ocer411

Hey everyone. Just looking at summer only performance tires, and winter tires and I noticed at Tirerack.com that the only compatible tires they list are the stock tires. Any ideas why they would not list more tires?

Thanks for the help.

JeffTSX

No idea why tirereack would only pull up stock tires. But I know one tire that's really good. Toyo T1-S. But if you don't plan on spending so much. Kumho 712s are actually not bad for it's price!!!

masmole

Tirerack doesn't list too many options because the TSX's oem size (215/50/17) is not a widely available size.

You would have to go either 225/45/17 and deal with a ~1 mph speedometer error or go 235/45/17 at nearly the same rolling diameter as stock. Problem with the 235 size is possible rubbing if you drop the suspension significantly depending on the brand of tire... but this hasn't been proven to be a problem so far as I haven't noticed any issues on the forums.

Anyhow, I've gone through many many sets of tires over the last two years and I can recommend a few...

Bridgestone Potenza S03 - absolutely the best performing summer tires I have ever used. It's also very quiet and the ride is surprisingly comfortable for a tire that has such a stiff sidewall. I had this in 225/40/18 size and even after 4 track days at Gingerman and Road america, the tires showed little signs of abuse and the shoulders held up well. Great for the track as well as daily driving. Incredible in wet conditions. What more can I say? Only down side is tread life. After only 15K miles, I had to replace them. Probably had mostly to with me beating them up on the track. If you don't track them, I'm sure they will last a good 25-30K miles.

Michelin Pilot Sport - almost as good as the S03's. Peformance dry and wet are nearly the same. S03's a little better in wet though. A little quieter and more comfortable than S03's, also it seems to have better tread life (but I have only tracked them once)... which makes this a better choice if you're looking for best street performance with little or no plans to go to the track. Down side is cost. These tires are the most expensive set I've bought ever. S03's a much better value despite the seemingly less tread life.

Toyo T1-S - the best performing tire for the cost conscious minded. Not as well performing as the S03 or the Pilot Sports but very close, holds its own. I don't remember how well these performed in the wet though for some reason. Tread life is good, a little noisy when it wears a bit but pretty comfortable ride overall. This is a bargain in performance! You cannot buy a better performing tire at this price. If $$ is an issue, these are a no brainer. If money is no object, get the S03's or the Pilots.

I'd mention others I've used but they are not worth mentioning lets put it that way.

sauceman

Masmole, I was planning on trying the Pilot Sports. How long a life do you expect them to have, for how much mileage can they last?

TSX Hokie

Toyo's recently released Proxes 4 looks like a great tire if you don't want to deal with the soft sidewalls of the T1-S. A little cheaper too. It also has a better treadlife. They call this an all-season tire, but initial reviews have them gripping better than some dedicated summer tires (although they are no Potenzas). They are also very light. I will very likely be switching to 18" SSR Competition wheels with 235/40/18 Toyo Proxes 4; this setup is 8.5 lbs lighter than stock per corner and has the same tire diameter as stock.

Most summer tires have such soft compounds that they 'flatten' out when they sit overnight, causing them to run out-of-balance for the first few minutes of your drive until they warm up. Unless you are living in a very warm climate, you probably will be better off with performance all-seasons like the Proxes 4 or Pirelli Pzero's, for the better 'cold' performance. A common myth is that the only reason to buy all-seasons over summer tires is to handle mud and snow, but you also have to take into consideration the fact that summer tires need to be warm to work properly. Since the average annual temperature here in SW VA is about 50 deg F and my commute is 5 miles, I don't think I would ever get to see the benefit of summer tires. Maybe you would.

masmole

Not sure. Still have them on... now probably have around 15-16K miles and the tread still looks good. I have only tracked them once and expect to get at least another 10-15K miles as long as I keep them off the track. I will probably never find out how long they'll really last because I plan to sell them with the car when my new ride arrives this summer. Good choice though. I'm almost certain the Pilot Sports have better tread life than the S03's... remember, don't expect too much from any of these maximum performance-type summer tires as far as tread life goes. If you get anything over 20K miles from such tires, that's a good thing. If tread life is a real concern, go with TSX Hokie's recommendation of the Toyo Proxes 4. I too, have heard great reviews and accounts about them on other car forums. I will be getting a set of these for my TSX soon.

