A More Involved Tire Question
06-19-20, 03:25 PM
#1
Intermediate
Thread Starter
A More Involved Tire Question
I've got a '17 GS350 AWD with almost 24k miles on the clock. The stock tires it came with were Michelin MXM4 235/45/18 all around. They aren't totally shot yet, but are all down to around 4/32. There's been many threads about what's a great tire for the car. As many other people have debated, I'm between the Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ or the Pirelli P7 Cinturato All Season Plus II.
I've had the Pirelli's on other Lexus cars I've owned (Es350, Ct200h) and loved the tires for being quiet & totally smooth. However, the GS350 is a much sportier car which I do like to push from time to time.in the corners. No question the Pilots are going to out corner the Pirellis. I think I'd appreciate the calmer nature of the Pirelli's but don't want to give up the occasional fun.
My question is this....I'm trying to get an idea from the community about how the Pilots A/S 3+ compare to the MXM4 currently on the car. In other words, what do they do better & how are they worse. I'm not considering the MXM4 again as they are priced waaaaay higher.
Appreciate hearing your comments/opinions.
I've had the Pirelli's on other Lexus cars I've owned (Es350, Ct200h) and loved the tires for being quiet & totally smooth. However, the GS350 is a much sportier car which I do like to push from time to time.in the corners. No question the Pilots are going to out corner the Pirellis. I think I'd appreciate the calmer nature of the Pirelli's but don't want to give up the occasional fun.
My question is this....I'm trying to get an idea from the community about how the Pilots A/S 3+ compare to the MXM4 currently on the car. In other words, what do they do better & how are they worse. I'm not considering the MXM4 again as they are priced waaaaay higher.
Appreciate hearing your comments/opinions.
06-19-20, 03:39 PM
#2
I've got a '17 GS350 AWD with almost 24k miles on the clock. The stock tires it came with were Michelin MXM4 235/45/18 all around. They aren't totally shot yet, but are all down to around 4/32. There's been many threads about what's a great tire for the car. As many other people have debated, I'm between the Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ or the Pirelli P7 Cinturato All Season Plus II.
I've had the Pirelli's on other Lexus cars I've owned (Es350, Ct200h) and loved the tires for being quiet & totally smooth. However, the GS350 is a much sportier car which I do like to push from time to time.in the corners. No question the Pilots are going to out corner the Pirellis. I think I'd appreciate the calmer nature of the Pirelli's but don't want to give up the occasional fun.
My question is this....I'm trying to get an idea from the community about how the Pilots A/S 3+ compare to the MXM4 currently on the car. In other words, what do they do better & how are they worse. I'm not considering the MXM4 again as they are priced waaaaay higher.
Appreciate hearing your comments/opinions.
I've had the Pirelli's on other Lexus cars I've owned (Es350, Ct200h) and loved the tires for being quiet & totally smooth. However, the GS350 is a much sportier car which I do like to push from time to time.in the corners. No question the Pilots are going to out corner the Pirellis. I think I'd appreciate the calmer nature of the Pirelli's but don't want to give up the occasional fun.
My question is this....I'm trying to get an idea from the community about how the Pilots A/S 3+ compare to the MXM4 currently on the car. In other words, what do they do better & how are they worse. I'm not considering the MXM4 again as they are priced waaaaay higher.
Appreciate hearing your comments/opinions.
06-19-20, 03:53 PM
#3
Intermediate
Thread Starter
That's a good point about the tire pressure. With the Pirelli's on my 2010 ES350, as they wore down they tended to get a little squirrelly in the rain. Of course, that car was FWD and I'm sure the GS with AWD would not suffer from the same problem. Any idea though about the MXM4 vs the Pilot? I've been fairly satisfied with the MXM4 & wanted to know if I'd like the A/S 3+ more.
With an upcoming rebate from Michelin, the p7 & the A/S 3+ would cost about the same.
With an upcoming rebate from Michelin, the p7 & the A/S 3+ would cost about the same.
