I8ABMR

Hey guys just wanted to give you dropped GS owners a light at the end of the long tunnel of tire changes. On my last set of tires I decided to ditch the summer tires, that many of us are stuck using because of the sizes that we run, and went with a more expensive Michelin Pilot Sport A/S plus tires. I was amazed that they had a tread wear rating of 500.....yes 500. All of the popular tires that many of us are stuck using are rated from about 280-320.I usually only got about 11-13K on a set of tires and thats even after flipping the tires at about 7k miles to add some life to the tires ( note I am dropped on Tein CST coilovers set to max drop). With the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S plus I am at 19k miles with a lot of tread left on the front tires and a little left on the rears. I am amazed and very pleased with the durability. The other massive positive of these tires is that there is very little if any increase in road noise as the tires have gotten older. With the Nittos, Toyos, Falkens, and Kumhos the tires would make that annoying loud whirling noise while on the highway that was only amplified when coming to a stop. These tires are amazing. I frequently find myself checking the tread when getting gas and saying to myself " these F%^ng tires are insane. " I just wanted to let you guys with the 245/30/20's that we can have our cake and eat it to. I will probably get about 22k from the rears and probably 27-30k out of the fronts. Finally.......a quiet tire that comes in my sizes and also has a tread wear rating of 500........500!!!!!!!. I would strongly recommend anyone with a dropped GS who is using the standard summer tires to make the switch and save the annoying trips to the tire shops and having to repeatedly return for rebalancing ( they never get it right the first time).

Another cool thing is the fact that they come with a 45k tread wear guarantee . So even though the car is dropped aggressively they will prorate the next set so you get a nice discount. I have done a decent amount of tire research when I selected these and WOW!!!! They are the best tires I have even had on any dropped car I have ever owned. After 8 years of driving dropped cars its soooo nice to get a break from the tire shops .


HEADS UP: When I mounted these tires I had rubbing in the rear and a little in the front. These tires run .4" wider section width than the Falkens I used to have so be prepared to shave a few mm's off the rear and front fender lips. The little bit of elbow grease with a metal file was totally worth the added trear life and Lexus silent tires for a change.


http://www.michelinman.com/tire-sele...FQw5gwodHDG-gQ

swtjlsy

iTrader: (6)

that insane to get that much life out of a tire while being dropped.

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

I have these tires on right now, not dropped and did 20k on them with about 35-40 remaining in the rear. So yea these tires are good.

aLexGS350

iTrader: (5)

Interesting!...I need new tires VERY soon. I don't much about cars but my last oil change the dealership said I have 1-2/32 in the front and like 3-4/32 in the rear and its very close to the wear bar.

ghd8989

iTrader: (6)

Great post. To further what you wrote, after three exchanges, I am convinced that every extra dollar you spend on tires is worth it.

I have road force balancing on all my cars, and the bigger diameter tires have less room for error. I have discovered that most tires are out of round from the factory and you are sacrificing comfort and road noise by skimping on lower quality tires. I know now, that my next set of tires will be Pilot Sport of some sort.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

make sure your alignment is good and that's another big key. my gs is also dropped to the bottom (you can see from the pics), toyo t1r tires up front, i just flipped them not too long ago when the inside half wore off, and that was about 15k miles mark. and t1r has tread wear 280

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

I think a good alignment will do the trick. I told my tech that I'm expecting to get about 9K miles from these tires. He asked me if I drive agressively, I said no. He then told me that I should get around 19K without flipping tires. My coils are not maxed out though. I wish I could go all the way down, I think I have about an inch or less left. But I cant, because of the winter and the snow. Hard enough to drive in the snow with the current drop

KevGS460ML

You don't get something for free. In order to get longer tire life, traction must give. I have these tires on mine, and my wife's car. When I get on the gas just half way, the they already start to break traction. I know the V8's have more torque, but the old summer tires they replace did not have this issue. I am still happy with them, but not sure if I will get another set.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

of course, when you go from summer / high performance tires to all season, you definitely compromise on traction. though i will also say the pilot sport a/s is on the better end of traction among all season tires

and absolutely don't need gs460 to do that, gs350 is already more than capable. even with tires like ps2, breaking traction is no hard work

I8ABMR

I get an alignment after every set of tires is installed. So I know the alignment is good. I have to agree that every penny spent on tires is worth it. Bottomline is you get what you pay for. I used to avoid the more expensive tires because I figured they just burn up because of the drop. Man I was wrong. MICHELIN ROCKS.........

Bavaria

My GS is stock all the way, although it came with 18" wheels/tires. I am riding on the original Michelins, which I have rotated every 5k, and have over 33k miles. They haven't worn down to the wear bars yet, so it appears 34k will be very realistic.

KevGS460ML

I may not know wheels, but I know tires so you're not telling me anything new here. I was playing devil's advocate, and wanted to point out some cons to oppose the pros listed by the OP. Moreover, this is not my first set of all season tires, and I felt like the other set I had before on my TL had more traction.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

no, sorry if i came the wrong way. my post was in complete agreement with you. i had bunch of performance tires as well on my cars before and also tried the pilot sport a/s, that's why i felt the exact same way as you

KevGS460ML

Oh, sorry, I misunderstood.

LexFather

I completely agree that Michelin is where its at. I've gone through just about everything and stopped being cheap on tires

Absolutely love the PS2s. Only the now discontinued Goodyear DS3 F1 could match them in most areas.

I've heard nothing but good things on PS2 A/S. Michelin's are on the wife's RX.