sailor95

Hey all, moving out to Colorado in a few weeks and now my 99 LS needs some tires. Any suggestions? Looking for a something reasonably priced but can still handle a little snow if I have too. I have an lx470 so this is not.my only transportation while out there.

400fanboy

Where in the state are you moving to? The front range is very different to the mountains themselves.

In the cities you can get by with all-seasons, usually. Precipitation levels are quite low. But if you live or are spending any time up in the mountains winter tires are a must. I have "X-Ice Snow" tires on my car (which are a giant leap forward from the old X-Ice Xi3).

I-70 commonly has traction laws during adverse weather: mandatory snow tires or 4wd vehicles.

I would put all-seasons on the LS400, and then a set of winter tires on the LX470 to make it an absolute beast. Maximize the utility of the 4x4.

sailor95

We will be in Denver, Goldsmith area, so it sounds like I should be good with all seasons. Any recommendations? My LX has terra grapplers on it so that should be enough to get me through anything on i70 out to summit county i suppose.

sailor95

Anyone know how a nitto nt-sn2 would hold throughout the year? Seems to have great reviews

400fanboy

If you're in the city then you should be fine. Denver doesn't get much precipitation, and what snow does fall melts away pretty quickly. Though some areas don't get their roads plowed so there can be snow built up on the side residential streets for weeks. Your profile lists that you're from GA. IDK how much snow driving experience you have but be careful. Especially in the mountains. It can be a totally clear day, but the runoff on the canyon roads in the shade can create pockets of black ice and slippery conditions on an otherwise dry road. Be ready for sudden ice if the road suddenly looks "greasy".

Those Grapplers are AT tires, which are not snow\winter tires. I am not sure how those perform in cold temperatures, but just because they're rugged doesn't mean they will do well in the snow\ice. The product information I'm finding mentions snow\ice zero times. They could be worse than normal all-season tires on snow\ice. I'm not sure. Do your own research. I would be very careful the first time driving the LX in the snow, find somewhere safe to find the limits of those tires when it does snow. If they are good at low temps, enjoy, there is nothing else like 4x4 in the snow

tl;dr:
All-season tires for the LS will be okay if your LX tires are suitable for snow, and take the LX into the mountains anytime there will be snow on the road.
Would recommend adding weight to the trunk of the LS if you have traction issues. I put two 60# steel plates in my trunk if we get a lot of snow.
I personally use Michelin tires. I'm not an expert between different brands of tires because I've never done A\B comparison testing.

deanshark

When you're young. I remember those days, although, the memory is fading away. Have fun, but carefully.

sailor95

No worries on the graps for the LX, they do great in snow, ice. Parents house is in western north carolina at top of a nasty hill on a mountain in maggie valley. My LX is only thing that can go up and down the driveway when it snows and freezes over, snow and ice dont scare me much in that thing.

400fanboy

I do that stuff in sports cars SUV's aren't really my thing.

sailor95

Has anybody tried the Falken Ziex ZE960 A/S, they seem to have great reviews and are reasonably priced at 111 a piece, only other tires ive seen that I like were the Nitto Nt Sn2, just wanna know whay works best on this car