I have a two week old silver navi 5AT and am looking for some advice on tires. I live in Canada and also purchased the optional Blizzak LM 22's with an extra set of stock wheels for the winter. As a result I have the Turanzas (EL42's) with 0 clicks waiting to be installed in the spring.

After reading the negative comments about the Turanzas on this board and at Tirerack.com I have decided to swap the Turanzas in favour of some better rubber. Here are the tires Im looking at.

1. Michelin Pilot sport AS
2. Michelin Pilot sport
3. Pirelli P Zero Nero MS

Will there be much difference in grip between the Micheilns going from the Pilot sport to the Pilot sport AS?

Anyone have experience with the Pirellis?

Anything else I should look at tirewise?

How is it possible that Acura put such a crappy tire on the TL?

Comments appreciated

Thanks
AJAX

 

Don't have any information on other tires but I agree with you on the crappy decision to put the EL42's on the TL. Worst "performace" tire I have ever driven. Poor in dry conditions, terrible in wet conditions, afraid to ask in snow. Hard accecleration is an adventure. Don't need this in a car that is so perfect otherwise.

 

ajax:

since you already have a set of winters, why don't you consider the Pilot Sports (summer tire)? Or for that matter, any summer tire... You don't have to worry about all-season due to your purchase of the winters now.

 

On tire rack the potenza RE075 have been very highly rated and they look like an excellent choice. The Pirellis seem to suffer fom horrible treadwear. The michelins seem OK too. One caveat you should be aware of is that ultra high performance summer tires can be mediocre in the wet, the potenzas are pretty good in that respect as in noise. The 030 (standard HPT from Acura) are not very highly ranked. I did the same as you and now have LM22 installed I'm delighted with the purchase. On the other hand I got them on a set of additional rims since mounting and dismounting tires tend to damage the tires bead not to mention the possibility of rim damage by some ham handed tire guy. IMO the turanzas have been given a bad rap. No, they are not the best out there, but they definitely dont suck either. For example, they perform better than the LM22 (except in snow obviously) and of course you already have them, personally I would wear them out (I don't think theyll last very long since they have shallow treads) and then I would buy some serious rubber.

 

gbriank...as a matter of fact I am considering the Pilot Sports and the Pilot Sport AS (all Season). I was wondering if anyone had a handle on the difference between the two in real world driving.

Vtechbrain...The reason to get rid of the Turanzas now is that I can get a pretty good dollar for them from the tire dealer with 0 miles on them. I can upgrade to the Pilots for about $ 50.00 CAD per tire and get rid of the Turanzas before I even have to drive on them

My last car had dedicated 17" Ultra high pefrormance summer tires on it and they were most excellent in terms of grip and cornering ability...Id like to get as much of that back as possible with the TL.

AJAX

 

check out the reviews and specs and prices at tirerack.com for these 2 tires vs. the michelen pilot sports:

GoodYear F1 GS-D3 (hp summer)
Sumitomo HTR+ (hp all season)

 

How about Bridgestone S03?

I like your winter set up and am looking to do the same.

 

My input/2C's

I have owned Michelin Pilots, Pilot Sports A/S's, and Bridgestone S03 Pole Position's. I'm not a real aggressive driver but I do have a 60 mile commute in the Dallas TX area. Obviously gets extremely hot and or wet, with fast driving... Here is my opinion of the three...


Ranked 3rd) The Michelin Pilots were by far the smoothest tire I have owned. Was it just a superb balancing from the factory (Honda), or a darn good manufactured tire? Don't know but in near 40,000 miles they were perfectly smooth and I never had them rebalanced, just rotated every 5000. No flatspotting either. Now, the bad news is they really stunk for both wet and dry handling, especially wet, and they were extremely noisy... The replacement price was also bad for my specific size...

Ranked 2nd) The Bridgestone S03's, replaced the above Pilots. They too were pretty smooth yet had very minor vibration over 75mph. I think the "Hunter 9700 RFV" balancer would have taken care of this but I did not know it existed when I had them mounted and balanced. Sold the car the week I was going to take it in for the first balance at 8000 miles. My opinion, a huge improvement in handling over the Pilot's, especially regarding wet traction. Now the bad, flatspotting issue present regardless of temp (20-100). Anytime they sat for 5-8 hours (everyday at work) it felt like I had multiple flats when I left... Once you got past that they were a very good summer/performance tire. Price was reasonable, looked and performed great, and had a smooth/quiet ride.

Ranked 1st) Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. I'll begin by admitting I loved these tires. Best part was I didn't have to pay for them,,,, $310 a piece for my application yet covered by the dealer... So, if one can get by the price, they are a superb tire. Wet and dry handling??- short of trying a James Bond maneuver I never had them break loose in wet or dry. Very smooth and true, absolutely no flatspotting. Normally I ran 32psi for a much improved ride. Really smoothed out the minor imperfections in the TX roads. They did have a "low speed" hum that may have been the car but overall very quiet at speed. The tread pattern is very aggressive and at first had me wondering but it soon really grew on me. The one thing I did not get to experience was any "snow" performance. Given that awesome aggressive tread pattern I'm sure they would be quite impressive though.


So, overall, if I had an extra $grand in my wallet I would be calling TireRack and having a set of A/S's dropped on my front porch. My 04 TL deserves better than the "42's"!!

Maybe for Fathers Day


Smitty

 

Get the Pilot Sports. The Pilot Sport A/S will be a better all-season tire, but get the non A/S tire...it should be more fun that way!

 

Pilot Sport A/S are $199 from tirerack.

 

You are in Canada. Get the Neros. They are the current sweetheart of the Tirerack reviewers and the couple of guys who have them here love them. They ar $60 each less than Pilot Sport AS. I just put Pilot Sport summers on my 330i, this summer. But both they and the S03s are ald designs. The new Goodyear F1s are the tire of choice. They are cheaper by $40 and show better grip both wet and dry. Check Tirerack or the BMW boards. I just put them on my 6AT, all the difference in cornering and steering confidence in the world and they are remarkably quiet. They are considerably quieter than my Pilots which were quieter than the S03s.

 

Consider Continental ContiExtremeContact. These are highly rated by both Tire Rack customers and by Consumer Reports (not that exact tire, but similar one was tested by CR). And you can get them for $85 each!

 

I agree with acuraddict. Because you've already purchased a winter set of tires, you don't really need all-season tires. The Pilot Sport should be excellent for your summer needs. I don't want the hassle of switching tires every few months, so I'm planning on the A/S, an excellent performer in all seasons.

 

Thanks for all the feedback on tire ideas guys. Looks like the Pilot Sport AS may be the winner.

Dulnev...I just put a set of the Continental Extreme Contacts on my wifes SVX today and they seem to be an excellent tire too. The SVX is a pretty heavy car like the TL so it will be interesting to see how they wear. They are most certainly quiet and seem to have good grip.