JML

I believe that Acura/Honda had always delivered their cars with Michelin brand tires. My ‘89 Honda Accord came with Michelins & I always stayed with Michelins except once I tried Goodyear and it had a significant ride, traction & handling difference- I did not like them- I went back to Michelins MXV4. The car handles and drives great with Michelin MXV4. Now my question is that Acura/Honda seems to be delivering their cars with Bridgestone’s-- and I really do not know how good they are compared to Michelin brand. Does anyone know? Additionally, I ordered a 2004 Acura TL and I think they are coming with Bridgestone’s- I hope am not unhappy with Bridgestone’s- It would really be weird to buy a car for $35K and then take the car to a tire place to replace with Michelins for $600 and look at the Bridgestone’s take up room in my garage... Didn’t the Bridgestone’s have the “blow-out problem” on the Ford SUV’s back in the late 90’s? Why did Acura/Honda change? Worried about Bridgestone’s…

Raheel

Dont worry man, These are the same type of bridgestones that are on some ferrari's..

They are made for performance, at least the HPT Package ones are.. They sacrifice ride for performance.. Your Michelins might have been more Quieter and More soft but these are for pure performance and quick cornering.

But that is if you get the HPT Package, there is a big disclaimer and the dealership will warn you about the tires before selling you a TL with HPT Package..

Anyways I am pretty sure the normal TL will come with tires that are good and you should be happy.

Edward'TLS

What model of Bridgestone tires are they ? The lower Bridgestone models are junks, but the top models are very good. Same with Michelin and other tire manufacturers.

AcuraAddict

Base - Turanza
HPT - Potenza

dbehrens

That would be "Firestone" :wow: that had the Ford Explorer blow out problem.

Goodyear Integreties come standard on the base MDX that I have. The MDX Touring comes with Michelins and many people have testified to the superiority of the Michelins.

Hope that helps.

sparky57

Worry not my friend. My wife's S2000 has very sticky (if not short-lived) S02s and my TL presently has Potenza RE-950s. The stock Michelins may be quiet, but performance oriented they are not. Take a look at what is found on the highest performance Honda found anywhere:



rw

2003 tl-s

Actually, quite a number of Hondas in the past (Civics and Odysseys come to mind) came with Firestones, but it is true that Honda/Acura has mostly stuck with Michelins. Which to me is a joke. If you do a search, there are numerous threads about people dumping their 2nd gen stock Michelin tires and replacing them with ANYTHING else and improving performance. The stock michelins suck! They have absolutely no traction - I can spin my tires at a launch - at that is a bad thing when you don't want to. I know that I will replace mine once they begin to wear out.

lonny

The high-end Bridgestones are excellent. My GS 400 had Potenzas and there was a sticker on the car that said I may get less than 15,000 miles of use. Well, they lasted 25,000 miles and, stupid me, I replaced them with equivilent Michelins and that was a big mistake. The car never handled the same again, I do NOT like the Michelins on my TL either. They are very safe and will last a long time, but performance, they are NOT.

Edward'TLS

People, please do not mistake. The OEM tires on the TL and TL-S are MVX4 and MXM4. Both are very good four-season touring tires. They excel in give a quiet and comfortable ride, and they are doing their jobs well. So don't expect to run them like performance tires.

amdmaxx

Bridgestone's S03 should go there after the stock tires wear out...

oracion

That maybe true if the tires are of good quality. Having the side-wall really makes the stock tires suck! $200 a piece is just too expensive to replace. I'm definitely sticking with the HTR+.

2003 tl-s

The stock Michelins are a joke at $200+ each. You can pick up a very good set of better performing tires (remember the Type S is supposed to be a performance car) for a little more than $100 each.

Airdog

OK - so without doing a "search", what do you recommend for a little over $100 as a replacement tire for an 02 TLS? Will it be all season or stricly performance?

gagetrol

The Continental Extreme Contact have had great reviews. The Michellins at $200 is just ridiculous. All reviews of the stock Michellins rate the tires as poor.