It's time for new tires on the 1998 LS400. I can't find any objective reviews of tires for luxury cars on the internet. Googling only finds online tire stores which are happy to make recommendations. If anyone knows of any objective sources, please let me know! Or if you can suggest tires, my requirements are, in order:

1. Nice, quiet ride
2. Decent wet road performance
3. Durable

Not important at all:

-Snow or ice performance
-aggressive handling (I don't totally drive like an old man but most of my fast driving is on freeways or when passing on rural roads, i.e., straighter stretches).

I currently have Bridgestone Turanzas, which are OK but louder than I would have liked.

Any advice appreciated! TIA.

 

The Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus ride great, quiet, and offer pretty good wet traction. Just a bit pricy.

 

I've had the Bridgestone RE950 and those were amazing tires. Right now I have Bridgestone G009 and they' ve been great. I say go with a Bridgestone tire.

 

FALKEN all season 512. CR reated it # 1. I am getting them on sunday for my LS. not too $$$

 

It is a balance of getting the characteristics for your driving preferences. You may consider: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S
Continental Extreme Contact
The Falken ZE-512

My experience with long wearing tires is the lack of traction as they age/cycle. The rubber becomes harder and by the time I hit 3-4 years, they are horrible. IMO What I aim for is to get 18-25K miles and then move to fresh rubber. YMMV of course.

 

Mich. Pilots all the way. Long Tread life, quiet ride, and good traction......

 

The problem with tires is that they are a long term commitment and it is really hard for an individual car owner to make comparisons based on personal experience. We can't just go and try out 25 different tire models on our cars.

So I rely on the Tire Rack's ratings and stick to name brands like Michelin, Conti and Dunlop. I buy Z-speed rated all-season tires for the summer and heavy duty snow tires (Blizzaks) for the winter. I drive several hundred miles north in the spring and fall and I hate getting caught in the snow with summer-only tires.

Mainly I watch the sales, buy up to a year ahead of need (multiple cars so I sometimes buy a lot of tires at one time) and store the unused tires in a dark cool dry place until I need them. The most I have spent during 15 years on an all-season tire for an LS is $90 for the Dunlop 5000 symmetricals I bought 16 months ago and I spent as little as $50/each four years ago for tires for a different LS.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/

Just plug in the info and you can search through and read the reviews

As well here are some ultra and high po all season tire reviews:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=113019

This is the wheel tire section of CL:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/for...?s=&forumid=76

 

I upgraded to a plus one size 235/60-16, and went with the Kumho KH11 summer tire. Awesome grip levels, smooth ride, and 5k without much wear. "May" increase your gas mileage as well due to larger tire size - but the odometer won't show it as it will actually register lower miles as the wheel turns less.
Stay away from Falken Ziex 512 - they are poorly balanced and I only got 13k from my set with perfect wheel alignment, frequent rotation, proper tire inflation and non-agressive driving!!!!

 

On my 92 LS400
I put these Michelin Hydroedge (anywhere between 120 - 150 $$)
Original wheel-size so My tires are 205 - 65 - 15
I got a whole set for 400.01,
How? Because I talked him down and made the sell.
You guys can do it too. They all have a base price to meet and your chain-tire-dealers will usually go down, but not the little guys.

first pic I could find, I'm not favoring any website here....

I love these tires. Sound great, and ride great too.
Don't believe the Snow comment on the website. That's garbage.
If you guys are going to be in snow more months out of the year than not, Get some Nokian Hakka's.
Nokian tyres
When it snows, rarely here in Charlotte does it snow a lot..... I just drive my Rodeo.

We were going to take the Lex to WV to go skiing, but I don't think so!
The torque that rear delivers is so strong I almost always "peel" on gravel, so snow is out of the question.
That is why I didn't care to get a cross-terrain tire, for a car that is mostly on the highway and city roads.

I don't know if my tires are anywhere close to a Z rating. I could go look but the car is not present at this time.

Higher rating means better handling at higher speeds and a much harder tire in the cold, so be prepared to have a different ride in the winter, if you have a high-speed rating on your tires.
Back in the day, I remember stories of tires blowing off at high speeds because they couldn't Vulcanize rubber back-then. (I guess that's right, someone correct me if I'm wrong)


Oh and the Michelins look great on the Lex.

PEACE!

Lorenzo
92 LS400 174k

 

UPDATE,

I got Falken all seasin 512 on sunday and went on a road trip for about 800 miles. I am amazed just how well this tires performed. Car was flat @ high speed curves........I also upgraded the wheels to sc430 18s. they look awsome. I don't know if it is the wider tires or the wheels .......I think its both........but the final result is just what I was looking for.

I got this tires for 580 installed.

I WILL ALWAYS BUY THIS TIRES.

93LS


FALKEN all season 512. CR reated it # 1.

 

we put on Michelin with our 2000LS400. very comfortable and quiet much much better than the dunlop.

Has anyone compared Michelin to Falkin 512 on comfortable, quietness and durability? i think i might be trying Falkin 512 next time.

 

I'm very pleased with my Kumho Escta 812s on my '95 LS. Check out the ratings at tirerack.