IS winter wheels

[Carl1983]

Hi fellow Lexus owners

Thought I'd share something with you out of interest more than anything. As the main family car we've always had the top spec avensis tourer. In the winter I have a second set of toyota auris smaller 16 inch allows fitted with winter tyres which I change over around November time. Anyway, this year we had the latest avensis with the 150bhp bmw unit upfront, I went to fit my winter alloys and blow me, they have fitted bigger breaks so my alloys physically don't fit. Anyway, today I though I wonder if they will fit my IS and to my surprise, yes they do. Yes it looks slightly odd seeing an f sport with 16 inch rims on lol but at least I can now get about tomorrow with all this snow forecast. Tyres sizes have matched perfect as have the load rating, well chuffed as they arnt a waste of money now. I've attached a pic of before and after for your amusement, but at least it's now practical and my nice rims can be polished and put away, no salt for them 

[Big Rat]

@Carl1983 Well done you, I'm a great advocate of winter tyres and I mean winter tyres and not all season, I swith mine over on the works Transit and my isF in October and back over to the summers in April.

The difference below 7 degrees is remarkable on the winters and I don't mean just in snow and slush but everyday winter wet and greasy roads, as here in the south west we don't really get the wordt of winter weather anymore says he 

And of course if you do have a slide towards a kerb let's say at low speed you've got that extra sidewall height to protect your alloys.

Big Rat

[Guest]

Got a set coming for the long haired general's car. Looking forward to trying them out.

Small wheels look better than a crumpled bonnet.

Although you will just get hit from behind by someone who can't stop as quick instead.

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[rich1068]

11 hours ago, Comedian said:

Although you will just get hit from behind by someone who can't stop as quick instead.

Quite. While I had winters on I've been hit from behind at traffic lights and in the side from someone who couldn't stop at a give way.

We all know it's not just tyres though. We've had a bit of snow overnight and the temperatures really dropped. The snow hasn't really settled but it is slippy and the complete lack of awareness from some is astonishing. Racing down our little side street without a thought that stopping might be an issue.

[Guest]

Education Education Education - said Tony Blair - Although I think he meant reduce it.

[Neil300H]

I upgraded to 17's on my IS330H  and kept the set of original 16's as a winter contingency. 

I have considered putting the 16s back on now it is snowing, but don't think I'd notice the difference, as I would with 18s to 16s.

Or I may just be lazy !!

 

[Carl1983]

Neil the difference going from 18 to 16 is astonishing. It's like driving a big sofa now Lol, so smooth but I've now lost the f sport handling, not as I'm bothered in this weather. Car was amazing today in the snow, no issues at all. I can highly recommend good year ultra grip 9's 

[Nick W858]

Very useful thanks Carl, I love winter tyres and have had them on my LS400 for around 7 years, in the snow/ice we always prefer the safe feel of the LS on winters over my wife's Rx450h on summers. I did look at the 300h F Sport a while back but struggled to get a straight answer as to whether 16 inch wheels would fit - seems like they do and they look alright too.

Big Rat. - do you have a set of different (smaller wheels for the ISF) or is it just the tyres you swap?

[rayaans]

Interesting look - not a fan personally - I would rather stick with the summers all around winter than put those bad boys on! 

But each to their own!

[Big Rat]

1 hour ago, Nick W858 said:

Very useful thanks Carl, I love winter tyres and have had them on my LS400 for around 7 years, in the snow/ice we always prefer the safe feel of the LS on winters over my wife's Rx450h on summers. I did look at the 300h F Sport a while back but struggled to get a straight answer as to whether 16 inch wheels would fit - seems like they do and they look alright too.

Big Rat. - do you have a set of different (smaller wheels for the ISF) or is it just the tyres you swap?

@Nick W858 Nick I bought another set of 19" OEM isF Wheels from a member on here some time ago, so the winters are on an OEM set now and I'll swap them out to some brand new summers in April on the other set they are both the same size tyres.

I buy winter tyres in the summer months better deals to be had 😊

Big Rat

[Nick W858]

Thanks Big Rat - one for me to think about, good point about the timing of the purchase. Think I am right in saying you can fit 18s to the ISF but nothing smaller?

[Carl1983]

I agree not a huge fan of the look compared to my f sport wheels but I'd prefer to have the grip and safety when needed, also nice knowing my 18's are all polished up and not getting any salt on them . If anyone prefers to drive in winter with summer tyres on, they need to try a decent set of winters. On Friday there was a 4x4 stuck on summers tyres, I went straight past in my rear wheel drive Lexus haha. 

[Guest]

I hadn't realised until recently that winter tyres (as well as being soft to work in low temps) are also designed to pick up snow in the tread. Because snow sticks to snow really well. There is your grip.

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[rayaans]

12 hours ago, Carl1983 said:

I agree not a huge fan of the look compared to my f sport wheels but I'd prefer to have the grip and safety when needed, also nice knowing my 18's are all polished up and not getting any salt on them . If anyone prefers to drive in winter with summer tyres on, they need to try a decent set of winters. On Friday there was a 4x4 stuck on summers tyres, I went straight past in my rear wheel drive Lexus haha. 

Thats fair enough buddy!

Also does depend on where you live I guess. All this talk of snow and I was just waiting as needed to go to work today at 8am but hey ho, nothing here.

[J Henderson]

19 hours ago, Nick W858 said:

Think I am right in saying you can fit 18s to the ISF but nothing smaller?

You can fit any of the 18" wheels from a normal IS.

