hondamore

I've finally given up the search for aftermarket 18 inch wheels for my '05 RL and bought a set of the OEM Acura 18's. The question now is what rubber to put on them??? I am currently leaning toward either the Pirelli PZero Nero M+S or the Falken Azenis ST -115. I'll be mounting snow tires on my stock 17's so I don't need all season capability from my 18's. My primary focus is on a smooth, quiet ride, which both of the tires on my short list claim to provide. I would really appreciate any comments on either of these two tires or other suggestions you may have. Thanks!!

Bitium

I know the Pzero Neros and All-season, but I think they outperform many summer tires.

I had 7 different sets of performance tires all 18". My latest tires PZero Nero M+S are by far the best OVERALL exceding in 3 categories smooth and quiet and price. That is no a comparo for tires in same price range, is a comparo of all the tires I have had a chance to ride. You will not regred them.

Mr. MRI

I have the OEM 18's on my 05 RL. Go with the Nero's, you will not be disappointed!! I drive aggressive (sometimes) and I have 11K on this set with out any noticable wear! Good choice in my opinion!

hondamore

Thanks for the feedback!! Performance aside, how are the PZero Nero's for road noise and ride comfort especially in relation to the stock 17's??

1HOT NSX

P Zero Nero's M+S is what I have mounted on my OEM 18" wheels. The quietest, most comfortable riding tire I've ever experienced - much quieter and much more comfortable than the OEM 17" Michelins that came with the car. I highly recommend these, and I'm sure you will love them too!

Bitium

In relation to anything, they exceded in quiet and confort (lexury feeling). Best tires I have owned.

hondamore

Thanks for the help guys! Sounds like we have a winner.

agreen

I havent tried the pirellis but I had a set of falken azenis st 115 on a nissan altima 3.5 and also on a 2000 acura RL. excellent, excellent excellent tire. does everything you want and surprisingly smooth and quiet. :

hendjaz

Hondamore, good choice on the wheels as I think they are much better than the OEM 17's which also seem to be on a lot of Accords too. I have been leaning the same direction and appreciate also the tire information you have generated here. Did you get the wheels from an Acura dealer local to you or elsewhere? Also, are they discounting the wheels at all from about $2K for msrp as I recall? I have seen internet adds for about $1500 but wondered if the dealers are beginning to discount them. Thanks.

hondamore

My local Acura dealer wouldn't budge a nickel on any accessories,including wheels, so I bought the 18's from a California Acura dealer who sells on ebay. I must admit to being out of my comfort zone with this whole ebay thing, but the price was a huge difference over the local price(even taking into account shipping costs), so I decided to give it a try. My wheels are in transit at this time, so I won't comment on the whole experience until I have them on my car. I've also ordered some of the PZero Nero M&S 245/45/18 tires today. I think the Falken Azenis ST-115 are just as quiet and comfortable, but, up here in Canada, the Pirelli's will give me the security of better grip should I get caught in an unexpected snow storm before I've got my snow tires on. For snow tires, I ordered Dunlop WinterSport M3's in the 225/55/17 size to mount on the stock rims. I'm a believer in using a narrower snow tire since wide tires in the snow tend to act like skis and slide around whereas narrower tires bite down through the snow and grip better. I'll post my opinion of the tires once I get them on in a couple of weeks. Thanks again to all who have helped me through my wheel and tire shopping!!!

SoCalCarDude

I purchased my OEM 18" wheels on eBay from an Acura Dealership and the entire process was great.......good price, fast service, and the wheels were in perfect condition!!!

bigboitee

I"m thinking of putting 20 inch lowenhart LD5s on my RL. But I'm not sure what offset would fit. I talked to a sales rep from DAZZ Motorsport and he said i can use 38-45 offset but I need a little more info. Can any help me?

hendjaz

If you don't mind sharing, what price did you pay for the wheels and from which dealer? Hondamore has his in transit, perhaps from the same source so will be interesting to see how his delivery and installation goes too. SoCalCarDude, have you mounted tires and installed on the RL yet? If so, which tires did you choose and how does the ride compare to the OEM 17 configuration, any noticealbe changes yet? Thanks.

hondamore

The dealer I dealt with was Acura of Escondido who sell new OEM parts on e-bay. They were excellent and I saved over 40% on the wheels even when I factor in the shipping costs. They gave me a great deal on the TPMS sensors and mounted them on the wheels for free. I also got the wood shift knob, trunk tray and some other goodies because they were so cheap compared to my local dealer. Overall, I'd give them

DCD

Hend, here's more tire feedback.
http://www.acurarl.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=68036

hondamore

Hendjaz, DCD has some very good feedback on the Toyo T1R's. I only ruled these out because I believe they are a summer tire and I decided that I needed some all-season capability in case of an unexpected snow storm before I have my snow tires on. Your climate may make these a viable choice.

DCD

Indeed...if I were to get a set of performance all-seasons, the Yoko's or the Pilot Sport A/S' would be my only considerations.
I had a chance to fully "test" the T1-R's yesterday on some twisty country roads in SE Ohio yesterday. They were amazing....I swear the RL handles like a car half it's weight. Combined with the right tire...it's a whole different machine. It baffles me why Acura does not offer better tires standard on this car. If so, I am sure all the auto rags would rank it better.
We also own an M3 and I would not be ashamed to say that the RL, with the proper tires, could go to-to-toe with it.

SoCalCarDude

I paid $1395 from the same Escondido Acura dealership. I would highly recommend dealing with them.

