Tyres For Is 200

[fil4362]

i am getting slightly fed up with all this rain we are having. Not the rain itselfs, more the way my car handles in the wet. To say its twitchy is an understatement. So, as a mechanic/ mot tester, i sat down with our tyre catalogue and went through tyre sizes to see what size/ make i should go for. I scribled down a few sizes and brands and pick up the phone to my supplier. after listing a few sizes the gy on the phone stopped me and asked if i owned an IS 200. when i reply "yes" he stopped me and mentioned he had the same problem with many 200s.

As luck would have it he knows a guy who, in the words of Jeremy Clarkson, eats biscuits in meetings at Lexus. He had contacted his mate with the problem i presented him and come up with 254/40r17 Y rated. Preferably from Bridgestone.

Now going of the numbers this would make the tyre 30mm wider than the 215s fitted currently and the side wall of 40 on a wider tyre would leave the profile almost the same at 98mm.

Anyone else tried these tyres i can get them for £116 +vat each with fitting free of course. alot of money to try them but seems like a good idea and sounds logical, after all the guy is a suit for Lexus themselves and this was a straight suggestion not a will get back to you idea. so sounds like someone some where has actually already been over it at Lexus

[janet]

Has the car been down to WIM ?

I have had no probs since the trip down the M1.........

[fil4362]

Has the car been down to WIM ?

I have had no probs since the trip down the M1.........

WIM.???? please explain

[john99t-reg]

wheels in motion, they sort geo settings that are wrong with is200 from factory

[sol12]

wheels in motion, they sort geo settings that are wrong with is200 from factory

are wheels in motion value for money my steering geometry is out ????

[ormi]

a wider tyre will be worse in the wet but better in the dry never heard of or seen a 254 so i'll guess you mean a 245 this will be too wide for standard alloys and you will have a lot of sidewall movement as well as looking silly.(it will look like a reverse euro look)

as for wim he is the main man when it comes to setting up the lex and single handedly cured the is200 dreaded inside edge tyre wear.

imho i would stick with the standard size 215's or if you must go wider 225,s max and get your car set up right at wim you will notice the diff straight away mate.

[sol12]

a wider tyre will be worse in the wet but better in the dry never heard of or seen a 254 so i'll guess you mean a 245 this will be too wide for standard alloys and you will have a lot of sidewall movement as well as looking silly.(it will look like a reverse euro look)

as for wim he is the main man when it comes to setting up the lex and single handedly cured the is200 dreaded inside edge tyre wear.

imho i would stick with the standard size 215's or if you must go wider 225,s max and get your car set up right at wim you will notice the diff straight away mate.

can always bank on mr ormi , knows his onions

[The Transporter]

Errm... Got to make an admission here, but my 05 IS 200 is still on the same rubber that it left the factory with and has 35K on the clock.... To add further confusion the fronts have less wear than the rears, all have worn evenly... It was one of the last demonstrators from Lexus Stoke before the new model arrived, so if anyone has any suggestions as to why mine has bucked the trend...... Did the geometry settings alter for the last batch?

[sol12]

Errm... Got to make an admission here, but my 05 IS 200 is still on the same rubber that it left the factory with and has 35K on the clock.... To add further confusion the fronts have less wear than the rears, all have worn evenly... It was one of the last demonstrators from Lexus Stoke before the new model arrived, so if anyone has any suggestions as to why mine has bucked the trend...... Did the geometry settings alter for the last batch?

thats a good point ?????

[janet]

Sorry I just said WIM in the post, to clarify, my first 200, despite me being a fairly careful driver most of the time, seemed to just love stepping out.

When we went for another motor, I wanted to avoid this, and looked at loads and loads of other cars, but it was not the same...then I made the mistake of driving a 300. Well I bought her, but she was tail happy too....also a strange floaty, out of control sensation when going down the outside lane.....that was even worse!....off to WIM, no problems since, no step out, no floaty....a much more 'planted' feel on the road......I really don't know about tyre wear, but if that helps too it's just a bonus.

[edeath]

You are not going to be able to fit 254 or 245 tyres to the OEM wheels without problems. The car should be rock solid in the wet anyway so i would go for some new 215/45/17 tyres or a geo recheck or both. Falken 452s are highly rated (just had them fitted to mine) as they are cheap for their performance. Paid £80 each for some 225/40/18s.

