Kayo

First obligatory post. Been lurking in this great forum since I placed my order for a Lexus 08 IS350 in September. It's gonna be here on November 15 or 16th. I'm so excited and I just can't...

In my purchase agreement I specified Nokian winter tires. Dealer called back and said because the profile is different between the front (225) and (245) rear the would be unable to get Nokian's.

I let him put the tires on the deal, but made it clear these were the winters I wanted. He's now trying to sub Blizzaks and something from Michelin. I want the Nokians.

I think Kal Tire has an exclusive in Canada. Anyways, Nokians have great grip and thee best wear.

What are you guys using? Recommend? Any advice on the Nokian situation.. on their website it shows that they make the tires in the two profiles? Do they sell winters in sets of 4?

Any help much appreciated.

Koofteh

No help on the tires but you must be filthy rich to afford a 350 in Canada.

Fearlessfx

that was the first thing that popped into my head as well


im guessing since your having this trouble with the dealer that you ordered the crazy 2000+ dollar winter tire package? would it be too late to back out and just get 4 steelies and order nokians off the internets? you'd probably save yourself quite a bit of money, assuming money is any issue.

on a side note, i ordered my is250 in july and im waiting until december to get it, you're lucky to have such a quick delivery date... that or im just unlucky

Kayo

Well, not filthy rich, but plan to pay it off over time. If I was filthy rich I might buy a luxury car with an extremely high maintenance requirement :-) MB or BMW. More of a status symbol that says look at me... I love the shop. 2.9% on purchase financing is decent to. Maybe if I don't enjoy high car payments i'll get rid of it.

I feel bad enough making the purchase, but I managed to get some off MSRP. They didn't like that, but I told them the last I bought a new car was 13 years ago, and I was very patient... they moved. In Canada one dealership per city means you have a lot of cats standing on the golden gate, smiling, wagging their tails and talking a lot of BS especially when it comes to pricing.

Now they have the 4 years complimentary service. So that helps offset a little.

I investigated purchasing from the US and basically it was not possible to purchase a new car from a dealership. I guess there are ways around this, ultimately with Lexus you end up back at the golden gate and those cats are gonna pounce on US purchases. Any US pricing on Japanese cars are subject to 6% duty at border as well.

Seeing as I got my deal on MSRP I was going to buy a second set of IS350 08' rims + sensors from the dealer and get the tires elsewhere. Dealer asked for tire business and I said only if Nokians. Nokians as per sales agreement and is no backing out based on a claim of no availability. This is not true as Nokian website shows availability. Hope I can get some hard facts for tomorrows discussion. If the Nokian's are simply not manufactured then I will consider subsitution, if not it breaks our purchase agreement. So I will accept the rims+sensors, but will be purchasing tires elsewhere or they can keep the car.

IS250 AWD is nice for Canada but the 350 is crazy and it will definately need the tires. Buying any new car in Canada defies all logic of reasonability at this time. Buying a new car in general is logic defying event -- it's just never a smart move if you are into preserving capital. It's not so much the CDN price is so high as the US dollar has weakened and MFG's refuse to raise price in the US to retain market share. Shows you how much profit must be in these vehicles. If you are converting US to Yen it's like getting 20% less these days in Japan. The media in Canada has created an anti-retailer, canadian getting jacked mentality, that is only maintained by their pricing methodologies in the US. The fact is our dollar is still used intra-country in the same manner, with our social services, and abroad the exception is when purchasing items in the US and retail goods priced in US, given their currency value on world markets... Anyways just trying to justify my moment of weakness!


I can't believe yours has been on order since July? Hopefully you have a December to Remember ... I guess the number of 250's sold to 350's is 3 to 1 or more. In Canada with AWD it's got to be much more.

neova

Kayo,

One question - Are you planning on having a dedicated set of Summer and winter tires?

If you just want to ride on 1-set of tires, go with Nokian WR All-weather. It's the ONLY tire in the world that is rated for both severe winter use (not just light snow, but REAL snow conditions) and also carrys an all-season tire rating (meaning the compound won't wear out faster due to summer heat) and it's rated at 400AA for wear.

The compromise is that it's not the best handling summer tire, nor the quietest, but somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to luxuary and performance. Howver, as a snow tire, it was better than the dedicated Pirelli W210/240 sports and Dunlop Graspic DS-1. I would definately say the WR's would rate in the top 10 amongst dedicated snow tires!

I used to have the Nokian WR's as the year-round tire when I had my IS300 (235/35R19 on summer wheels - yeah, i know i'm crazy). Now I use a smaller set of Nokian's (235/45R17) as my Winter tires.

