Tyres

[PLH]

Hello, I'm a newbie  :)

I just recently moved over to Lexus from Honda. I now own an IS 250 Advance in Argento Ice.

Question though. Having bought the car (second hand from Lexus dealer) I noticed the rear 18'' tyres were bigger than the front tyres. Does this car require bigger rear tyres or is this just a mistake by the dealer? 

[Guest]

Wider? Totally normal.

Shouldn't have 17" 18" - ie diameter should all be same. But probably 225 front and 255 rear width?

[J Henderson]

Yep, perfectly normal. Only a base model with 16" wheels has same width tyres front & rear.

[PLH]

Just looked.

 

Rear tyres are: 

225/40 ZR18 99Y XL

 

Front tyres are:

225/40 R18 92Y and the other is 225/40 R18 92W

 

Is this right?? Does this car need wider rear tyres? Does it make a difference? Can you put on tyres all the same size? 

I'm kinda lost here because I really don't know if I should be putting on wider tyres now. 

[Guest]

What year is it?

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[scudney]

Hi,are you sure the rears are not 255's?I have a 250 f sports (facelift) and have 225.40.18's on the front and 255.40.18's on the rear,apparently the wider rear tyres are meant to aid traction especially with rear wheel drive cars.

[PLH]

My car is 2011.

And those are the tyres on the car. In fact on the front one tyre is 225/40 R18 92W and one is 225/40 R18 92Y!

I just wanna know if the 250 IS requires wider rear tyres? Does the Advance come with wider rear 18's? Or can I put the same size on all four?

[J Henderson]

^Those are both the same size, the W & Y are speed ratings. (both are more than adequate for this car)

Factory tyre sizes (and recommended pressures) are listed on one of the door jams.

 

[J Henderson]

18 minutes ago, PLH said:

Does the Advance come with wider rear 18's? Or can I put the same size on all four?

Yes. The rear wheels are actually wider 8.5x18. The front wheels are 8" wide.

You could fit 225s all round, but...

• It would throw out the accuracy of the speedometer
• The rear tyres would be stretched across a wheel that's wider than the front
• You would have less grip and spin the wheels more easily (especially at this time of year)
• It would look stupid

Surely, you don't need new tyres if you've just bought it from a Lexus dealer? If so, take it straight back and demand a new set.

[iwonder]

245 on rear for 17" and 255 for 18", IIRC the alloys on the 17" are all the same width but different on 18s

Edit: I would also demand any tyre of the incorrect load and speed rating to be replaced as well or a letter to confirm it is ok to use these tyres as an alternative.
Realistically they will be fine but i've heard some insurance will use it against you if they feel the need.

[PLH]

It was second hand and all the tyres are budget tyres.

So,

255/40 on rear

225/40 on front.

Does it matter about the speed rating? (W,Y).

[Guest]

You said you bought it from a lexus dealer. Go back to them and ask them to check.

Physically measure the width of the rims.

Look at the specs on the sticker in the drivers door way.



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[Linas.P]

Just to add - if you have original Lexus 18" rims then not only the tires, but as well the rims themselves are staggered. It goes like that: 16" same size rims and tires all around, 17" rims are the same but tires are staggered 225 front and 245 rear, 18" both rims and tires are staggered. Why it is important... because if you change tires you need to make sure you get rear rims on the rear - if you assume the car garage would know... that might be true, but I have had 245 put on left instead of rear... and that seemed pretty obvious, but they still fitted them incorrectly.

Speed rating does not matter that much, if you check even lowest speed rating woudl be something like 270km/h, the problem that letter means both speed and load rating so it is better to stick with what is recommended, but as far as I know it is as well mostly based on tire size, so you won't find say R18/255 with speed rating of say "H". Most of tires which would fit will be like Y or W which both are plenty, winter tires might be like V, but that is still plenty for winter. I think my current Dunlop SportMaxx RT are W, whereas recommended is Y. Not done over 30k miles on this set and there were no adverse effect because of speed rating.

