Tyres for IS300H

[ikeja]

Present tyres are Yokohama Blue Earth E31 which came with the car from new.
I now need to replace all four over the coming months
It would be interesting to hear what tyres are used by other owners
I would probably get them fitted at Cosco as they are probably cheaper
Thanks in advance

[wharfhouse]

16 minutes ago, ikeja said:

Present tyres are Yokohama Blue Earth E31 which came with the car from new.
I now need to replace all four over the coming months
It would be interesting to hear what tyres are used by other owners
I would probably get them fitted at Cosco as they are probably cheaper
Thanks in advance

I had the Yokohama BluEarth E51 on my IS 300h from new (2014 reg - I think you made a typo in your post) and have had my Lexus dealer fit new ones of the same make as and when they need replacing. Just had my 120k mile service and the wear rate (at least when I decide to change them based on my own safety margins) is consistently 20k miles for the rears and 40k miles for the fronts. I'm very happy with these and they were the original OEM fit of course. I've just had all four replaced this week during my 120k mile service and the ride and comfort is back to the way it was when the car was new. 

You will get as many tyre recommendations on here as there are forum members. One thing I would say though is that when you get new tyres fitted they always feel like a significant improvement over the worn out ones and I do think that some of the initial impressions of different tyres are more to do with that than the actual tyre brand. Also Lexus (at least my dealer) is always cheaper than any of the local tyre shops so maybe worth enquiring at yours? 

Of course you may have some particular needs that a different tyre will serve better (such as snow etc) or other experiences.

[cadman2k]

I believe at the moment with Costco offers (discount when you buy 4) that you can retyre the car with Goodyear Eagle F1 Aysemetric 6s for just under 400.00

It's an extremely good price that's probably hard to beat and expect the Goodyear's are a very good premium tyre 

[ikeja]

Thanks for the advice. National tyres have quoted £344 to change all 4 tyres with Yokohama Blue Earth E51 for every thing.

 

[wharfhouse]

38 minutes ago, ikeja said:

Thanks for the advice. National tyres have quoted £344 to change all 4 tyres with Yokohama Blue Earth E51 for every thing.

 

I paid £338.88 at Lexus all in for 4x Yokohama Blue Earth E51 so about the same as you have been quoted. 

[ikeja]

Thanks Phil, that is very interesting. I have asked Lexus for a quote as well, but as they are in Liverpool and I am on Anglesey I suspect National Tyres will be my best bet. Regards

 

[Linas.P]

Black Circles usually allows fitting at your local shop and prices are usually good. You can't go wrong going for Goodyears (good shout by Peter on Asymmetric 6), Dunlops (RT2s), Continentals (Premium or Sport Contact 6), they are all good tyres. Michelins are good, but they are overpriced for what they are. Brigestones and Yokohamas are just generally subpar and in my opinion are not worth their "premium" tyre name (or at least Brigestones, as Yokohamas are mid-range anyway). Generally speaking I would avoid Brigestones and Yokohamas, value for money just not there and even ignoring the price tyres are just very mediocre. 

[cadman2k]

Having read your national tyre price which looked great, one thing I failed to mention was the Costco price was based on 18 inch wheels  so tyre prices generally more expensive. I'm sure 550.00 would be close to the mark for premium tyres at a lexus dealer for these wheel sizes which made the Costco price extremely good 

I think your price for the Yokohama's is based on 17,s so would assume Costco would be close to this price for 17,s with the premium Goodyear tyres sizes.

I've had Yokohama's on a CT I used to own and found them a decent tyre.  I selected them as it came from the factory initially with Yokohama's.....

The Goodyear eagle F1 asymmetric 6s do come with a good across the board rating for noise,braking,wet and dry performance....

Usual thing when re-tyring, you go with what you are happy with.

 

[wharfhouse]

2 hours ago, ikeja said:

Thanks Phil, that is very interesting. I have asked Lexus for a quote as well, but as they are in Liverpool and I am on Anglesey I suspect National Tyres will be my best bet. Regards

 

Yes, with the price of fuel sounds like it! 

[matt8]

Costco tyre tip: in-store pricing is better than the online pricing, and there are more options too!

 

[agent_dess]

I was contemplating getting Bridgestone turanza t005 any recommendations on this?

