Au Contraire...
I just bought an '03 LS430 with virtually new Bridgestone Turanza Serenity tires on it and they sound like a truck! The dealer even deducted an amount off equal to a new set of tires as they agreed. They look brand new but are so noisy I'm ready to ditch them for something else, just can't decide what.

 

They told the Lexus dealership they have a "Thirty Day Ride" policy that they will take the tires back. They must have been down this road before.

 

I don't view it as an opinion thing but rather as a performance thing. When members say they are getting good results from Primacy's I believe them, just as I do those of us who are not getting good results. What I am amazed by is the difference we all experience. There is a reason but we will likely never know.

 

If I could I would even put Primacy's on my Infiniti other than it happens to be more of a "Touring" tire. Great tire.

 

I think the LS is absolutely brutal on tire subjectives because it's otherwise so astonishingly quiet and vibration-free. It's a tire crucible. The tires are pretty much the only thing making any appreciable noise, and that noise changes with brand, condition, wear on tires, etc. so to not notice them they have to be perfect, and no tire is. People may notice different aspects of the noise and have it bother them more or less than others.

 

Excellent point - in the LS you can really notice any change in tire ride or noise characteristics. I had a few crappy cars years ago that on average had so many squeaks, rattles,and pops that tire noise was not even a remote consideration. I had to keep the radio turned up just to keep from going crazy.

 

Thinkin, Believe me you would notice it in my car. I think you are over thinking the issue. I just want the car to perform as it always has, quietly. I guess all my tires have been perfect up to now if one was to follow your logic.

 

I'm not saying that DNC, and I'm not doubting your experience. Just saying that if there's anything remotely noticeable about any particular set of tires the LS430 is the car to notice it in.

 

I agree w/ Thinkin. My Michelins are very quiet on my '04 LS, but not as quiet as the OEM Dunlops. Problem was, the Dunlops were junk after 10K miles, noisy, hard to keep balanced. I run Michelins on 4 of 5 vehicles, and they have been a big improvement in ride and noise on each. But in the LS, you notice everything, however slight.

Speaking of, now that I have 80K on my LS, I can hear it idle, and when outside the car, I hear some bearing noise/whine. When it was new, I couldn't tell it was running from insde, and very slightly from outside. Anyone else notice this?

 

I bought mine with 45k and have put on 17k since. I can hear mine idle slightly, and i can hear it running outside. I don't think there is anything wrong with my car though. It's quiet for a v8. I see/hear other cars going down the street and I think my car is as quiet or quieter than they are. it's a quiet v8, not a hybrid. I think the way people describe the quietness is subjective. I don't really think one can truly expect to not know the car is running to SOME extent.

 

It all really depends how they wear I bet. Chopping, side wear, center wear a good aligemnt inflation and rotating cannot be over estimated. My primacies have 65 k on em with a bunch of tread left and are smooth all across and silent.

 

There has to be a defect with these tires. They have to go. I cannot live with them. I called an old college friend who owns a tire store and asked him about the issue. He said he is completely aware of the issue and it runs just as described by owners on this site; one set is quiet, the other is loud. I think probably as quiet as the LS430 is the noise would be much louder on other cars.
On the subject of idle, I hear nothing from inside my car at idle. I know my car being an Ultra is suppose to be quieter than the base model LS but a friend of mine has the base model and her's is the same at idle.

 

I wonder what the manufacturing defect is exactly...

 

DNC,
I wouldn't go to the Pilot AS Sport tires if that's what they're offering you as an option. I ran them for 21k miles on my 05 LS and they have more road noise than the Primacy MXV4's. The Primacy is what I'm running now (2k miles). I also have the Primacy tires on two other Lexus vehicles and love them. I'd let them try another set of Primacy's.

Also, I know you mentioned you got them through the Lexus dealer. I had mine installed at a local shop that uses a Hunter 9700 road force balance machine. They did a horrible job of balancing them and I had vibrations. I ended up bringing the car into my Lexus dealer. The mechanic broke the tires & rims back down and phase matched them to get the road force numbers as low as possible. Hopefully your Lexus mechanic is willing to take the time to get the tires and rims matched correctly.

Jim

 

Hmm... I second the recommendation to have them re-mounted and balanced. If that doesn't work they'll take them back, right? Even if you don't have to try a new set please report back with your findings. If there's really something going on with quality control on the Primacys I'm sure many on this forum would appreciate a link and update.