[PLH]

OK checked the door and it says

 

225/40 88Y

255/40 95Y

 

I have the 5 spoke smoked 18'' alloys. I think they come with the Advance spec?

[iwonder]

Just to add, the width is stamped on the inside of the alloy.
Seeing as you bought the car recently, I would check the coolant in reservoir and get the rear calipers checked out for seizing on sliders. Very common and worth getting sorted whilst it's free

[Linas.P]

good point re: rear calipers, if you not going to do them whilst on warranty, they will be quite expensive to sort out.

Original Advance spec. rims are 10 spoke 17" inch:

and 18" you have are option:

[LennyLexus]

3 hours ago, PLH said:

It was second hand and all the tyres are budget tyres.

So,

255/40 on rear

225/40 on front.

Does it matter about the speed rating? (W,Y).

Congratulations on your Lexus. I am really surprised that a car with budget tyres let alone incorrect sizing would pass Lexus's approved status and be sold via a main dealer. I was under the impression an approved car would have OEM quality fittings with plenty of life (e.g. correct sizes and Bridgestones), that certainly was my experience with a main dealer purchase. That was 14 years ago, others with recent experience might be able to confirm. 

What brand are the current tyres?

[Linas.P]

Sadly that is not the case. What you can reasonably expect is that the car is road worthy and has tires above legal thread depth limit, the correct sizes - yes, but not necessary premium or OE tires (BTW turanzas are terrible). But what you can reasonable expect is not always the case and varies greatly from dealership to dealership. Used approved status means exactly nothing.. well it means that the cars is being sold to you by Lexus dealership rather than 3rd party, but that is about it - did you know they can "back date" service stamps and issue new (basically fake) service books? If you didn't check small print in terms and conditions - yes they can and they do it. The only thing they need to do is to complete "visual inspection" to give car "used approved status"...

[LennyLexus]

4 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Sadly that is not the case. What you can reasonably expect is that the car is road worthy and has tires above legal thread depth limit, the correct sizes - yes, but not necessary premium or OE tires (BTW turanzas are terrible). But what you can reasonable expect is not always the case and varies greatly from dealership to dealership. Used approved status means exactly nothing.. well it means that the cars is being sold to you by Lexus dealership rather than 3rd party, but that is about it - did you know they can "back date" service stamps and issue new (basically fake) service books? If you didn't check small print in terms and conditions - yes they can and they do it. The only thing they need to do is to complete "visual inspection" to give car "used approved status"...

Going off topic. I am Disgusted by this. I understood the main dealers kept the mint cars for themselves and they are the next best thing to buying brand new.. Hence the 20-40% premium over independent dealers.

[Linas.P]

I am not saying every car in dealership has backdated service history, but it is not uncommon.

Dealerships kind of naturally keeps hold on cars which are in better condition. That is because they most likely to trade them in on lease and they do service and know the cars. That means any car which they know is potato (and even some new cars are) is unlikely to be put on forecourt. They do get rid of those cars via trade channels or auctions and only keep the cars which are more likely to generate most profit and least warranty claims over the years. However, that is not guaranteed - even though it is likely that you will get better car from dealership I am not sure they worth 10-20% extra over market price and you still need to check them almost the same as if you would when buying from third party.

I guess the only advantage is kind of peace of mind... If you car going to breakdown few months after purchases you will know where to go - official dealership not going to disappear overnight like some other dodgy traders. Yet you will still have uphill battle to get them to fix car free of charge - because.. you know "I was okey when you bought it".

I think it only makes sense to buy nearly new cars say up-to 3 years old and 30k miles from dealership. That is because they were likely in control of service schedules and etc. are up to that date. But buying 8 years old car... I doubt there is any difference whenever it is dealer or not...

[PLH]

So what are the best tyres to get? I have always stuck with Michelin PS (gone through 2, 3 and 4).