I Just Got Back From Getting Michelin Pilot Sport A/s Installed At The Tirerack. I Am Shocked At The Difference Tires Can Make. The Car Feels Much Liter, It Steers So Much Better And Rides Like It Should Have From The Factory Without The Jarring Feeling Everytime A Bump Is Hit. I Also Bought The Compact Spare Kit Which A Lexus Dealer Is Selling Through Ebay For $600 And It Is Great. I Can Only Imagine How Much More Popular This Car Might Have Been If They Had Never Come Up With The Runflat Option On Every Sc Sent To The Us. I Guess They Figured Everyone Had To Be Able To Stick Golf Clubs In The Trunk. I Encourage Anyone Even Thinking About Dumping Their Runflats To Run Not Walk To The Tirerack And Get Some Real Tires And See How Good This Car Really Is.

 

congrats on your "new" car, that's all i can say

and welcome to clublexus!

 

Im going to switch out pretty soon.

 

Yah, I did the same with my '03 after 5,000 miles. Totally transforms the car. Just be sure to get the spare tire kit or carry a can of Fix-a-flat with you. The Fix-a-flat saved me when I got a nail in one of the Michelins.

 

If I were to replace run flats with normal radial tires, I might be tempted to purchase a good 12 volt DC air pump and run with that. Then the pump would support a puncture till you can get to a tire store for a repair or if damaged in the sidewall, a replacement.

 

I AM USING A PUMP AND LEAK STOP GU FROM THE TIRERACK FOR LOCAL TRIPS, BUT WANTED A COMPACT SPARE FOR EASE OF MIND ON LONG DISTANCE TRIPS. THE OTHER GOOD NEWS I DIDN'T MENTION IN THE FIRST POST IS THAT I WAS ABLE TO SELL MY RUNFLATS ON EBAY WITH 8000 MILES ON THEM TO FUND OVER HALF OF THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE NEW TIRES. THERE IS A BIG DEMAND OUT THERE FOR THE USED RUNFLATS EVEN THOUGH THEY MAKE OUR SCs FEEL SO BAD.

 

SOmeone shared this with me years ago so I'm just passing it on. Using all caps in an e-mail message is like shouting or being overly emotional. I can tell you have nothing but genuine excitement for your new tires but there are others who are so nit picky, they could be offended.

Back on topic. I understand the reason for run flats but the tech needs to improve significantly before I'd ever purchase a set. The rough ride is not worth the trade off. Besides, I don't change tires anyway. I call AAA.

 

I recently purcahsed a 2003 pre-owned SC430. It came with the regular RF tires, which makes the ride very rough. I am planning to change them for regular tires. It seems Michelin Pilot model is one of the best to use for regular tire. I am primarily interested in ride compfort, and not much interestedt in sporty driving.
I have also seen some mention that when he replace the tires he went for size 50 instead of size 40. I assumed he used 245x50 R18. I could not find that posting again. Does anybody have experience on using a larger tire (245x50 R18) instead of the regular 245x40R18. Does it fit, does it hit anything, any adverse effects?

I appreciate anyone sharing their experiences

Fatih

 

Check out the Falken tire--that's what we replaced the RFs with and the car rides sooooooo much better! I believe that they are so stiff that you could drive slowly for a pretty long ways without having to resort to a spare, etc. Hope this helps!

 

The michelin pilot A/S are like night and day compared to the Dunlops.
i got 3k on mine and still feels soft as a pillow in comfort ride.

 

i really don't know why you would wanna go 245/50, that's way out of spec and i think it will look very stupid. i would just stick with 245/40, and if you are really inclined, MAYBE you can go 245/45 to gain a bit more cushion. but that's out of spec already. 245/50? you are getting into a suv

 

and btw, yes i have the michelin pilot sport a/s, love it.

 

Fatih, go to this site and you can compare the differences http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
If you went with a 45 you would gain about 1/2" in sidewall which should improve the ride comfort.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Based on what I hear, I will probably go with 40 or 45.

Fatih

 

eBay ehh? I might have to do that since I'm not getting any bites on mine in the wheel classified section. How did you package them to be shipped?