psheu

I was looking online trying to hunt down a set of 18" Michellin tires for my A-Spec 18" rims... and the more economical version the MXM4 doesn't offer in that size... all the 18s are Pilot PS2 or Pilot A/S... with these tires, you're looking to spend at least a grand... and if they do go with the 18s, they'll have to stick with the more economical tires like the yokohamas... I think this is the primary reason for the type S getting a 17s instead of the 18s... what do you guys think? is the Michellins all that? personally I think so

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

Never had a set of Michellins, never bought into the name hype. Always had good experiences with other brands of tires. Always like Falken or Kuhmo. I have Wahaila on my car now, and to be honest I love them.....sticky in the corners and low road noise......cost $400 for 4 new 235/45/20

Just because a average consumer would pay $1000 for the tires, Acura and their buying power would probably get them for the same price as the 17's

fish008

So why are you looking at all season tires when you live in Florida? Just get some nice summer tires - you can use year round. Its not like where I live in Michigan and need 2 sets of rims. Look at some other brands, there are some other nice tire companies out there... If you want to stay name brands look at Goodyear, Bridgestone, Pirelli, and Yahohama isn’t a bad name either. Kumhos are inexpensive and the people who have them love them. As for why they did 17s on the type-S - maybe make the car faster...lighter, smaller wheels will make the car quicker. Who knows, I doubt they choose 17s because of tire costs.

psheu

Agree on most of the things you mentioned... but i think the 17s on the TL is actually heavier than the 18s ASpec rims... I've compared both rims when I swapped them out...

Anyway... I want to wrap new set of rubbers on my 18s... any suggestions? I need low road noise, good quality Z rated tires with long tread life... I could careless about the performance... thanx for any input

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

Like I said above:

fish008

I have changed my wheels several time too and I think that the 17s are several pounds lighter.

Goodyear Eagle F1s if you have the 04 A-spec wheels 245/40/18s and if you have the 05-on A-spec wheels I would get 235/40/18s. I have these on my TL right now, on my RSX Type-S right now too and I had them on my 99 Integra GS-R (that I sold) - this is a great tire. Great in the rain and in the dry, quiet, and the highest tread rating of any performance tire. Here is a car and driver review on performance tires http://www.caranddriver.com/article....ticle_id=10252 - the goodyear wins as the best all around tire. I have had these tires in one form or another for 3 years and they are great. Tirerack had a special going and I had a local place tire place get real close to the cost including mounting and balancing.

This is now going to turn into a tire recommendation thread which is not what it is. Keep the focus of the thread. There are so many threads on performance tires just do a search.

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

I'm completely confused by this statement... You want a Z-rated tire but could care less about performance?

blkaspec

my A-Specs came with pirelli pzero nero m+s, and i love them. havent had them in snow yet, but they do great in rain and mud(i live off a dirt road) and after i had a stock TL loaner the other week, i realized how much less road noise they make, and that was with 4k more miles then the loaner. and i love the way they handle in a curve. i think along with the aspec suspension my car drives waaay better than stock. i know its off topic but the whole aspec upgrade is well worth it, it makes driving the TL so much better. and that includes the fatter steering wheel.

fish008

Anyone actually know the weight of the stock 17 inch wheel with the standard all seaon tire and the weight of the 18 inch A-spec wheel with the standard tire. If anyone knows how to find this out I would be curious both the 18x8 and the 18x8.5 if someone can.

psheu

Agree! I have the same setup

psheu

Well, I guess some Z-rated tires perform better than the others... I'm mainly focus on the ride quality (quietness) and life of the tire... some ppl like to have really sticky tires for racing and autocrossing... i'm not into those kinda things that's why I said performance comes after the ride quality

S PAW 1

On Tirerack.com, 235/45/17 MXM4's are $253 vs. $192 for the Pilot A/S's, and the A/S's are a much better tire IMO.
In 235/40/18's the Pilot A/S's are $239 each. Yes, you do have less choices in the 18" tire.
I don't understand your logic. The Pilot A/S's are better for less money. I have had three sets, and I can usually expect around 50,000 miles out of a set, and they are great for all seasons. They do get a little noisier after 40,000, though, as most tires would the last 1/4 of their life. Ride is good, too.
You want "Z" rated, yet you don't care about performance?
Again, just my opinion here, the Pilot A/S's are worth the money. I tried Sumishitto's once because they were cheap. Won't go there again.
Good luck

psheu

Thanx again for the wonderful suggestions... I'll definetely look it up... ppl like yourself that lands helping hand makes our forum worthwhile

now back onto this topic, I'm still wondering why the 08 didn't go with 18s as improvement since the Type S TL should be a "performance" car compare to the regular TL... most of other car makers Lexus, Infinity, etc. have 18s on theirs... is it the fact that it's gonna affect the ride quality significantly? personally, I think the Type S should have at least 18s on them....

psheu

"Sumishitto's".... LOL.... that's an interesting name.... do you have the pilot A/S now? How is the ride on that tire compare to the others? Is it worth the extra $$$ you have to dish out?