Transporter - Stoke may have put the WIM settings on their demonstator as the car drives much better with these settings as well as improving front inner tyre wear.

[kev dood]

35k is doable easy on an IS. Mine did about 35-38k on first set - replaced all 4 together as all worn about the same.

2nd set is now on 60k and would all be fine except OSF inner edge is badly worn - annoys me as rest of tyre looks nearly new!!

Must have knocked front settings out I guess, so after I have replaced my rear shocks I am gonna get WIM to set it up. Mind you, Micheldever Tyres in Hampshire (who have a good rep am machines) did the geometry a number of years ago, to Lexus settings and been fine.

But am willing to put Tony (WIMs) new settings to the test and see how they fair.

I think a lot must depend on the actual settings you have - Lexus settings have a range so if you are at one end maybe thats jus enough to be ok?

PLUS, a huge amount depends on how you drive the car. I think lots of roundabouts may have helped do my OSF tyre in too!! :(

[Paradroid]

Interesting post as I had similar problems when I got my IS200.

On my car though it was a combination of damaged front suspension and very cheap budget tyres.

I replaced the tyres with Vredestien Ultracs which are specifically designed for wet weather and they are great. I got my suspension fixed, then got the chassis alignment done at WIM and every one of those things made a big difference.

I still don't think my IS200 is as planted to the road as my last car, but then it's a different sort of car.

If I had the money I'd go for the ARB's next but can't really justify the cost.

[roobybaby]

Sorry all - I see allot about this inside tyre wear problem from many posts and WIM but dont understand. I have a 2004 IS200 sport, mainly do motorway miles amd just done 140K miles. Never had an issue with inside tyre wear. I once had the tracking done by Lexus Bolton when the lower ball joint was replaced during an MOT and before / after this always been the same. That is even wear on the fron tyres.

Sorry to steal the post but could somebody explain what WIM do different than Lexus? and why is it some people experience this inside tyre wear and others dont? Surely the set-up is the same for all? Or is it I suspect the style of driving?

BTW - I dont thrash my car - just cruise most of the time - is thisi the reason?

ta ta

[Lexus2D]

Errm... Got to make an admission here, but my 05 IS 200 is still on the same rubber that it left the factory with and has 35K on the clock.... To add further confusion the fronts have less wear than the rears, all have worn evenly... It was one of the last demonstrators from Lexus Stoke before the new model arrived, so if anyone has any suggestions as to why mine has bucked the trend...... Did the geometry settings alter for the last batch?

Sorry all - I see allot about this inside tyre wear problem from many posts and WIM but dont understand. I have a 2004 IS200 sport, mainly do motorway miles amd just done 140K miles. Never had an issue with inside tyre wear. I once had the tracking done by Lexus Bolton when the lower ball joint was replaced during an MOT and before / after this always been the same. That is even wear on the fron tyres.

Sorry to steal the post but could somebody explain what WIM do different than Lexus? and why is it some people experience this inside tyre wear and others dont? Surely the set-up is the same for all? Or is it I suspect the style of driving?

BTW - I dont thrash my car - just cruise most of the time - is thisi the reason?

ta ta

I know a bloke with a Sportcross & hes had no probs either

[kev dood]

Tony Bones at WIM has developed a custom set of geometry settings for the IS to improve the handling and reduce the inner tyre wear issue on the IS

[colbecoz]

Tony Bones at WIM has developed a custom set of geometry settings for the IS to improve the handling and reduce the inner tyre wear issue on the IS

I didn't have the problem with wear, but, I felt the car was a bit unstable at cruising speeds (tramlining etc). Tony Bones (WIM) gave me the settings which I took to an Edinburgh guy who had the full geometry set-up gadget, and, had them done there. All I can say is that it is one of the best things I've done to my Lex'. She handles great now, no tramlining and corners well now on our Scottish country roads. So, if you can (IMHO) go see Tony at WIM, or do what I did with his blessing. Hope this helps.

Col.. :winky:

[MarsdenDean]

Mine is also a March 2005 SE Model, and yes they do have the dreaded inner tyre wear. Get down to WIM!!

Wheels in motion - speak to tony