dj5

I had the Bridgestone Alenzas on my wife's Honda Pilot. They were great for about the first 35k and then got so loud that we had to take them off with about half the tread life left. Replace them with a nice set of Michelins. Based on my experience, I wouldn't recommend the Alenzas.

mdxken

Another thump up for Michelin Lattitude HP. My 2010 MDX has the original Michelin Lattitude up to 45k miles and I decided to change out new tires before the winter of 2012. I bought another Lattitude set around July 2012 and those tires have been great without any noises or issues. I currently have 53k miles and the treadwear is still at 9/32 when I did the balance and rotation few weeks ago. When people get a new set of tire, they often skip alignment then later complain about noise, handling problem. Always do your alignment when you buy new tires, it's just another $70 extra but your treadweare will last longer.About Continental DWS tires, they are cheaper than Michelin for many reasons. Noise, soft wall, treadweare life. No tire manufacture will be stupid enough to sell their tires way cheaper than its competitor if they have same or better quality. I personally had a set of Cont DWS on my Lexus GS350 after my orginal Michelin worn out at 50k miles and I can tell you these tires have lower quality than Michelin. The S - snow tread last about two winter months and the tires were very noisy. I had one blown out when I accidently ran into a pot hole due to soft wall. I would not trust Cont DWS with the Acura SUV. The price isn't much difference if you buy online like discount tire direct. I paid $900 for a whole set of Michelin Lattitude HP after MIR from discount tire. A set of Cont DWS would be around $700 anyway. Just my 2 cents!

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

The Conti DWS is designed for car application, not for the much heavier SUV's and trucks.

The CrossContact line is the appropriate SUV tire from Continental Tires.

VicTL06

So after a tonne of research and picking up a set of mint 19" RDX wheels and (****e bald) Michelin Tour HPs for $500, I've got the replacement tire choice down to Continental CrossContact LX20s. This is my wife's car and I grudgingly got her to go along with 19s. Her preferred ride is safe and comfortable, sacrifice is handling. With that in mind, I've got the tire sizes down to:

255/50R19
245/55R19
245/50R19

Those are all of the relevant Plus Two sizes that will meet OEM stock diameter. Let's remove the last one, as Continental doesn't make a 245/50R19 (not many choices, it's apparently an odd tire size). So I've got the 255s and the 245s.

The 245 tire sits more flush on the wheel, but I don't have to worry about curb rash because of sidewall height. With a narrower tire, it has better wet and snow traction, but less responsive handling. With a taller sidewall, it will have a better ride quality and aesthetically, fits the wheel well nicer. On the downside, it's a Standard Load tire and not Low Rolling Resistance, so no potential increases to MPG. They're also about $30 less per tire than the 255.

So the upside of the 255s are that they are XL and LRR. They will handle nicer, but the sidewall is lower, so less ride comfort, I assume? The 255s are also by far the most popular choice.

If anyone has any opinion as to which ones to go for, I'm all ears.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

^^according to tirerack...to stay OEM spec'd so to speak they recommend the 255/50/19's for your 2005 MDX. i would think the other size would look a little funny relative to the car. you will lose some of your ride comfort with the plus 2 in the wheel size. i'd go 255's just to make sure you're as close to OEM and keeping the handling characteristics of the car as close to what they are suppose to be.

i currently have about 6k miles on the LX20's on my 09...no complaints. Handling improved after the initial 1k mile break in. they are much more grippy in turns. i have yet to chirp them like the OEM michelins. great in rain...i will find out about snow, if we get any this winter. So far, I am pleased with the LX20s.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Are your OEM Michelins also the Tour HP ?

VicTL06

I did look at Tire Rack but for Discount/America's Tire has a whole list of Plus 2 tire sizes. The 245/55R19s are within about 1%, which is about what you can ask for with a larger tire. As it stands now, it has 255/55R19 OEM Michelins, which are the RDX spec. I'm worried that dropping down to 50 sidewalls will really hurt the ride quality.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

asking me or vic?

my OEMs were the latitude tour HP's...

Fabvsix

I replaced mine with the OEM Michelims that came with my 2007 MDX Sport bought from TireRack.com at 40K. Had many threads left but don't like to travel with family and old shoes on.....

Edward'TLS

Yes, that's exactly what I want to know.

