I am getting my summer A-Spec Rims some new Rubber!
this time I am going to put 255/45/18. just alittle wider then before at 245/45/18. any suggestions ? what are the best tires?

 

The BEST is subjective.
I run Strict summer tires, which to me are the best! because of grip.
they are not the best in wear, noise, or water evacuation.

so, what does the term "Best" mean to you?

I ran Nitto Nt05's as a daily driver.
I am currently running Dunlop Direzza Star Spec Z1's and will move to the Hankook RS-3's once the direzza's are done.
All three of these are STRICT SUMMERS. I live in Texas, where I can run a strict summer all year long.
I dont care how long the tire last, I dont care how noisy the tire gets, and I really dont care about water evacuation.
I care about the best grip available..

Also, with these strict summer tires, they take a bit to get warmed up. which means, you will not have instant traction as soon as you strt driving. a few cylcesaround the block will get them warm and in operating conditions

 

so, what does the BEST mean to you?

 

I love these convos.

 

Best summer tire...Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Period. End of story. Star Specs, RS3's, NT05/01's, AD08's, RE-11's...those are all great if you're going to TRACK your car, can get and keep good heat into them, don't care about how quickly they wear, how shitty they ride or how loud they are. If you want something that is amazing on the street, quiet, relatively smooth riding and has decent wear, the Michelin Pilot Super Sport is the way to go. I actually just mounted a set of them on some new wheels for my wife's TL today.

 

Also, on going a 255/45R18, you're doing nothing more than limiting your options and availability for tires. The difference in size is negligible, especially when you consider you're going to have half as many tires to choose from.

 

psh, my street tires are street tires. and they are the best, better than the Pilot Super sports.

how much do they Pilot SS cost? waay more than the RS-3's, NT05's, and Direzza's

 

It wasn't a question of how much do they cost. How much does an Acura cost? Way more than a Hyundai Accent.

I'm not going to have a tire argument with somebody from a special place on the forums where Falken FK452's reign supreme.

 

I think he forgot the red text.

 

it was an attempt at a joke. arguing which tire is "the best" is asinine, as people have different wants/needs/budgets, as I clearly demonstrated with my example.

 

FWIW - I run dedicated Summer only tires during the Summer months and 2nd BDogg's vote for the Michelin Pilot SuperSports. I run 255/40/18 on my A-Specs and couldn't be happier with them.

 

thanks guys! the pilot sports were the ones I was looking at on Tirerack.com.

that's what I will get.

 

You will love them. I just bolted my wife's wheels and tires on the TL and took it for a drive. They are insanely quiet and smooth riding for the amount of grip they have. They put my Continental Extreme Contact DW's, (not to be confused with the DWS), to shame. Just have to make it through one more summer on my DW's before the RL gets the Pilot Super Sports. The funny thing is my wife will never use the tires to even 50% of their potential but I put them on because if she needs to make an evasive maneuver I want her to have all the traction she can get. They're also the best wet traction tire out there so she'll be safe if it's raining.

 

Just a quick note to say that the PS3's (Pilot Super Sports here in America) are indeed very, very good tires on the RL. Fantastic dry and rain tires.

 

The Pilot SS is the benchmark tire, but I refuse purchase a Michelin product after attending the 2005 USGP F1 race where the 14 cars with Michelin tires parked their cars after one lap.

 

...so how did that work out for you, as i don't see that michelin makes 245 or 255 45 18's in pilot sports (except for the a/s 3's, which are all seasons not summers) ???

 

i would take a look at these, which have both the sizes you want. look at the reviews, ratings & test video on tire rack ... rated right up there with pilot sports & above many others. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

 

Must not have looked very hard.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....SSXL&tab=Sizes
The BFG Comp-2 is also made by Michelin and is not even close to the Pilot Super Sport. Not to mention they are loud as shit.

 

... whoa you got me there buddy !!! sorry i overlooked the 245's, but they DO NOT have the 255/45'S he wanted. and sure awesome tire for $220 each - they damn well better be ... & i've had them in the past on my 96 rl & 91' legend. great tires - but heres MY opinion - the comp 2's perform just as well straight up for about $85 less per tire. currently on my 2nd gen tl & the 2000 odyssey. i will admit that i cannot comment on eithers performance on a 3rd gen rl as i do not own one (2 friends do i love the car so yes i browse the 3rd gen rl forum as i am looking into getting one pretty soon here) ... loud as shit? wow you must have superman hearing cause i dont hear em. anyway, IMO excellent top performing tire smooth ride awesome traction very low noise.

