Canesguy

"UPDATE: Didn't take delivery of the RC yesterday as anticipated. The delay is to swap the Bridgestone summer tires out for all-season Michelins. Hopefully this will come to fruition by mid-week."

LATEST UPDATE: looks like the deal fell through. Dealer informed me they could not get the two different sized tires, that come with the F-Sport, as all-seasons. I told them that I did not like the harder ride, and especially the poor longevity of summer-tires, on day one of our negotiation, and that would be a deal breaker....and looks like it was. They did not want to put on all the same sized tires on the rear wheel drive model (same sized tires do come on the all wheel drive version, and they're all-seasons). It would have been nice if they told me that at the onset when the deal was being conceived last Thurs., the 2nd. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth for the dealership, and especially the salesman.

So.....I'll remain a part of the ES community for now, still looking for the car's replacement when the lease is up at the end of October.

SW17LS

Thats too bad. I would question why in your area though (assuming "the desert" is a hot place lol) you would want all season tires? I can understand not wanting the Bridgestone tires, but a good set of summer tires will be more comfortable and perform better than all seasons. The tradeoff is the tread compound won't perform in the cold but if you don't have that issue...

I'd have a set of summer Michelins on that car.

Canesguy

Simple, I don't like the less comfortable ride, nor the dismal wear of summer tires. The all-seasons last longer, and with a two year lease I really don't want to go through one, maybe two sets of tires, to the tune of $2k each time., as they last anywhere from 8000-11000 mi. Summers have a harder ride but better performance, but it's not like I'm going to track this car.

dchar

Idk where you're getting stats on tire life of 8K-11K miles for summer tires. I have summers on my GS350 F-sport and 8K miles on them; looks like there is barely any wear at all. On my 2013, it didn't need a tire change until early-20K miles, but my aggressive driving style could've been a factor and I think that tread life could've been improved if I didn't have the crappy Bridgestones. Switched to Michelins and they were quiet, more grip, and barely any wear when I returned the car at 33K miles. It was also nowhere near $2K to change the tires when it came due. That's more like BMW tire price with changing out run-flats, which also cannot be repaired in the event of a flat. I wouldn't base what car to get just on what tires are on it since that can easily be changed, but whatever...good luck on finding another car.

LexRuger

Back to square one huh

Not sure if the A6 has been discussed here yet but I test drove one a few days ago and it's a really nice car. The interior quality is way better than the ES and maybe slightly better than the GS.

The 2.0 gets pretty good mileage. Doesn't feel sluggish at all. The Nav system is worlds ahead of Lexus. And they have a summer event going on with about a 1k or 2k incentive.

Canesguy

That's cool you got good mileage from your summer tires. I wasn't so luck on mine in the past, and I am not a racer. The tires on the RC are rated 12000 mi., so would be lucky to get that, or exceed that.

I'm not just basing getting the car solely on its tires, but other factors like lower mgg, using PUL gas, and tighter interior fit, are some of my negatives I was going to live with. All factors though don't add up for me.

SW17LS

Sounds to me like in the end it was more that just the tires.

I agree with dchar though. I get that you have had a bad experience with summer tires in the past, but your blanket statement that summer tires "ride harder, have less fuel economy, don't wear as well" isn't really accurate. There certainly are summer tires that are all of those things, but all summer tires are not created equal. Pilot Super Sports for instance have a treadwear rating of twice the OEM Bridgestones and a 30k mile warranty.

JDR76

I'm surprised that the RWD and AWD models have different sized tires. I would have expected it to be the same for RWD and AWD, like on the IS. Hmm, learned something new.

SW17LS

The IS FSport RWD has a staggered fitment as well. RWD IS, RC & GS F Sports all have wider wheels/tires in the rear.

Canesguy

Could be. I'm just going by past bad experience, plus the low tread wear rating on the stock Bridgestones. Yes, it was a combination of things with the tires being the "straw that broke the camel's back". At the end of the day, the dealer failed to honor our agreement. I wouldn't be surprised if they had someone who wanted the car, perhaps willing to pay more for it.

SW17LS

I just looked it up on TireRack, there really are no all seasons that come in those sizes. The problem with them swapping the staggered wheels with same size wheels from the AWD car is were do you get those wheels, and what do you do with the ones taken off of your car? You can't put the staggered wheels on an AWD car.

Sounds to me like the salesman made an agreement that was actually impossible to honor.

Canesguy

I assumed that the wheels used on the all-wheel-drive RC were being ordered. There were no RC AWD's in their stock. The tires taken off of mine could have been kept in stock and sold as replacement tires.

Well, they shouldn't have made the agreement. I actually didn't ask them, and I wasn't going to go for the car from the get-go, saying the Bridgestone summer tires were a deal-breaker. In fact, I told them that I didn't want to waste their time. It was totally initiated by them.

JDR76

That's my point. The IS has a staggered setup for both RWD and AWD, so that's why I'm surprised that the RC only goes staggered on RWD.

chrisexv6

Do they have the same AWD setup?

I know the generation of my AWD G37, the RWD gets staggered but the AWD cannot. The wider wheels/tires will "stick" better and fool the AWD system into thinking something is slipping. So you need the same width wheel/tire at each corner.

It looks like the IS uses mostly traditional AWD system (i.e. with a center diff)....does the RC use the same?

JDR76

I believe they do use the same setup. I'm guessing it's the availability of all season tire sizes in 19" rims, rather than the 18"s on the IS, that has driven the difference.