thsiao

As we all know, the stock Michelins on our TLs (mine is a 2003, dunno if Michelin for other years) suck. What I don't quite understand is why are they so damn expensive if they suck so much? I was reading a car magazine and I checked the prices of other good brands such as Nitto, BFGoodrich, Pirelli, etc. and they all seem to be way much cheaper than our tires (almost by $100 or more in some cases). I recently bought another Michelin to match the other 3 stock ones coz it has a nail puncture and it was nasty, it cost me around $200 with installation. I just don't understand why Michelin is so much more expensive than the other brands. In addition, my gf's TT also uses Michelin but her tires are way much better than ours, less noisy and squeaky at turns... anyone can explain? I am not a tire expert so I don't know much. Also, which brand and size would you recommend? Which would give me the best handling and road grip? Is Nitto any good?

Tom Blasing

This going to open up a can of Pandora's Worms but here goes. Why are they so much more expensive? I have no real clue. But, maybe they put a lot of money into them (R&D, Production, advertising etc.) and discovered themselves that they're just shy of junk. In order to re-coup the lost expenses they sell them to a car manufacturer for cheap and see what they can get out of what stock is left; selling them to people like TireRack.com and DiscountTire.com hoping they'll get some more suckers there to buy them.

DavidZC

I don't care for the Michelins much either, but it is my understanding that they are among some of the better tires as far as balancing out almost perfectly without the addition of lots of weights. I just picked up my 02 TL-S and the dealer put brand new Yoks on it. They told me that Acura is actually switching to Bridgestone tires now for OEM. Don't know how truthful that is. I can't remember which model Yoks they put on, but I've never had any problems with Yokohomas. I've used them on my CRX and I've used Bridgestone's on my Jeep so I'm happy with both those brands overall.

The Acclude

Quiet sucky passenger tires almost always cost more than noisy performance based tires. You think they wouldve left the shit tires for the tlp and not just changed the profile for the Type-S. Pilot sports would've been nice :o

`ill*tl

Its not that Michellin tires suck..it's just the model we have on our cars that suck. And I agree with Acclude, the Michellin Pilot Sports are good tires.

SC TL

My theory is that tire manufacturers make razor thin margins on average tires in order to be the OEM supplier for auto manufacturers. Their payoff is massive, predictable bulk sales, and the ability to rip off 90% of the owners who think that they have to replace their RE92s, MXVs, Turanzas, etc. with the same turds RE92s, MXVs, Turanzas, etc. that they came with.

thsiao

How come nobody is addressing my questions? ... is Nitto a good brand? What's the best brand? Etc...

`ill*tl

Toyo Proxes T1-S

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Falken Azenis

Toyo Proxes T1-S like ill*tl said

Yokohama AVS ES100 (although really soft and will wear out quick if you drive aggressively)


Our OEM tires are expensive because suckers will replace their tires with OEM and will pay the premium price.

ferrari527

michelin pilot ps2

DavidZC

My experiences with Nittos in the past have not been good. I had tried several different kinds of tires on my race car for street application. I started with Nittos, then Kumhos and finally ended up with Yokohoma Parada Spec2s. They have been by the far the best for the money. When it comes to race tires I've stuck with Kumho Victoracers. Nitto drag radials are supposed to be good, but I think I would have to recommend staying away from the street tires.

goldendragon576

I think Nitto is a decent tire, not great but not bad either. Best brand? Surprise!....Michelin, oh and Good Year leads the pack. On this site, Continential xtreme contacts and Sumi HTR+ are the best and most popular all season tires.

SC TL

WTF? 95% of your rant was about why are our OEM tires so crappy, and that's what people were addressing. If you want tire recommendations, you have to give more info, most importantly, how much you are willing to spend, summer or all season, tire size, rim size, whether you want to sacrifice longevity for handling, or vice versa.

legendcoupe

The reason OEM tires "suck" is they are designed to be a multi purpose tire. They are selected to provide the best all around performance (handeling, wear, ride quality, and fuel economy numbers). If the manufacturing company didnt have to worry about pleasing the government (CAFE), and the targeted audience (not many people would opt for a high end, low milage tire that was very expensive to replace evey 15k.

