I don’t understand. Why does Lexus and Mercedes Benz put run flat tires in these high end luxury cars in the first place? The reason for having a luxury car ride is to have a smooth ride. It defeats the purpose putting run flat tires on cars like this when these tires give a harsh ride. Why don’t Lexus and Mercedes Benz just put regular high end non run flat tires on their cars to eliminate this problem.

 

I remember test driving my car and thinking ‘ wow this thing is rougher than my IS350 sport ‘. Oh well I guess luxury cars are supposed to ride this way with air suspension. Then I did some research on the run flat tires. Changing out the run flats made such a huge difference. Now it rides super smooth over all roads.

 

So I've had the car on the ExtremeContacts for a couple weeks now. I'm not adding anything new besides reiterating that the improvement in ride is immense. I own the LS500 and will never go back to the run flats. But in the future, if I were to ever lease a car on runflats, the first thing I'll do is swap them out and I can just swap the runflats back in at the end of the lease.

 

Replaced stock Bridgestone EL450 runflats with a set of Bridgestone Turanza Quiettrack tires. Difference immediately clear in the parking lot itself. A different, far superior ride for sure.

 

I just replaced my run flats with the Continental DWS 06 Plus this last weekend. I have had the DWS on last 5 cars and love them. Will not drive on anything else. IMHO, the ride is fantastic and quiet.

 

Recently I swapped out the Bridgestone RFT for a set of the new grand touring Pirelli P7 AS Plus 3. First impression so far so good. Very smooth and quiet. On excellent smooth roads, it's like tires aren't even there. When first thinking of switching to non-rft, I considered and searched for getting and carrying a fullsize spare in the trunk. Ended up just getting floor jack, wrench, compressor and plug kit for now. Might look into a donut spare of the same nut pattern, nut type, overall circumference, etc.

For my previous LS 460s and GS350s, I swapped their tires out for Michelin PS3 UHP AS. This time with this LS, I want to go for smooth and comfort as much as possible. Michelin CrossClimate2 was my only other consideration. I have MCC2 on my van and love them for wet handling, but want to have a more traditional tread pattern on a luxury LS. Also, directional tread pattern of the MCC2 wouldn't work on the idea of a fullsize spare when I was considering having it.

 

OMG....I just swapped out the run-flats for Continental Extreme Contacts. The difference is like night and day. In fact, I noticed the difference in the parking lot at the tire shop before I even got on the road as I had to do a tight 3-point turn and could feel the difference in the steering wheel. But when I got on the interstate was where I couldn't stop smiling..... road noise..... what road noise and the comfort factor is incredible. With RF"s, it was like riding in a wheel barrel. Comfort mode is very cushy, and in sport mode, these babies are glued to the road As an interesting side note, of course, I had a 4 wheel alignment and it was way out of whack. I'm convinced that the hard compound rubber of the RFs is ve rytough on the front-end components and contributed to the poor alignment. If you have a Lexus, it should ride like a Lexus, and now mine does.

 

1. New tires are always better then old warn out tires.
2. RFT are not as smooth as Non RFT.
3. When someone gets new RFT, are they not happy?

I had BMW 5 MSport and deleted my RFT with non and it was great. What sucked was my trunk space got compromised by the spare which never got used. Im looking to buy a 2019 LS500 and still reading up on this dilema. My 2020 GS350 s sport AWD(non staggered) has a spare.

Incredible these car companies are so hung up on weight to this extent!.

Yes, new tires are always better than old tires. Rare anyone is unhappy with new “shoes”. RFT get noisy. What im concerned about is how long will the tires last and no doubt RFT replacement will be painful.

 

I still have 7/32" left on my OEM Dunlop runflats at 22k.

 

Hope you dont mind me giving this thread a reboot. Ive a 2018 LS500h, after a 15000 km service the Garage said I need two new rear tyres, they have a useful 3mm tread depth but both have uneven edge wear and one has sidewall deterioration, possibly underinflated runflat driving before I bought the car In February. I like the idea of not buying runflats, (Alenza 001s all around), but i've read it's verboten to mix RF with non RF, or even to have two different brands or tread pattern of RF on the rear from the front. At least the new pair will be on the back which is correct. On the other hand, 2 new Alenzas are €330 each before fitting, I could probably get 4 non RF for that and change them all. The garage advised against non RF, said 'they could compromise the efficiency of the suspension', what exactly that means I'm not sure. I'd be worried the car might be horizontally unstable if the sidewall rigidity is reduced, it's nearly 2.5 tonnes going around the windy bendy roads I use about half of my journeys. Then again, I dont drive hard like that, too old. Also, there's the spare issue. I have the plug repair kit for many years, fixed maybe 4 or 5 puctures on my previous Audi A6 and on her wheels also. I could get an inflator/sealant kit like she has in her no-spare non-runflat C Class but there's a chance that if used it would block the TPMS sensors, meaning tyre off to unblock or more likely replace them, more nuisance and expense, but it might never happen. I'm wondering is it OK to just get different brand Runflats for the rear, with little difference in tread pattern, but perhaps better noise performance. Has anyone mixed brands front from rear?

 

Different tyres is fine as long as tyres are the same per axle.

Grab a set of used tyres if funds are tight.

 

Most manufacturers do not recommend mixing runflats and non runflats on the same vehicle. Handling characteristics are different. I would change all 4 if you’re going non runflat.

 

I have changed out the run flats on my 2023 LS500 to Michelin Cross Climate II tires and noticed a big difference in the ride. The new tires are so much softer and the ride is noticeably different. Running 34 psi and only have 1500 miles on them so far.

 

Is 34psi the rated pressure for the size tire you are using?

 

That probably makes sense. The easy solution is just two new same brand RF on the rear, they've been fine for most of my driving, some motorway stretches are a tad noisy, but others I use have been low noise surfaced for the benefit of the urban dwellers that live close, and its a joy to drive on those sections. I can't resist trying stuff out though, there's a few RF brands with interesting claims and reviews that I could try. Or change all 4 to non RF. I'm going around in circles. I need to get the suspension tracked, some unevenness and sideslip showed up on the state car test here, done every two years. The garage service inspection showed only 10% wear on the disks all round, after 120,000km (72,000 miles), a testament to hybrid regeneration braking. This is all on the rear though, so the rear tyres take it all both ways, hauling or halting, so no surprise on a hybrid they'll wear out first.