boltjames

I need an all-season tire that is good in moderate snow (2 inches) and handles well in the summer too. Low road noise is also preferred.

Went onto Tirerack and went into the subforum for tires. Tirerack doesn't help much on the '04 TL and the subforum is focused on mods, rims, etc.

My '04 auto nav's tires have gotten really bad at 18k and it's unsafe to drive; need to pick up new rubber tomorrow. I've done research, and believe that these are my best options for all-season's for the TL:

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S
Michelin Pilot HX MXM4

Would you agree? Is there another brand that would be superior? Note, I'm not concerned at all about price, but I don't want to change out the tires come winter (unless the inconvenience of doing that makes a dramatic increase in summer performance as well as winter traction).

Help.

BJ

A-TLvic882

I'll take Michelin Pilot Sport A/S.

Repecat

I also have given some thought to tires to replace the crappy EL-42s. My top choice so far is the Pirelli P Zero Nero with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S running a close second. Michelins are pretty pricey.

caball88

if price is not issue then the pilot sport a/s is probably your best bet. the pirelli pzero nero is a very good tire as well. somewhat cheaper than the michellins but performance is equal if not better.

w1n78

sup BJ, haven't seen you pop up in a while - mr. camel is the best interior color

the mich pilots are great, but pricey. when i replaced my tires, i had the shop looked them up and they were $265/each. treadwear is good though. i think they were 780 or something like that. i ended up w/ yokos ES100. got them for $180/each but the treadwear is only 280. i went the economic route since i drive alot and probably have to replace the set every year if not sooner.

Ron A

Lots of people have good luck with body side moldings. Wait-wrong forum.

Lots of people have good luck with mud guards. Oops, wrong forum again.

Lots of people have good luck with the Falken ZE-512's. rets has been using them, I think, and several others said they were good. Oops, wrong forum again.

Hope you get some good answers. Nice to hear from you again.

svtmike

BJ, PS A/S is my recommendation. Will fill all of your requirements.

Mike

rets

IMHO, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S >>> Michelin Pilot HX MXM4
But, Pilot Sport is a little noisier... I guess that's what it tends to be.


I do use 512, it's low-priced high performance all season tire with great grips and handling, but, in my case, after 10+ miles of driving, it's getting noise.

boltjames

LOL. Very good. Falken's good in the winter too?

Thanks for the answers. You can move my feeble thread back to the Land of the RonJon Rims now

BJ

boltjames

512's better / worse / equal in the snow compared to the PS A/S's?

BJ

rets

I had no problem in snow... neuronbob in Cleveland, OH, has 2 feet snow, his 512s were doing well, too.

caha14

IMHO you should also consider the Continental ContiExtremeContacts. I had them on my '02 TL-S, and they were much better than the stock Michelin Pilots that came with it, at half the price. I paid $95 per tire on Tirerack a while ago. I think they're like $110 these days.

Some people complain about road noise, but I honestly didn't think they were loud. One thing's for sure: they were AWESOME in the rain and snow (check out the ratings on Tirerack).

boltjames

Another thought.....if I did suck it up and deal with summer tires and winter tires.....what would the net percentage increase be? Think of it as an equation......is the combination of seperate tires for each season better than the compromise of just the one set? If so, by what margin? Is it a 10% increase in handling/fun in the summer and a 25% increase in traction/safety in the winter?

So kung-fusing.

BJ

rets

I cannot tell. But, I "believe" PS A/S could be "better" than 512. There are reasons why that tyre is costly.

ibeplato

I echo the Pilot Sport A/S comments, I put them on a few weeks ago and they have been great. They were $212 each from Costco (for stock 17") including installation, all fees, and road-hazzard insurance (plus lifetime free rotation/balance).

Mindworm

Toyo Proxes 4 --- there seems to be a lot of folks liking this tire wherever I go. Much cheaper than the Michelins, but supposedly they're the motts. Anyone know how they handle in snow?