[ColinBarber]

30 minutes ago, agent_dess said:

I was contemplating getting Bridgestone turanza t005 any recommendations on this?

Tyres are always a massive compromise between cost/wear/grip/noise/comfort/economy. We would all love a tyre that is great at all those things but it isn't possible - for example wear and grip are normally the opposite of each other.

What are you looking for?

[PRT68]

I've had 2 cars with Bridgestone tyres fitted, and both sets needed replacing due to cracking, despite being very careful maintaining correct pressures. Both sets had plenty of tread left across the full width.

Google cracking Bridgestone tyres!!

[agent_dess]

52 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Tyres are always a massive compromise between cost/wear/grip/noise/comfort/economy. We would all love a tyre that is great at all those things but it isn't possible - for example wear and grip are normally the opposite of each other.

What are you looking for?

The Bridgestone ticked all the boxes hence why i was looking at them.... otherwise i would opt for Goodyear.
But apparently the Bridgestone crack easily....

the cheap Chinese tyre on the car at the moment still have plenty tread left... so maybe i will just rock them out.

[ColinBarber]

2 hours ago, agent_dess said:

The Bridgestone ticked all the boxes hence why i was looking at them.... otherwise i would opt for Goodyear.
But apparently the Bridgestone crack easily....

the cheap Chinese tyre on the car at the moment still have plenty tread left... so maybe i will just rock them out.

No direct experience with that model, but looking at the reviews they seem average across the board.

Given where you are located, have you considered all-season tyres - Michelin CrossClimate 2 for example?

[Linas.P]

4 hours ago, agent_dess said:

I was contemplating getting Bridgestone turanza t005 any recommendations on this?

Horrible as far as premium tyres goes, but they are at least safe tyres (in comparison with chinese dhichfinder you have), but mediocre in all possible ways, not the grippiest, not the most fuel efficient, not most comfortable (depending on which you get may even be very uncomfortable for low fuel efficient variants), not quietest (actually they kind of noisy) and the price is up there with best of the best. In comparison with Goodyear or Continental they just don't make any sense.

In simple terms - if I buy the car and it has Bridgestone Turanza on it, I would not be happy to see them, but I would not immediately replace them if they are in good condition, I would drive them until they are about 2-3mm and replace them, they are mediocre tyres, but not immediate concern. If I buy the car and it has rotalia, accelera, shicholera, top-speed-into-the-ditch-allia or any other of those budget brands which have no right to be legal on the road, they are going to the bin as a priority no matter how much thread is left of them - they are just unpredictable and dangerous tyres. Funny enough that is exactly what I got on my car now, so as soon as MOT is passed and car is legal to drive (currently it is being fixed), my next priority step is to refurbish the wheels and fit the set of normal tyres. 

[route66]

There is another consideration - tyre "skip". Something the IS300H suffers from along with some other RWD and AWD cars.

Mine was so bad, sometimes passengers could ask me if I had driven over something when, say, pulling out of a parking spot on full lock.

I know what causes it (tyre blocks being stretched because front wheels are not parallel on full lock and then "releasing" suddenly when they can stretch no more, worse in winter when tyres are cold and less flexible than in summer, worse on worn tyres where the blocks are shorter and less flexible, etc, etc) and had just learned to accept it as a characteristic of the IS300H.

And then I swapped my Dunlop Sport MAXX rt2 for Bridgestone Turanza T005.

Night and day transformation !!!

Looking at pictures of the 2 tyres, I don't know exactly why the Bridgestones are so much better, but they are - no more tyre skip.

I can't say I have noticed any of the negatives mentioned above with the Bridgestones for fuel efficiency, comfort or noise - although they are too new for me to see any age-related cracking ...

Perhaps suffice to say that these cars came from the factory in Japan with Bridgestones fitted (Autocar test of the IS300H in 2013 had Bridgestone Turanza T001 fitted) so I very much doubt they are as mediocre as some may suggest ...

Dunlop Sport MAXX rt2:

Bridgestone Turanza T005:

Some advice I would go with is to avoid "ditchfinders". Tyres are a boring purchase (you're not going to invite your friends to have a look at your new tyres, whereas you might if you spent the same money on a new phone for example) but that is no reason to try to skimp by buying rubbish. Some of the cheap asian brands are cheap for a reason and can give dangerously low levels of grip in the wet. Do a google and you will see how some of the poorer ones perform.