S PAW 1

now back onto this topic, I'm still wondering why the 08 didn't go with 18s as improvement since the Type S TL should be a "performance" car compare to the regular TL... most of other car makers Lexus, Infinity, etc. have 18s on theirs... is it the fact that it's gonna affect the ride quality significantly? personally, I think the Type S should have at least 18s on them....[/QUOTE]

I love my TL-S, but I have to tell you that Acura does not make smart decisions when it comes to the tire they have as OE. First it was the EL42's, and nobody seems to want the MXM4's that I had the dealer take off and replace with Pilot A/S's before taking delivery. I have seen nothing but negative opinions about them on the forums. I just don't understand Acura's logic when it comes to OE tire selection.

S PAW 1

In my opinion, yes. I had them on my '01 CL-S, my '05 6MT, and now my '07.
No complaints.

mishar

They did not go with 18’s because it would not be improvement. Not in performance nor in any other way.

Tommygun

If you're gonna spend a grand, upgrade to the Goodyear Eagle F1's. I just put a set on my 18" A-Spec wheels and I am in love. No noise, comfortable ride and great performance.

harddrivin1le

The main purpose of specifying larger wheels is to clear the brake calipers (or drums on drum brake equipped vehicles.

Are your stock wheels hitting your brake calipers?

S PAW 1

I have not read one negative comment on those Eagles. Wish they were all season in Ohio, though. Look Hot, too!

Side note: F1 cars use 15" wheels. I think for every inch of resistance, you have to pay a horsepower/fuel mileage penalty.

psheu

Nope.... not hitting at all and I have the Brembo brake.... than again I also have the A-Spec 18s.... I think the 18s serve more of a cosmatic than performance.... and IMO Type S deserve 18s.... and as far as the fuel and milage's concern, these 18s wrapping on a lower profile tire will have similar radius as the 17s with higher profile tire.... so fuel and milage should be of no concern.....

fish008

I think that the point harddrivin1le is making is that larger wheels weigh more and thereby create a horsepower/ fuel mileage penalty. It takes more to spin a heavier wheel. I could be totally off base with that comment though.

The Type-S would have looked better with 18 inch wheels for sure. As for that outrageous comment about larger wheels having no benefit...its wrong. As stated larger brakes fit but the 17s fit over even the brembo brakes. But with a same rolling size a smaller sidewall should make it handle better. Plus it looks better.

Bearcat94

I Agree. TL-S should come stock with 18's and should have been dropped ~3/4". This is primarily astetics.

Further, the potential performance loss with 18's on the TL-S is so small as to be inconsequential in a daily driver sedan. You may lose a tenth or 2, but just take out the spare tire, the rear damper, or the front damper and, voila, you're even.

If you're building your S to be a 1/4 mile monster ..... well, really, you picked the wrong car.

Tire-wise, I am undecided. I don't like the Michilen stockers. Too much $ for too little wear and average performance. If I go with Summer Tires - Goodyear F1; If I go All Season Bridgestone RE960AS Pole Position.

BTW - IIRC, there is an All Season version of the Goodyear F1.

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

I have always liked the pirelli p-zero nero (had them on my civic) would get them for my next set of rims

harddrivin1le

Larger diameter wheels also reduce braking performance, add cost and result in sidewall heights that are less than 4" and therefore impractical for street applications in many areas (e.g. the Northeast, where I live). Bent rims suck and the likelihood of that happening rises dramatically when sidewall height drops below ~ 4".

Hardcore performance guys run the smallest diameter wheel that fits over the largest brake they plan on running.

Aesthetics are largely subjective. When I see a car with huge wheels and relatively small brakes I think to myself, "That guy doesn't understand vehicle dynamics."

My 1LE Camaro ran 16" wheels (over 12" brakes) with 245/50-16s. That would run circles around my TL-S, despite the "tall" sidewalls.

mishar

Just small correction: F1 uses 13” wheels.

mishar

It is not just weight that matters. It is also its distribution. Further it is from center it takes more power to spin or stop it.

Smaller sidewall doesn’t make handling any better. Have you seen any racing car with tiny sidewall? For traction – look at dragsters, for handling and braking – F1, Indy and NASCAR. No 25’s 30’s or 35’s. For looks? Well I could agree that 18’s look good, 19’s so and so, but 20’s look ridiculous. But that is matter of taste, anyways.

ballinfizzle89

iTrader: (6)

Wow!

Falken FTW

fish008

Couple of comments: first I got my 245/40 18 inch goodyear eagle f1s for $785 with tax...that was a good deal. I didn't state the price earlier because I wanted to make sure I got it right. Second, yes smaller sidewalls do improve handling. Those tires on NASCAR and F1 cars sidewalls are quite hard, especially the F1 tires there isnt any bow out when those cars have weight on them (asside from those cars minimal weight). Well perhaps in street tires where creating an extremely stiff sidewall with a 60 series tire would be difficult and you run into other problems too. If that was the case all these car companies wouldnt run these 35 series tires just for looks...its handling.

mishar

First: nice tires.

Second: Sidewall on Formula 1 and NASCAR tires is not hard at all. To be as light as possible sidewalls are just carcass barely covered with rubber. It also improves grip.

fish008

How does an F1 tire handle up to 5Gs without any sidewall reenforcement. If I am wrong I am wrong but it doesnt matter.

mishar

That’s good question. How close to the limit they are we saw few years ago at Indianapolis race when Michelin had to withdraw from the race for safety reasons. I guess that same question stands for those carbon fibber suspensions and gearboxes. Answer is probably in their low mass and superb quality.

And you are right about being wrong. This is just for fun discussion. At the end of the day it won’t make big difference. May be just a few interesting things.