TheGoodGuy

Just thought i'd give a heads up. The stock TSX tires are NOT capable of good wet handling. It say its so-so in dry (in my book) but its at least good in dry.

I did some long distance driving in the heavy Nor. Cal rain (i am up north right now for the weekend). Several times I lost traction on wet roads (not raining).

On one particular stretch of road (Howe Ave in Sacramento CA between 50 and Fairoaks, the speed limit is 45, trust me in my old car (ford focus) i could do that turn in 3rd gear at 55 mph and NOT loose traction..

I was doing 45, i slowed down before I turned in (going 40mph approx) and i could feel the front breaking loose.. and then it completely did. I held it and the VSA kicked in by braking but that is not the solution. The roads were wet/damp.

Another time it happened going from I-80W to 580S near Emeryville, car slid to the right, once again wet roads.

Its even worse when its raining.

Needless to say the stock TSX tires are NOT up to par. Please be careful. and no i did not crash. I have not been speeding. I have over 300,000 miles of driving experience and I have done some racing in my past. I'll post a more thorough review of the tires when I get back to Los Angeles.

Mwing

agree, i made a left turn from idle 2k rpm both front tires lost traction.

TheGoodGuy

Actually I've noticed it tends to lose traction more when turning left than right.

Not sure why.. but it could be that the weight of the driver on that side makes it slide, i have to see with a passenger changes things.

nj2pa2nc

It seems most people think the OEM tires are crap. I am one of the very few (maybe even the only one) that think they are excellent. Have been on two cross-county road trips (NC to Yellowstone and back and then NC to San Diego and back). Drove on all kinds of roads in all kinds of weather-no problems. Will be doing another road-trip in May- NC to WA south to San Francisco and the east home. I also travel from NC to NJ and back every few weeks.

JD23

What is the OEM tire on the 2G? The OEM tire for my car is the Michelin Energy MXV4, which was also used on the 2G TL. Frankly, this tire is terrible; it has a tendency to hydroplane when driving above 50 on a wet road and has poor snow traction. It is acceptable for dry roads, but has poor all-weather capabilities.

LukeaTron

1G and 2G share the same crappy OEM tire. I can't wait to get my snows off so I can have some real fun again.

09TSXTech

The OEM tires for my 09 are Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 225/50/17. I have no problem with it in wet or dry weather. During the heavier snow back in Dec and Jan, I noticed VSA kicked in constantly, but that is what I expected for all season tires, never did get stuck in snow but I do drive a 6MT model.

Tigmd99

Is there a better ALL-SEASON tire?? I am not interested in performance tires due to short lifespan and road noise. This car is for my wife.

Colin

I think that the stock Focus tires are probably no better (traction wise), but they are certainly not as wide. In standing water, a wider tire has more difficulty evacuating water and is more prone to hydroplaning than a skinny tire.

JD23

I'm looking at the Michelin Primacy to replace my OEM tires. Supposedly it has excellent performance characteristics as well as very good traction in light snow.

Tigmd99

I don't think that this comes in stock size. I want to stay stock size because the spare tire has the diameter of a stock tire. If i went with a different size, then a flat tire could be a big problem because of tire size differential (mainly diameter differences).

mg7726

first thing i did was ditch the oems for the summer/winter combo. those oems are not good for 'spirited' driving. after coming back from the slopes for the final time, i too can't wait for spring weather to put back my summers.

JD23

I just checked, and you are correct that the Primacy is not available in the size of the OEM tires for the 2G TSX. The Bridgestone Turanza Serenity is rated quite a bit better than the OEM Michelin Pilot and is available in the correct size.

Eoanou

I would go for the Yokohoma Avid WS4 or HS4, they are good tires, and more importantly very affordable.

You could also go a bit cheaper and get the Kuhmo Excsta ASX, they're pretty good too.

If money is not an issue then the Bridgestone Potenza RE960 A/S or the Goodyear Eagle F1s would be the top choices.

Tigmd99

For me, i always go with a big tire company. Yokohama is cool, but i don't want anything too sporty...i want a quiet ride. Kumho is off the list due to it being a small company.

LukeaTron

Kumho isn't exactly a small company.

Tigmd99

Yeah, but it ain't a big company either....

CybrRdr

It's has rained quite frequently over the past month and my OEM tires are doing just fine on the wet roads. Some roads are very wet to flooded due to the sewers not being able to keep up with all the rain.

Since we will never see snow here in SoCal, I think when it's time, I'm gonna replace my OEM with summer performance tires.

HeavyDuty

My stocks are fine for what I use it for & I drive through some hellacious panhandle downpours during my once-a-month kid-swap sessions.

When I need replacements, I'll look to Michelin again, too many good reasons not to IMHO.

nj2pa2nc

Glad to see you joined the minority likers of the OEM tires. I am very happy with them after 70,000+ miles on them.