My 3G MDX also comes with 245/55/19 Tour HP tires, and I have been looking for some high-performance all-season SUV tires to replace them.

But being an odd tire size, I'm still having trouble finding better ones.

So, from your experience, are the LX20's are much better than the Tour HP's ?

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

^^so far....i really like the LX 20s a lot more than the Michelins. handling wise they are grippy and confident in dry. wet...slices through puddles with little issue. they are quiet as well. i will be curious to see how winter goes.

OEM: i had plenty of tread on the front two and adequate on the rears (the car came this way), but i had weather checking in the sidewall and it was doubtful the rear tires were going to get through winter. I was going to get tires anyway, just a little earlier than i wanted to with road trips planned. I was actually able to chirp the Michelins in turns. the LX20s...i have yet to chirp. OEM dry handling was good, wet was ok in a straight line...weather checking was/is an issue with michelins based on what i've read as the tires age. snow handling was ok as well with whatever sloppy snow we have had in the last two yrs.

I spent a lot of time debating and researching tires for the MDX...i got it down to the LX20s and the toyo versado CUV. i picked the conti's for the treadwear.

VicTL06

So after much deliberation, talking with tire guys and research, I went with the LX20 245/55R19s. I think that the ride quality and lower rolling resistance will make my wife happy. Having them installed next weekend. Will let you know how they ride on our little road trip back north!

DoMaNo

after 2 sets of the Michelin OEM on my 2009 MDX, I switched to the Continental LX20's. Very, very pleased. Notice nothing different compared to the Michelin's besides saving several hundred dollars. Am curious to see if I get more than the 50ishK miles that I was getting with the Michelins. The Continentals are rated for 70K miles. Walmart is now carrying these, so with the unlimited balancing, rotations and road hazard, I just didn't think I could go wrong with them. I have about 15K miles on them and am still very happy with this decision.

karlmax

How about Cooper CS4? I've heard that they are good on the highway, wet roads and in the snow.

VicTL06

All I can say is WOW - what a difference! The drive south to Oregon and the ride north back to Canada were night and day! Where you felt every bump, were assiled with road and the tires danced and shimmied while cornering with the Michelins, the Conti's were 180 degrees the opposite. Extremely quiet and smooth and just oh so solid and grippy in the corners. I can't wait to plow through puddles and attack snow drifts, when the time comes.

As for the size, they are perfect: a 245/55R19 has a lot of sidewall for ride comfort and the narrower tire is more fuel efficient (so I am told) and handles better than the 255/50R19. It also doesn't have severe impact on the speedo/odo. Aesthetically, they look great, especially on those sexy 19" RDX rims! Very, very happy. I understand that many folks aren't getting the 70,000 miles promised by the treadwear warranty. Well, fine by me: looking forward to a prorated discount on my next set, then.

One last thing: if you're down in the Portland area, I highly recommend America's Tire Co. (which is actually Discount Tire, not sure why the name difference) in Beaverton. Ask for Tony and tell them Vic from Victoria sent you!

mattpete

iTrader: (4)

we recently added 19" A-Specs to our MDX, which look amazing BTW on 2G MDX's

Spent a lot of time deliberating on which tire to choose for these new wheels…
Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental

Ending up going with Nitto Motivo, never thought I'd pick a Nitto tire but these are pretty nice tires size 275/45-19
They look great, handle really nicely, are super quiet and have an amazing tread wear rating. Not cheap to replace that much rubber at one time but well worth it.

Just have to make sure to get proper mounting, balancing and alignment.

Hope this may help someone choosing new tires for their MDX!

cpeterson99

I had issues with the OEM's on the 2014 MDX. Discount Tire could not repair one of the tires and decided to replace it. They made the mistake of replacing the wrong one. For the mix up they installed 4 brand new Pirelli Scorpions at no cost. For a price of $0 I am not complaining. So far the tire performs much better than the OEMs. No sliding in wet weather and they corner much better. Have never looked at Pirellis in the past so I will see how they wear over time. They deliver a quieter ride and since they are slightly wider, seem to have more stability.

GON7

Totally agree with the comments on Michelin. Every Michelin I have bought have last far longer than I ever expect. My rule of thumb is to only purchase Michelin, and make sure wear rating is over 500, temp and tracing both A rated. When I find a Michelins with the specs I need, I generally purchase the model with the lowest cost. I have used that formula since the 1990s and it has worked very well for me.