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The Lexus ES delivers an affordable, upscale design with comfort and reliable performance. To get the most from your ES, you’ll need help finding the best tires.

The top tire choices for the Lexus ES are the Yokohama Avid Ascend GT, Pirelli P Zero Nero GT, and Michelin Primacy Tour A/S. Lexus drivers can rely on each of these brands to produce high-quality tire choices. Our favorite pick is the Michelin Primacy Tour A/S.

The Lexus ES comes with the Michelin Primacy MXM4 tire on all newly released factory models. This tire is Michelin’s most popular touring, all-season tire with excellent balance and reliable feature upgrades. This tire guide will find a breakdown of this factory tire and how it stacks up against the competition.

The complete tire guide includes research and data collected by experts using accurate driving field tests. These experts have years of experience analyzing vehicles and tires to determine the industry’s best. The test track gauges each tire’s performance with dry roads, wet roads, braking, and real-world driving scenarios.

Table of Contents

7 Best Tires For Lexus ES

The Lexus ES is a luxury sedan with performance features and comfortable driving. The best tires should enhance these capabilities and provide a better driving experience.

Each tire selected for this guide has been placed into its niche category for a specific driving requirement. For example, this list includes all-season tires, summer tires, performance street tires, and more.

Below is the list of the seven best tires for the Lexus ES.

Tire Type Tire
All-Season Goodyear Eagle RS-A
Touring Yokohama Avid Ascend GT
Summer Toyo Proxes R35
Winter Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
Performance Street Pirelli P Zero Nero GT
Highway Michelin Primacy Tour A/S
Temporary Spare Pirelli Spare Tyre
Factory Tire Michelin Primacy MXM4

Goodyear Eagle RS-A - Best All-Season

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Goodyear is a prominent tire manufacturer known to create durable tires with high-performance capabilities. The Eagle RS-A is one of the top all-season options in the Goodyear product line. It is also our top choice as the best all-season tire for the Lexus ES.

This Goodyear tire is widely known as the replacement tire option in performance law enforcement vehicles and other sporty coupes and sedans. The tread is made from an all-season, high-performance compound with silica. The asymmetric pattern assists with better traction on dry and slippery roads and overall more accurate handling.

Goodyear uses wider shoulder blocks and thicker lateral grooves than competing all-season tires to provide better cornering and hydroplaning resistance. The grooves can handle more water and ice without sacrificing performance.

There is no limited tread life warranty available on this tire. Some drivers are uneasy about an all-season tire without a warranty because they expect to drive it for longer and prefer the added protection if the tire breaks down. We believe in this tire as a durable option and saw incredible long-term performance in all field tests.    

Pros:

  • Top-notch cornering and dry traction ability.
  • Best comfort driving all-season tire option for the Lexus ES.
  • Reliable steering responsiveness and braking.
  • Excellent long-lasting tread wear.

Cons:

  • Winter handling could be better compared to competitors.
  • No warranty.

Yokohama Avid Ascend GT - Best Touring

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The Yokohama Avid Ascend GT is not only our top touring tire but one of our three favorite tires overall for the Lexus ES. The sleek design gives drivers a luxury feel on the road while remaining durable with the latest performance tire technologies.

Yokohama uses orange oil in place of petroleum in the tread design of the tire. This allows the tire to be more versatile with added performance features like better handling and more accurate braking. It is an oil extracted from orange peels and creates a more direct bond between the rubbers used in the tire.

Drivers claim to see a massive difference in both performance and fuel efficiency since Yokohama began using this new technology in Avid tire releases.

Other features that make this tire such a reliable touring tire include the TriBlend tread compound. This compound improves traction in all four seasons thanks to 3D sipes and independently notched tread blocks.

The Multi-Pitch Treads use a staggered pattern to absorb road vibrations and minimize noise while driving to create a more comfortable riding experience.