Robster65

GoodGuy - do you have the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 225/50/17s? I haven't had any problems on wet roads.

Colin

Hmmmm? Since I have never sucked donkey balls, I cannot say if they are good or not. Maybe the OP likes sucking donkey balls and this whole thread was intended as a compliment to the tires?

Seriously, selecting a tire is a difficult choice for the manufacturer. They need to balance life expectancy, with grip and manage noise and ride quality. The most important factor on tires is reliability and here Michelin shines. Afterall, if they had put a grippy tire on the TSX, you know someone would sue them cause the tire didn't last long enough. (remember the NSX?)

Tigmd99

Well, given our treadwear is only 300, i expect to get around 20-25,000 miles out of the stock tires.

Colin

As I recall, the treadwear ratings are only for comparison between a manufacturer's tires and not good for comparing between brands.

Tigmd99

That maybe true, but the rating can be used to give a "loose" estimate of tire life. My Sienna's OEM Bridgetones lasted 20k miles and it had a rating of 250. My brother's Sienna Bridgestones lasted 15k miles. Even though the TSX Michelin is a different company, i highly doubt that it will last 80k miles. I would bet that it will last 20-25k miles for the average consumer.

Colin

Definately not saying 80k, but 30-40 sounds about right. Heck, I used to run through rear tires on the S2000 every 10K miles so all this sounds good to me!

JD23

The OEM Michelins on my car have a treadwear rating of 440. I'm currently at 30k miles and will need to replace the tires in a few months, so expect something less than 30k miles on the OEM tires for the TSX.

Baapo

I ditched my OEM's within the first month for Kumho Ecsta LX Platinums...excellent traction in heavy rain, sleet/ice, moderate snow...unless you're living up North where you require snow tires, these are a terrific choice...

hans007

i have an 05 1g tsx and yes the oem tires are horrible.

I think honda/acura puts them on every car they make as the mdx, accord, tl etc all come with it too.

I think the only car that doesnt have it is the civic SI if you pay extra for the sport tires.


Anyhow luckily mine were shredded on a bridge after 18k miles. Replaced with yokohama v4s and its like getting a brand new car. completely different driving, no insane squealing on curved on ramps, having actual grip from a stop, and much much better wet performance.

nj2pa2nc

I still have the original OEM tires on my 06 tsx. I get them rotated and balanced every 6,000 miles. I also check the tire pressure regularly. I had the tire tread measured a few weeks ago. All tires were 4/32. I now have almost 71,000 miles on those tires.

TheGoodGuy

Yup.. thats the tires. Sorry I was a bit busy with work and forgot to write back.

Trip

FWIW . . . These Crapelins stink just as much on my Accord 6-6. I've never liked Michelin. At first they were OK but that was mostly because the car's suspension is nicely done. After 5,000 miles, performance degraded *quickly*. At 20,000, they're worse than ever, slipping on dry roads now, and they are LOUD.

I shold ditch them but don't want to spend the $$$. I'm thinking of trading in anyway (possibly on a TSX) . . . which will come with new tires.

visuelz

I got 39,000 miles out of mine before I felt like getting tires. And my tires were still in very good conditions. Maybe you guys don't get alignments very often?

ck123

i have never skidded with these tires, but when i make moderately fast turns, it squeals.

these tires just suck entirely except in thread life, theyre kickass

tsxcisa

Anyone thinking of going with all seasons, and non-OEM might consider either the either the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus or Bridgestone Turanza Serenity. Tests of both (versus comments) can be found on the tirerack.com.

super4

i think these are really good oem tires, ive had many on my cars over the years and these are defenatly best oem tires ive had. solid sidewall, not noisey, ye they have poor forward traction, but very nice and neutral latteral grip/slide ability to let go. the only betetr all seasons ive had were bridgestone turanza LSV, those were awesome, at$166 for a 17in tire.

nj2pa2nc

Never needed to get an alignment-(no potholes or curb crashing) but I do get the tires rotated and balanced every 6,000 miles. I also check the tire pressure regularly.

miner

I have these tires on my '08 TSX and my '06 RL. Just replaced the '06 RLs with same tire - had 55000 miles on the original and 3/32 tread left. The RL has an odd size (245/50/R17) so did not have many choices. I, too, have been a happy user of these tires.

CL6

Funny I noticed the same thing with my 03 CL tires... they SUCKED in the rain. Of course the Bay Area gets tons of rain. I switched to Continental Extreme Contact and have been very happy in the dry and rain. My car's handling improved a lot. You'll probably be in the same boat.

HeavyDuty

My 07 Si had the HPT or summer tires, etc. and they were Michelin Pilot Exalto's, IIRC