Michelin PILOT SPORT 4

Argento · March 31, 2016

I'm thinking of replacing the Bridgestone Turanzas on my IS250 F-Sport MY11 with the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4

Anybody have experience of these or other comment/advice?

I've been pleased with the Turanzas and am concerned that the PS4 might give an even firmer ride.

Thanks, Argento

normski2 · March 31, 2016

This may be of interest .... this was my thoughts back in 2014 or so,

I had Turanzas and Potenzas in my time on 220d and 250. Have to say ...I found them hopeless. They grip fine but boy were they noisy and the tram-lining was horrendous at times. I'm on 18" too by the way. Don't know that you can make the ride softer with 18's and 40. If you went down to a 17" or 16" with a fatter tyre then it may get softer. I must say...I don't find my ride 'hard' to the point of annoyance at all.

Anyway,

I now have Goodyears ...Assymetric 2's on the rear.....very pleased after some 4 months or so.

On the front I went for Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance 2......why? Well, I read a few reviews that praised their price, grip, fuel economy, quietness and lack of tram lining. Found it to be very true.

Ride is much quieter and have no tram lining whatsoever. All those regular spots on my journey to work and around town that tram-lined before have all been eradicated. Very pleased.

Still very pleased with ride, grip and road noise suppression. No tram lining.

Argento · March 31, 2016

normski2, I know I can always rely on you.

Great to hear from you.

That's very helpful and useful to me.

" Still very pleased with ride, grip and road noise suppression. No tram lining"

Those attributes are very important to me.

So I think I'll go for the Goodyears.

They should be less cost than the Michelins too.

Do you think I should go for the F1 Asymetric 3 for the rear?

Could "more be less" ?

Anyway, I suppose the F1 Asymetric 2 may no longer be available now.

Argento

normski2 · March 31, 2016

The Efficientgrip was not available in the size for my rear tyres ..(think it was 245?)

That's why I had Assymetric 2's for the rear. They were also much quieter on road noise.

That's only my observations ... others may have equally good alternatives.

rayaans · March 31, 2016

19 minutes ago, Argento said:

normski2, I know I can always rely on you.

Great to hear from you.

That's very helpful and useful to me.

" Still very pleased with ride, grip and road noise suppression. No tram lining"

Those attributes are very important to me.

So I think I'll go for the Goodyears.

They should be less cost than the Michelins too.

Do you think I should go for the F1 Asymetric 3 for the rear?

Could "more be less" ?

Anyway, I suppose the F1 Asymetric 2 may no longer be available now.

Argento

Hey Argento,

The Goodyear Asymmetric 2 or 3 are a great tyre but they do have a very soft compound so wear will not be great. Also, its worth remembering that both the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 and Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2/3 are classed as high performance tyres meaning that they will be absolutely awful in colder weather and in snow. They are designed primarily for warm weather wet and dry driving.

Another two tyres to think about are the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 (best price is on Camskill atm £56 front and £76 rear) and the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT. The quietest of the lot are the Dunlops and they do have great grip too.

As per the name, the Rainsport 3 is awesome in wet weather and OK in the dry. It also has a soft compound for a better ride.

Another factor may be how much of a rim protector you want. The Michelins have about 1-2mm sticking out, the Goodyear has between 5-10mm (can fit 2 pound coins next to each other) and the Uniroyals have about 5mm too. The Dunlop Sport Maxx RT has a little lip as well but its similiar to the Michelins.

Argento · March 31, 2016

rayaans, thanks very much.

This advice from members just keeps getting better and better.

" .... the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 (best price is on Camskill atm £56 front and £76 rear) and the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT. The quietest of the lot are the Dunlops and they do have great grip too."

The Uniroyals seem to be a great price. Nice drive for me over the A66 from Darlington to pick them up from Camskill too.

I've had Uniroyals on a Golf we had a while back. A quality product, no complaints at all.

But those Dunlops look great too. I note what you say about noise. Very good.

I'm spoiled for choice. So it could come down to cost & availability.

Argento

rayaans · March 31, 2016

2 hours ago, Argento said:

rayaans, thanks very much.

This advice from members just keeps getting better and better.

" .... the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 (best price is on Camskill atm £56 front and £76 rear) and the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT. The quietest of the lot are the Dunlops and they do have great grip too."

The Uniroyals seem to be a great price. Nice drive for me over the A66 from Darlington to pick them up from Camskill too.

I've had Uniroyals on a Golf we had a while back. A quality product, no complaints at all.

But those Dunlops look great too. I note what you say about noise. Very good.

I'm spoiled for choice. So it could come down to cost & availability.

Argento

Id say value for money goes to the Uniroyal Rainsport 3. Its a great tyre at a great price.