Combining the TriBlend compound and the expanded contact patchwork create a more durable, long-lasting tire. The contact patch allows the tire to distribute weight evenly and drive smoother on the pavement.  

Pros:

  • 65,000-mile warranty and excellent tread life.
  • The quietest touring tire on the market for the Lexus ES.
  • Above-average dry, wet, and winter performance.  
  • Cornering features are incredibly responsive.

Cons:

  • More prone to flats due to softer sidewalls.

Toyo Proxes R35 - Best Summer

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The Toyo Proxes R35 is a high-performance summer tire with a sporty, sleek appearance and exceptional handling capabilities. This is our top choice as the best summer tire for the Lexus ES.

The tread design is made to withstand high heat temperatures during summer and performance driving. The five variable-pitch design creates more substantial tread blocks that resist bumps, vibrations, and potholes while reducing road noise. This is an extremely comfortable tire.

Circumferential grooves and lateral grooves aid the wet road performance to create tire channels for water to flow through. When this happens, the tire can dry the contact patches quickly as water escapes from the tire.

Toyo also creates tires with the best rolling resistance and optimal fuel efficiency. The Proxes R35 is not an exception. Expect touring tire comfort with summer tire performance.

Remember to change this tire before the weather changes. Summer tires have a more complex rubber finish that cannot provide enough flexibility during the winter to withstand the conditions.            

Pros:

  • Excellent hydroplaning resistance features.
  • High-performance tread compound design.
  • The best reduced rolling resistance.
  • Wet and dry handling is nearly perfect.
  • High-level fuel efficiency capabilities.

Cons:

  • No limited tread life warranty.
  • Limited sizes are available.

Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 - Best Winter

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There is no better way to prepare your Lexus ES for the winter than with an ultra-high performance winter tire upgrade. The Pirelli Winter Sottozero 2 is our best winter tire and provides excellent traction and performance features.

The advanced tread compound is a new upgrade from Pirelli with added layers of support and better cold-weather flexibility. The design also includes wider grooves to handle snow and ice better. The more prominent grooves allow the tire to cut through slippery roads easily.

Another upgrade from Pirelli is the added siping technology. There are many more sipes layered across the shoulder blocks to provide biting edges when needed. With the sipes and circumferential grooves, you can expect top-notch hydroplaning resistance too.

There is no limited tread life warranty on this tire. It is profiled as a winter tire and will last multiple seasons if appropriately used. Do not test this tire when the weather begins to warm up, or you will shorten the overall lifespan.  

Pros:

  • Excellent value on pricing.
  • Road noise is very quiet for a performance winter tire.
  • Dry traction on pavement and overall handling are the best it can get.
  • Handling in the rain, ice, and snow is perfection.

Cons:

  • No warranty.
  • Treadwear is average at best and could be improved.

Pirelli P Zero Nero GT - Best Performance Street

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Pirelli is one of the best tire brands to use on your Lexus ES. Their tires add another layer of performance to your vehicle's driving ability. The Pirelli P Zero Nero GT is the best performance street tire for the Lexus ES.

The new tread compound contains 100% silica for better road traction, short-distance braking, and tread life. Pirelli all but guarantees this tread will give you over 30,000 miles before any signs of wear. This is a long-distance for a high-performance tire of this caliber.

The tread pattern is asymmetric for better interlocking features with the shoulder blocks and tire grooves. The shoulder blocks will assist your driving on cornering and steering. The grooves combine with these added stability features for the best-wet surface traction.

There is no limited tread life warranty on this tire. It is a max performance summer tire with a shorter life span, making it challenging to provide warranty coverage.  

Pros:

  • Traction on pavement, both dry and wet, is as good as it gets.
  • Steering responsiveness is high level for accurate driving.
  • Long-lasting summer treads.
  • Reliable braking and acceleration features.

Cons:

  • No tread life warranty.
  • Riding can be a little uncomfortable at times.

