cman219

Hey all, i bought a used 2004 tsx about 6 months ago and i found out just today that there's a pinhole leak on the inside sidewall of the driver side rear tire. I'm contemplating whether i should just replace all 4 tires. Every other tire doesn't pass the penny test on the outsides only, the middle seem fine.

Simba91102

Not quite sure what the penny test is, but it doesn't sound good. There are wear bars in the tread that indicate how worn a tire is. If any of these are even with the tread, then the tire is junk (the tires probably should be replaced before they reach this point by the way). If your tires aren't worn evenly across the tread, then that indicates what could be any one or more of a couple of things. If I properly understand what you're saying, then it appears you tires are suffering from a classic case of wear from underinflation. When a tire is underinflated, it has tendency to go concave in the middle (when there's a load on it) which results in accelerated wear on the outer edges of the tire. The opposite is true if the tires are overinflated. The middle section will be convex, which causes more wear on the inner part of the tread (and either condition can cause unstable handling under certain conditions). Also, any fault in the sidewall of a tire usually makes that tire a good candidate for replacement. Sorry for the mini lesson, but the bottom line is it sounds like you're ready for a new set of tires.

cman219

Yea i think the last guy didn't care too much about the tire pressure. The penny test is where you put a penny inside the grooves to see if the treads go past lincoln's upside down head. If they don't then that means you have less than 2/32" of tread left. Its supposed to be some standard for measuring the life left on a tire. Ugh, looks like i better replace all 4 tires then... before winter comes too.

curls

DEFINITELY replace them before winter comes. Safety is paramount here -- your tires sound very unsafe for anything other than one rip down the drag strip. Any rain or snow will cause hydroplaning, as the tread is worn to the point where there's not enough "void" area for the water to be evacuated.

You should be able to get a decent set of tires on Tirerack or at a local place for under $500. However, where are you located? Although it seems expensive up-front, getting dedicated winter tires (on separate 16" steel wheels) is the safety way, and, won't cost more in the long run (both sets of tires will last about twice as long calendar-wise).
So for now, you could get away with buying new 16" steel wheels and winter tires, and then this spring, buy new all-season / summer tires for your cars' OEM 17" alloys.

As an example, tirerack.com has a "preferred package" which has 16" steel wheels and Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 tires (excellent!) for $600. Shipping is about $100ish depending where you are. That's mounted, balanced, etc... all-in.

cman219

You're scarin me now lol, feel like i'm driving a death trap. I can't afford 2 sets of tires right now so i'm just gonna have to go with 1 good set. I'm thinking the Hankook Ventus V4 ES H105 tires. They look good.

curls

If you can only afford one set now, where do you live? Do you get a fair amount of snow or icy roads?

cman219

I'm in the nyc area, so it only really snows here like twice a year.

curls

In that case you should be ok with decent all-seasons. Definitely not the General Exclaim UHP's or Falken Ziex 912's... both of those are laughable (actually downright mis-labelled) in the snow.

I'd stray away from the Hankook's you mentioned. Check here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...jsp?type=UHPAS

They are about the worst of that group in snow of any kind.
I'll throw a recommendation out there for the General Altimax HP (here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....del=Altimax+HP then click on Surveys). A great all-season tire with some snow capabilities. It's priced right, has very good buyer satisfaction (8/10 in "would buy again" category). I love my General Exclaim's and have a few friends with the Altimax HP on various cars and they speak highly of them.

cman219

Nice! Thanks man, the Hankook tire seems to be rated pretty poorly. The Altima HP looks good. I'll be lookin through this.

GWEEDOspeedo

I further recommend getting a set of new tires. I'm loving my new Continental DWS's. Some folks say they don't hold well in turns but I've had no sense of that in my fairly-spirited driving.

cman219

Yea thats what i ordered! Continental DWS XL's, great ratings and reviews. I only ordered 2 though because the front tires still have 4/32" of tread left so those will come a little later.

curls

I understand that money is tight, but 4/32" in the winter is asking for trouble...
Although keep those in the front if you're not willing to replace them. If you put them in the rear you greatly increase the tendency to oversteer!

cman219

I might end up ordering another set, we'll see. Btw i installed the Continental DWS's today. They're amazing so far, very quiet and stable. I haven't taken a hard corner yet because i wanna break in the tire for a little bit first.