Here's my story:

I purchased my Celestial Silver RL three weeks ago and I'm really enjoying it.

I took it for a short 300 mile round trip and it became clear pretty soon that the standard tires were not going to give us the quiet ride that we expected.

Checking here on the board I have seen that some other RL owners have upgraded their tires to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S for a much better ride. As a result, I've started negotiating with my dealer to upgrade my tires at an agreed upon price.

I think it would be foolish to pay for a tire upgrade without actually driving a car with these tires installed. The dealer doesn't have any cars at all with the new tires.

Are any of the members who have installed the Pilot Sport A/S tires on their RLs located in Northern California? And if that's the case, would one of you be willing to give me a short ride in your car?

In return I promise to become a contributing member on the board to help out other newbies.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

 

welcome to RL forum

Hope you could find someone here or over your dealership to help you out. And, hope we could soon hear from you about the results.

 

I would like to thank the AcuraZine member who offered to give me a test ride in his RL for camparison purposes.

Unfortunately he has upgraded the size of his wheels and his upgraded tires won't fit the standard 17" RL rims.

I'm still trying to find a way to test the Michelin Pilots before I finalize my negotiations with my dealer.

Any ideas you have are welcome.

Does anyone know of a new car (regardless of brand) that has these tires standard? I would test drive two cars of the same make with different tires for my comparison.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

 

Best advice is to go to www.tirerack.com

They have a listing complete with overall ratings (including many user reviews) in a host of categories.

You should get all questions answered there.

 

I had a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS' on my wife's BMW 740il (18" sport wheels). They were a great tire...good grip, wet weather capability, and decent treadlife. What they were not was a pure performance tire...as mentioned, good grip, not great grip. And they are pricey.
I drove a loaner RL while mine was in the shop. It had the 18" A-spec wheels with the Michelin PSAS. It rode so much nicer and quieter than mine with the stockers. I was a bit shocked as I thought the 18's would be more harsh...but the ride was much more compliant and smooth.
I have a set of A-Spec wheels coming and I considered the Pilot Sport AS again, but I am going to go with a set of summer tires...the Toyo T1S. The Toyo is a better "performance tire" and a relative bargin (about $185 a tire compared to the $240+ for the Pilot). If the Toyo was not available, I would not have a problem getting the Michelin's again.

 

Anyone try the Pirelli P Zero M+S

They rank Number 1 on the tirerack survey.

 

You mean the P Zero nero, they are the best tires I had so far. Quiet (very important to me) gives good luxury feeling, very good grip compare to any other all season. Makes you feel secure and they are good in wet and light snow. Love the tires. I had 6 other sets of performance tires on my TL all 225/40 18" not including OEM's 16" and the price is a steal.

 

Yep I meant the P Zero Nero M+S (as its listed on the tirerack site). Thanks for your reply; I too am very interested in quiet, and they are about $30 cheaper than the Pilot Sport A/S.

 

I spoke to a technician at Tire Rack to compare the OE tire to the other alternatives available for the stock wheels. Because the tire size (245/50-17) is unusual, the web site shows only five choices including the OE tire and the Michelin Pilot Sport.

The Pirelli P Zero Nero is not an option in this size.

Also the technician told me to be careful comparing the different tire categories. The standard tire is in the Grand Touring All-Season category while the Pilot Sports are in the Ultra High Performance All-Season category. The technician stated unequivocally that any tire in the Grand Touring category would be quieter than the best tire in the Ultra High Performance category because noise is a very minor concern of the tire manufacturers when developing Ultra High Performance tires.

There is a specific survey of the Grand Touring All-Season category here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey....jsp?type=GTAS

It’s worth a look. Out of the 15 tires in this category, the OE tire ranks 15th. It is also the only tire in this category that is available to fit the standard wheel.

The technician flatly stated that the quietest tires would be the highest rated Bridgestones. However, he also said that it would be at least six months before they would be released, if they were released at all.

That's the latest tire news.

Regards,

Dave

 

Thanks for the info. I'm undecided; but am considering the 18" Upgrade Wheels - hence the reference to the Pirelli (245/45-18).