 

You can throw your opinion around all you want but the fact of the matter is that the BFG Sport Comp 2 isn't in the same league as the Michelin Pilot Super Sport. They are so far off that you rarely even find them tested against each other. The BFG is regularly tested against mid-level summer tires like the Hankook Evo, Bridgestone RE760 and Yokohama S-Drive. The Michelin is in the cream of the crop class of tires along with the Bridgestone S-04, Pirelli P-Zero and Continental DW.

The only tire test that I could even find that compared the two was conducted by Consumer Reports. The Michelin tied with the Pirelli P-Zero for 1st place while the BFG Sport Comp 2 resides in 13th, just above the GT Radial Champiro UHP1. The Michelin scored higher than the BFG in every single test result other than dry braking and rolling resistance where they tied. This includes the NOISE category where the BFG was rated "Poor" and the Michelin was rated "Very Good." The Pilot Super Sport also comes with a 30k mile warranty along with pro-rated road hazard coverage backed by Michelin. The Sport Comp 2 has neither a mileage or road hazard warranty.

Speaking of noise, like I said before, the Sport Comp 2 received the lowest possible score for road noise. Since you yourself suggested looking through TireRack's reviews and tests, maybe you should take your own advice there. In TireRack's test results of the BFG they listed a reduction in tread noise as something they would improve on. Furthermore, you can find multiple user reviews on TireRack where owners complained about the noise.

 

like a previous poster states "the best is subjective' ... im simply giving him a nice alternative that is a fine tire for $320 less for a set of 4 than pilot sports. he says he wants some SUMMER TIRES & these are just fine with a dry traction rating of 8.2, 1st place ranking in latest test vs. 3 other camparable tires, & what they'd improve is a "small" reduction in tread noise. also stated by tireracks test - "A very capable Ultra High Performance Summer tire that delivers excellent traction" & "impressive traction, especially in the wet" ... and you have stated it perfectly --- pilot sports are in the CREAM OF THE CROP and ... YOU PAY FOR IT!!! ... personally ill save the $320 & have an excellent tire that, from experience, performs maybe not "as well" as ps's but does perform excellent & not far from ps's. i mean he asked for some suggestions ... you gave yours & seem to get irritated at anyone else giving theirs that isnt suggesting ps's. PILOT SPORTS YAAAAAAYYYYYY .... but sorry to burst your pilot sport loving bubble, but there are many other tires that will & do perform just fine for a lot less money ... & maybe, just maybe, OP might wanna save a few bucks & he has MANY options to do so over pilots while still maintaining a high performing SUMMER tire.

 

skwidstyle2, you seemed to have missed this part:

Best. The BFG Sport Comp 2 is nowhere near the BEST. It is actually about mid-pack overall. You are also backtracking on what you previously said and the reason why I got on you about it, "the comp 2's perform just as well straight up." They DO NOT perform just as well "straight up." That's silliness and completely misinforming. You can say "best" is subjective all you want...until statistical data proves you wrong. You provided an opinion, a misinformed opinion. I provided a professional recommendation. There's a big difference between the two.

Yes, there are other options that will perform well for less money. Are they the best? No. Do they win every single tire shootout they've ever been featured in? No. Do they come as original equipment tires for more high performance cars than any other tire out there? No. Remember this question from the original post:

I bet you didn't realize before I said something that BF Goodrich is made by Michelin. If you had, you'd realize just how illogical it would be for Michelin to produce a tire that performs "just as well straight up" for a such a lower price than their flagship ultra high performance tire. If somebody is looking to save money, may as well get these pieces of junk:

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...5&rd=18&cs=255

They are a hell of a lot closer in performance to the BFG Sport Comp 2's than the BFG's are to the Michelin's at a substantially lower price than the BFG's. But this is the Acura RL forum. A forum for people that own the cream of the crop offering from Honda/Acura. A place where people are willing to spend a little bit more money to get something that is the "BEST," as opposed to something that performs "well."

 

while on the subject of tires, i have a question. if i wanted to switch from 17" wheels to the 18" will i need anything other than the larger wheels and tire? how much larger can i go without having to change anything else other than wheel and tire?

on 08 RL base with 17" factory wheels

 

Nope. Straight swap, ready to roll.

Okay, depending on the age of your TPMS units, you might swap in new cores, but the new wheels will fit immediately, no mods required.