Tyres

[lexus22]

When i bought my is300 last year the guy had just bought 4 new "budget" tyres made by Westlake (never heard of them) Thought I would wear them out before getting some "proper ones fitted. Thing is, now covered almost 20k on them and they still look like new, no uneven wear and even the tread still looks new, what the hell are they made of, plastic?? Anyone else got these tyres? (225's)

[ColinBarber]

that's always the way, when you want some dodgy tyre to wear out it lives on forever :)

Cannot say I've ever heard of them.

[scudney]

hi I have and would go near them,tend to be made of a harder compound so don't wear as quick but handling in both dry and wet tends to be compromised,ok for town driving I suppose .

[lexus22]

hi I have and would go near them,tend to be made of a harder compound so don't wear as quick but handling in both dry and wet tends to be compromised,ok for town driving I suppose .

How right you are, seem fine in the dry but as soon as the road gets even a little moisture on it, the car has to be driven VERY carefully. Thing is, I would buy these tyres again as they just dont appear to wear and 4 x new tyres fitted and balanced for £250 is not bad!

[scudney]

well the choice is yours if that's what you want,I just wouldn't

[lexus22]

well the choice is yours if that's what you want,I just wouldn't

Know what you mean, guess I might change my mind after 100000 miles when they decide to wear out!

[Georgelexusis200sportlsd]

Hi all im new to the site I have a problem with my tyres I have been told its common but my tyres wear badly on front inner edges no pulling to left or right and car goes dead straight steering wheel spot on center.did do hpi when I bought it no issues but have noticed overspray of paint on wireing behind front bumper but friends say its probably just had minor work at some point.but wanted some advice on tyre problem do I need to 4 wheel alignment done possibly George.

[scudney]

Hi George if you haven't already had full geometry done by now,you might as well consider having it done to correct the uneven tyre wear,rear wheel drive cars seem to be more prone to this than front wheel drive cars.

[Mr.Rudus]

Westlake tyres are ok and last very long. Hankook would be a better budget tyre.

BUT on an is300 I would not use either of them china brands.

personal preference and driving styles come in to play.

and George, up your tyre pressure up a little and get the tracking checked.

[Georgelexusis200sportlsd]

Ok thanks guys ill get the geometry checked out.

[lexus22]

After 23k on the budget Westlake tyres, have ordered new tyres to be fitted later today. After checking out loads of different brands, decided on Vredestein Ultac Sessanta 225/40/18 92y. They have very good reviews and the tread pattern looks awesome! Has anyone else used these? Will let you know if they are as good as they reckon.

[lexus22]

Have covered 300 miles on these tyres now, the grip is 100% in both dry and wet roads, noise is silent on some surfaces but noisy on others. (although 67db on sticker) Like the rim protection design and the tread pattern, although tread is wide and deep so end up with clicking sound as stones appear to get stuck in them! At the moment I would recommend them as the look and more important the grip is amazing, which on the is300 is much needed.

[Mr.Rudus]

that's good news. I have never heard of that brand but would be looking on a set soon & try them out. its the wet weather I am mostly worried about..

[noby76]

that's good news. I have never heard of that brand but would be looking on a set soon & try them out. its the wet weather I am mostly worried about..

no matter what Tyre manufactures say, most high performance summer rated tyres are crap in wet weather more so if the car is rear wheel drive. I juts take it easy on my Falken's when wet and any time I try to push hard the back end kicks out round bends. only time it grips is when dry and cant fault it as its capable of 186mph in the dry if the car permits it. not in my IS300 tho.. best Tyres for wet weather I read were Uniroyals as they are designed with wet weather in mind from the go! but why push a rear wheel drive car when its wet any way??

[lexus22]

that's good news. I have never heard of that brand but would be looking on a set soon & try them out. its the wet weather I am mostly worried about..

no matter what Tyre manufactures say, most high performance summer rated tyres are crap in wet weather more so if the car is rear wheel drive. I juts take it easy on my Falken's when wet and any time I try to push hard the back end kicks out round bends. only time it grips is when dry and cant fault it as its capable of 186mph in the dry if the car permits it. not in my IS300 tho.. best Tyres for wet weather I read were Uniroyals as they are designed with wet weather in mind from the go! but why push a rear wheel drive car when its wet any way??

Know what you mean, but check out reviews on these tyres, everyone rates them in the wet. I wore them in for 200 miles before trying to see what they are like in wet conditions, and I am most impressed, car feels very "planted" to the road. Just need to push a bit more..and a bit more..! Thats the only problem, being used to the back end twitching, it's getting the nerve to go faster around bends in the wet ;)

[scudney]

Never liked the Falkens I had on mine when I bought car four years ago,so got rid of them as soon as I could,however have heard good things about Vredestein as I was talking to a guy who deals in tyres and he recommended them especially the all season one.