As for my tires, I have Nitto 555 Extremes ZR which are an all-season high performance tire that a local shop recommended for a smooth and quiet ride with great handling. In comparison between the OEM tires, it's like night and day! Even though they say that upsizing your wheels will affect the driving quality, I'd recommend that you change your OEMs if you're not happy with what I consider the loud and harsh ride. It's the tires, not the car!!!

hondamore

An update: I got my wheels a week and a half ago and waited patiently for my PZeroNero M&S tires to arrive (they didn't have the 245/45/18 size in stock and had to ship them from the factory). I finally received them on Monday this week and had them installed yesterday morning. I had yet another nightmare experience at my Acura dealer having the tires installed since they chose the complete rookie to do the mounting and balancing. On the drive home yesterday I decided to display the TPMS data and to my surprise, I got to watch 3 of the 4 tires going flat. I got the car home in the nick of time with between 11 and 15 psi of pressure in the 3 tires. Luckily I have a compressor in my garage and quickly pumped them up to minimize the damage to the tires. The dealer sent over a flat bed tow truck to return my car to the dealer and this morning they had the service manager himself remount and rebalance the tires. They said that the rookie had beat up on the TPMS sensors which caused them to leak. Word of advice to all of you getting new tires for your RL's, insist on someone with experience to do the mounting and balancing. This story has a happy ending, however, as the tires are now perfect just in time for my trip to the mountains tomorrow. The ride with the PZeroNero M&S tires is MUCH, MUCH smoother and quieter. Sincere thanks to 1HOTNSX, Bitium and all others who recommended these wonderful tires. They stick like glue and are whisper quiet. I would even go so far as to say that the ride of my RL with the new tires rivals my friends '04 LS430. It absolutely amazes me that Acura would put such crappy OEM tires on the RL when better tires make such a huge difference to the ride and handling. Thanks again to all of the helpful posters on this forum without whom I never would have upgraded my RL to these heavenly tires and hot looking rims.

getmoney1

Great review, Im also considering purchasing the oem 18s to spice up my RL ..all in all if you dont mind how much did everything run you? Did you decide to keep the oem 17 or did you trade in?

Could you give me a link to the exact tire?

Lastly PICS!!!!!!!!!

getmoney1

oops did exactly read the whole thread..Ive got all the info i need.


PICS!

hondamore

The rims I got on ebay from acura of escondido for about $1300 USD (excellent overall experience). The PZeroNero M&S (245/45/18), and the Dunlop wintersport M3 snow tires(225/55/17) I got from 1010tires.com for $280USD and $185 USD respectively(another excellent overall experience). Add another $150 for a set of 4 TPMS sensors and about $110 USD for mounting and balancing (the not so excellent experience discribed above) and I consider that I got one hell of a bargain for some great wheels and great tires.
For pics, DCD's RL is the same colour as mine and he has posted some excellent pics earlier in this thread (that and I am clueless at posting pics).

getmoney1

Yeah i wanted to see yours because you have the mentioned 18inch oem but not a problem..I have an 05 RL myself ..lol i was just curious to see them with your color

DCD

Wheel: Acura 18" RL A-Spec
Tire: Toyo T1R

getmoney1

Thanks DCD

hondamore

Thanks DCD!

pek01

Took the leap...bought the OEM 18" wheels and having the Pirelli PZero Nero M+S's mounted. Should be installed on the car by early next week. Cannot wait to get the wheels and better tires onboard. Finished the underbody spoiler install at my dealer last week and the car looks hot!

hendjaz

How are each of you liking the Pirellis on the 18" wheels? I am leaning in that direction again due to the limited tire selection for the 17" size.

Local outlet of a national tire/wheel store told me that the Bayern Mesh wheel (generally for BMWs) will fit the 05 RL in either 17 or 18s. I had read that the RL bolt pattern is somewhat unusual thus limiting the wheel alternatives. The tire store indicated the bolt pattern is the same now as BMW and would have no problem fitting these or other Bayern wheels to the RL. Anyone hear to the contrary or can confirm this? Thanks.

427

Does anyone have any knowledge/experience with the Avon Tech M550 A/S?
Looking at the specs from Tire Rack (CLICK HERE) , it seemed to be rated even better than the Pirelli ... And it was much less money. In a brief talk with the sales rep @ Tire Rack, he recommended the Avon over the Pirelli ... But did state that the Dry Traction was, in his opinion, slightly less than the customer rating.

hondamore

Hey hendjaz. I only have about 600 miles on my Pirelli's and 18's but so far I love them. Much smoother and quieter than the stock 17's. The handling is wonderful - I haven't come close to finding their limits, although much of the credit should go to the RL's amazing handling and the SH-AWD. A friend (a huge Audi fan who drives an A4 3.0) and I drove to the mountains to compete in a golf tournament last weekend and he was absolutely gushing over the ride in my RL the entire trip. We drove through a rain storm and the PZero Nero M&S tires just ate it up. The car felt securely planted no matter how hard the rain came down. I think that the quiet ride of the Pirelli's had a lot to do with my friend raving about the stereo in the RL to anyone who would listen. Even at 75 or 80 mph, the diminished road noise allowed the RL's amazing sound system to really show off. Poor guy wasn't looking forward to driving his A4 after being spoiled by the RL. As for my stock 17 inch Michelins, I found a local tire shop who would buy them off me so I wouldn't have to worry about storing them. I'll report back on the Dunlop Wintersport M3's once the snow starts to fall.
As for the Bayern Mesh wheels, even if the bolt pattern is correct, make sure of the offset (+55) and caliper clearance. You may find that a good deal on the OEM Acura 18's is the way to go.

petemc

I just ordered the 18" rims off Ebay and have my local tire dealer ordering the Pirellis...thanks to everyone for letting me know about the quality of the ride and noise associated with this setup, your information really helped me make the decision. I was hoping to get aftermarket rims, but I have finally given up because there is such a limited choice.

If anyone up in snow country needs rims for snow tires...send me a private message, else I'll just put them on Ebay.

Cheers

Pete