Lightstorm

As I've only got <1000 miles on my TL, through the other forums I've decided to follow the MID for oil changes (changing the filter at the 50% mark), but I couldn't really find a number for when people are rotating their EL42s.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

cliff

i have almost 5000 on mine and the fronts are almost shot. i would rotate them according to how you drive, i personally drive pretty agressive. i would purposly peelout and stuff just so i can get rid of these shitty tires.

rets

How's about rotating them while you have the oil/filter change? Make it simple and easy...

njsesq

Bridgestone says every 5000 miles, and they should be cross-rotated. My tires were feathering at 6000 miles. The Bridgestone dealer also said they shouldn't last 20,000 miles. As Cliff said, the tires are pure shit.

Lightstorm

Yeah, I had them on my Camry SE as well, they barely lasted 30K. And I waited till the last minute to change them.

Great.

Thanks, guys.

cvajs

the el42's really suck. i would not rely on them for total control of the car. stop rotating and get better tires (YOUR LIFE RIDES ON THE TIRES). i have 6200 miles on my 2004 TL and i am swapping them out with Falken ST115's. the Falken "beta" 451's are really nice too, but really soft and stick like mad, but the st115's will wear longer and will give total steer/brake control in any wet/dry condition (i use my old 4runner for winter). the Falken ze-512 is a all-season so it can be used in the snow (many local dealers across the states have this tire). Kumho ASX is also another good tire.

there are many other tires out there that are much better than turanza el42's !! the Falken tires are priced very competetively, so i went for them. check out www.edgeracing.com and www.discounttiredirect.com (each has about the same price on tire, but depending on your location the shipping will be different). although tirerack.com does not carry Falken, they were higher priced in the other brands compared to the 2 sites i list above.

i've been reading many of the tire reviews from many sources. i tend to be interested only in those that have real world testing. as example, one guy was sold st-115's by his local dealer and was told they can be auto-crossed (on the track). after some laps on the track the st-115's started to chunk off (come apart). that's good info for me, this guy beat the heck out of the tires and he got real results. i am not racing my TL, so the tires will never do what this guy did to them. the other testimony about "great in rain", "stuck around the corner", etc are just simple comparisons to the old cruddy tires they had before.

like i said above, almost any newer tire that you'll buy will be better than the el42's (if you wisely buy and do some research, and buy the tire that meets your driving style and weather requirements).

njsesq

Well, I went through all the steps and I now have the "new" EL-42s on my car. When first mounted, they were not match-mounted as required by Bridgestone. The ride was actually worse as to vibration, slightly better as to flat-spotting. Most of the techs at the dealership didn' even know what match-mounting was. The dealer remounted (as close to match-mounting as they could get) and rebalanced them. Vibration was reduced at 55-65, but developed again at about 75. By this point, I had spoken to 3 different people in Bridgestone's TN headquarters. One of the marketing guys there handles all of the EL-42 replacements for Acura. It is an Acura program, not a Bridgestone program. After a very frank and pleasant conversation with this gentleman, I took his advice. I called a couple Bridgestone dealers in my area ---- this is the good part. Find a Bridgestone dealer that is a factory store, not a franchise. Explain your problem and see what the reaction is. In the next few days, I should have Bridgestone LS-Zs on my car. I'm swapping the EL-42s and paying the price difference (about $30/tire) as well as a small charge to pro-rate the EL-42s (even though they have NO mileage warranty). The charge will be small since I have very few miles on the "new" EL-42s. This is the same proposal I made to ACS and my Acura dealer from the beginning. Instead of doing the right thing, I had to work this out myself. I hope this helps out other TL owners. Hey, can you believe the latest TL recall???? What is going on with Acure?????

Ron A

njsesq-Is this true? I can't believe Bridgestone is still doing this. I had my EL-42's replaced with the LS-Z's May 4th, and from what most people wrote to the forum, they were having a hard time getting this done after that and Bridgestone was saying they were not going to do it anymore.

Could you document this completely, telling all the steps you took? I will then open a new thread and quote your inputs, to inform people that it is still possible to get this done.