Last edited by NJLEXES; 06-19-20 at 03:54 PM. Reason: MOre info
06-19-20, 04:06 PM
#4
Keep in mind that the Pilots belong to Michelin's "sports" range of tires, while it is the Primacy e.g. your MXM4 that are "touring" nee sporting-luxury tires.
With Pirelli, the Cinturatos are touring sporting-luxury, while it is the P Zeros which are the full blooded sports tires.
With Bridgestone, the Turanzas are touring, while the Potenzas are sports.
Amongst the sports tires, I am not sure how the Pilot A/S 3+ compares to Michelin's own Pilot PS4, Pirelli P Zeros, OEM F Sport Bridgestone Potenza RE050, nor OEM Dunlop SP Sports Maxx 050 - though Pilot A/S 3+ is more touring while PS4 is more brutally sporty.
However, Pilot A/S 3+ generally sportier than Cinturato P7's.
GS already has firm spring and firm damper rates, hence I use Pirelli Cinturatos for a more pleasant ride & refinement.
If you want to maximize handling, and don't mind harshness, then get the Pilots.
.
With Pirelli, the Cinturatos are touring sporting-luxury, while it is the P Zeros which are the full blooded sports tires.
With Bridgestone, the Turanzas are touring, while the Potenzas are sports.
Amongst the sports tires, I am not sure how the Pilot A/S 3+ compares to Michelin's own Pilot PS4, Pirelli P Zeros, OEM F Sport Bridgestone Potenza RE050, nor OEM Dunlop SP Sports Maxx 050 - though Pilot A/S 3+ is more touring while PS4 is more brutally sporty.
However, Pilot A/S 3+ generally sportier than Cinturato P7's.
GS already has firm spring and firm damper rates, hence I use Pirelli Cinturatos for a more pleasant ride & refinement.
If you want to maximize handling, and don't mind harshness, then get the Pilots.
.
Last edited by peteharvey; 06-19-20 at 04:36 PM.
06-19-20, 04:07 PM
#5
That's a good point about the tire pressure. With the Pirelli's on my 2010 ES350, as they wore down they tended to get a little squirrelly in the rain. Of course, that car was FWD and I'm sure the GS with AWD would not suffer from the same problem. Any idea though about the MXM4 vs the Pilot? I've been fairly satisfied with the MXM4 & wanted to know if I'd like the A/S 3+ more.
With an upcoming rebate from Michelin, the p7 & the A/S 3+ would cost about the same.
With an upcoming rebate from Michelin, the p7 & the A/S 3+ would cost about the same.
maybe another member has experienced both tires on the GS.
06-19-20, 04:29 PM
#6
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Keep in mind that the Pilots belong to Michelin's "sports" range of tires, while it is the Primacy e.g. your MXM4 that are "touring" nee sporting-luxury tires.
With Pirelli, the Cinturatos are touring sporting-luxury, while it is the P Zeros which are the full blooded sports tires.
GS already has firm spring and firm damper rates, hence I use Pirelli Cinturatos for a more pleasant ride.
If you want to maximize handling, and don't mind harshness, then get the Pilots.
With Pirelli, the Cinturatos are touring sporting-luxury, while it is the P Zeros which are the full blooded sports tires.
GS already has firm spring and firm damper rates, hence I use Pirelli Cinturatos for a more pleasant ride.
If you want to maximize handling, and don't mind harshness, then get the Pilots.
Can't compare one brand to the other as the tread life number only relates within the same brand, but the MIchelin is rated at a 500 (45k tire) while the Pirelli is a 700.
No doubt the Pirelli will last longer.
Thanks for your thoughts everyone. Think I'm hedging toward the Pirelli again.
Only other tire I thought about was the Conti Purecontact LS which is probably closer in personality to the P7.
06-19-20, 07:48 PM
#7
So I guess the A/S 3+ will probably be more responsive and corner better at the limit than the MXM4. I did some more reading and the main knock on the A/S 3+ is the shorter tread life.
