Hello,

I have a set of Continential DWS tires on my IS350 and i've begun to notice that the centers of the rear tires are wearing much quicker than the outer edges. I have about 17k on the tires and the fronts look barely worn and are wearing evenly across all threads. I expect the fronts to last more than the 50k warranty.

The rear tires on the other hand are just wearing more in the center. The centers are worn down about 30-40% more than the outer edges. What's funny is that the rears are wearing exactly the same on both sides but the outer edges look barely worn just like the fronts. Before you ask, no my tires are not overinflated at all, they are all at 35f and 37r. I also have my car aligned every 6k miles and is within spec.

I've researched this online and it appears to be a common theme with DWS's on car with staggered setups. I'm not sure if it's just a DWS issue or an issues in general with all IS350's.

Has anyone else experience similar issues on the DWS's or other brands?

 

I have an 07 IS350 and have not had the problem. But, a friend Mechanic) at lexus told me to run a lower pressure in the rear - 34-35 - to make the rears wear more evenly. I have about that and they are wearing evenly. The factory pressure may give better ride or handling but a little less will give better wear.

 

This is spot on...

On cars with wide tires, one of the ways you minimize uneven wear is to rotate tires... generally front tires will wear on the edges more and rear tires along the centers... rotate them and it evens out... in your case, with staggered wheels, you obviously don't have that option... run a little bit less air pressure and I bet it gets better - 2-3 psi should be all you need... some tires will exhibit this worse than others, perhaps that Conti is affected more???

 

Sounds over inflated to me. This is not a common problem with the tire or the vehicle. I have a lot of customers that mistakenly run he "Max PSI" on the tire side wall thinking this is the new pressure for their new tires when in fact you always go by what's on your door placard. Double check the pressure I would assume you're a little to high.

Air Pressure - Correct, Underinflated and Overinflated

 

I have the exact problem on my '07 IS350 and I'm in IL as well, not that has anything to do with it lol. My car was getting stuck too often in snow and when I took out my wheels to paint my calipers, I noticed that the threads closer to the edges were 7/32 while the center was 2/32. However, I do over inflate to 40 PSI rear in hopes that my MPG will slightly increase since I'm getting only 17 MPG average. Strange thing is that I over inflate the front by 2 PSI as well but the front are 5/32 throughout. I have Blizzaks BTW.

 

Sad thing is that you will spend more in the long run because of faster tire replacement than you would have on the fuel you ~may~ have saved...

how do you drive the car? I drive fast and in my IS300, I still get 17+ even in town...

put the tires back to where they are supposed to be (or even a few psi less in the rear), drive like a grandma and your tires will last longer and your fuel mileage will go up...

 

I'm not an aggressive driver, once it a while, I may be. I commute to school where it's a 34 mile round trip. 25 miles being on the highway. I think it may just because on where I live and drive. Street lights every 4 small blocks, stop signs, and all that stuff. On the highway alone doing 50-60, I get like 32 MPG but as soon as I start driving on city roads, it's anywhere from 10-15 MPG now.

 

Increasing your inflation pressure on that small amount of city driving isn't going to even be noticeable most likely, except for the increased tire wear... That is terrible mileage in town... like I said, even beating up on my 300, I get 17ish, and I just got back from a little road trip averaging 75-80 mph and got 28 on the highway...

You may not be an aggressive driver, but perhaps you are more than you think... hell even my buddies heads/cam 470 whp Corvette got 12 mpg in city traffic and that wasn't with grandma driving either...

 

it really depends what kind of city...

 

ck Reply One thing I missed the first time of reading this... You are driving on Blizzaks? Those things don't last for anything when its not below 40 degrees out, and their rolling resiatance is way more than a normal all season tire...

 

Yeah, good point Mitsuguy, I missed this too. This is by far a great "dedicated winter" tire but wow if you are using these all year, they will wear quick and irregularly. These will be nosier and way looser in the warm months than the car should be using. If you ever get those off of the car in the summer you will be amazed at how different the car will feel. Look at my post for winter tire construction and see just how much different these tires are:

Winter Tire Link

 

I don't have an IS350, but I did have 07 IS350 wheels on my SC300 and I had the same issue. I went through a brand new set of tires in 2,800 miles because of the rear tire pressure being too high. While I was at a local Discount Tire, one of the technicians used to work for Toyota and told me that I needed to run lower tire pressure to keep the tires from wearing out in the center.

I've been keeping my tire pressure around 33-34 PSI since December and haven't noticed any uneven wear.