I did a lot of work and made many posting of this several months ago, and I thought the process had been closed, but you may give some new hope to people who want to get rid of their EL-42's. Please reply at your convenience.

njsesq

I actually had the LS-Zs put on this afternoon. I haven't been on the highway yet - that will come tomorrow morning. Even at low speeds, the tires seem much smoother. My total cost outlay was under $250.00 - less than the list price of one crappy EL-42. Please realize, this wasn't done due to a directive from Bridgestone. I just took some advice from the marketing rep. at Bridgestone headquarters. I actually tried to have the same deal done earlier (my own idea) before ever speaking to this particluar rep. My mistake was that I went to a franchise Bridgestone retailer first instead of a company owned store. I was charged the price difference between the EL-42s and LS-Zs, mounting, tax, etc. and a small pro-ration charge for the 400 miles I had put on the new version of the EL-42s that my dealer installed on my car last week. The salesman got the OK to swap the tires from his district manager - but not due to any program Bridgestone had in place to upgrade the tires. Regarding the steps I took:

1. Complain to dealer and make appointment for tire inspection. Don't be surprised if the dealer says the tires look OK, etc. Just complain until the dealer agrees to contact ACS to research the problem.

2. Call ACS and have a file opened on the tire problem - if you live on the east coast, ask for Scott - too many other people there will pretend not to know what the EL-42 issus is.

3. Have dealer order the replacement EL-42s through ACS.

4. Find your local Bridgestone retailer - not a franchise, but a company owned store. Explain the problem. Chances are they will have no idea of an upgrade possibility. Ask the salesman to check with the district manager.

5. Hope that you get lucky - I finally did - and the DM authorized a swap.

Again, please realize there is no known nor admitted directive that Bridgestone has to allow the swap/upgrade to the LS-Z. The EL-42 replacement program (new vs. old EL-42s) is an Acura program, not a Bridgestone program. I wish I remember the gentleman's name from the marketing department at the Nashville office. It is through him that you can confirm all the EL-42 dissatisfaction among hundreds of Acura owners.

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

Tigs

I went to my dealer and asked about the upgrade. The Sales group along with the Service Manager said they had never heard such a thing about the EL-42s and if I read it on a non-Acura website then it must be a ghost story... I am preparing to call ACS and ask for Scott.

njsesq

To my knowledge, no one at ACS will authorize an upgrade to LS-Zs or anything other than the "new" EL-42s. You have to call a Bridgestone Retailer (factory store, not a franchise) and ask for an upgrade. The only reason to get the "new" EL-42s is so you can run to a Bridgestone retailer with almost unused tires and pay a little for an upgrade like I did. The "new" El-42s are just about as bad as the originals. The flatspotting is better, but the noise, vibration, mediocre wet traction, etc., are the same. As for a replacement, and not an upgrade... your dealer is full of crap if they say they don't know about it. The "new" EL-42s have a different DOT number. Old = PVC, New = TU2

njsesq

Oh, and as for the LS-Zs I now have on my car, they are fantastic - infinitely better than the EL-42s. One very small caveat, every tire with a full nylon cap will flat spot a little, given weather, etc. Drive a mile or so and it's gone. These tires do not vibrate, corner better, are MUCH better in the wet, etc. etc. etc. This is the tire that should have been chosen for the 2004 TL. The LS-Z ia bout 5lb heavier than the EL-42 and it has a slightly smaller diamter, so more rpm in the same distance. I have not noticed any drop in gas mileage yet.

gregory28_RENAMED

I waited until I had 15K miles on my tires and went in and got a new set of 4 courtesy of Acura. I realize this will be controversial, but I love the way the tires handle in dry/wet conditons. They're awful in snow so I'll be getting a set of Nokian snows for the Winter.

greg

njsesq

The only change to the El-42s was a slight modification in the nylon cap to hrlp with flat-spotting. Ever other lousy characteristic about the tire remains.

KevinWebber

I just purchased a new 04 TL and noticed that at highway speeds the car pulled to the left. The dealer replaced my tires and the pulling problem is better but still exists. Is this "pulling" problem likely caused by the EL-42 tires? Would a different tire model/brand solve this problem? According to my dealer the car has perfect alignment.

johnnykuz

I have 25K miles on my EL42's and they are evenly worn at 4/32 all around. I plan to replace them soon but I'm undecided on my which brand/ tires I'll go with. They've certainly been disappointing but they are "cheap"compared to most other 45's I've seen out there. If I can get 30K total out of this set, I won't be too disappointed. My only concern is that whatever I replace them with will need to be my winter tires so I want good winter capabilities. Running almost 1000-1500 miles weekly means that Jan '05 is only 20K miles away. I want to be sure that I don't need tires again by year end just to deal with winter. Any suggestions?