The Dunlops are supposed to be better but it depends on whether you think they are worth the extra £20-40 on each tyre. Camskill also do them at a good price and its argued that the noise dB rating doesn't make that much difference in real life. I think it does make a difference when I changed from Dunlop SP270 to Michelin Latitude Tour HP (2db lower rated) but then, I was comparing old, worn tyres to new ones so really not sure.

Id assume the Uniroyals on the Golf were the Rainsport 2's? The Rainsport 3 has improved on them considerably - less tyre roarand greater grip in the dry now as well as in the wet compared to them

Wisty · March 31, 2016

I've had Uniroyal Rainsport 3s and Goodyear Asymmetric 2s (not on my Lexus sadly) and found that the rainsports are incredibly good in the wet. I lived in Wales at the time, so they saw a lot of standing water!

As for the Goodyears, I was surprising pleased with the longevity of them (10k last year and still at least 20k left on them), and it's what I've had on my last 2 cars (through some fairly mild and also very cold winters). I'll be looking to potentially go for them when it comes time to re-shoe the Lexus.

If I were you, I'd pick the cheaper of the two, or the one that has the best looking tread pattern (as we all know that looking awesome is most important) and you'll most likely not be disappointed.

Argento · April 1, 2016

Wisty, thanks very much for sharing this with us.

It's very useful to me.

Yes, it's down to the Goodyears and Uniroyals isn't it.

That's a nice decision to make.

" If I were you, I'd pick the cheaper of the two, or the one that has the best looking tread pattern (as we all know that looking awesome is most important) .... "

Yes, I'm on exactly the same wavelength as you. I thought it was just me, looking at a nice car's tread pattern. I'm not alone. Thank goodness for that.

If I get the tyres from Camskill, how does one go about finding a reliable and careful fitter?

Would my local Lexus dealer fit them for me? I guess, not ... ...

Argento

rayaans · April 1, 2016

18 minutes ago, Argento said:

Wisty, thanks very much for sharing this with us.

It's very useful to me.

Yes, it's down to the Goodyears and Uniroyals isn't it.

That's a nice decision to make.

" If I were you, I'd pick the cheaper of the two, or the one that has the best looking tread pattern (as we all know that looking awesome is most important) .... "

Yes, I'm on exactly the same wavelength as you. I thought it was just me, looking at a nice car's tread pattern. I'm not alone. Thank goodness for that.

If I get the tyres from Camskill, how does one go about finding a reliable and careful fitter?

Would my local Lexus dealer fit them for me? I guess, not ... ...

Argento

Id say thats a fairly easy decision to make - Uniroyals! Cheaper and awesome looking tread pattern ha!

If you have unmarked wheels - take the car to Lexus. They'll be expensive but if they damage your rim, they'll have no choice but to fix it. My Lexus dealer fitted my tyres for £50 lol - all 4! I was so shocked by the quoted price I actually asked 4 times to make sure haha! And of course, no chunks taken out of my rims as they washed the car afterwards and removed all the tyre gunk so I knew exactly what the wheel looked like.

If they are already marked then go to your local independent and get them to fit tyres on - however, I'd be looking at finding a tyre fitter before ordering tyres as tyre fitters are hard to find nowadays - they make a healthy chunk of profit on tyres and therefore can refuse to fit your own tyres.

Argento · April 3, 2016

rayaans, thanks very much for this steer.

I think it's got to be the Uniroyals.

I like the idea of approaching the Lexus dealer. My alloys are unmarked and I'd be upset if they were damaged during fitting.

I'd say £50 for four is very good for removal, fitting, balancing, va

If they agree to fit, I'll try to play my Lexus Gold Members card to get a discount, right?

Argento · April 11, 2016

rayanns, Aargh! Camskill have just come back and said they can't get those Uniroyal rears 255/40

I've asked them what next best in that price range.

Argento

rayaans · April 11, 2016

16 minutes ago, Argento said:

rayanns, Aargh! Camskill have just come back and said they can't get those Uniroyal rears 255/40

I've asked them what next best in that price range.

Argento

Oh dear! I was looking on camskill using my IS300h F-Sport fitment as I thought they'd be the same. Turns out the IS300h uses 255/35 r18 on the rear instead!

There's limited options for 255/40 as its an uncommon size but the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo2 K117 look decent in that size

Argento · April 11, 2016

rayaans, no problem.

Let's see what Brian at Camskill comes up with.

" ...but the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo2 K117 look decent in that size"

Thanks for finding that out for me.

I'll have good look at them now.

I'm going to the Lexus dealer soon to see if they will fit the tyres I eventually get.

OT I'll also ask then about the £159 service promo for "older Lexus" like mine. Did you see that flyer on LOC site just now? There must be a catch ... ...

Argento