[noby76]

yeh Falkens Azenis are like marmite either love them or hate them!! read many reviews with some loving them and others hating them..they are quite big in the motorsport drift scene and its more to the type of car its fitted to and the drivers driving style. I like them to my previous Rosso Pirelli's and it puts down the power well in the 300 when dry. cars do behave differenlty with the type of tyres they are wearing so fact that a review mag might praise one brand of tyre over the other does not necessarily mean the tyre which came last in the review is not a good tyre or the one which comes first is the best tyre money can buy. e.g. Renault Megane Trophy broke the front wheel drive record round the Nurburgring using Bridgestone Potenza RE050A. these tyres always comes lower in pretty much all tyre review tests I have read when compared to other brands like Michelines, Pirrelli, Goodyear, Continentals, Vredestein etc the Renault engineers specifically chose the RE050A as it had some characteristics which matches the power delivery/braking of the Megane RS. Michelins and Pirreli's tends to top most tyre review tests and if they were that good Renault enginners would have opted for those especially the Michellins as its even French but they ditched it and went Jap(Bridgestone). so when it comes to tyre one size(brand) does not fit all.

below link if you interested.

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/renault-megane-rs-265-trophy-smashes-nurburgring-front-wheel-drive-lap-time-record-ar111379.html

Honda enginners are now looking to smash this record with the new Civic Type R Turbo.

[lexus22]

Thing is, I have never really bothered to put the old anorack on and check into tyres properly. My old is200 sport was running on Bridgestones which I replaced with the same when needed, never thought about changing to another make, but the is300 really needs a good set of boots to handle the extra power. I agree that tyres react differently on different makes of cars so tyre reviews can only be taken as a guide unless they are reviewed on your exact model. Price is also a factor, a tyre for my car ranged from £45 to well over £200, i use my car daily for business so they needed to be suitable for that as well. These Vreds have ticked all the boxes and at £98 per tyre fitted aint bad! (and they dont arf look the dogs*******) :heart:

[DaveSport]

The Vredestein tyres are a really good all rounder though I'll be very surprised if you see the mileage you did with the budgets, the uniroyals are an amazing tyre in the wet, with really good grip in the dry though they are sort and wear quickly if your driving style is of the faster variety ;) the Kuhmo KU39 is also a good mid range all rounder.

[DaveSport]

The Vredestein tyres are a really good all rounder though I'll be very surprised if you see the mileage you did with the budgets, the uniroyals are an amazing tyre in the wet, with really good grip in the dry though they are sort and wear quickly if your driving style is of the faster variety ;) the Kuhmo KU39 is also a good mid range all rounder.

[Stuno1]

After 23k on the budget Westlake tyres, have ordered new tyres to be fitted later today. After checking out loads of different brands, decided on Vredestein Ultac Sessanta 225/40/18 92y. They have very good reviews and the tread pattern looks awesome! Has anyone else used these? Will let you know if they are as good as they reckon.

Good choice of tyre. Just ordered some for mine. These are a very popular choice for performance cars and get very good reviews. Often better than eagle f1, Bridgestone potenzas, toyo's etc. usually a bit cheaper as well.

I have spent hours researching tyres and would not use anything else. It is one area you just don't budget on. Just like brakes.

[lexus22]

Would you Adam&Eve it! Rear wheel hit a jutting out piece of kerb this morning, really made a bad noise, thought the alloy was fecked.

The rim protector on the tyre took the brunt of the kerb which saved the alloy apart from a small graze on the rim, but the rim protector had a massive chunk out of it. So the tyre saved the alloy which is the main thing as cant get the Areo alloys anymore, but had to order a new tyre as cant trust a tyre with a chunk missing! p1ssed off as only bought these tyres last month

[monkstown owner]

New to the club but someone may be able to help. Will need new tyres soon for IS200 but hate the low profile 17 inch, is there an alternative at a reasonable cost?

Gerry

[Igino Cazzola]

I'm running 205/55 R16 on one of my sets (the other set is 225/45 R17).

[andyk134]

Not sure why you hate the 17's I have just put a set of Continental Contact 5's on mine and they are excellent wet or dry. I never compromise on tyres both for driving pleasure and safety. Never understood why people go for "cheap" tyres. the cost difference over the years is probably less than a tenner a month when you look at the bigger picture and it might just save your life!