On my IS250 now I have the OEM 18's so my plan is to wait until Nokian WR comes out with 255/35R18 or 255/40R18 then I'll swap my summer bridgestones for these Nokians so i don't have to change tires every season.

Having only one set of wheel/tires to deal with means I don't have to deal with the TMPS error message or shell out $$$$ for another set of TMPS sensors for my winter wheels....

fbdog

I was thinking that it's probably better to not go staggered for the winter setup, so that you can rotate the tires between front and back and probably get a couple seasons out of the tires - not to mention better traction with thinner tires.

I will be using 225/45/17 Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 for winters and stock 18" setup for summer.

Kayo

I was planning on having 2 sets of rims!

I would still rather have a set of the WR's over most winter tires. I currently use them on my E320 1995 Mercedes and they are great. Just like you say, lower wear if left on all season, louder, great traction.

When you try the Hakka series it's like 10 times better. Crazy traction.

My plan was to buy the rims from the dealer, get the tread from Kaltire. They balance, install and rotate for free.

FBdog hit's the nail on the head. All my past cars had the same rims front to back. With the IS350 the 18" rims are okay for all seasons and are different front to back. However can the IS350 run on 17" all around meaning I can get my winter tire of choice. What impact would this have.

Winter is coming!

Thanks all.

Cleric

I'm using Dunlop Winter Sport M3 in the back (255/40-18) and Winter Sport 3D in the front (225/40-18) and I love them. I've gone thru one winter already and had them on for 5 months (8,000 miles) and they handle great for a winter tire. I know people that leave these one all year long. I also measured the tread depth after the first season and only used 1/32" of tread.

GrantK

Kayo,


I tried going with Kal Tire last year when I got my IS350. It took 3 weeks before they said the tires were in. Then I found out only the fronts came in. I waited another 2 weeks but they said they are having a real hard time in getting the rear tires. It was about to snow that week and I just couldn't wait any longer.

I ended up going to Steelecase Tires (obviously doesn't help you as it is located in Toronto). I got GT Radial Champiro WT AX tires, and wheels. I can't remember exactly how much I paid, but it was probably around $1200-$1400. I got 225/45R17 in front and 235/45R17 in the rear. Ideally they should be 245/45R17 in the rear, but they didn't have that size and the guy assured me that he has sold this size combo to several IS350 owners. I didn't have any issues driving last year, and I just put them on this weekend.

GT Radial is an Indonesian company, but from my understanding, they have a few former Nokian Tyre designers working for them.

There is one thing you should be aware of. If your wheels start slipping, the VDIM kicks in and cuts power to your wheels. Seems obvious, but beware. I was going up a driveway to see the real estate agent. The driveway had a 20 degree slope (I'm guessing), and I was turning left off the main road. Once I hit the driveway, power was cut and from the rear wheel to the back bumper was hanging out on the road where cars were coming. You either have to press the accelerator a lot harder to give it more gas, or quickly switch off the traction control to get some wheel spin. It's kinda scary knowing that traffic is barreling down on you and you can't move because your car wants to be smart and prevent wheel spin.

Kayo

Thanks everybody for their advice. I think it is clear that next year when Nokian releases their winter Hakka's in more North American sizes; that this tire will be unbelievable.

I really liked the concept and idea of GrantK's suggestion with the GT Radials. Sounds like an up and comer....

I ended up going with....

Pirelli 240 Winter Sottozero. It will be interesting to see how they manage.


The last choice I have until I get delivery is the rims. Of course i'm getting stock 08' rims.... Which I figure I will throw the winters on....

Then for my second set of rims will it be the 5 large spoke wheel or the Spyders? Anybody's collective opinion will be appreciated. It so hard to choose.

IS35O

Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 work great

evren

I've had my IS350 for two winters in Toronto and would highly recommend the Pirelli P-Zeros. Never been stuck, never had any significant traction problems, I'm no tire expert but they certainly seem to do their job very well.

chadfetter

How many of your guys are swapping your winter tires on your exiting rims vs. buying a second set of rims?

phatboyc

I have the Nokian RSI on a second set of rims/sensors. Love them!

cluwsyde

I just purchased a 2008 IS250 RWD in Toronto - the dealer was able to give me Nokian WR tires. Not too sure if it's true, but the sales guy talked to service and said these were the winter tires they put on all their Lexus cars when customers ask for 'em.

Anyways, they set my IS up with 225/40R18 in the front, and 235/40R18 in the back (I think the tire supports the 8.5" rim). I had actually never heard of Nokian and asked about the Blizzaks. Tire guy said the Nokians are the same price but last twice as long. That was good enough for me - not that I know much about tires (obviously) :P