Tyre Tread

Ha!

I've had my IS250 just over a year now and covered 18K miles mostly on my commute and I've been monitoring the fuel consumption using a phone app called "mycar". Firstly its clear that the trip computer is about 10 to 12% optimistic when compared to a brim to brim comparison. The lowest figure in that time was 25.45 (brim to brim calculated) when doing lots of short runs and the best was genuine 40.87 2 weeks ago. (indicated 44.4 for the tankful) From the data its obvious that temperature is a critical factor for warm up times to get the best mpg along with type of use (daily commute is 80+ mile round trip of mostly clear motorway). Today I'm doing an almost non stop trip up to Scotland and it will be interesting to see what MPG I get if we don't get caught in too much traffic (the other MPG killer) I'll try and report back in a week or so. ETA it seems aircon hits the MPG to about 3 to 4 mpg.

Must admit I didn't notice the 4mm remaining comment. On that basis I'd wait a while and save a few more pennies for better tyres. I generally run mine down to about 2.5mm so there should be a few thousand more miles left in your existing tyres yet.

Took mine to Lexus Cardiff and they put fuel in but didn't mention it.

I very muchdoubt they leave the factory with cheap tyres as manufacturers have huge buying power so pay little for good quality tyres and tyre companies know that people are likely to fit like for like when replacement is required so happy to do fantastic deals with them. Those cheap tyres will have been fitted by second hand car dealers wanting to save a few quid as the cars will have been traded in with shot tyres. If you're paying £10 a tyre for fitting on top of your quotes prices are you really saving that much compared to the fitted price on the likes of black circles for known brands.# I'm a cheap skate with most things. Most of my clothes are 10 years old or more but I will pay for quality car components and tyres because I trust my life and the life of family and friends to them on a regular basis.

Are those prices inc fitting and balancing?

Now I'm confused. £89 is out of budget but £80 front and £90 rear is OK? A difference of about £20 all in? Just think about the loss of NCB if you don't stop in time in the wet. Really, £20 for budget versus known label?

These: https://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/brands/dunlop/sport-bluresponse £65 a corner fitted and balanced at your local fitting centre is excellent value and they are great in the wet, quieter than most and fuel efficient. Why fit anything else? Seem to last well too. You only have four small patches of rubber between you and the rest of the world so make sure they are good patches of rubber. Please don't use part worn tyres. you may be lucky and get some good ones that haven't been bounced on and off kerbs and hit potholes or you may not.

If you buy one that hasn't had the airbag recall done its an opportunity to get the creaky dash sorted. Mine is now quiet as a mouse after I got them to change the dashboard clips while doing the airbag. Just had to pay the £25 for the clips.

Nope. Not a dicky bird.

My thoughts exactly. My wife's Audi had an over zealous tester reporting surface corroded this and surface corroded that and it made it really difficult to sell. Fact of the matter is that it was no worse than most vehicles on the road which all have some surface corrosion on components underneath the vehicle. It was just an over zealous tester. I mentioned it to the local garage owner who apologised and said the tester was no longer with them. From the way he spoke I suspect that was the reason. So I wouldn't write it off but I would check it VERY carefully and specifically ask if it had been involved in a flooding incident.

Just for clarity minimum tread depth is 1.6mm across 75% of the cebtre of the tread width not 1.4mm.

I don't mean to be pedantic (or maybe I do) but how would you be able to say "As for impact to fuel economy - at least on IS250 it is so negligible I never managed to find any reasonable correlation." when you already said " Mine was used literally 100% of the time..." It will impact MPG. How much is debatable and dependant on many factors. Personally I rarely, if ever, turn off the aircon on any of my cars in which its fitted.

Put a new set of Dunlop Sport blureponse on mine. My other car is a TVR so I like grip. Also like peace and quiet and these tyres seem to do both reasonably well. I also like good value. Another box ticked.

I am fussy when it comes to buying cars and it took me over 6 months to find the one I bought. Searching Autotrader, Gumtree etc. I live in Cardiff and went to view and drive one in Bristol which was a tad over priced. I walked away and drove to Leicester the same day to see another one of similar miles (52K) but when I got there the condition wasn't a patch on the one in Bristol. Luckily, while I was sat in the car in Leicester I git a call from the dealer in Bristol offering me a better deal so I bought it. I was talked into the biscuit coloured interior by a friend who has one and I much prefer it to the black. What colour car did I buy? I wasn't that fussed on colour but I'm really pleased I ended up with a red one. It looks stunning in the sunshine when clean and the metal fleck really shines. I bought it almost exactly a year ago and 20K miles later its had a set of tyres (Dunlop Sport BluResponse- it came on winters) plus a further tyre due to a puncture, a water pump (did it myself in an afternoon and it cost £115 (Lexus quoted £550) and some rear brake pads at £30 (I think) which I fitted in about an hour or so. I've had an XFS Jag and top of the range Skoda Superb before the IS250 and I can honestly say its better than Skoda's best and not far off the XFS. It's averaging 34.8MPG on my regular commute (mostly motorway) and is a real stressbuster. Mine did have the dashboard creak but that was sorted when the dealer did the airbag and I got them to change the clips holding the dashboard (£25). Highly recommended car but make sure you find the right one and if creaks bother you make sure its been fixed. Also get the exhaust checked before you buy as they are very cotly to replace (see the buyers guide) Good luck and enjoy.