737 Jock

Based on the present wear rate, I'm expecting the OEM HX MXM4 to last about 30K. It is a rather unremarkable Grand Touring tire, with poor wet grip level and only average treadlife.

I gave serious consideration to BleuM&M's evaluation of these tires:

My favorite tire shop wanted $280 installed for the Pilots and $250 for the Yokos so (lacking Bleu's Trump-like resources) I opted for a compromise:

the Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza in 235/55/18 is an all-season highway tire that worked well on my VW Touareg. It is admittedly higher unsprung weight (33.1 lbs on my scale) than the OEM's 29 lbs. On the positive side, it has the same V speed rating as OEM with a higher load index (100 vs 99).

With greater weight, stiffer sidewall and much better tread than OEM, I'm expecting less responsive turn-in, but much higher lateral grip level. The Alenza also has a treadlife guarantee of 65K and goes for about $170 installed.

It will be interesting to see if the 4 lb increase in unsprung weight is evident. I'll report on it soon.

lumpulus

Don't forget about Dunlops..they make a good tire as well.

737, always enjoy your posts..very informative...thanks!

wrestrepo

I want to know about tire replacement for the optional 19" rims...what would you recommend is good for all season use that will fit these rims??

k23a1

Great informative post. Report back in a few miles.

vrflyer

Bridgestone Dueler = horrible tire...

HAve had those on CR-V gone to crap in less than 20K, they also come OEM in Toyota trucks/suv's and also same horrible wear.

600mm

I'm at 34k on the OEM's and wear indicates about 45k before needing replacement. Likely due to mostly freeway miles.

737 Jock

The Dueler Alenzas have been on the RDX for about 250 miles now.

Effects of the stiffer sidewall:

A) Initial turn-in is quicker than OEM.
B) Grip level is much higher than OEM was even when new.
C) They hang on great in fast sweepers, with little evidence of roll-under.
D) They respond better in quick transitions, where OEM had more sidewall flex.

Effects of the higher unsprung weight:

A) The RDX feels a tick slower off the line, once the tire mass gets moving it accelerates normally -- 2nd gear and up.
B) It brakes slightly shorter -- the heavier rotating mass is offset by the higher grip level.
C) No apparent difference in fuel economy, but should be slightly less.

How it rides:

A) Sharp jolts are absorbed much better, but the higher unsprung weight slows bound and rebound, which delivers more of a pitching motion to the short coupled frame.
B) On a rough road the ride is much less jarring but slightly bouncier.
C) On the highway it is much quieter and smoother.

The tread:

A) Deeper, 10 mm vs OEM 7mm. It can be felt as some squirm in sharp transitions.
B) Much higher grip, dry and wet. The Uni-T technology reveals multi-layer grippy compounds as the tire wears.
C) Non-directional; so the tires can be rotated left-to-right, not just front-to-back.
C) Treadlife is warrantied to 65000 miles.

In summary, if you are coming up on re-tire-ment:

A) The OEM MXM4s are the worst choice. They are expensive, wear out in 20 to 30K miles and have lousy grip (dangerous at at 2 - 3mm).
B) BleuM&M's Pilot Sports are definitely the best choice for hot-rod performance, if you don't mind the cost, (I'm jealous) about 30K treadlife (guessing) and get good wear rotating front-to-rear.
C) The Bridgestone Alenzas are a good choice if you are looking to improve grip (over OEM) smooth the ride, cross-rotate, and want long 65K treadlife (and save about $300-$400).

BleuM&M

Excellent report. Good to know there are alternatives to OEM or the unobtanium-belted Sport A/Ss. <-That looks funny. I doubt I would have gotten them if I hadn't been offered a good take-off price for the MXM4s.

I hope your estimate on my tire life is conservative, because with a treadwear rating of 400, I'm expecting around 90,000 miles!

ltngbg99

Great reports 737. Can you please post pictures of your new tires mounted? I am leaning heavily toward these tires for my replacements. BleuM&M, I've had the Pilot sport A/S tires on our other car for over 8k now. They are great performers and are wearing well so far.

ltngbg99

I was looking around on Tirerack and found a tire in the 235/55-18 size called a Goodyear Assurance ComforTred listed for $137 each. They have an 80k treadwear warranty. How do you guys think these would work? Take into mind that I would rather sacrifice some performance for a tire that lasts longer than 18k miles.

Patronus

I think these would be a huge disappointment. They are T rated (read: soft sidewalls) and 700 tread wear (read: very hard and slippery rubber).

A better choice for the money may be the Yokahama Avid V4S at $141. V rated and 500 tread wear. There are probably many others better than the Goodyear you mentioned.

ddb

Did you consider the Yokohama AVID V4S? $141 each at Tirerack (plus shipping and installation, of course). VR speed rated, load index of 99, 30.0lbs each, excellent consumer reviews. I always love dealing with Tirerack; they'll ship directly to my local installer where I pay around $20 per tire for mounting and balancing.