 

I would argue two things in that statement. "Ultra High Performance All-Season" is a great oxymoron. Any tire that is "All Season" will never be Ultra High Performance. There's a compromise to make a tire all season, and in the case of Michelin PS AS, it is the performance grip. However, the Pilot Sport is a true UHP tire with exceptioonal grip.
Re: Noise. I think that the true High Perfomance tires (including Ultra High Performance All-Season) are more quiet than a touring tire. I've driven on a lot tires, and the least noise came from the Michelin Pilot Sport (and PS AS), Toyo T1S and Bridgestone Pole Position S03. All of those mentioned tires have a very unique tread pattern that allows them to be relatively quiet. Most touring or regular all season's have tread blocks that cross hatch each other (for better snow traction), but the trade off on those tread patterns are higher noise levels.

 

you should have no problem with 245/45 17. They are just slightly wider. You have a few more choices with that tire size including zero nero.

 

I had two sets of Bridgestone SO3's on my previous 2001 Acura CL Type S. They were simply awesome tires and were NOT noisey ! However TireRack morons wouldn't sell me those tires because they were concerned about them blowing up at hi speeds. So I went to my local tire shop, they sold me them at a better price than TireDump (TireRack). They told me if I were to put 3 500 lb. women in the car and drive accross the desert in the middle of August at 120 mph I "might" have a problem. I assured him that 3 500 lb women would not be in my car !~

 

I find that the tires we have on our cars are pretty good overall. Unless you're planning on taking curves at 60mph, our tires should suffice, there this one curvy ramp that basically does a full circle at about 50 and the tires hold well and you can feel that AWD kicking in.

I had the P Zero-Nero's on my '04 TL and loved it. The ride was smooth, had much better grip on the road that the crappy Turanza's they usually come with. If they made those for the RL, I'd get them, since they are just as good as the Pilot Sports and much cheaper. Anyone know if they make the Falken Azenis tires to fir the RL?

 

the oem RL tires are complete crap in the snow. Too many times this past winter I started to lose traction and go into mini fishtails when I shouldnt have sicne all I was doing was driving slow and basically in a straight line...other cars on the same stretch of road had no problems and I am sure some of them had all season tires as well. Without the AWD I bet my RL would have been hurt bad this winter.

On dry pavement I havent had any issues with the OEMs (aside from them being somewhat noisy and obviously not gripping the best) nor have I had problems with them in the rain...but on simple light snow...oh my.

 

Just buy 245/45 17 Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S.....the size is almost identical to 245/50 17 just a very little wider and smaller sidewall.

 

Norcal....FWIW, I just got a set of 245/45/18 Toyo T1R...the replacement for the T1S. They were had for $185 a tire. Excellent turn in, smoothness, low noise and very nice design. Over the stock Michelin, they are night and day. I am not looking forward to winter and putting the stockers back on. I'm anxious to put them to the test to see if they exceed the performance of the S. Apparently, the R addresses the previous weakness of the S...the soft sidewall.

 

DCD,

Thanks for the information. I'm very interested to read about your reactions to these tires after a few hundred miles.

I don't drive in the snow or ice, so my concerns are abou the dry and wet driving characteristics of the tires.

I'm holding off until I have more alternatives and have a chance to drive an RL with the tires installed.

Regards,

Dave

 

Dave,
Will do. So far, the T1R's meet my noise and smoothness requirement. Still stacking up a few more miles before I lay it into a tight corner (to check grip level).

 

Dave,
We have about 500 miles on the T1R and they seem to be great. Handling is very much on par or better than the T1S and grip seems to be on the level of the Pilot Sport and Bridgestone S-03. I highly recomend this tire.
Here's a few pics...

 

Thanks to everyone who has had an experience with their upgraded tires to share.

The AcuraZine members comments convinced me to take the plunge and have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tire installed.

Wow!

That's not very specific, but it describes my reaction after driving my regular commute with the new tires.

They are quieter on every surface and significantly quieter on the roughest ones.

I know that some RL owners are satisfied with the stock tires. If you are one of them, and want an extra set of like-new tires for $300, please visit my post in the Private Sales and Trades section of this site here for :

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-parts-sale-361/sold-fs-like-new-tires-2005-rl-309274/

Regards,

Dave