I see many people mention issues with the tires. I have the EL42's and dont really see/feel any issues. Am I missing something ? Do people just want better handling or is there really something wrong with the tires...just wondering.

 

Some people get flatspotting, which is what happens when the tires sit overnight, develop a flatspot on the bottom, and then you feel it when you drive off in the morning and reach highway speed.

Not everyone has it, so if you don't, don't look for it.

Considering it is an original equipment tire, you cannot expect the best handling, especially when compared to such greats as Michelin Pilot Sports, etc. (or almost any other tire made).

 

I am getting flatspotting like Ron A described, and it goes away after driving 10 minutes. Wet handling is also poor, so bad that I really do not want to drive it all when it rains (but I have to). From what the dealership told me the bad tires are identifyable via serial codes on the side of the tire, not all have this problem.

While agree that oem tires such as the EL-42 do not handle as good a premium tires, the EL-42's carry a retail MSRP of $250, for that much $$ a much better and safer tire could have been selected.

My '02 TL-S came standard with Michelin Pilot MXM4 and these were extremely quite, lasted forever and handled very well for an OEM tire. I would take those over the EL-42's in a NY minute.

 

im not sure if this is a problem but im hearing alot of road noise at speeds over 55mph. the tire is rated at 148mph.....

 

Make sure noise isn't out of your engine and tranny. 50-55 MPH used to have averaged 72 dBA noise if you're using 5th gear and stay around 1500 rpm.

 

The EL42's were standard OEM equipment on my former 2002 Altima SE. I removed them at around 34,000 miles with still about 15,000 miles left on them because they were downright dangerous in heavy rain. They would hydroplane like crazy. I replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S series in 225/50-17.

 

The EL42's are the first OEM tire that I absolutely positively couldn't stand to have any longer than necessary. They were replaced with Michelins (which I love) in 1400 miles. It would have been sooner if the dealer and Acura hadn't screwed around for so long before telling me they couldn't do anything with them.

Mike

 

I just got my Blue TL with camel interior last week. I didn't notice anything noisy about the tires during the first few days, until this morning. At about 90 km/h (Canadian, eh!) I felt some vibration. It went away at other speeds. About 10 minutes later, there was no noise at 90 km/h.

Will the dealer replace the tires for me?

 

Check my older posts on what to do to get new tires. Yes, you may to have go through getting the "new" and just about as lousy EL-42s from Acura, then you trade them for LS-Zs at your local Bridgestone dealer for a minimal cost. The LS-Zs are far far far superior in every way to the EL-42s. Check out the specs on Tirerack.com,