Hokiedee

I am in Fairfax Va and BJ's wants 137 installed per tire. I did research on tirerack and it was rated well. The price difference between Pilot a/s is huge. What do you all think.

cM3go

Pirelle PZero Nero M+S would be your best choice... better tread wear rating than the michelins too

2004TL6SP

Avon Tech M550 A/S $106.00 throughTire Rack

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

boltjames

Checked out the Pilot Sport's today and have a question:

The tire shop had the 235/45YR17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, but with a "Z" in the code and a "Y" shown as a rating someplace else.

Should I be concerned or is this how it's written on all PS's?

TIA

svtmike

I believe that the "Y" has to be associated with a load rating - so the size will be written as 235/45ZR17 and the combined load and speed rating will be something like 93Y.

Mike

boltjames

Thanks Mike! Anyone have a photo of a G3 TL on stock 17's? Just wondering if the car is going to look differently (cosmetically) on Michelin instead of Bridgestone.

BJ

6mtV6

Don't get the MXM4. They aren't any better than the EL 42s.

Pilot A/S, 512, Proxes 4, Pzero nero are all great all season tires.
I currently have the 512 and they are great. I love them.
The next set of tires I'll probably get after the 512s are done is the Proxes 4.

rets

Is it doing well in the snow??

DMZ

All Season:



Summer:


.
.

boltjames

Why aren't the Pilot Sport AT's on the performance list? How can we trust the Falken rating when two Bridgestone's are in the #2 and #3 hole when we know they're substandard?

BJ

1FasTL

I see you already went with the Michilin PS AS. Good tire but a bit pricey.

Another suggestion would be the Dunlop SP Sport 5000. I have them on my TL and they were awesome in the snow. This year, NW Ohio had a record year with the most snowfall on record. I never once had a problem getting around. I also have a very steep driveway and never had a problem pulling the hill even when I was lazy and didn't shovel. The tires handle well in the dry, wet and also give you plenty of snow traction. I intend to get another set when these wear out. I have 10K on them now and they still look new!!!

jrogers345

All these reviews/opinions are confusing. I need to get a set now. Besides the handling in dry and wet, I'm interested in the tread life. My car is just a yr old. I've got the OEM Bridgestones and the the treads in bad shape at 20,000. I don't mind paying more for tires if it means I don't have to replace them in a year. But don't want to pay close to a $100/per tire more than other brands just to get a couple more thousand out of them.

I'm considering the Pilot Sport A/S and am shopping around on prices. I've gotten $242 + $16 mounting, $225 + $10 mounting and $195 + $8 mounting. $195 seems to be the lowest I'll find. Want to know average tread life on them.

I'm also confused at the types of tires. I've seen reports where they're classifed as Tour A/S, High Performance A/S and then Ultra High Performance A/S.

jrogers345

Might be a dumb question, but where did you find the treadwear #'s?

ibeplato

Generally there is a trade-off between wear/performance, stickier tires grip better but wear out quicker. I'm expecting 20k out of my Pilot Sport A/S. BTW, if you are a Costco member you can get them installed for $212 including lifetime free rotation/balancing, flat repair, and road-hazzard insurance.

If you want longer life, you probably ought to look at the Toyo Proxes 4, which are a lot cheaper - $108 at edgeracing.com. Lot's of folks here have bought them and reviews are very good.

jrogers345

I was reading reviews on another site from people who have the Pilot sport AS and there is a range from 25,000 to 45,000 miles on their set of tires. I'm assuming the difference is the type of driving they do. I'm hoping to get more than 20K out of them. 20K is what I've got out of the OEM Bridgestores.

No - I'm not a member of Costco. I checked the site out and I could still get them there... but there's a 2 week wait and I want to get them asap cause I discovered a bubble in one of the tires which now has me nervous.

Probably going with the place that has them for $195+. They'll order them and have them by Monday. But I'll also check out the Toyo's.

Thanks,

Janice

boltjames

Thanks for the advice......a year from now if the PS's are also in need of replacement I may very well buy the Dunlop's you mention.

BJ

jrogers345

Made my decision and ended up going with Pirelli PZero Nero M&S. They have a better overall rating and survey results on Tirerack and are cheaper than Pilot Sport AS. They're $131 a piece.

I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with them.