[agent_dess]

15 minutes ago, route66 said:

There is another consideration - tyre "skip". Something the IS300H suffers from along with some other RWD and AWD cars.

Mine was so bad, sometimes passengers could ask me if I had driven over something when, say, pulling out of a parking spot on full lock.

I know what causes it (tyre blocks being stretched because front wheels are not parallel on full lock and then "releasing" suddenly when they can stretch no more, worse in winter when tyres are cold and less flexible than in summer, worse on worn tyres where the blocks are shorter and less flexible, etc, etc) and had just learned to accept it as a characteristic of the IS300H.

And then I swapped my Dunlop Sport MAXX rt2 for Bridgestone Turanza T005.

Night and day transformation !!!

Looking at pictures of the 2 tyres, I don't know exactly why the Bridgestones are so much better, but they are - no more tyre skip.

I can't say I have noticed any of the negatives mentioned above with the Bridgestones for fuel efficiency, comfort or noise - although they are too new for me to see any age-related cracking ...

Perhaps suffice to say that these cars came from the factory in Japan with Bridgestones fitted (Autocar test of the IS300H in 2013 had Bridgestone Turanza T001 fitted) so I very much doubt they are as mediocre as some may suggest ...

Dunlop Sport MAXX rt2:

Bridgestone Turanza T005:

Some advice I would go with is to avoid "ditchfinders". Tyres are a boring purchase (you're not going to invite your friends to have a look at your new tyres, whereas you might if you spent the same money on a new phone for example) but that is no reason to try to skimp by buying rubbish. Some of the cheap asian brands are cheap for a reason and can give dangerously low levels of grip in the wet. Do a google and you will see how some of the poorer ones perform.

So you like the T005?

[DavidCM]

Re Bridgestones

By accident or design or fate..my last 4 cars have all had Bridgestones.Current car-Bridgestones- had it for 6 months now..no problems.

Previous 2 (Maxda CX7  and Mazda MX5 bought new in 2012 and 2013.both had Bridgestones no problems at all.Indeed the MX5 still had it's original tyres with reasonable tread left and NO cracking -main dealer kept saying they're getting old, you'll need to change them soon,but every year on they were fine.I did keep a very close eye on them for longitudinal cracking  in the grooves .

|Before that a new Cayman with Bridgestones -I can't remember how many back tyres I got through-a combination of punctures and wear.The fronts were better no punctures,but they did crack longitudinally between the treads and needed to be replaced.

[Linas.P]

48 minutes ago, route66 said:

There is another consideration - tyre "skip". Something the IS300H suffers from along with some other RWD and AWD cars.

Mine was so bad, sometimes passengers could ask me if I had driven over something when, say, pulling out of a parking spot on full lock.

I know what causes it (tyre blocks being stretched because front wheels are not parallel on full lock and then "releasing" suddenly when they can stretch no more, worse in winter when tyres are cold and less flexible than in summer, worse on worn tyres where the blocks are shorter and less flexible, etc, etc) and had just learned to accept it as a characteristic of the IS300H.

And then I swapped my Dunlop Sport MAXX rt2 for Bridgestone Turanza T005.

Night and day transformation !!!

Looking at pictures of the 2 tyres, I don't know exactly why the Bridgestones are so much better, but they are - no more tyre skip.

I can't say I have noticed any of the negatives mentioned above with the Bridgestones for fuel efficiency, comfort or noise - although they are too new for me to see any age-related cracking ...

Perhaps suffice to say that these cars came from the factory in Japan with Bridgestones fitted (Autocar test of the IS300H in 2013 had Bridgestone Turanza T001 fitted) so I very much doubt they are as mediocre as some may suggest ...

Dunlop Sport MAXX rt2:

Bridgestone Turanza T005:

Some advice I would go with is to avoid "ditchfinders". Tyres are a boring purchase (you're not going to invite your friends to have a look at your new tyres, whereas you might if you spent the same money on a new phone for example) but that is no reason to try to skimp by buying rubbish. Some of the cheap asian brands are cheap for a reason and can give dangerously low levels of grip in the wet. Do a google and you will see how some of the poorer ones perform.

