Eddie916

For the 07 TL Type S.
Is it really noticable?
What are the tires they use standard, and for the HPT?
What are the ratings on both?
What do you all suggest?

Eddie916

Anyone?

csmeance

tires can make all the difference, the High perfromance ones are the following:
P235/45 R17 94W Bridgestone® Potenza RE 960A
and the standard TL-S comes with michelin MXM4's.
The HPT are much more stickier and have more traction on the road. This reduces wheel spin and gives you the most power to the road. Also the tires help you with cornering, soft sidewall and the corners isn't as stable. But the sport tires have somewhat of a stiffer sidewall, helping with cornering, and the added traction keeps the car from sliding.

Eddie916

How long do the standard tires, and the sports last?
Is it worth the $200 difference?

pettydw

The all season tires probably last 1.5X-2X longer. The summer only tires ride harsher and are a bit noiser than the all season, enough so that my wife noticed the difference during test drives.

The TL with all season tires still has rather high limits on the street. The difference would be most noticeable at an autocross, dragstrip, or race track.

shooter

It's tough to tell since I've only rode on the HPT so far, so no telling what's the difference for a type-s on a regular tire. However, I did test drive the regular Tl with regular tires and the cornering with type-s HPT is better IMO.

If you don't push it to the limit all the time, then the HPT should last about 2 or 2 1/2 yrs (?). I plan to change to the regular tires since I don't have that many chances to really race this beast here in the conjested bay area hwys.

JD TL-S

iTrader: (1)

You WILL notice a difference. More of a difference when you go back to all season. Once you get use to the performance tires, if you change to an all season the rear sways more and spins the tires much easier. When I put Potenza RE-050A 245/40/18" ON MY 07 TL-S the tire spin went away, and I could fly around corners. I didn't notice alot until I took them off. OH MY. IMHO

BlkonBlkAc

I have the MXM4's...I absolutely hate them. They are exactly one year old (17,00mi) and they only have about 3,000mi of tread left. I am a spirited driver so I understand that they will not last as long due to my driving habits but I can feel that the TL would have so much more potential with a better tire. She wants to grip around the corners but the damn MXM4's just start letting go. I must say though, they were fairly confident in the snow.

I would go with the high perf tire if I could go back.

Yakuza70

I just bought new tires because the MXM4s were horrible. I could get them to spin when starting from stop signs pretty easily just on normal starts on dry pavement! Wet traction wasn't very impressive either. They lasted about 25,000 miles although they probably could have gone another 5,000 or so.

After a lot of research, the replacement tires came down to two choices for me: Bridgestone RE960 A/S and the Yokohama ADVAN S.4s. Both ratings on tirerack are very similar but I ended up getting the Yokohamas.

The ride is much improved over the MXM4s, especially in handling. The ride is a bit stiffer but the steering is more precise and gives a sense of confidence and security. The Yokohamas are also significantly quieter on the road. I haven't driven in the rain yet but I would expect the grip to be much better too.

Since the Bridgestone option is only $200 extra, I think it's well worth it. If you were to buy four RE960s on your own, you'd pay about $165 a piece.

avs007

For an all-season tire, the MXM4 are actually pretty crappy. I get much better performance out of other All/Season tires I've ran such as Michelin Pilot Sport All/Season and Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position.

I'm surprised you found the MXM4 confident in the snow... I found them to be horrible... My wife got stuck several times in the snow with them... Even my RWD G35 wearing Michelin Pilot Sport All/Season tires did not pose any problems to me... For example, my G35 wearing the Pilot Sport All/Season, made it up my driveway just fine, just needed to feather the gas.... The TL.... I actually had to shovel the snow off the driveway first... On my first attempt up the driveway I almost took out all my sidewalk lights. Even with a running start, I couldn't get the car up the driveway... I suppose the G35 had an easier time becuase it was getting better traction because it wasn't trying to pull up hill......

But my wife got stranded on the hill going up to our house. I had to go rescue her... She kept sliding all over the place even with TCS off. She noticed that when I picked her up in my Pontiac Grand Prix, she noticed that I didn't slide off the road once, and did not get stuck on the hill, even when I had to come to a complete stop... Even though her tires at the time still had more than half the treads left, she wanted new tires... She wanted Continental ContiExtremeContact tires, which is what I was running on my Pontiac, becuase how confident the were in the snow (even tho they were actually almost worn out at the time). I would have gotten them for our TL, but someone said they were discontinued, so I got the Potenza RE960AS instead. (Mostly becuase I wanted to try them out, becuase I was interested in getting them for my G35 because of the treadware warranty) Wife loves them tho. She says the handling is like night and day from the MXM4, and bunches quieter, suprisingly....

