Steering

[is200 Newbie]

I have an issue when steering round corners - I think its the tyres but anyone confirm this or have experienced it?

Driving round corners - or a roundabout, the car feels like the back end is coming out (understeer on the rear?) Speed round the corners or roundabout is not excessive - following other cars at a slow speed in most cases, 20/20mph max. It doesn't actually slide but feels like it could? Never had this before and it the same both turning left and right although I feel it more when turning right.

My initial thoughts are rear tyres as it feels like the back end is drifting - tread is fine but they don't have a good "edge" to the tread - not worn, its just the way they are designed. They have been on the car since I had it - I have kept a record of work done on the car since I have owned it and the rears have not been changed since I had it almost 4 years (25k) ago so they have lasted well although there is still a good bit of tread on them. I keep the pressures to 38 so they are not deflated either.

Could this be another issue such as shocks - how can I tell .... or any other issue?

 

[mk_lon]

I had a similar experience, replaced the back tyres as told they were wearing down to 2mm on the Mot a few weeks ago. Whilst there was a difference I didn't notice a dramatic difference.

[is200 Newbie]

I guess its a tyre change - I measured the depth before and its even wear and at 3mm remaining so they can do with changing.

[lex28]

Does the steering feel really light like you don't have a lot of control at the wheel?

 

[is200 Newbie]

14 hours ago, lex28 said:

Does the steering feel really light like you don't have a lot of control at the wheel?

 

The steering feels fine but the back of the car is a bit twitchy - I am sure its the tyres as the tread is low (ish) but wondering if it could be anything else - I don't think shocks would give the feeling of the car sliding slightly but have never had shocks go on a car before.

The issue is at the rear  - the fronts fine

[dazed]

Although your tyres may be inflated correctly, some have softer sidewalls than others. That might be noticeable when altering direction several times quite rapidly - e.g. small roundabouts.

[Shahpor]

If the back end is starting to slide (oversteer), then then most likely culprit is something wrong with the tyres.

I had a similar experience recently, but in my case it was a deflated tyre.

You say you have had them on for 4 years and 25k miles?  That is quite a lot.  Have you had a close look at the sidewalls for cracks?

I did have a few hairy moments back in the day which turned out to be a failed rear damper, but that doesn't seem likely in this case.

[rayaans]

Does seem like the tyres from what you are saying.

3mm will lead to poor traction anyway so you would get some spinning in the wet but it could also be due to an alignment issue.

However, most likely its the tyres - what have you got on at the moment?

 

[is200 Newbie]

On ‎16‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 8:34 PM, Shahpor said:

If the back end is starting to slide (oversteer), then then most likely culprit is something wrong with the tyres.

I had a similar experience recently, but in my case it was a deflated tyre.

You say you have had them on for 4 years and 25k miles?  That is quite a lot.  Have you had a close look at the sidewalls for cracks?

I did have a few hairy moments back in the day which turned out to be a failed rear damper, but that doesn't seem likely in this case.

Sidewalls are all ok - no cracks but the treads a bit smooth (still legal) towards the outer edge of both tyres - the tread pattern not that good on the outers,

1 hour ago, rayaans said:

Does seem like the tyres from what you are saying.

3mm will lead to poor traction anyway so you would get some spinning in the wet but it could also be due to an alignment issue.

However, most likely its the tyres - what have you got on at the moment?

 

The tyres on at the moment are Green Star - never heard of them before but they were put on by the garage that sold me the car. To be fair they have lasted well. I am goping to renew both rears this week.

[johnatg]

Tyres that last well that you've never heard of are often made of hard rubber which has minimal grip, especially when the tyres are getting a bit worn.

[true blue]

Hi ,tyre choice is always a hotly debated issue , so you will get conflicting advice ,one thing I can say is unheard of cheap Chinese tyres ( known as ditchfinders )  are not to be recommended on rear wheel drive cars such as your Lexus .I am surprised you have kept them on for so long .I have bought cars in the past from dealers who fitted tyres with the only criteria being they must be black and round and frightened myself in no time,taken them off and thrown them away . My advice is to keep to a recognized brand ,there are some excellent mid range tyres if you are on a budget , do your homework ,there is plenty of advice on here ,I,m sure changing these will improve the handling on your car .

Dave

[is200 Newbie]

2 hours ago, true blue said:

Hi ,tyre choice is always a hotly debated issue , so you will get conflicting advice ,one thing I can say is unheard of cheap Chinese tyres ( known as ditchfinders )  are not to be recommended on rear wheel drive cars such as your Lexus .I am surprised you have kept them on for so long .I have bought cars in the past from dealers who fitted tyres with the only criteria being they must be black and round and frightened myself in no time,taken them off and thrown them away . My advice is to keep to a recognized brand ,there are some excellent mid range tyres if you are on a budget , do your homework ,there is plenty of advice on here ,I,m sure changing these will improve the handling on your car .

Dave

To be honest i have had no reason to doubt their performance - certainly lasted well and it has only been the past few weeks where i have had the issue. They were on the car when i got it - the tyres were new at the time, put on by the garage i bought the car from.

I have replaced the fronts at some point during ownership and put Dunlops on - the rears must have been fine at the time but recently the treads getting low - still legal but maybe too low to perform on a rear wheel drive car.

I will be looking at branded tyres for the rear when I get round to it at the end of the week.