jberger

Ken,

I was trying to decide between 16's and 17" tires. So I took both for extended test drives trying to decide.
I was amazed at the difference in sound between the 2. The 16's are much quieter than the 17's regardless of type. But the low-profiles certainly have a better inital turn-in and overall lighter feel but the trade off is noise.

Since I already have a race prepped Miata, I wasn't looking for the ultimate performance, I wanted something with a good tradeoff between performance and comfort.
The GS is not the quietest in the Lexus line, it has more wind noise that I expected, but the tire size is a huge part of the problem.

I love yoko's, they are a great performance tire, but on my Q45 they are much louder than Michelin's, so I'm not sure that Yoko's are the answer here.
The only Goodyear's I liked were the gatorbacks, but they are SOOOOO DAMN LOUD and didn't hold up well.

Good luck

GlobeCLK

iTrader: (5)

Just got my AVS dBs today. 225/60/16. Very very quiet. About the same as stock tires sound if not quieter

Grip is good too.

nanotech

iTrader: (2)

if they are the same noise level is same as stock, then they are no good for me !

I have the stock 17" chromes on my GS and I was thinking maybe the yoko AVS dBs, but if they have the same sound as the stock tires, then I don't see why I should get them?

Maybe the S-03 Pole Positions really are the best, even though there aren't many reviews or tests on those tires yet.

GlobeCLK

iTrader: (5)

nanotech:

you have 17s right? The dBs should be quieter than stock 17s, and as quiet as the stock 16s. But I dont' know, you better check it out.

But no matter what, if you think the dBs are not quiet enough, then NOTHING will be. The dBs ARE the quietest tires you can find if you still want performance.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

He said the *16"* yokos were as quiet as the stock 16s.

The Potenzas on the 17s are definitely not quiet, and the yokos will probably be quieter, but not likely to be as quiet as any 16s.

nanotech - noise seems to be a real concern for you... maybe you should bite the bullet and just trade in the GS for an LS430!

analogue

Well, I too am in search of that ultimate tire and settled on Dunlop SP 9000s all around after reading alot of opinions. I'm not getting them installed until Monday but will let you know how they compare to the stock 17"s.

nanotech

iTrader: (2)

yeah noise is a concern, I hope I am not annoying anybody because of my constant complains about noise.

I do like the LS430s noise levels and ulra-luxurious interior, but I like the way a GS looks from the outside and the speed, I love speed even though I don't race much. I just want to have that power with me in case I ever need it !

KenJack

I know that, as some suggested, the 16" tire or even the swap for an LS430 approach would work, but I am a GS4 person. I don't want to lose the zip and nimbleness of the GS. I'm rying to find a happy medium in the 17" tire world and still on a quest for info and suggestions.

God forbid, if I was going to go for mushy comfort, I could buy a Caddy... Yikes!... I feel like I just used foul language by mentioning a horrible car like that on this web site... I should be thrashed.

No, I'm just on a quest for the best I can find within the narrow parameters of the GS430 world - Gotta have my daily GS dosage.

Thanks

CGenberg

Hi guys,

Sorry to drop in on this thread, but I've been through this discussion ad nauseum with my Mercedes group. Many of the guys have tried all the tires discussed here and thrown a lot of money at figuring out which one was best.

In the top performance tire category, nothing is as quiet as the Dunlop 9000 particularly in wider tires 235+. They also have the best wet traction to boot and pretty good life. All in all, it's the best buy at that level.

I've recently switched from P7000's to Dunlop's and can verify that they are MUCH quieter than P7000's (particularly aging ones).

Can't comment if there's quieter tires in lower performance categories.

Good luck.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

When was the last time you drove a Cadillac? My in-laws just got a new DeVille, and it is VERY nice. Handles well, very quick, VERY quiet, and has some features Lexus doesn't - for example, tons of features on the steering wheel (climate control, audio control, and cruise control buttons - I still don't like the Lexus stalk for cruise, or the fact that you can't leave it turned on).

Yes, it's still a front wheel drive car, and won't outhandle a GS, but it's not designed to do so, but it bears no resemblance to older Cadillacs. My in-laws have gotten a new DeVille every 2-3 years for the past 15 at least, and I've seen the big improvements with each model.

Anyway, I'd be curious to hear whether you've driven a new Cadillac. You might be very surprised. Of course Cadillac, like the rest of GM, still can't market very well, but the product is surprisingly good.

nanotech

iTrader: (2)

This is not really related to this post, but provides an extension/reply to bitakhuna's reply.

On the Cadillac side, I have been dreaming about the new Escalade (2002) for quite a while now, I just wanna see what the difference between the 230hp 01 LX470 and the 345hp 02 Escalade is.

willard west

After trying several tire brands on my 92 LS I finally settled on bridgestone turanza's as the quietest. I have 17" ones on my newer GS300 and they seem to be just as quiet as the ones on the LS.

But a note of caution, I just removed a set of pirelli's from a 911 with 17k miles because they were making far too much noise. I have been told that the pirelli's "harden" over time and mileage and while they are reasonably quiet new they become noisy over time.

Other tires may exhibit this same pattern.

SC300T

I've done some comparison on 17" tires on the GS...

Of the three tires I've had on our GS400----
I've found that the RE030s are by far the noisiest, and hardest. Pretty stable, though.

The Dunlop SP5000 is indeed the quietest of the bunch by a noticable margin. Quieter than the Michelin Pilot XGTZ4s currently on the GS. The SP5000 has **Horrible** directional stability and follows ruts in pavement. Ride is similar to the XGTZ4 and softer than the RE030. Rain traction is good, as is winter traction. This tire is harder to balance than the XGT, probably due to manufacturing tolerances. It breaks away progressively and is easy to drive. Tail can be hung out without much panic.

The XGTZ4 has been the best tire so far, with very good directional stability. It feels secure, but breaks away quickly compared to the SP5000. It tracks the highway perfectly and has no out-of-round vibration. Only problem is noise!... smooth pavement is quiet, but on concrete or worn asphalt, these tire sing pretty loudly.

I'd personally look at one of the Michelin touring type tires for a quieter ride... Pilot HX? I don't remember. Otherwise, the AVS db would be worth a look to me.

dgangi

This thread has me interested because I need new tires for my 2000 GS300 (which I just purchased). The stock Michelin Pilots (225/55/16) that are on the car are showing signs of wearing down and the noise these tires emit is incredible! I'm not as picky about a quite tire as Ken but it certainly is a high consideration.

I have always been a firm believer in Pirelli tires. I ran P6000 Sport Veloce's on my last two cars and absolutely loved them. They handled well, were quiet, and had good treadlife. However, the posts on this site about the Yokohama AVD db's had me curious so I looked them up on the Tire Rack site.

Oddly enough, Tire Rack has a comparison of the Yoko db's, Pirelli 6000 Sport Veloce's, and Michelin Pilot XGT V4. To my surprise, the Pirelli's took top honors in the handling and were barely nudged out by the Yoko's in noise rating.

If you are interested, here is the link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...reModel=AVS+dB

The only reason I would steer clear of the Yoko's is my past experience with how they wear. My last set of Yoko's were traded in early because they started to growl after they started wearing in. I had a set of Firestones do the same thing. None of my Pirelli tires got noiser as they wore.

Thx...Doug

Prost

I just got a set of SP 5000 at King's Tire at El Monte today. What's a different compare to the RE 030! From my 5 minutes drive on local street, it is very quiet, even quieter then the stock 16" Goodyear! I haven't put it on freeway yet! I will let you guys updated!