- DDB

ltngbg99

Well,

I went against my better judgment and am throwing on a set on the Goodyear Assurance ComforTreads. I managed a good deal locally for $600 installed, balanced with road hazard and rotation. Installed tomorrow. Full honest report to follow after a few hundred miles.

russianDude

Don't forget DOT manufacture date, they have to be fresh, 6 years is the limit

ltngbg99

according to Tire Rack Goodyear just started making this model in this size so it seems if they would have to be new. Is there any way to check the manufacture date of a tire?

russianDude

I tried emailing tire rack, and here is the response I got:

"All our tires come straight from the tire manufacturer to us but we can't guarantee a specific DOT range."

I told them that I will not risk paying $500+ and take a chance at whatever they decide to send me. Screw that. I won't be ordering from tirerack since they can not even give me the range of dates, which means you can get some tires that are like 2-3 year old, and it will be legal for them to do so.
The best thing is to go to local tire place and request DOT to be the most 3-6 month old. Before they install it, check the date, and if they lied to you, don't pay a penny and walk away. tirerack might be few bucks cheaper, but if you ever need warranty repair or there is an issue with a tire, I would not want to deal with tire rack and ship stuff back or etc.
6 years is the limit, even if its unused tire, it pretty much expires in 6 years (it becomes dangerous to drive)

russianDude

well, if you know that this model has only been around for couple month, then sure it will be new, but otherwise there is no guarante

BleuM&M

I'm guessing the majority of drivers don't delve too deeply into what those black inflated things are on their wheels. In this forum it's apparent that folks care and are interested in their tires. A good point was raised about manufacture dates. Not only that, but place of manufacture is notable because of mold type and process variance between facilities. If you have the DOT and manufacturer codex, you're further ahead.

That being said, I can understand why some retailers might not care very much about giving specific information about tires they may have on hand to ship, especially if they aren't high-performance tires. Most passenger and touring tires have a really long shelf life and in the end, don't matter very much to the average consumer.

If it matters to you, ask for the specifics before you buy, but be ready to buy and tell them as much. They can check the warehouse, have a tire monkey tell you what they have on hand, then you can decide if you want the set or not. Doing that will sell you as a customer, provide a referral for future sales, and at the minimum spread some good will.

Been there, bought that, from Tire Rack & Discount.

russianDude

research shows that after 6 years tires have much higher chance of exploding due to rubber aging. This happens a lot to people who don't drive much.

brizey

Man, several threads about tires lately. I always pretty much think of a long life tire as an inferior product to stickier performance tires. I would rather have some sticky Korean tires that are cheap. I loved the 'kook RS-2's I had on my WRX. They were only about $110 per tire, so 15,000 to 20,000 miles was fine. And they were sticky as hell, but had a sort of soft sidewall so there didn't ride too harsh.

737 Jock

Here is the Alenza on the car:



These tires are very well made. We measured loaded radial runout on my buddy's Hunter Road Force machine, and the 4 tire range was from .009" to .017". (Normally vibration can be felt above about .030") Two of the tires were so well balanced that they required no weights at all.

If you are wondering about the yellow dot, Bridgestone marks the tire's lightest weight point with a yellow dot. This is usually placed adjacent to the wheel's heaviest weight point, where the valve stem and pressure sensor is. (But not always, if radial force variation is measured on a Hunter machine.)

Regarding Treadlife Warranties -- Bridgestone and all the others -- require that the tires are run down to the wearbars before they will replace the tire for treadlife. Most people probably would rather buy new tires before then, so don't choose a tire on treadlife warranty alone.

My wife loves her new tires.

Brice-RDX

What do people think of General Exclaims UHP tire? I had some on a previous vehicle and they are great for the low cost.

737 Jock

Looks like an excellent choice for good handling/treadlife balance in a directional tire.

It is embossed on the sidewall as a DOT number. The last 4 digits of the DOT number are the week and year of manufacture. For instance "DOT xxx2107". The tire was made on the 21st week of 2007.

ltngbg99

737 thanks for the picture and additional information.

XLR8R

I think the General is exclaiming "Holy crap, even my new Malibu/Aura is still inferior to the Accord or Altima!!!"

vrflyer

I don't see a rim guard on that tire, hope your wife doesn't run into a curb.

BleuM&M

Rim guards are over-rated. While they might protect a little itty bit if the tires are under-inflated and then only at the bottom part of the wheel, when you have canted curbs like in downtown Columbus, Ohio, they will grind your wheels into dust without touching the tire. &*^%$#@!!!.

The best rim protection is a right side mirror that pivots down in Reverse. And a driver that pays attention. D'OH.

737 Jock

With heavier weight and greater rolling resistance the Bridgestones should reduce the mpg, but I am having a difficult time proving this.

We drive on regular routes with a known fuel usage, and use the same driving style, but the average mpg is coming out the same most of the time. When it's lower it's not by more than 0.4 mpg.

