New Acura Owner

My wife was driving the TL a few days ago and ran over a ton of garbage on the road. An accident on the overpass above threw s**T on the highway which wasn't visible until it was too late. No damage to the TL except the right rear tire was punctured with two nails causing a leak. Brought it to a Firestone shop hoping it could be repaired, but they said the nails were so close together, and close to the side wall, that it couldn't be fixed.

They didn't have the EL42. The only tire they had in that size was an RE950 which I ended up getting. It was about $100 cheaper than the EL42. The guy said as long as I keep it on the rear I shouldn't notice any difference between the 2 tires. He said he thought the RE950 was a better tire than the EL42. The car drives ok, but would appreciate any comments on what I should do. I know the EL-42 doesn't have a good reputation but they seemed Ok to me. Would feel more comfortable driving on consistant rubber. The Tire Rack is selling them pretty cheap (about $115.)

The other option would be to buy another RE950 and match it to the existing RE950. I can then use the extra EL42 as a spare. I have an extra wheel, (slightly damaged, long story) which I can use as a full time spare so I won't get scr%*ed by tire shops next time I get a flat. Would appreciate your comments on this.

BTW, has anyone noticed its hard to tell you have a flat with these low profile tires? My tire guage was meauring minimal pressure (<5 psi), but the tire didn't really look very flat. Also it drove ok while getting to the station to fill it with air.

nick04tl

if you have an extra rim i would do as u said and get a nother tire and have a full size spare.

New Acura Owner

Which tire should I go with?

1) Buy another EL42 and have 4 on the car.

2) Buy another RE950, and have 2 EL42's and 2 RE950's.

Thanks
Mike

apwalsh

When it comes time to rotate the tires, you will have the odd tire in the front. So, if what the guy says is true, then you will notice the difference then.

I'd get another EL42 and keep the odd tire as the spare.

fsr20det

i would like to buy your extra rim if you want to sell it!
when you have different tires on you will have different max air pressures on each tire which will make a difference when on the front of the car. even if the tire pressure is the same for both they will still be different as in how much air is in them. hope im not confusin you(really late and im just tryin to write a simple response) example- one tire malx load 50psi/ tire #2 max load 50psi / tire #1 looks 90% inflated while tire #2 looks 95% in flated so what happens is your driving wheels will pull to one side...
example #2- tire#1 max load is 45 psi/ tire#2 max load 50psi,<----- there lies the problem/ same result tire pulls to one side.......hope this helps

Ron A

The maximum air pressure limit has nothing to do with the way the tire looks when inflated, as long as they are all inflated to the same pressure. You wouldn't inflate your tires to the maximum air pressure limit anyway. The only thing that would make them look different is if one was a different aspect ratio than the others.

fsr20det

that is not true. i am talking about 2 different brands of tires. i know, because ive used tires that were diferent and the difference was very noticeable. the tires were 195/55/15 eagle rs-a and 195/55/15michelin's(off integra gs-r)i put both tires at the same pressure, but they looked very different, even my own brother thought that my tire was going flat. so i test drove it and man it would always pull hard to one side. so i tried filling the other tire up so it would not pull, but i started to get close to maxing out the pressure and just ended up throwing it on the back. occasionally people would pull up and tell me my tire was going flat.