Most of Lexus models came with extremely mediocre tyres from new, all the Brigestones and the Yokohamas, Michelin Primacys were always quite bad and fitting something else always improved the cars quite noticeably. There are few exceptions, usually on F for Lexus and M, AMG cars, but manufacturers generally do not care how good the tyres are subjectively, they buy millions and million of tyres and they fit what makes most financial sense and what helps them to achieve certain CO₂ and fuel efficiency figures. How good is the tyre is really secondary consideration outside of very well polished sports cars where manufacturers work together with tyre makers to develops specific tyre for the car. Now one thing to say, manufacturers generally fit "safe tyres", not because they really care, but because they don't want liability claims by fitting some ditchfinders. But to say - "this is good tyre because it came on car from the factory" is oversimplification, the manufacturer aims often are different than customer needs.

Skipping - isn't really an issue and it is kind of sign of a good tyre for wet grip (because of deep channels to remove the water). I know some can consider that downside for comfort, but it never bothered me, because as you mentioned, it only happened when on full lock and turning wheel when stationary, which is just bad practice and should be avoided where possible. I had RTs and RT2 and they are one of the best tyres I ever had. Sure they kind of getting old now (they are equivalent to Goodyear Asymmetric 3s and 5s, and now we have 6s), but the way they were designed resulted in extremely low noise, excellent wet handling, good tread life and good fuel economy, that is because they had those deep channels, and soft rubber blocks combined with hard rubber blocks. It was really excellent tyre for it's time and great design, completely not comparable with mediocre Turanzas which are actually not even UHP tyre, they are more in line with something like Dunlop Sportmaxx SP Sport, which by the way were fitted by Lexus from factory and was quite bad tyre as well. Another good tyre which does a lot of skipping is Uniroyal Rainsport 3 and 5 and aforementioned Goodyear Asymmetric.

As well I am not saying "one should expect problems" with Bridgestone's, I am saying they are poor value for money and mediocre tyres compared to what other premium tyre manufacturers are offering. There are few Bridgestone tyres which are somewhat decent and those are Potenza RE050A, horrible fuel economy and treadwear... and not the most comfortable, but they are very high performance and very grippy tyres. The other ones are Potenza Sport, which are quite new and they are relatively comfortable, grippy predictable on handling, but again poor treadwear, poor fuel efficiency and they are kind of UUHP (more like Pilot Sport 4S competitor). I wouldn't recommend neither of those tyres for IS300h as they are are really meant for more powerful and faster cars (say IS-F levels of performance). Turanzas are meant for power level of IS300h, but sadly they are just not great tyres generally. 

[J Henderson]

5 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Given where you are located, have you considered all-season tyres - Michelin CrossClimate 2 for example?

Rear size for an F-Sport model not available yet, although you can get the older CrossClimate +

CC2 though seems like a great suggestion. I got a set of them fitted last week and was planning on putting my summer wheels back on once I had broken-in the CC2s, but they feel so good I think I'll just leave them on.

 

[route66]

4 hours ago, agent_dess said:

So you like the T005?

Yes I do.

Despite the (I suspect) "highstool" commentary above, I have not noticed anything about them which is worse than the Dunlop's. And this is based on my experience of using both types on my IS300H. Back-to-back. Over 1,000s of miles.

Generally, manufacturers do care how good the tyres they fit as standard are - why wouldn't they? Waste billions of r&d by saving a quid on some mediocre rubber? I do accept this view isn't very controversial.

To be clear, as I said, the skipping I'm referring to is caused by manoeuvring on full lock, not "when on full lock and turning wheel when stationary". 

[fourbanks]

i got Dunlop run flat on my new car made in Japan. So far, very good. i should add iv'e never had a problem with tyres made in Japan, but i'm not a heavy driver, so my view is not valid for long distance driving. Continental are by far the best if in doubt, so i am told 

[wharfhouse]

On 7/23/2022 at 9:46 AM, wharfhouse said:

You will get as many tyre recommendations on here as there are forum members.

I did tell you... Go with whatever tyres you are happy with and then you can come onto the next thread whrn someone asks what tyres to get and let us know your views on your chosen ones... 😂

[Linas.P]

12 hours ago, route66 said:

Yes I do.

Despite the (I suspect) "highstool" commentary above, I have not noticed anything about them which is worse than the Dunlop's. And this is based on my experience of using both types on my IS300H. Back-to-back. Over 1,000s of miles.

