Tyre Recommendations

[Greenfield]

Hi All,

My 2011 250 Advance has just hit its first MOT and an advisory for the front tyres . E tyres stock the required 225/45/R17 Dunlop Sport Maxx as currently fitted from new but don't stock the 245/45/R17 version for the rear, whilst the rears have a few thousand miles left I'm likely to end up with odd tyres if I go for the new Dunlop Sport Maxx on the front. Any recommendations for which tyre brand suits the IS250 best?

[johnatg]

tyre-shopper.co.uk sell both sizes if those are what you want. (They sell National Tyre tyres - it's also worth checking the National Tyre web site but they are usually more expensive. You order and pay on line with Tyre Shopper and select your nearest Nat Tyre centre for fitting (all included in price you pay. I've found them excellent)).

I've got Michelin (can't remember specific tyres) on the front (fitted before I bought the car) and Barum Bravuris 2 on the rear. No problems. Next time I'll probably need to change all 4 and might go for Bravuris 3HM or Avon ZV5.

[Gramera flash]

I can recommend Good year Eagle F1 asymmetric 2

[gji25]

+1 for goodyear eagle f1 paid £102 each for the front (18/40/225) £165 each for the rears (18/40/255)

[lex3]

Just fitted Dunlop SportMax 225/45/17 on the front and 245/45/17 on the back. Only done 300 miles so far and impressed with how quiet they are. Called Blackcircles on Thursday, they delivered to their recommended tyre fitter on Friday and tyres fitted Saturday morning. £473.96 total, delivery, fitting, valves, alignment. Oops nearly forgot - 1500 Tesco points also!!

[rayaans]

I can recommend Good year Eagle F1 asymmetric 2

Again +1 on these. Awesome tyres.

[s168]

gji25, how comes your rear tyres are 255 width? I thought they were 245 standard specs for the rear ones on an IS 250?

Questions for everyone... What are the speed and load ratings of your tyres vs the manufacturer recommended / specified ones? I currently have on my IS 250 the Continental tyres with 91Y radial tubeless on the fronts and 99Y extra load radial tubeless on the rears. Is that within the manufacturer recommended specs?

[johnatg]

255 is standard rear width for 18" wheels.

According to the handbook, Lexus spec is W speed rating for 16" and 17" wheels and Y for 18".

But both are way higher ratings than the car is capable of (unless you've done some very special tuning!) (W - 168mph and Y - 186mph). Very few 245 45 17 (for example) tyres are available in lower speed ratings, although there are some.

Front load rating seems to be 90 and rear 95 - again, that's mostly what you get with tyres that size - and Extra Load tyres are usually 94/99.

I don't think anyone in UK at least needs to worry about either speed rating or load index - almost any tyre you can buy to fit your wheels will be OK, at least for 17" and above.

Remember the speed rating is for 10 minutes sustained on a Texas highway (ie high temperature). And load index likewise is mostly a US thing - and again, at max speed rating on a hot road.

[s168]

Thanks johnatg. Does that mean that if I decide to upgrade to wider alloys, it's still within manufacturers specifications? I'm assuming yes as those 18" wheels were upgrade options.

Anyone can comment on the ride experience with thinner tyres? Is it noticeably bumpier and/or noisier? My alloys could do with a refurbishment but I am wondering whether I might as well consider upgrading them to 18" ones but not sure if that will be a good move or not. I'm guessing added road grip would be the main benefit in trading off comfort?

[gji25]

there 255 because the wheel size is 18