Thank you for your input both, very much appreciated. Steve, you have touched on my next dilemma, like you I drive assertively but not like I'm in a sports car, so the question is, am I really better off spending £100+ on each tyre (especially the rears) or would a £50-£70 tyre give me comparable wear, fuel economy and stopping in the wet (keeping in mind that i'm a pretty safe driver anyhow).
I do my own servicing and havent had alignment checked in a very long time so in any event thats probably worth doing..good point! Do either of you know of a good independent Lexus/Toyota mechanic or am I best off just going to Lexus?