Generally, manufacturers do care how good the tyres they fit as standard are - why wouldn't they? Waste billions of r&d by saving a quid on some mediocre rubber? I do accept this view isn't very controversial.

To be clear, as I said, the skipping I'm referring to is caused by manoeuvring on full lock, not "when on full lock and turning wheel when stationary". 

Tyre topics always regress into mud slinging contests and I knew it from the beginning, the only thing I want to clarify - what I said isn't "my opinion", I rarely share my option and when I do I state it is opinion. Point understood on the skipping, and I understood it even before you clarified, I had those tyres, they had same "issue" and it is because of deep channels for aquaplaning, does not hurt the performance of the tyres even a little. 

I really don't understand this desire for mediocrity and sorry to say but bit of ignorance as well. I guess I need to add little bit more information when I say they are "mediocre" tyres, because this may be misunderstood. To explain it numerically - good tyres are the ones which could be expected to preform 90-100 on objective scale (something like set tests on tyre reviews), this is where most premium tyres are, 75-90, those are mediocre tyres and usually that is where you find most mid range with some exceptions and under 75, that is where budgets usually land again with exceptions. So Brigestone Turanzas are by all means are premium tyres which lands in that high quality tyres category, just maybe at the bottom of it - say 92, but there are others like Conti Premium Contacts and Goodyear Asymmetric which lands at 97-99, so they are objectively better tyres, with better grip, lower noise, better thread-life all at once... the difference isn't huge, but it is noticeable.

Take for example this review, Turanzas T005 which are latest ones (older ones where even worse) are consistently mediocre, in review they even say "well Turanzas didn't even meant to compete at this level, but we included them because Brigestone for some reason sent Turanzas for UHP test (not UHP tyre), probably because they are new". What would warry me, especially in UK, is that they were extremely poor in wet. 

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2022-Tyre-Reviews-17-Inch-UHP-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm

Even then they were beaten by Goodyear EffcientGrip Performance 2, which likewise is premium non-UHP tyre.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2020-Tyre-Reviews-Ultimate-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm

So your view isn't controversial, it just lacks nuance. Yes manufacturers absolutely spend billions on R&D and absolutely they will get many mediocre parts, some of that R&D money is spent exactly for that, to find the hose which is not the best, but just good enough, the wire which is not the best, but good enough, tyres, windscreens, paints, metal etc. No auto manufacturer aims to get "the best" into their cars - they aim for rather depressing "good enough" and Turanzas are exactly that, they are mediocre, but they are good enough. As I said specific to the tyres sometimes manufacturers go extra mile to get better than average tyres and develop one exactly for their car, but even then cost cutting is there, just not the aim #1, but maybe aim #3... so "how good we can get these tyres without braking the bank or maybe even saving the money".

Likewise pricing works completely different and competition is completely different on these bulk purchases and long term contracts - when you go to market to buy tyres there are fierce competition to make best tyre, the brand names matter, the marketing matter, what sort of driver you are matter and we buying tyre on it's own merits. When manufacturers buy tyres they literally buying just rubber, as long as it meets some basic safety and performance criteria, next thing on the list is to get best price possible and they may choose Brigestone over Michelin because of 5p difference in price, but maybe because it is logistically easier to source in Japan or whatever... not that many tyres are made in Japan anyway.

Long story short, what matters when you changing the tyres is not what manufacturer fitted, because they had different criteria than you and that different criteria was to fit cheapest tyres which are still safe, as you can't get the pricing they got on their order you can't even match it. Don't think that Lexus fitted Turanzas because they were developed for IS300h in particular and it makes it better - no they were cheapest and still acceptable tyre. So when I go to shop for the tyres and see Goodyear Asymmetric/EfficientGrip, Dunlop Sportmaxx RT2, or Uniroyal Rainsport 5 for £67 (225/45/R17 mail order), or even Conti Premium Contact for £79, I will buy them every time before I even consider Turanzas for £82 or Michelins for £88 - Michelins are good, but they not as good as cheaper tyres... so why overpay? Yes Turanzas in isolation aren't bad tyres, they are safe and they perform better than best tyres 10 years ago, but they don't exist in isolation - there are better tyres for cheaper and that makes them mediocre tyre and poor purchase.