Best Tires for the Lexus LS400

We race these in Lemons (running 245 in front on 8" wheels and 255 in the back on 9"). They BARELY lasted one event. and were only marginally quicker than our baseline Dunlop ZIII which gripped nearly as well, lasted twice as long and are more precise at the limit. Despite all the media hype, I found these to have a very "mushy" feel at the limit (no doubt due to the very soft compound), and while great for the novice I found them to be too imprecise. I'd much prefer a peakier and more accurate tire. Gets a big "meh" from me and kinda reminds me of the the handling of the ultra lightweight Hoosier bias ply tires I ran in SCCA road racing decades ago.

These are our "baseline" tires for our 24hrs of Lemons Lexus LS400 (we run 255 in the back). They wear great, are predictable and super easy to drive on, while not being the fastest unfortunately as we are otherwise very happy with them. Good for about 1000 race miles on our car, though we put new ones on each event.

I use these as the front Tire on my 1998 Lexus LS400, they're a tad narrower than standard (215 vs 225) so steering is lighter and turn in better but grip hasn't been diminished and they're great in the wet too, better than Continental Premium Contact 2's anyway. Wear isn't as good as the Continentals or the Goodyear Eagle F1's I have on the back but I'll trade a certain amount of wear for grip any day, after all tires are what keep you on the road.

Front BluResponse = 215/60/R16 99V
Rear Eagle F1 = 225/55/R16 99W

I just kerbed my recently acquired Lexus LS400 and damaged a front wheel and tire, so decided that I would change both the fronts to keep them the same and had not been happy with them anyway. I THEN READ THE REPORTS AND S**T MYSELF! All the people above are right. Tire squeal, aqua planing, bad braking, pot hole slamming, etc. I am not an agressive driver (difficult in an old mans LS400!)but Rockstones do not even stand up to moderate driving. If I was an insurance company I would be loading the premiums for anyone using these tires. I ordered two Nokians and will now order two more for the rear before winter sets in. DON'T BUY THESE TYRES AND IF YOU HAVE THEM THEN CHANGE THEM AS SOON AS FUNDS ALLOW!

The best tires I have had on my Lexus LS400, having used many different brands on this car over the years. The dB550s are very quiet and smooth, yet offer surprisingly good handling and grip. The big problem is availability; I could not purchase another set, as Yokohama Japan is no longer shipping the size I need to UK. Assymetric tires are noticeably noisy on the LS400; the OE Dunlop D8z were symmetrical and quiet. Being a directional V-shaped pattern, the dB550s do tramline more than desirable, but nowhere as badly as the otherwise good Uniroyal Rain Experts my car wears currently.

Wondered what the noise was as I left the fitting station - on a Lexus LS400? Figured they would bed down as the mould spikes wore off. No chance - a motorway drive of 500 miles nearly drove me insane with a constant humming noise regardless of surface. Nearly drove my local garage crazy looking for bearings, final drive wear etc etc in an attempt to find the noise. Finally realised that it must be the tires and asked the supplier to change them. After some haggling they agreed and fitted cheaper Avons on. Immediately silent. I have probably used thousands of tires on the road and in racing various bikes and cars over the years and have never come across something quite so weird. Would never fit them again and it would seem either the compound is too hard for our surfaces here in the UK or they set up some strange vibration on heavy (notably silent) cars.

The V12evo is quiet performer (low interior noise), but not a soft one: You'll feel the scars on the blacktop. I am not the kind of driver to deliver a proper judgement on how sporty a tire is (at least not with a Lexus LS dinosaur). If I say the V12evo is not responsive, it might as well be the car.
The rubber wears down pretty fast, even for someone going leisurely.
And then the eternal Hankook problem: The tires rumble after a short (or long) rest, and get quiet only after some miles of driving. Obviously the spot the car's weight rests on develop a kind of flatness.

In my view it's a mediorcre product at an adequate price. If someone could convince me a Dunlop, Conti or Michelin last longer (for what they cost more) and are more comfortable, I would drop the Hankooks. Otherwise I'll rebuy them.

I purchased a set of 4 of these tires as Yokohama UK couldn't get stock of the usual and excellent AVS dB550 I use, and I needed to get my car through its MOT. I wanted to stick to Japanese tires with a symmetrical pattern, as assymetric patterns don't suit the LS400. (I speak from experience; a few years ago I had bought a set of P7s but they were so unbearably noisy, albeit grippy, that I had to change them within 2,000 miles). The Falken 512s give a quiet and smooth ride on straight motorways. But they are poor round corners, and on wet roads I am so glad my car has traction control as the grip accelerating from rest on wet roads is poor. They are also wearing out quickly, which is not necessarily a bad thing as this means I can soon switch to some better tires! I love the engineering on Japanese-made products, but am very disappointed with Falken 512 tires.