Chuck

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Model=Avid+V4S
I don't know if anyone here has tried these yet, but they are supposed to be really good tires. 215r50/17 is $101.00 each. Treadwear rating is 500, which is really good. I have Falkin 512s on my car and like them just fine. This AVID-S is re-designed for 2004 and not the same as the old AVID which is still available.
Anyone have any thoughts on these tires?

ferrari527

"The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 Max Performance Summer tire was initially developed for use as Original Equipment on some of the world's most prestigious sports cars and sports sedans by combining world-class wet and dry handling with confident and predictable cornering. Some of the first fitments include the BMW Alpina Z8, Chrysler Crossfire, McLaren SLR and Porsche GT2 & GT3 models. "

Im telling you, these are THE tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ilot+Sport+PS2

Turboara

Michelin is among the best, if not the best tire manufacturer. A friend of mine supplies them steel, and told me their factories are top-notch, super clean, and they are very protective the R&D which goes on in there. The materials & research that goes into michelin is about as good as it gets. Like many people above said, our michelins suck to us b/c we want a more "performance" tire, yet the tire we have is not a performance tire really, its an all purpose all season sedan tire, which is just fine for most ordinary sedan drivers, but a compromise. Like Ferrari said, the Pilot Sport PS2 is an incredible performance tire, but I don't think Acura would put that sort of tire on a stock sedan due to all season, noise, cost, wear, ride, etc.

hemants

Michelin spends all their money on advertising and wooing auto companies to make their tires OEM.

They pass on these costs to the buyer.

They suck (other than pilot sports and their winter tires)

Turboara

I think thats a more accurate statement about goodyear:p

DavidZC

I think these are what I got recently. I'll have to check. They are Yoks, but I'm unsure as to the model. The treadwear is kinda high from what I'm used to seeing, but I'll let you all know how they are.

DavidZC

I do have the Avid V4s. I'll post when I have some miles on them to let everyone know how they are.

Edward'TLS

I'm 100% with you. The stock MXM4's are all-season touring tires, not summer performance tires. They offer a very quiet and comfortable ride, and will satisfy a large percentage of (especially older age) TL buyers.

Michelin's are expensive because they are of exceptional good quality. The tire shop owner, where I bought my tires, explained that Michelin tires all spinned very smooth on the high-speed balancing machine (meaning that very little counter-weights were needed) compared to most makes.

thsiao

Should I safely conclude that next times I get new tires I should go for the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 if I am looking for the best of the best in all areas? Thank to everyone for their inputs!

SC TL

There is no tire that is the "best of the best in all areas". If you want the stickiest, you will sacrifice wear, all weather performance, and comfort, noise, tramlining. If you want comfort, you will sacrifice handling. If you want longevity, you will sacrifice handling. If you want the best of any category, you will sacrifice in price. You should figure out your needs (price, stickiness, all weather or strictly summer, wear, size) rather than blindly asking what is the best tire on the market. The best tire for a Porsche is probably not the best tire for you driving your TL.

Mike Snyder

Hey DavidZC. Are these tires quiet? I need new tires, these may be the ones. How is high speed cornering..or haven't you broke them in yet? Thanks!

DavidZC

I've had the car (and tires) for two days so I've yet to even get started. I'll let you guys know when I've got some miles on them. So far so good as far as noise, but that can change with miles.

Vicman17

One reason why Michelins are so darned expensive is because most people who have them as OEM tires tend to buy the same tire brand thinking that they need to. Some tire manufacturers (and yes, Michelin too) make an odd-ball tire size that forces the typical consumer to go back to the same brand as factory OEM. Not very many people dare to try different sizes (width, aspect ratio, speed rating, etc..) apart from the OEM specified.

A surprise to many is that they find either a quieter ride, better handling , better treadwear or all of them once they switched to another brand.

As for the exceptionally good quality (?), I would strongly disagree. If you did a search on this forum about the stock Michelin MXMs, you'll find that they are quite inferior (and costs more) than what most tire members have switched to. I have experience a tire bubble that was replaced after some wrangling with Michelin and Honda. Situations like these forces one to buy just one newer Michelin as there are still 3 "good" ones. Michelin dealers will say "pothole" without hesitation once you get a bubble to avoid sending the tire in for warranty. It say a lot of how this company would back up this product they know is defective.

The higher end Michelin Pilots are indeed good tires, that fact alone is what classifies the stock TL-S MXM4 as a lower end model. Perhaps Honda had a better deal with the lower end ones in quantity and kept it that way. (My Acura 1.7 EL has Firestone FRS690s, probably the worst tire ever).

See how this tire performs in the snow and rain and see if you still have the same opinion.