Seekup41

OK, fellow RDX'ers. I'm totally confused now and need some help on my next set of tires. I've spent the last few months reading everyone's posts about their tire selections for the RDX.

I have a 2008 Base that's just about at 40,000K on the OEM Michelin Pilot tires. They were just fine when brand new, offering responsive handling, decent wet traction, and surprisingly, they did well in the snow, too. The car was predictable on corners at high speeds, and quite fun to drive, sharp and accurate. At about 28-30K they started to squeal more and you could really tell they were losing grip, even in the dry. Now at about 39K, they are virtually unusuable in the wet, and even in the dry, they are wandering, loose, and uninspiring. I'm nervous to think about what happens when the first Ohio snowfall hits in over a month.

Obviously like many of you I've narrowed the choices to the Yokohama AVID Envigor, Continental DWS, or the OEM Michelins. However, it seems that every tire seems to have major flaws, per the reviewers.

(1) DWS: seem to be great in wet and snow, but dry handling seems to be poor and is called "squishy" and loose, and uninspiring due to the soft sidewalls on turn-in. I've also heard numerous complaints of flat spots and less than optimal reliability. However, the same people complaining about the handling think it's quiet and "more foregiving" for the RDX.

(2) Envigor: seems to be a great dry handling tire, but many think it's loud, noisy, and questionable in the snow. Looking at the tread pattern (with the large center "band") I'd intuitively think it WOULD be poor in the snow, but is it really that bad? The prospect of good dry handling seems to be a strong selling point.

(3) OEM Michelin Pilot: the uniform problem seems to be both treadlife, and more importantly wet handling (or lack thereof). I can attest to this, but then again, the first 30K miles were (roughly) OK. And again I was able to do just fine in the snow recognizing the limits of an all season tire.

Today at Discount Tire, the rep tried to steer me towards Yokohama YK580's: I didn't see them anywhere else which makes me think it's a proprietary release for that retailer. I can barely find any reviews on this tire. Anyone know anything about the tire? The tread pattern seemed to be decent.

So now, I'm confused.. and could use some help.

Do I:

(1) Jump to the DWS, and sacrifice the crisp responsive handling that we all enjoy with the RDX?
(2) Change to the Envigor, and take my chances with noise and snow?
(3) Or just go back with the Michelins, spending more money, but knowing that at 30K they'll be shot?
(4) Or is there a plan B? (other than dedicated winter tires!!!) ;-)

I live in Ohio, so snow and wet traction are important. However I don't want to turn the RDX into a Buick by getting the wrong tires.

Help!

Thanks in advance.

sonny@tirerack

All valid concerns. I would however not get too stuck on the less responsive handling of the DWS. For an all season, the winter traction is excellent and the wet traction is extremely good. Dry pretty good, granted it will not be as precise at the Envigor, but the good far outweighs the "bad" comparatively.

mrgold35

+1 on the Conti DWS

I like the fact the Conti DWS is the tire for 95% of your daily driving habits compared to purchasing a tire that only covers 5% of possible extreme needs.

I don't worry about emergency handling capabilities, driving on wet roads, white knuckles during light snow, emergency stopping, excessive road noise, or worn tires at 20K.

catnippants

Granted I may not be the enthusiast driver that many here are, but I think my Conti's handle quite well on dry pavement. As I mentioned in one of my posts, it has reduced some of the teeth chattering over expansion joints and railroad tracks, but at the same time, I don't think I've lost the sportiness one bit...

Mr Marco

My personal recommendation is two sets of wheels and tires. One tire cannot do all things.

You don't have to compromise good handling if you get a set each of summer and winter tires. In fact I think that anyone who lives above the 45th parallel should have a dedicated set of winter tires for those wet months. Don't you Columbians get like three feet of snow every year? No all season tire can go where a dedicated snow tire can take you.

If I knew it was going to snow and I didn't have enough money for a dedicated set of winter tires I would pick the DWS (and I own the Yoko's).

EDiT: AViD ENVigors are not loud at all. Or are you at the 40th parallel?

mau108

We had Envigor installed on our RDX simply because the OEM's were done at 85K and no one had the Parada Spec-X and DWS here in Toronto. I'll be driving the RDX on Friday will let you know how it is.

Tirerack says it's better then OEM but not as good as DWS

MMike1981

pretty simple still - the DWS kick the shit out of 3 seasons and are a bit off in summer. That said, the dry handling is STILL GOOD and should not deter a purchase. The biggest demerit is turn in feel and probably the first and only thing you will notice. Other than that, theres still nothing out there that blow thru snow and rain and all else in between as sure-footed as the DWS.

MMike1981

the 2nd demerit, and hey could be huge, the DWS is an ugly ass tire. Looks like an inner-tube sitting on the rim. it will look bad. if you can deal with that, too. lol

Carbon2008RDX

I put the Conti DWS on my RDX about two months ago. They don't look "that bad". I really love the super aggressive asymmetrical tread design.

Even though they have a softer sidewall and more compliant ride the dry handling is just fine unless you're seriously pushing extremes. Wet handling and traction is phenomenal! Period. I cannot wait for snow!

karama

i've been using the envigors for about 10k miles went thru 1 winter season. now i must say that winter driving was not bad at all(used to have a wrx with winter tires for 7 years).envigors were very stable at high speeds and not noisy at all, but i must say they do tend to form a flat spot when sitting for 2 or more days. flat spots go away after a mile of driving. wet and dry handling are so much better then oem. hope that helps

MMike1981

nah i completely disagree. their appearance is awful. but i wasnt talking about the tread, which is cool.

mrgold35

I agree, the tread design is very cool. The side view looks compared to other ultra high performance all season tires with the rim guard, cool looking textures, Logo, writting or symbols.