Apologies for another thread on this, but I wanted to post my two cents up front so a newbie wouldn't have to read through all the posts.

I was well aware of the EL42 problems most are having when we picked up our TL. I was prepared to test drive, note the vibration, and demand new tires before accepting delivery. Unfortunately, I was surprised to find no vibration at any speed (it was cold too) and the car handled very well on the dry pavement. This seems to validate several posts that indicate problems with some, but not all tires. Without a specific complaint, I had no expectations of dealer assistance re: a tire swap. There go my free Pilot Sports!

Given the poor reviews of EL42 wet traction, specifically excessive hydroplaning and poor snow traction, I drove the car straight to Discount Tire and had a set of 245/45/17 Conti Extreme's put on. The PZero's were a little more $, maybe a bit better perf tire, but I wanted an edge on wet traction for here in the mountains. They bought my EL42's for about half price and gave me a good price on the Contis. The car handles waaay better, and we had an inch of snow ... no problem driving in that at all.

My point here is, if you love the car (we do!) don't let the tire issue stand in your way. Most buyers can afford the extra $300 - 400 or so to have decent tires put on. Agreed, we shouldn't have to do this, and hopefully SOMEDAY Acura will have some restitution for us. I simply wasn't willing to wait for resolution, or to gamble on safety, on what is essentially the best car I found in it's class.

If I lived in an area with dryer roads, I would likely keep the EL42s until they needed replacement.

I DO plan to write Acura and I've already called B'stone, so I'm not turning tail on this at all. They need to know if we aren't happy.

In the end, it was a small price to pay to make this a non-issue so that we could immediately enjoy the car. And we are loving every mile of it!


Thanks for your reading patience.

 

Well said, Jimbemotumbo.

 

 

Very cool. I wish I had gotten 245s on my TL. I'm guessing they will provide more protection to the wheel itself when you parallel park. Nice going, and congratulations on your purchase!

 

Thanks for your infomation. You're right, not everyone having the tire issues, IMO, EL42s are still bad in wet/rainy/snowy conditions. It should not be the ideal tires for 04TL. Acura might need to come out some options in the future if customers are willing to pay more to have tires swap instead of the default tires.

Enjoy.

 

Will the 245's affect the speedometer? If the size difference is just width I may go with a set, I can't wait for Acura, my vibration is God awful.

 

no one has complained about flat spotting
or tire vibration. Special el42, extra crappy ones for Acura

 

By the way, even with the MIchelin Pilot Sports I still have vibration above 80 mph, so don't get too hopeful. Just drove to Phoenix and my car vibrated most of the way here. Fun!!! Whoopeee!

 

BMW or other brands are using the different EL42, Our EL42s have not only the unique size, but also the so-called special design to 04TL.

 

The different between 234/45/17 vs 245/45/17 is so small that you don't need to worry.

Someone reported that the TL speedometer indicates a speed that is slightly faster than the actual speed, so the 245/45/17 helps to compensate for it.

 

The difference in diamter between a 235 and a 245 is 2/10's (0.2") of an inch difference. Remember that a tire starts at 10/32 of an inch by the time it wears to the tread bars it has decrease by 8/32nds (0.25 inches) so the change is within tolerance.

Most tire stores say that diameters can be within +/-5% on plus sizing.

I would not worry about the change, but be carefull, the Pilot Sport A/S start off larger diameter than other makers, the 235/45-17 is 25.6", vs the stock BS tires at 25.5 and the PS A/S at 245/45-17 is 25.9" so the difference in diameter is 25.5" (stock BS size) vs 25.9" for the PS A/S.

Note, MOST 235/45 tires are 25.4" in diameter (the Pilot Sport summer tires are small at 25.2" in diamter)

For some reason the Michellins seem to varry the most from one tire to the next vs thier competition.

So based on this, TL drivers have tires from 25.2" to around 25.7" on the TL (stock is 25.5 for both BS tires).

 

LED Master, I agree.

The good news is that people who have the pilot sports (non A/S) in 235 will get slightly better acceleration as the diameters are smaller.

The bad news is that people with the 235 or 245 pilot sport A/S tires will have slightly slower acceleration as the diameters are larger than stock. The good news for them though is that the A/S tire has 11/32 of tread, so they have that much more depth for rain and snow (10/32 for the EL-42 and most other NON-snow tires).

 

I was wondering if you considered having the EL42s siped instead of forking out $$ for different tires? Siping would have improved the handling and ride a little softer then without. It really works. Cost is about $10 a tire.

 

Siped??????

 

Tire siping is the process of cutting small slits, or grooves, into the tread blocks of tires in order to provide better traction in adverse weather conditions. The sipes allow the tread blocks to spread on contact with the ground, which helps expel water from the tread and provides better bite. Practically every all-season, mud+snow, and all terrain tire marketed today is siped in the factory mold, yet few mud terrain tires are siped. The traction benefits of siping, along with the purported increase in tire life due to improved heat dissipation from siped lugs, is something that can easily (and quickly) be done at home.

This was pulled off of some tire site....not my thoughts, just cut and pasted it.

 

IMHO, it seems more a marketing tool to get another $40-50 out of you at the cash register. Almost 100% profit on this.

All I know is that siping has been used on semi trucks for years. They claim the tread life is increased (which for a fleet is obviously big bucks), but I've never heard anyone except tire dealers claim a traction benefit.

My opinion, a poor design is still just that, even with small cuts added to the tread. Now if they could figure a way to cram a steel belt in there we might be on to something.

 

Siping is definitely not a marketing tool. Most/all studless winter tires I am aware of have siping to increase traction on ice.

 

siping will not get rid of the vibration issue, only traction.

Also, siping the tires voids the mfg warranty and many do not recomend this on passenger tires, such as consumer reports, and also tire rack.

If not done correctly, it can effect car handling as there will be too much tire squirm.

In the dry, siping does not help, but hurts, in the snow, and some wet conditions, it helps slightly.

See the tire / wheel 101 info that Need4spd posted, in there it talks about the benifts / draw backs of sipes in a tread design done at the factory.

I would not recomend letting someone sipe you tires.

 

I beg to differ about voiding the warranty. Many tire dealers are offering this. Additonally, I can tell you from personal experience that siping really works. Where I live, we get quite a bit of rain in the winter. There is a noticable difference in traction.

 

Points well taken.

I still don't think this will correct a basic design problem or magically turn a low end tire into a dream.