We appreciate these tires even more as they wear in. They are getting smoother and quieter, with great response and grip.

737 Jock

I installed them in June of 08 with 11 mm (13/32").

We now have 33550 miles on them with 4 mm (5/32") remaining. That's about 4790 miles per mm wear (or 4190 miles per 1/32").

At this rate we will reach the wear bars in another 12570 miles for a total of 46120 miles when they wear out. This falls short of the 65000 mile warranty by 18880 miles.

I talked to my tire guy and he said they would pro-rate the warranty for the 18880 miles. (Remember you have to be at the wear bars for any tire warranty to apply.) We would get about $180 towards new tires.

These tires are still performing as described above. They are still grippy in wet and dry. They have completely met our expectations and 46k is not bad life in RDX service. Average fuel economy over 33k is 19 to 20.

Now that more options are available in this size I just have to decide if we want them again, or to try something new....

mrgold35

The Continental ExtremeContact DWS with a 540 treadlife at about $160ea are on my short list once I get close to the wear bars on the wife's RDX.

Any one have these tires in the 18" size?

ltngbg99

I just put on a set of the DWS. First impressions are good performance on wet pavement. Sidewalls do seem a little soft in the corners. I have another set in a different size on our other vehicle that I am very pleased with. I was disappointed to see that the DWS does not include a rim protector ridge on the 235/55 18 size. It just looks better with the rim protector.

lilcasino

I've gone through a "winter" with the DWS. Here in Maine we haven't had plowable snow since January. They handle better than oem's and tracked great in the snow.

PearlyWhite07

I went with the Yokohama Avids as my replacement for the OEM's. Great tire so far, good handling and reasonable ride comfort. Do really well in the twisties...

XDRARUCA

I know this is an old thread, but I'll add my 2 cents. Try Kumho's. I used to run them on my 98 Accord and now have about 10k on the ones on my RDX. Price and performance are excellent. Wet and dry traction are great as is noise level and wear. The ones I'm running are the Kumho Road Venture APT KL51.

Lrpba300

in the second winter, with the OEM's, traction was getting bad already. I decided to contact my friend who works at the Goodyear store here. I told him what I was looking for & he quoted me a price. I checked around, & I got the Goodyear Fortera HL's for $181 @ tire. Great price. I always have to allow for winter here, b/c I don't like to change out for winter / summer wheels & tires. I've had them on for awhile, & man, am I happy I did it!
Ride is better, BRAKING is way better, handling is a little better & mileage is about the same. FOr that price & performance, It was worth it to me. At Tire Racks price of $222 a tire ,(when I priced mine!), my not be quite as good, but still better than OEM, by a BUNCH!!

737 Jock

The Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza service life was 45417 miles.

I removed the Alenza's at 2mm tread (3/32"). This is about .5mm (1/32") above the wear bars.

Each tire lost 5 lbs of unsprung weight over the service life -- starting at 33 and ending at 28 lbs. The dry handling continually improved as tread wore until about 3mm when the hard, heat-cycled rubber started to slide more. More importantly, at 2 mm they skated uncomfortably in the wet.

Service life average fuel economy: 19.9 mpg.

They handled 20cm (8") of snow very well. At 30cm (12") snow they struggled but the RDX never got stuck.

Below 4mm tread, road noise was annoyingly loud.

To claim the treadlife warranty you have to run the tires to the wearbars. I wasn't willing to do that. But they would have probably hit the wearbars at 50k miles and been 15k short of the warranty. I could have gotten about $150 back.

Are they a good tire? Yes, very high quality.

Would I buy them again? Well, that depends:

1. The stiff sidewall makes them sporting on back roads, but also transmits roughness through the cabin. Having been immunized by sports cars, I would toss the RDX around, never feeling the jolts -- but then cringe at every little bump with my sensitive mother-in-law in the back seat.
2. The high unsprung weight was definitely a factor the first year. My wife called them "clompy".
3. Non-directional tread makes rotation easy.
4. They are primarily a highway tire and excell on the Interstate.
5. 45000 is still very good treadlife.

The overall experience was good, but I want to try something else with lower weight.

LuvMyTSX

Thanks for the update, 737. Very good to know how the tires performed over their lifetime.

I had a similar experience with Bridgestone Pole Positions on my TSX. Very grippy, high quality tire, and also quieter than OEMs, but they caused my mpg to drop by 2-3 mpg and they seemed to transmit more jolts from the road in the last year or so (could also be the suspension wearing down at 6 years old, who knows). Overall a very good tire that I would recommend, but better suited for smooth roads rather than the pothole mess I've been riding on.

On a positive note, the RDX, even with OEM tires, rides slightly softer than my old TSX, and does a better job absorbing those bumps and potholes.

08RDXTechTB

So, what did you replace them with? I am torn between the
Yokohama AVID ENVigor (H&V) and the Continental ExtremeContact DWS