njsesq

I don't think the EL-42s have woul anything to do with a pulling problem, but I'm no mechanic. As for good all-season replacements, the Bridgestone LS-Z has fantatic ratings according to Tirerack.com - pretty much better than any other tire in that size and category. I treaded my EL-42s for them and they are infinitely better.

tl_soso

Kevin, my TL's alignment was fine the first few weeks I had it. I got an oil change and a tire rotation done and ever since, my TL pulls to the left as well. At low and high speeds. It feels so damn uncomfortable having to constantly make sure it is not going to the left. I figured this was due to the tire rotation. Does anyone else have this problem? My dealer has fixed the alignment supposedly, but the issue still exists.

KevinWebber

tl_soso, my "pulling to the left" problem was mostly fixed by having a new set of tires installed. I think they were the newer version of the EL-42's. It might be something you should investigate.

tl_soso

Hey Kevin, I just sent you a private message, can you please reply to it whenever you get the chance? thanks so much man!!

njsesq

I know that after about 5000 miles, my original POS EL-42s started feathering. A cross rotation after the tires feathered could cause some odd handling.

Nicki

Consider the Michelin Piolet Sport A/S which is a "directional tire" (has arrows on it indicating which way thay need to turn) and you can't cross rotate them; just switch back to front. The Michelin Piolet Sports A/S are much better & safer then the EL42's. I rotated the EL42's into my garage.

Old Alfa

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/newre...eply&p=857582#
http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/newre...eply&p=857582# I "rotated" the POS EL42's off the car and got Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's which I'll rotate every other oil change. What a difference!

njsesq

Go for the Bridgestone LS-Zs with a swap of the EL-42s - should cost you very little - see my earlier posts on how to do it. Rotation every other oil change (assuming 3k changes) is a very good idea.

MisterLawyer

I rotate my EL42s every time I drive.






wait for it...

Ron A

I could have waited forever for this one.

dlf2365

I just had it with the EL-42s. My dealer has told me that nothing is wrong with the EL-42's and I might as well get over it.

I had about 2500 miles on my EL-42s and today I decided to stop by my local Firstone dealer and inquired about upgrading to the LS-Zs. I explained that I was not happy with the EL-42s and what would it cost to upgrade. At $170 dollars later, I drove out with brand new LS-Zs. The Firestone dealer did tell me that he was unaware of anyone having issues with the EL-42s.

Seems kinda odd for someone that hasn't heard of a problem, to ask me no questions and upgraded me and so on.

I did get a couple of scratches on the rims, that I will just have to live with.

baby_igor

Good luck with your LS-Zs. I've had mine for 2500+ miles and they have been excellent. There may have been some flat spoting on cold mornings, but it is a minor issue if one at all. Wet weather handling also very good. I'm waiting to see how the snow performance is, because we don't see snow plows where I live until the 2nd or 3rd day after the fact.

I have noticed the back tires are 1/64 more worn than the front at this point, and plan to rotate at 3K.

Thorin78

njsesq: where did you find the info about match mounting? I remember someone saying something about that on this forum but I can't find it. A brochure from bridgestone would help if you can find me one. I'm getting my dealer to swap the El42 for the LS-Z at Acura's cost.

njsesq

The only direct mention of match-mounting I saw on Bridgestone's website was under the commercial truck tire section. A knowledgable salesperson at a Bridgestone Retailer also explained it to me. It's a well-known concept in the tire world practiced by many tire manufacturers. Great to hear that you are getting Acura to pay for the LS-Z swap - I don't know of anyone that had an Acura dealer do it yet - everyone I know has had it done through a Bridgestone retailer.

Thorin78

Thanks. I actually found something on tirerack.com regarding match mounting so it helps. However when my dealership replaced my El42s the first time, I couldn't tell if they did match mount them. Only 1 tire had a red dot and it was not opposite of the tire pressure plug. the other 3 tires didn't have that red dot so I couldn't tell if they were mounted correctly.

claud

I rotated my EL42s at the first maintence at 7100 miles. I next rotated them yesterday at 10,200 miles, right off the car . I replaced them with Michelin Pilot AS.
I had a flat from a screw(yes, I was screwed) that I plugged. I did not want to make a long roadtrip with a plugged tire. I have a Fla trip planned for next week. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

gregory28_RENAMED

I have my tires totated every time I go in for an oil change- 6-7K miles.

greg