with a Michelin tire I think it would dramatically make the car more quieter, softer and still have the performance handling that the car was designed for.