I just installed 4 new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 225/45 17 on my 2001 CL/S with the stock wheels. The car pulls/drifts to the right. There was no problem of pulling with the new Pirelli P Zero Neros that I brought back because of their following the grooves in the freeway that caused the car to snake down the highway. Now I've had the car aligned, the alignment checked by another shop, and it still pulls right. moved the rear wheels to the front and it still pulls right. Left the wheels in position and moved the tires front to back. No help. Had the front tires pressure balanced to no avail. Swapped the front 2 tires (counter rotation) and the car pulled to the left. The dealer then put a second set of 4 new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S on the car and it stills pulls to the right.
I called Michelin and they agreed to supply the summer Pilot Sports but the dealer says that if that doesn't fix the problem I'm SOL.
Any suggestion on the cause of the pull? Any suggestions on how to deal with the tire dealer? ginzy@yahoo.com

 

Sounds like a problem with one of the tires. I had the same thing happen with my mustang. Find out exactly which tire is the culprit and replace it. But, if they are giving you a set of tires free take them and run.

 

My car pulls slightly to the right, but I'm running stock wheels right now...I also have a 6-speed manual. Dealer says it's kind of a known problem. Had mine re-aligned and balanced, so I just left it alone (very slight). Could be the crown of the road, dunno.

 

i dont know about la but the roads in florida are a little slanted in order to help with runoff of water. maybe that could be teh culprit? how serious is the tug

 

I have Toyo T1S tires and they are directional -- just like the A/S and I have no pulling problems.

However, I found about 3-4 people that had problem with Michelin A/S on their cars.

OTOH, I’m not aware of *any* members on this forum – with the Pilot A/S – that have reported problems regarding pulling (well, I don’t see every post). I wonder if Michelin just put out some "funny" tires *and* you got ‘em.

If you had a set that were running OK, and these don't, look to the tires.

Here is a result of the search on Michelin A/S pulling (one of a few):

"
just bought brand new tires for my '00 Aero and noticed that the car pulls considerably to the right. I took it in to the dealer and they did a 4 wheel alignment, but the car still pulls right. Took it back in and they rechecked the alignment and they checked to balance of the tires and everything is good. They explained to me that it might be the actual tires that are made wrong. Conveniently, this is what I was told last time I got an alignment on my '87 900 and it still pulled left. Any thoughts on what could be wrong, and how I should go about fixing it? Thanks.



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#1591 of 1596 5280saab by erickpl Nov 17, 2003 (11:56 am)
I just did the same thing with my 2002 325xi. I put directional tires on my car (Michelin Pilot Sport A/S) and my car pulls right too.


I was told by several vendors and mechanics that directional tires can do that. So I'm planning on doing a rotation front to rear on my right side to see if that fixes the problem. If not, I'll be trying the same thing on the left. If that doesn't fix it, I'll not be using directional tires anymore. "


If you are sure of the alignment, and the other tires were fine and you are sure you are on dead flat road (no crown), you should think about one last try with a completely different batch of tires from Michelin.

-- just passing on more info --

 

My stock 03 CLS tires pulled badly. I had the car checked for alignment too, but switching the tires changed the pulling. Getting new PilotSport A/S got rid of the pull -- until the second tire rotation, after which the car pulls to the left under acceleration and to the right when coasting! Like a snake going down the road! I believe the car engineering with the torque steer characteristics plus the tire sensitivity causes the problem. There is no easy fix!

03 CLS
17x8 OZ Superleggera 235/45/17 PilotSport A/S

 

It does sound like one of the changes made a difference and that the offending tire is the one currently on the left front since it now pulls in that direction.

I was looking into the P-Zero Nero's. Was the tramlining really that bad? I also live in the LA area. How was the rest of the tire? Handling, noise, ride? How long did you have them on?

Good luck with your issue.

 

Your problem is the car.

1- If the pull follows to the side the tire is moved too then it's the tire.

2- If the pull stays the same after swapping tires, it the car.

 

Scares me when I hear stuff like this... "known problem". I bought one of the first 6speeds in March of 2002. The thing could NOT go in a straight line. Took six months but finally Acura took it back and gave me a new one.