Can't compare one brand to the other as the tread life number only relates within the same brand, but the MIchelin is rated at a 500 (45k tire) while the Pirelli is a 700.
No doubt the Pirelli will last longer.
Thanks for your thoughts everyone. Think I'm hedging toward the Pirelli again.
Only other tire I thought about was the Conti Purecontact LS which is probably closer in personality to the P7.
Can't compare one brand to the other as the tread life number only relates within the same brand, but the MIchelin is rated at a 500 (45k tire) while the Pirelli is a 700.
No doubt the Pirelli will last longer.
Thanks for your thoughts everyone. Think I'm hedging toward the Pirelli again.
Only other tire I thought about was the Conti Purecontact LS which is probably closer in personality to the P7.
The P7's are in the "touring" category with Michelin Premier A/S, Michelin Primacy MXV4 and Primacy MXM4.
The Primacy MXM4 trails in tire wear.
While your Continental Pure Contact LS is one of the top scorers with an average of 8.5/10.
Though Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack and Vredestein Quatrac Pro are the top scorers in this touring segment.
Looks like our favorite P7's are getting old, while the Michelin Primacy MX Series are even older.
I'd probably give the Continentals a try...
On the other hand, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ is a totally different type of tire.
It's a sports tire competing with the likes of Bridgestone Potenza RE, Pirelli P Zeros and Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tires.
According to Tire Rack, the figures for Touring & Sport tires cannot be compared, because they are in different categories.
Only figures from the same category can be compared.
These tires more appropriate for F Sport or F models.
Last edited by peteharvey; 06-19-20 at 10:52 PM.
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06-20-20, 04:46 AM
#8
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Interesting thing from the scoring/ratings, the P7 Cinturato is one one of the highest miles reviewed in the category at 16M miles. With that many more miles, it could certainly skew the numbers a little bit. I think for the helluva it, I'll get a price on the Continental Purecontact LS too. I have the Crosscontact LX25 on my wife's RX and they seem to be pretty good realizing they are an SUV tire. Many many moons ago (34 years) I had put Conti EXTREMECONTACT on my 86 Buick Grand National. Boy oh boy were those tires great in the bad weather......but here's the kicker. They were practically worn out in about 15k miles. At that point, I swapped over to BFG Euro T/A which were pretty solid all around. That's the funny thing about tires..... to most people they are all round, black, and made of rubber. However, for those of us that pay attention they can really change your driving experience. Ultimately, every tire has it pluses/minuses.
06-20-20, 10:15 AM
#9
My 2017 GS350 AWD is fairly close to yours in terms of miles on the clock (30K) with the Primacys. I just bought 4 of the Yokohama Advan Sport A/S, which I'd run previously on my old 2010 MB E350 4Matic. I liked the all around performance of those, and since Tirerack had them on closeout, I snatched up a set. I've also had great experience with the BFGoodrich gForce Comp2s, which also wore well and handled great. Just my two cents, and of course YMMV..
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06-20-20, 12:51 PM
#10
My 2017 GS350 AWD is fairly close to yours in terms of miles on the clock (30K) with the Primacys. I just bought 4 of the Yokohama Advan Sport A/S, which I'd run previously on my old 2010 MB E350 4Matic. I liked the all around performance of those, and since Tirerack had them on closeout, I snatched up a set. I've also had great experience with the BFGoodrich gForce Comp2s, which also wore well and handled great. Just my two cents, and of course YMMV..
06-20-20, 04:30 PM
#13
Michelins maybe a more expensive than other brands but I like it drives and sticks to the road.
06-21-20, 07:32 PM
#14
I've got nothing against Michelins, they're great tires. I've also run other brands that I like just as well - sometimes at a fraction of the price. As others have said, there's no right or wrong answer here. I was just offering opinions on other options for the OP, and they're free to make whatever decision is right for them. Buy what you like - and enjoy every mile you drive on them!
06-21-20, 09:51 PM
#15
Yes, I'm also open to other brands.