NGlaser

What tires are you using (other than oem) on 3rd Gen GS and how do you like them? From what I understand due to the sensitive nature of the steering on the GS certain tread designs will cause slight vibration.

echelon

When we got our car it had these on it. http://tinyurl.com/66gopu They are Yokohama YK520 and overall so far I'm not terrible impressed with the ride and road noise from them. I think the previous owner just cheaped out when picking out tires when they got new wheels. We'll see how they do in the winter but when they wear out I don't think I'll get them again. The car never gets driven hard through the corners enough to justify sacrificing ride for handling. I'd like a quieter softer riding tire if anyone has any suggestions.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

FINALLY!!! There is someone out there that has a similar problem as I have. I have the 18 inch rims on my GS300 AWD and I live in Michigan. Initially I had grand touring all season continental pro contacts on my 18 inch rims for 25 thousand miles with no vibration or anything and it was glass smooth. Then as it got worn out I replaced them with Bridgestone Potenza 960 RE Pole which were vibrating alot on highways and where unsuitable for my car. I replaced that with michelin Pilot sport a/s that had aggressive thread pattern that caused sligth vibration on some grooved and coarse texture roads at 50-60 mph and where felt through steering wheel. It was very annoying despite being road forced balanced properly by the dealer. One of my lexus dealer outside my town stated that aggressive ultra high performance tires can cause thread born vibration on some roads in the GS. So, I angrily got rid of the Pilot Sport A/s (which where nice grippy tires with some annoyance) and got grand touring all season Michelin Primacy MXV4 for my 18 inch rim and it solved the problem.

So, yes the 3rd Gen are too ultra sensitive to tires with stiff sidewalls, aggressive thread patterns, etc. So I from my experience, I recommend grand touring tires. They in my opinion still allow the car to be sporty and I am not giving up much as compared to being on performance tires. Summer tires are better than all season performance tires. Never ever had any other car with this problem. Other people whom live in other states don;t have problems with the aggresssive thread pattern of the Michelin pilot sport or the stiff feel of the bridgestone tires. If you live in LA, then the Michelin Pilot PS2 with the simple thread pattern will be suitable, since it is performance summer and not all season,

noncom23

Great thread here. Didn't think of vibration until recently.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Hi, Do you have vibration with tires like this? I see that your car also has 18 inch rims also.

steviej

iTrader: (1)

my 2006 GS300 AWD came with Dunlop SP 5000M DSST CTT (runflats). These created a harsh and stiff ride especially when the temperature outside dropped down below 50°.

They have been replaced with:

April to October - 18" Michelin Pilot Sport A/S
November to March - 17" Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3

Both give a smooth and very quiet ride with no vibrations of any kind. I did find I had to do an alignment when I switched from the 17" runflats to the 18" Pilot Sports, then I had to do another alignment when I switched to the 17" Pilot Alpins. I have a sneaking suspision that the GS has a very narrow alignment tolerance when alternating between tire sizes.

steviej

retrospexo

My 2008 GS AWD came with the same tires. I haven't had any vibration issues, the weather here is starting to get colder, I'll be certain to pay more attention to any issues there. But overall, nothing I've noticed.

I8ABMR

the run flats that came with my car where amazingly smoothe. No vibration all the way to 130 mph. I used to laugh while driving the car when I first got it because it was extremely smoothe. I used to tell people it was like driving on a huge pane of glass.

retrospexo

lol i kno the exact feeling

flipside909

My OEM 18" 5 spoke wheels came with the OEM Michelin Primacy HP tires. Super smooth and quiet. No complaints.

Stormforge

yup, same here. i'm actually trying to sell my oem tires (will be using snow tires with stock rims, and new shoes in the spring).

twister

Had runflat Dunloops for 30k. Beside harsh ride (thick walls), those were not that terrible. But I didn't realize what I was missing until I got Bridgestone Potenza RE960 A/S. For me - the best tires, bar none, and also #1 Rated A/S Ultra High Performance tire at TireRack. Rexus300 and I already had our discussion about it (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=361172).

Had these on for 1500 miles already; drove once in a snow and lots in the heavy rain; from the lows (high 20’s) in the morning to the highs (when warms up) during the day. The ride is smooth, no vibrations, good grip on sharp turns, precise handling, very comfy going over our Jersey swiss-cheese roads. Absolutely no complains about it. Also, Bridgestone shop matched TireRack price to the penny.

ecount00

also had the Dunlop run flats and was glad to wear them out and get the Bridgestone Potenza as well.

noncom23

Hi. Not with the current Advans. Just worried about new tires.




j

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

If you get tires with normal looking grooves that are like your Advans and not complex directional patterns and intricate shapes, then it wont amplify grooves and rough surfaces of some cement highways and roads to your steering wheel. I have been through 4-5 sets of tires and 3 of them where unacceptable All season tires. Never had problem with summer tire which was yoko advan. My Michelin Primacy MXV4 A/s grand touring is the best. Continental Procontact was 2nd best grand touring with no road vibes at all. If you get similar tires with linear grooves in the thread you will be fine. The vibration is not speed related and is felt by touching the wooden part of the steering wheel and you can sense different feedback from different surfaces of the same road and will go away, quite annoying to be honest. My problem is solved by not putting on Ultra High Performance All Season tires since I drive on many highways and they have different surfaces in Michigan and are very smooth though with no potholes, etc. but the car loves to tell me everything that is going on down on the road with Ultra High Performance Tires. My 2006 Audi A8l with 19 inch rims and performance all season does not do that. My Infiniti G35 coupe with 18 inch rim and Ultra High peformance all season even with directional grooves does not do that and even my new BMW 335XI coupe with 18 inch sports package does not do that.

TO conclude, Lexus GS has a flimsy steering system and poor design flaw that is recognized by many dealers in the mid-west and upper states since they had over 500 complaints of cars with 18 inch rims having this problem and their suggestion is simple, if you get this problem look at the tires and get rid of them and get softer rubber and simple tire thread pattern seen in Michelin Primacy MXV4, Primacy HP summer tires, Yoko Advan, Dunlops, and etc. My problem was solved by going back to the grand touring all season tires with the new Michelin Primacy. Nice set of tires if you tell me. Michelins are the most smoothest tires out there.