raycao

Hello all,

Happy New Year!

We plan to pick up a 2010 RX 350 AWD soon and have narrowed it down to
Nav + Premium + Comfort packages. But still debating re: standard 18" or get the 19" Performance tire.

What is the diadvantage of 19"?

- Wear out faster?
- More noise on the road?

Will the 19" gives better "handling"?
Shorter stopping distance?
more traction on SNOW/WATER/ICE?

if $ is not an issue, you will get the 18" or 19"?

Thanks

- Ray

DaRacerz

In general, a larger tire will give you more road noise. Can't quantify the difference as I haven't been in both long enough to tell. Having the 19's on mine, its not bad. Road noise is low, traction is fine, but is a bit hard over the bumps.

What I can tell you for the short time I have had with the 18's on the test drive is the ride does feel a little bit softer and more forgiving to road irregularities. Otherwise, all is pretty similar. For snow you generally want a slightly skinnier tire, but i don't think the difference between the 18 or 19 tire is enough to make a difference.

Sandi_k

Softer ride with the 18" for sure.

Sandi

raycao

Thanks, I guess most people went with 18" ... but 19" looks so NICE & BIG

The only think that I dont like is that fact, they need to be replace every 15K miles... That means every year I will need to get a new set of tires, the cost will add up fast ...

- Ray

np0531

You can also go higher to 20" wheels without affecting the ride quality too much. 22" are possible too...

I ended up changing to 20" wheels and also increasing the tire size to 265/50R20.

Ride quality is still pretty smooth, but the RX looks much better with wider tires and a bigger wheel. =) Wider tires do give you more traction as well...

I think there was also another thread about the type of tire that comes stock with either the 18" or 19" wheel from Lexus, and that the quality of the tire was pretty mediocre.

If you do decide to change the wheels/tires to aftermarket ones, just get the 18" wheels, you can upgrade for around 2k depending on your wheel/tire preferences. Some forum members changed theirs to 19/20" TSWs with tires for under 2k. The 20" Vossens that I chose ended up being around 2.4k with tires.

Where I live in Miami, there are RXs all over the place, so I tried to make mine look different than all the rest...=)

Fogcutter

Mine are 19" and I have no complaints. I don't pay much attention to tires and wheels, but these wheels do look nice.

pvo

iTrader: (2)

Any pictures that you can share with us?

np0531

Heres a quick pic I snapped with my iPhone a couple weeks ago at my construction site.



Decided to stick with 20" wheels since I drive on lime rock a lot.

pvo

iTrader: (2)

That looks nice!!!! Thanks for sharing the pic.

ObsidianRX

I find it hard to believe that the factory 19" Michelins would only last 15K miles with the treadwear rating they have. Our RX has 12K on it and I can't see any visible wear on them.

Visually the RX is a big car, and call me shallow but I think it looks better with the 19s on it. I didn't notice any significant difference in ride quality between the 18 and 19s. The biggest difference as noted is that you're going to have a couple hundred more dollars in replacement cost.

Get what you want (or what you can get in your region, the Nav trucks in my region seem to all come in with the 19s), it's a great SUV either way.

I8ABMR

I think the RX looks great with 19's. I agree that unless the car is dropped you will absolutely get more than 15 from the tires. Its a heavy vehicle but not that heavy

Cruiter

I have about 8000 miles on my 19" michelins and so far, I can not detect any wear. They were rotated at 5000. I expect well in excess of 30,000 miles.

Luvmy350

iTrader: (2)

Can anyone photoshope this car with these wheels while the RX being in Matador Red? I just traded in my gray 2010 for a red one.