On a side note, that day when my wife got stuck, I was behind her in traffic, and actually passed her when she got stuck on the side of the street without realizing it... I remember that day I actually passed several 3G TLs on my way up the hill. When I went back to rescue her, I noticed several current gen Accords were stuck too. I found it odd that I found so many Accords/TLs stuck on the side of the road and not other cars. That's how I concluded that the MXM4 and Energy MXV4 Plus tires are garbage tires in the snow.

I know some said they got worse gas mileage with the RE960AS. Perhaps its because they are stickier than the MXM4, so that's why... In my G35, I replaced my Pilot Sport A/S with the RE960AS, and my fuel economy actually improved by about 0.5 to 1.0 mpg. My wife said that she actually hasn't noticed any fuel economy differences since I got her RE960AS for her TL.

avs007

I should also note that even if you don't take high speed corners etc, accelerate hard, etc, that high performance tires are still benaficial... They are, because of braking performance.

The better the traction a tire has, the better the traction available for faster stops... You'll notice if you install K-Mart special tires, your brakes will feel like they are busted and your car will feel floaty in panic stop situations...

(I had my inlaws install K-Mart special tires on my other car, when I was out of town on an extended business trip, and they borrowed my car, and got a flat)

Needless to say, I tossed those tires after a few days, and got new tires.... (Wife got mad, said that I would hurt her parents feelings....)

Bearcat94

The stock Michelin's have always had poor wear; even when they came on the 2G TL-S. I don't think they are a bad tire per se, just over-priced in their "peer group".

Once these stockers wear out, I'm gonna try the RE960 Pole Positions. I'd really like to run a Summer Tire - the weather is good enough pretty much year round - but the low treadwear ratings scare me off. Toyo TR1's and GoodYear Eagle F1's have a really agressive tread design and I'd like the performance, but am not willing to buy new tires twice as often.

If I wanted to do that, I could just stick with MXM4's.

lusid

MXM4 -

Snow = bad, rain = bad, dry = average to above average in most cases.

I live in MN, and I would not count my life on the mxm4's.

jtkoo7

Take a look at what tire rack has to say. btw it's way cheaper than any tire dealer, but it will cost you an extra $100 to get the tires mounted on the wheels.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...n&startIndex=0

Bearcat94

^^

Link is "dead" for me - an error message at Tire Rack saying, basically, start over and select a vehicle.

dug-mac

I had these Michelin MXM4's on my 2G TL-S. My overall assessment is that these tires are disappointing. When new they perform adequately for a tire in their Grand Touring class. My issue with them is what happens to their performance as they begin to wear. At about only 15-20K that "adequate" performance becomes lacking, with grip that could only be described as poor and a harshness that transmits every bump and crevice to the seat of your pants. Performance in rain is worse than poor and in snow they are average, in my opinion. On the plus side they excel in uniformity, which means you're in for a very smooth roll out past 100mph (but handling characteristics are scary with these tires at that speed). I believe the reason that so many manufacturers spec these as OE is that the Michelin name sells (and Michelin hopes that you will then feel compelled to replace them with this same overpriced tire since that is what the manufacturer "recommends").

These are my experiences with these tires. As with anything else automotive - YMMV...

antlive

I just purchased my car and I find these tires horrible.. they slide and make a lot of noise. I never did like Michelin. Every Michelin tire I ever had, I could find a better tire. I will be getting new tires soon, maybe I'll get the new Toyo versados if they have them in this size. I recenctly put them on my 01 TL, RIP, and they were great.

jtkoo7

sorry about the link. Anyway, there is a big difference if you get the better tires.

ARX-01b

iTrader: (1)

Mine only last 9 months

S PAW 1

I had the Michelin Pilot A/S's on my '05 TL 6MT and they were great. When I purchased my '07 TL-S, I had the dealer switch out the MXM4's for the Pilot A/S's before taking delivery.
By the way, if anybody wants 4 brand new MXM4's, I've got them for sale under the private sales string.
$650 or best offer. Central Ohio region.