[Carl1983]

Well today the snow has been awful. I was asked to pick my sister's little boy up from cubs camp in the middle of the countryside as she was stuck. I thought the let's go for it. At one point there was an Audi Quattro stuck on a hill all 4 wheels spinning. I shouted out the window "you need some winter tyres mate" as I went straight up in my rear wheel drive Lexus without the traction  light even flickering haha. His face was a picture. I think the weight of the batteries in the boot helps a lot too, great car in the snow with the right tyres on

[rayaans]

14 hours ago, Carl1983 said:

Well today the snow has been awful. I was asked to pick my sister's little boy up from cubs camp in the middle of the countryside as she was stuck. I thought the let's go for it. At one point there was an Audi Quattro stuck on a hill all 4 wheels spinning. I shouted out the window "you need some winter tyres mate" as I went straight up in my rear wheel drive Lexus without the traction  light even flickering haha. His face was a picture. I think the weight of the batteries in the boot helps a lot too, great car in the snow with the right tyres on

We got about 0.5cm lol - washed out within 15 minutes. Now you see why I don't bother with winter tyres

[65mike]

Hi all.

I will be looking at getting winter tyres for next year went out in the car today after getting rid off 3 inches off snow off the car and went to pull away and rear tyres hit a load off snow and started to slip and VSC light flashed on and off so that was enough for me to decide to invest in some next year!!!

65mike.

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, rayaans said:

We got about 0.5cm lol - washed out within 15 minutes. Now you see why I don't bother with winter tyres

You keep talking about snow but it's about temperature, snow just makes matters worse and highlights your tyres are not working properly.

Tyres grip by deforming into the road surface, it interlocking mechanical grip (not so much friction as I hear people saying). If it didn't work this way there would be no motorbikes. When the tyre rubber is hard this can't happen nearly as well, resulting in far less grip. When it is below 7 degrees I can feel the back end is simply not providing enough traction. My front wheel drive hatch I use for work struggles to get away cleanly out of slippery junctions and that has less than 70 bhp.

I've not got winters on my hatch right now but have fitted them to wife's car. I'm on the lookout for a second hand set of wheels at bargain prices for my work car. The RC will stay safely on the drive until it's warm enough for a run on a mild day. And then there is the salt.

If the law made everyone use winters maybe they could stop salting? Now that would be good for all of us.

[rayaans]

21 minutes ago, Comedian said:

You keep talking about snow but it's about temperature, snow just makes matters worse and highlights your tyres are not working properly.

Tyres grip by deforming into the road surface, it interlocking mechanical grip (not so much friction as I hear people saying). If it didn't work this way there would be no motorbikes. When the tyre rubber is hard this can't happen nearly as well, resulting in far less grip. When it is below 7 degrees I can feel the back end is simply not providing enough traction. My front wheel drive hatch I use for work struggles to get away cleanly out of slippery junctions and that has less than 70 bhp.

I've not got winters on my hatch right now but have fitted them to wife's car. I'm on the lookout for a second hand set of wheels at bargain prices for my work car. The RC will stay safely on the drive until it's warm enough for a run on a mild day. And then there is the salt.

If the law made everyone use winters maybe they could stop salting? Now that would be good for all of us.

I enjoy a bit of slip though - getting any in the IS is a chore in itself - got a bit too much traction and traction control cuts in even when completely off. Its been fine in winter without any winter tyres - not so in the previous Merc which would benefit greatly from winter tyres.

I love giving the RX some in snow with traction control off - the OEM bridgestones are rubbish but they're OK at low temperatures - just need warming up a bit first.

Really like the MK5 Golf at low temperatures though, spins the front wheels everywhere in 1st gear - its a hoot!

Im not entirely sure that winter tyres would make much difference to my driving in good conditions below 7 degrees. It barely gets under that temperature anyway, recently its been about 5-6 degrees but its usually bang on 7 or above on most days around here.

I did run M+S tyres on the previous RX which were good all year round but can't seem to get any in the 4RX size.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, rayaans said:

I enjoy a bit of slip though - getting any in the IS is a chore in itself - got a bit too much traction and traction control cuts in even when completely off.

Too much traction? Typo?

[rayaans]

15 minutes ago, Comedian said:

Too much traction? Typo?

No not a typo - i've found it very very hard in normal driving to make the IS slip at all - only does it in colder weather with traction control off, and even then, not properly!

[Guest]

Quote

got a bit too much traction and traction control cuts in

You appear to suggest traction control is cutting in as you have too much of it [grip]. 

[rayaans]

10 minutes ago, Comedian said:

You appear to suggest traction control is cutting in as you have too much of it [grip]. 

No, there's too much grip in the IS but when its snowing, there's less grip for obvious reasons but the car won't allow any slip whatsoever - traction control goes berserk. Turn it off and it lets some slip through but even then, not enough to my liking :)

[rich1068]

Well we got some snow here (Sheffield) but nowhere near as much as the don't leave the house/burn your furniture to stay warm/eat the youngest first lot were warning us. The children were very disappointed (at the lack of snow, not at not being eaten). However, there was enough for a little trip out to the edge of Derbyshire last night in the XC90. And just far enough to make my wife nervous and remind me we had the children in the car.

The IS300 stayed under its snowy blanket until this morning and even though it was icy on the side roads judicious use of low gear letting the revs pull me along and turning off the traction control didn't allow any drama. I'm a big fan of winter tyres but I doubt I'll bother for the IS while we still have the XC as back up. And anyway, it took that long to get my regular wheels and tyres balanced I don't think I could go through all that drama again.