Lung Fu Mo Shi

My tires do have this problem. By about 0.5 miles they are running fine.

This was my decision for Oregon weather. There is hardly ever any snow here, but during the winter, the temperature regularly gets below 45 degrees, and stays there. Sometimes colder at night. I don't want to be driving around on tires as hard as hockey pucks and no traction. So I compromised and don't regret it.

Santa Rosa Steve

It's because Acura specifies an extra load rated tire on the TSX, 1433lbs load capacity. The stock Michelins are the only tire in that size with that high of a rating.

Santa Rosa Steve

Maxboost

Massmole: sorry for going off topic here but i was wondering how long does it take you to go to Road America? I'm kinda new in Chicago and looking for race track for my car.

By the way
I've used S 03s and Pilot sport before. Somehow I think S 03 has a better dry road handling. Ride is better than Pilot Sport and IMO quieter. Although I do like Pilot Sport (better tread wear) but it kept on chirping whenever I launch hard. By the way I had these on Volvo T5R with 300hp to the front wheels. I guess Pilot Sport couldn't keep up with the turbo.

masmole

Takes me about 2.5 hours from downtown, assuming no traffic. I've made it in under 2 hours several times but I was disobeying suggested speed limit by a lot. It's a beautiful track, has pretty long straights so it doesn't really favor the TSX's lack of muscle. You're better off with a car like the Volvo T5R there. Good thing about RA is that it's not as hard on the brakes as the other nearby tracks (blackhawk and gingerman). Personally, I prefer Gingerman in south haven, MI. It's only a 3 hour drive and the car club events held there have very reasonable fees and dues. Also, Road America can get crowded, so you'll be lucky if you satisfy all of your lapping appetite there. Gingerman is less well-known, and at least in my experiences, the car clubs that hold events there keep their groups to a minimum. The TSX will like Gingerman better as well: it is a tighter course and favors a lighter more tossable car over a heavier car with more muscle. Be careful though, since the straights are shorter and turns trickier, Gingerman is much harder on the brakes. I toasted my S4's stock brakes there twice and I'm certain the TSX's stock brakes will not last more than 10 continuous laps without signigicant fade and chunked pads or even warped rotors. Depends how you drive it too

ocer411

Do you think this is necissary or is Acura mearly being cautious? I've never bought a tire and been concerned with load capacity before.

Santa Rosa Steve

It appears so. I spoke with a Tire rack rep back in November when I purchased a set of summer replacements for the Michelins. He said that the lower load-rated tires shouldn't present any problems.

I bought a set of 215/50ZR-17 Firestone Firehawk SZ50's on sale for $88 ea. I wanted the increased performance of a summer tire and the reviews and ratings of this tire at that price were too good to pass up, especially since they are currently going for $157.

I'm pleased with both the increased performance and the more-aggressive appearance; handling limits are higher, braking distances shorter, wet-weather performance is considerably better, and the slightly-wider carcass and directional tread design look more at home on my TSX than did the narrower, harder & heavier OE Michelins. They ride just as smoothly and quietly, and I've noticed no negative impact of the lower load rating BTW...

Santa Rosa Steve

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

I was looking too for a set of replacement tires when I came across this. There are a few performance tires that come in the same size as the stock Michelins. Try the Yokohama AVSES100. They are available at www.tires.com for nearly half the price of the stock Michelins while being a W-rated high performance tire. There are a few other options too such as the Falken Azenis and others. They are all available on the www.tires.com website.

MattG42C

Make sure when looking at Tire Rack, that you search by SIZE... if you search just by the 2004 Acura TSX, you will only get the OEM tire. When you search by size (215/50-17) you will get about 3 pages worth. I'm eyeing the Bridgestone Expedia's but the price is a bit scary.