Michelin Primacy Tour A/S - Best Highway

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We grade highway tires based on a few essential factors. The best highway tire rides silently while driving provides the best-in-class tread life and handles exceptionally well at highway speeds. The Michelin Primacy Tour A/S can do all of these things and more.

The luxury sedan vehicle category is a competitive space for touring tires, but Michelin finds a way to make it to the top every time. Michelin uses an advanced silica tread in the Primacy Tour A/S to make it all possible. Silica performs well in all climates and can handle extreme heat while staying flexible enough in winter weather.

According to Michelin, the Primacy Tour has 17% better snow traction than the Primacy MXM4 predecessor. The upgrade uses extra lateral grooves to create more angles on the tire for sipes and biting edge technology.

The rubber compound is made from the enhanced ComfortControl technology with a PIANO Noise Reduction Tuning upgrade to remain quiet while driving. This is a unique creation by Michelin to create tires that absorb road vibrations better and keep the cabin quiet for drivers.

There is also a six-year or 55,000-mile limited tread life warranty. This comes with an extra perk of flat tire changing for three years too.  

Pros:

  • Drives light on the road with premium responsiveness.
  • Tread life is exceptional and very reliable.
  • Corners exceptionally well like a performance tire.
  • Above-average hydroplaning resistance.
  • Quiet driving and handles road bumps perfectly.

Cons:

  • Limited tire sizes are available.
  • High-priced tire.
  • Wet handling is not the best and could use some improvement.

Pirelli Spare Tyre - Best Temporary Spare

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A surprise flat tire is never a fun situation to find yourself in. Trapped on the side of the road and waiting for a tow truck to save the day can take a long time. It is essential to come prepared with a reliable temporary spare tire. The best temporary spare for the Lexus ES is the Pirelli Spare Tyre.

Pirelli makes compact spare options designed to be lightweight and fit into your vehicle undetected without adding additional weight onto your car. Storing this spare is simple and was manufactured to increase the available trunk space in your car.

 

Compared to full-size spare tires, this is a more straightforward solution that provides temporary road mobility without the hassle of extra storage. This temporary spare has an overall smaller size, narrower treads, and a shallower tread depth than a traditional tire.

The max speed you should drive on the Pirelli Spare is 50 MPH. Avoid highway driving and top speeds. Going too fast can put your vehicle at risk for further damages. The max driving distance on this spare is 70 miles too.  

Pros:

  • Smaller physical size for easy storage.
  • Quick installation for immediate road mobility.

Cons: 

  • Limited sizes are available.

Michelin Primacy MXM4 - Factory Tire

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The Primacy MXM4 is a grand touring, all-season tire with upgrades in technology and design to accommodate performance driving for Lexus ES drivers. Michelin created this tire specifically for luxury sedans for better all-weather handling and overall driving comfort.

Michelin uses highly optimized eco-friendly technology for the Primacy MXM4 tire to reduce CO2 emissions and create a more sustainable tire. The tread compound is made from sunflower oil and a Helio Compound Technology design. The all-season tread provides better fuel efficiency and road handling while maintaining flexibility in cold temperatures.

The tread pattern is asymmetric to form a tighter bond between the tread blocks and grooves. This relationship on the tire allows for all-around better handling in harsh conditions. There is a set of circumferential grooves to help evacuate water from critical surface areas on the tire for better hydroplaning resistance.

The Primacy MXM3 comes with a reliable warranty. Michelin protects you with six years or 55,000 miles in limited tread life coverage. They also provide flat tire changing support for three years.

Pros:

  • Reliable highway stability and comfort.
  • Excellent short distancing braking on slippery roads.
  • Most reliable tread life in the touring tire category.

Cons:

  • High quality but with an expensive price tag.
  • Older model tire lacking some new technology features.
Best Tires For Lexus ES - Complete Guide

About The Author

Charles Redding

Charles Redding

I've spent many years selling cars, working with auto detailers, mechanics, dealership service teams, quoting and researching car insurance, modding my own cars, and much more.

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