Hey guys,

I just received a letter from my local lexus dealer saying that they can provide me with a Winter Package of 16 or 17" (Chrome for the 17) with Michelin Pilot Alpin for around $2,100+Tax. I know the dealer will always be more expensive.

Do I really need Winter Tires here in NJ? I mean I know the 17" stock Summer Tires will perform poorly in snow, but how bad?

Will an ALL SEASON tire like the Bridgestone RE730 be acceptable, so then I won't have to change back when the winter is over?

Your advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks again.

 

Alot of it depends on how much driving you'll be doing in the snow. Personally I have a winter car to use when it gets too nasty to bring the GS out. From my past experience and what I've heard, if this is your daily driver then I would definitely recommend getting a set of winter tires. That being said I would also shy away from 17s for the winter as well. If you were planning on getting the 17" rim/tire package what is your reasoning - to not change the look? That'll cost you more in the way of tires and the rims in the long run, and possibly the handling of your car if the NY/NJ winter sucks. I would also not recommend going to the dealer for this. You can get a decent set of rims and good tires(winter) from the tirerack, delivered to your door - as far as putting them on goes you are on your own though. I would look at a erw options before jumping in and the post here is a very good start, wait a few days to let everyone get a chance to respond (holidays and all that) and you'll probably save yourself some $$ and aggravation to boot. Good Luck!

 

I have 16” four season tire on last winter. Acceptable? Hell ya… unless you drive like a maniac in snow condition, it should be fine. Up North in Boston, I have survived last winter with four seasons Factory Michelin Tire.

This year, I have made up my mind to put on a 17” low profile winter tire. Dunlop Winter Sport M2 to be exact. And dedicated 18” summer tire..

If you got the money to burn for $2100, shop at www.tirerack.com for a different set of Rims for Winter.

Just my thought..

 

What he (Shinchan) said.......TireRack is best route to go for a set of dedicated rims/snows.

Plus, why would you want to subject chromes to road salt? Your dealer is planning on making money, not making sure that you are optimally mobile.

 

************YES!****************

 

Last winter was horrible in NJ, and I could hardly get my GS out of the driveway on the summer tires. I am not kidding, I couldn't believe how pathetic it was.

I just had Dunlop SP5000 M+S 17" tires installed today. Hopefully they will handle the snow good enough to use once in a while. If I didn't have a winter car, I probably would have gone for snow tires on 16" rims.

 

To elaberate on my YES!!

we spun out in our gs travelling around 50MPH and that shouldnt have happened if there was a car coming the other way we would be dead i wouldnt be here right now, wahts more important 700bucks or LIFE?

peace

 

I don't know about Jersey but here in Chicago you want winter tires. The biggest bummer is the lack of a standard LSD. Even with winter tires it is pretty easy to get the car sideways. A LSD would help out winter driving a ton and might even make it possible to stay with the "summer" tires through the winter.

Peter (Saving for a LSD)

 

You have a supercharger....and you're in chicago....I wanna see

 

I've mentioned this before but I use 16" BBS knock off rims with Pirelli Winter 210 rubber and LexusRules "Sasha" can back me up last winter the first half was terrible here in the Toronto area and the GS handled the snow and ice with no problem.. All this said you have to know how to drive in the white stuff or all the electronic gadgets or winter rubber won't compensate for doing something stupid on snow/ice.. Also use the winter "snow" mode when you turn at intersections and the GS will get you home safe and sound!

As for size of winter tires my personal preference is to go with 16" max but friends of mine say 17" is acceptable but you'll change tires more often do to lack of thread depth on most 17" winter tires.. Stay away from "Blizzaks".. No matter what tire size only good for 1 winter and extremely noisey IMO..

 

yea i heard blizzaks are very soft and so driving them in above frozen conditions is no good...

well 2SAVVY im sure that the driving of my mom wasnt up to par because she really has never learnt how to drive in snow and shes always had an FF car this is her first FR car in the snow... shes learning though. We use another set of stock 16s (10 in all) for the winter... also using the Perelli 210

 

I think winter tires are a must have since the summer tires will not grip for (you know what). For fun one day after it snowed about 4" here in NY, I took the car out and drove it to see how bad the tires were. I had VSC on constantly with the rear end slightly out to the right, I was laughing to be honest. Thought the summer tires would give better grip than they did. To make this story short, I got 16" stock GS rims, 5 of them and mounted all season Michelin XGT's 225/55 and the car has been a delight to drive in snow since. I am now getting these rims put back on the 29th. Gonna be odd seeing a GS430 with the old 5 spoke GS rims, but at least I can drive with confidence in the snow especially with my LSD installed (the 27th). Hope this helps anyone on the fence of whether to get winter tires or not.

 

Hmmmm, why not an ULTRA HIGH PERFORMANCE ALL SEASON TIRE to get me through all of the seasons? Sure it's going to be only average in snow, but much better than the stock 17" summer tires.

Then you don't have to go through the change over all the time.

This also gives me a good excuse to get new rims.

Any recommendations, anyone doing this?

Thanks!

 

I never needed Winter Tires but I live in South Florida.

 

Keep in mind that having winter tires you will get more time out of your summer set. Also winter tires tend to be less expensive then most of the summer rubber.
Between the extra safety and not much extra cost the decision is easy.
I use Guardex on OEM 16" rim and the car is actualy quieter on snows then on the 17" RE030 - hehehe - there goes one for noisy winter tires!