frqwntbyr

Posted this elsewhere, but in the Hunter post. Thought I'd make sure to get credit for being nuts enough to "just do it." That, and post count is critical (I hear we get a boat load of Green stamps if we hit 500?

For the truely lazy at heart: nearest Pilot A/S sports in stock and ready. Turned out to be NTB. $210 each less $80 each to rid myslef of the Crapanza's. W/all the bells and whilstles, out for under $600. An insurance policy for the remaining DC winter and spring rains to come. A bit more noise, but a much improved ride...and no thump, thump, thump. "Noise" is worth knowing I won't go hydroplaining off into my next life. Want my bucks back from the bean counters, having been blown off by local service department. Guy at NTB asked why I was dumping the EL 42s. I didn't know where to start.

legendguy

What happens to the traded tires? This is the second or third post where someone mentions that they traded their tires in for some improved tires and get money back. Do the EL 42 trade-ins then get sold as "slightly used"? Is there a market for tire stores to keep in stock tires that are traded in? I know I would think twice before buying someone's trade-ins. Just curious.

frqwntbyr

Always wondered myself. It's not like you see these stores advertising slightly used tires. Frankly, they are still making a killing even at the $130/tire differential. As for the EL 42s, they'd seem more a liablity than an asset...unless you were into toxic carbon bonfires.

frqwntbyr

Forgot to mention. My would be service manager who didn't return my call will be out the profit from the service of new TL and new MDX for as long as I own the autos. Don't quite know what that comes to, but expect it is substantially more than the bucks I just dropped on the new rubber.

ndabunka

The NTB (and others like them) simply put them on the floor and mark them for sale with a low price. When I was @ the NTB next to the Charlotte Acura dealership they had four different sets on the for. Most were pretty much low-end stuff but they did have some Yoko AVS's (245/265) that would not fit these cars for $400 for the set. They "looked" new but the saleman said that they were "pull off's" shortly after delivery (under 100 miles). They even offered road hazard if you wanted it.

lflorack

I'm trading my BS tires in for Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's too. The place I've arranged this with, does sell the trade-ins as "new car take-offs". Of course they are cheaper than new but not a lot since the tires regularily have only hundreds of miles on them (or even less). Of course, the tire place gets to mount them too. So it's not at a loss by any means.

legendguy

Just for information I went to tirerack.com and looked at the customer satisfaction survey between the two tires (Michelin Pilot Sort A/S vs Bridgestone Turanza EL) and this is what I found:

Size:235/45WR17


First number in each line is for Michelin Pilot A/S, second is for Bridgeston Turanza EL

PRICE $199 $165
ROAD HAZARD PROGRAM
(price with four tires) $95.52 $79.20

HANDLING RATING 8.70 5.70
DRY TRACTION 9 6.3
WET TRACTION 8.9 5.1
SNOW TRACTION 7.5 3.5
RIDE COMFORT 8.3 5.4
NOISE COMFORT 8 5.1
WEAR 8 5


TREADWEAR RATING 400 260
TRACTION RATING AA A
TEMPERATURE RATING A A

Admittedly the Michelins are $34 more each but the rating is so much better it is hard to conceive why Acura wouldn't put on the better tires and just charge us a little more.

Hybrid

Is everyone convinced that these Tire Rack "customer satisfaction" ratings are meaningful across all the categories? Hasn't anyone else noticed that the top tires seem to get ratings that are better in ALL categories than the lower tires? Even with the Bridgestones, on this forum some owners are saying they are quieter than the Michelins, yet the Tire Rack ratings show a large difference, with the Michelins being quiter.

Tires are a compromise. Even the best tires are going to have areas where they aren't as good as other tires. With the Tire Rack ratings, I think there is an effect where an owner is happy with the tire, based on the attributes most important to them, , then gives it good marks across the board. And if an owner is unhappy, due to the tire cornering less well or something, he punishes it across the board. The ratings are worth looking at, but I don't think they mean anything objectively. Individual owners don't have the luxury of comparing dozens of tires back to back, and it's therefore difficult to tell what an owner is rating the tire against. (Usually the tire that was just replaced, and that's about it, I suspect).

In the noise category, maybe the EL42, objectively, deserves an "8" and the Michelin Sport A/S a "6". Who knows. I haven't looked, but I suspect I could find non-snow tires that are rated better in snow than some of the dedicated snow and ice tires, and that would just be because the owner likes the tire and doesn't want to say anything bad about it.

As evidence of the nature of the ratings, just read some of the comments. Some people say the stickiest tires slide all over the place and are the worst tire they've had. The opposite holds true with some "cheap" tires. I just don't know how much I trust the average Tire Rack customer to rate tires.

frqwntbyr

Hybrid--Agree w/you to some extent. Especially about the noise--no way the Pilots get an 8, unless the scale runs to 20, not 10. Also agree w/the compromise factor. Problem here is that the compromise made by Acura may have been based on something other than the driver's best interest. We're all left to do the research and tradeoffs. Hell will freeze over before a top of the line Michelin or Pirelli will dissappoint. Same evidently can't be said for BBBBBBBrrrrrrriiiiiiiii--I can't say it.

rets

Errr... I couldn't understand its rating, either. Guys here say A/S sport is a little noise than EL42, but Tirerack has rated them as 8:5.1, which only means A/S sport is much quieter than EL42.

Plus, in Michelin website, it states some other tires are quieter than A/S sport, however, Tirerack has the different rating again in their reviews...

Is it possible Tirerack has added some advertisement incentive into their rating?

legendguy

Hybrid,

Right you are. Probably best to take the scores with a grain of salt as numbers are possibly subjective. Its not like they pay a group of people to drive identical cars with different tires and rate them. Anyway, I'm pretty happy listening to what forum members have to say here since biased assessments usually get a rebuttal. Hope I didn't throw anyone off.

LED Master

Comparisons should ONLY be taken in the same category, since the two tires are in different categories, they WILL NOT compare!

This is the reason for the differences.

So in the Ultra perofrmance all seasons, I am sure the pilot sport A/S are not loud as compared to others.

KJSmitty

OK guys, here is my 2C's...
You have to think that anyone that is writing a review on their most current tire purchase, is basing their entire comparison on the tires they had last..... Many of the review narratives relay the tires the current purchase replaced, but when you look at the overall numbers its somewhat useless. You have no idea of the overall comparison. I really don't think tirerack is pumping one brand more than the next with their stats. All the numbers should tell you is that the current tire purchased obviously exceeded the buyers last tire experience. So the big picture is, and should be, the higher the number the better the tire in regards to customer satisfaction in each category.

Statistics 101

Smitty