Is it possible to wear tires evenly on the front of a 2006-2008 IS ?? I check PSI monthly (37 psi in front 33 rear) 4wheel alignment done when tires replaced (steering wheel has always been centered since new. OE tires showing steel belts on inner edge @ 18,000 miles. PS2's bald on inner edge now 16,500 miles later. Miles are 75% hiway miles by my wife. I have never owned a car that I can't get even tread wear on all 4 tires until this Lexus IS. This is a well known problem why hasn't Lexus fixed this issue like Nissan did with the 350Z?

 

Nissan didn't truly fix it though...

Sure, they made new alignment settings that don't wear tires ~as~ fast, but they sacrificed handling to do it...

part of the problem is the toe on the front - get an alignment shop to set it more neutral and your tire wear issues will be much less... however, the cars handling will suffer, and that really crisp turn in feel at the beginning of a corner may be gone...

tradeoffs...

me personally, I set the alignment on my SC more aggressive than the factory because I'd rather it handle better, and I don't care about tread life...

 

Nissan also installed new tires for free. I think Lexus should do the same thing

 

Brandon@TR any input on this issue?

 

It is not a tire issue... it's an alignment issue...

thing is, it isn't a bad alignment issue, it's a compromise - great handling, faster tire wear...

take your car to an alignment shop that is willing to work with you and have them dial out some of the toe... chances are, the car's handling (turn in) will suffer some, but you will get better tire wear...

 

this issue i have seen as far back in my old Toyota dayz to my current job here at Lexus. it is sadly a combination of both. from the set up of the Geometry of the suspension to the tires themselves. ie. take an IS300 for example. this model from the factory have 2 tire sizes. 16" & 17". the 16" is mostly popular back east due to snow etc.... the 17" is here in the west coast for better handling, cornering & so on.... with that said.... the geometry set up for 16" is fine but the set up for 17" is still set up for a 16" therefore creating irregular tire wear. but never-the-less. handlig is somewhat better with 16" instead. as far as tires are concern. certain tire makes for example. Toyo do not work well with certain Toyota or Lexus models. but if you put the same tire size only Better tire quality like Michelin for example. tire wear like cupping, inside egde feather wear is not as noticeable...

 

Thru selling tires & alignments @ 4 different tire stores I learned first hand that Michelin tires are the best & engineered to resist wear from misalignment etc. making me very brand loyal to Michelin. I bought my Lexus based on second hand info but have been disappointed with my ownership experience because of all the recalls & this tire wear issue

 

I sold Michelin, ALOT... What I learned was that they are a great tire, as is Bridgestone... Michelins can still wear horribly, no matter what model... There is no true engineering to resist uneven wear aside from using asymmetrical tread designs and doing proper tire rotations, meaning cross the non drive tires from side to side, whilst rotating everything front to back...

The one problem comes with certain vehicles where rotations are not possible. It was even around way back when Acura came out with the NSX. Tires were wearing out in 6k miles and bad wear and such... Nothing anyone could do about it - aggressive tire, aggressive alignment. Acura gave away some free tires, once, but that was it.

The same ultra high performance problem exists today with even the cheap (in contrast) Lexus IS series... They are definitely not on the same level as an NSX would be, but still have similar tire / alignment setups, as Lexus is trying to maximize things like grip and handling. Problem is, people don't want to spend money on the tires to keep the thing handling like it was when new. They'd rather sacrifice handling for tire longevity. In my opinion, if you didn't want to spend the dough on good tires that still wear fast, an ultra high performance vehicle shouldn't be on your list of potential vehicles...

My ex roommate bought one of those 350Z's with the alignment issue. Nissan bought him new tires and wanted to realign the vehicle. They did, but he was unhappy with the change in alignment settings, so, he took it to an independent and requested the alignment be changed to what Nissan originally spec'd for the car. He has just lived with the tire wear since, because he'd rather it handle great...

 

speaking from a professional level. i agree with most of what mitsuguy have to say. but i beg to differ on what Michelin has to offer on some models or makes for that matter. he qouted that "Michelins can still wear horribly, no matter what model. i've installed & aligned vehicles on some Lexus model & other models as well & not to mention my own vehicles. they are some of the best tires around. i got a set on my 4Runner that lasted me 35K miles & still have enough threads to last me til next fall. the only down fall i know about Michelin tires is that sometimes the threads will outlast the sidewall where the tires wll begin to have weather cracks.but this weather cracks are not a safety issue or anything like Firestone had at one time w/ there tire recall. this is something i've noticed over the past 18+ years. with that said, if i had to choose tire wear versus perfomance/hadling on a normal sports sedan type of car. tire life all the way. i baby my ride & don't race anyway & i'm not a baller that can spend a set of tires every 15k miles. luckily for me, i know, educate & have the skills to maximize to have both tire life & performace. as far as Michelin having tire recalls, don't know nothing about.

 

two things... it's tread, not thread...

other than that, Michelin had the second biggest tire recall ever... Firestone the first (because of the Ford Explorers)...

Trust me, I truly do believe that Michelin is one of the best manufacturers out there - they have a lot of tech in their tires... But that doesn't keep them from wearing bad if a vehicles alignment is out of spec... I have actually seen a set of Michelin LTX M/S with over 140,000 miles on them... They were hard as a rock, but we replaced them because they no longer drove good, not because they were worn out. The same being said, one of the worst worn sets of tires I ever took off with a set of Michelin Pilot Sports (the directional, non A/S version). They came off a Mercedes (they were OE), and the owner complained of road noise... Upon inspection, there were parts of the tire that were worn to the belts, while other parts of the tire had a good amount of tread remaining. It wasn't an inside wear kind of thing, around the circumference of the tire, it was an up and down wavy (chopped) tire wear.

 

my bad on the spelling professor mitsuguy. hee...hee.....

 

sorry... pet peeve...

search 'pet peeve thread vs tread'

 

Toyo tires doesn't work for certain Lexus? I was planning to get Toyo Proxes 4 on my GS430 next year. Should I not?

 

What is this thread about? please see above^^^