Options for replacing Run Flat with Regular tires?

We drove the run flats on my wife's Lexus SC430 until they needed replacing and then put on the Potenza 960AS. Smoother ride, better handling, 2X the mileage and significantly less expensive. No spare but we have roadside assistance and will replace them as soon as the wear gets heavy. YMMV.

I am planning to run 2 sets of wheels

For the summers I am thinking about Pilot Sport 2s

Here is a link to a tire rack search with a bunch of options

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S&tab=All

For the winters, probably some high speed blizzaks

I am planning to run 2 sets of wheels

For the summers I am thinking about Pilot Sport 2s

Here is a link to a tire rack search with a bunch of options

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S&tab=All

For the winters, probably some high speed blizzaks

Doyle said:

We drove the run flats on my wife's Lexus SC430 until they needed replacing and then put on the Potenza 960AS. Smoother ride, better handling, 2X the mileage and significantly less expensive. No spare but we have roadside assistance and will replace them as soon as the wear gets heavy. YMMV.

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I am used to no spare with convertible.

AWD Fan said:

I am planning to run 2 sets of wheels

For the summers I am thinking about Pilot Sport 2s

Here is a link to a tire rack search with a bunch of options

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S&tab=All

For the winters, probably some high speed blizzaks

Click to expand...

I may do same run flat during winter and Michelin High Performance PS in summer.
Thanks guys.

Quick question - do all models/variants of the Q50 (hybrid/non-hybrid, premium/sport, AWD/RRD etc.) come standard with the run-flats or do some come with traditional ?

Only on AWD models

All models of Q50 come with run-flats.

AWD Fan said:

I am planning to run 2 sets of wheels

For the summers I am thinking about Pilot Sport 2s

Here is a link to a tire rack search with a bunch of options

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S&tab=All

For the winters, probably some high speed blizzaks

Click to expand...

link doesnt work

try this

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?width=245/&ratio=40&diameter=19

The best tires in that size (245/40-19, same as BMW 5-series M-Sport) are:

Summer: Michelin Pilot Super Sport (introduced 2011), Y-rated, 300 wear rating
Winter: Michelin Pilot Alpine PA4 (introduced 2012), V-rated, no wear rating
All-Season: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 (introduced 2013), V-rated, 500 wear rating

There are less expensive Conti (ContiExtremeContact DW and DWS) and Bridgestone tires that are less expensive and good, but not as good as the Michelins.

If you must have a runflat, the Bridgestone RE960AS Pole Position RFT is probably best (wear rating 400, introduced 2011), but the newer RE970AS was introduced before the RE960AS in an RFT.

Since the Q50 has a spare available, the non-RFT is not an issue. An inflation kit, such as the ContiComfortKit ($79) are also available.

Michelin Pilot Super Sports +1

Expensive but fantastic and the best choice for high performance that is still daily driveable.

Is anyone going to trade their tires in immediately? I've only done that once before. I got a TL the first year and everyone said how horrible the tires were that Acura picked. I drove the car from the lot to a discount tires and they gave me an 80 credit per tire.

The newer run flats are much better riding tires, you can completely use them and replace with regular tires, that's what I intend to do

cvipgo said:

The newer run flats are much better riding tires, you can completely use them and replace with regular tires, that's what I intend to do

Click to expand...

Not according to the edmunds review, they trashed the tires.

BenW said:

Not according to the edmunds review, they trashed the tires.

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do what makes you comfy

Here's is an article on RunflatTires:

J.D. Power Study Finds Low Customer Satisfaction with Run-Flat Tires | J.D. Power

IMO:The bottom line Despite the disadvantages and inconveniences of run-flat tires that the safety benefits can outweigh the downsides. And the technology behind them is improving while prices are coming down.

I am spending enough buying my Q50. I will stick with the OEMs on the 19"s that will come with my car, and buy better tires once the originals need replacement. I am going to be using the car for daily driving to and from work, not autocrossing. If I wanted a sports car, I would have purchased the new Stingray Corvette.

I can't say I gave a lot of credence to the edmunds review. Not a lot of specifics. I am wondering when they actually did their test as the car did not even have the adaptive steering. Another 2 weeks and some of you will have your cars and I think the car mags will be doing some testing at that point.

The biggest issue with the RFTs on my wife's Sc430 was that they were done at 16K miles and at that time were close to $400/tire. We looked at the fact that we were not doing long road trips in the car and realized that a higher performance non RFT at half the price was a better choice. We were subsequently impressed with the improved ride and handling and mileage of the non RFT 960. I am not looking for a sports car ride with the Q50 so we will just have to see how the OEMs handle and feel.

Here are the Dunlop tires used in the Q50, based on the pics:
- summer: SP Sport Maxx 050 DSST ROF, $515 MSRP, 240/AA/A
- all-season: SP Sport 5000 DSST CTT, $475 MSRP, 260/B/A
Lexus owners hate them: My stock Dunlop SP Sport 5000 run flats!! - Club Lexus Forums
Strangely, they're very hard to find in this size, but common at 18"or 20".

I'm thinking of adding the 19" wheels on my premium, and replacing the Dunlops with Michelin Pilot A/S 3 (500/AA/A, $318 MSRP, $269 in stores), with the inflating kit shown on page 1.