I write this up so others in the same boat can find more information in the future. I have a FWD with 17"s, and these come with Pilot HX MXM4s. The tires were ok when new but after 17K miles, they got really noisy and choppy on broken freeways which we have plenty in Houston.

I started looking for replacement but could not find much information on the new Primacy MXM4s, particularly on 4G TLs. Continental DWS seems to the number 1 recommendation on the forum. I wanted a set that's quiet, comfortable and provides good handling, doesn't have to stick like summer tires but is adequate for normal driving.

The options I was looking at were:

1. Primacy MXM4s. They are not the good'ol Primacy MXV4s. They are supposed to have better handling than the MXV4s while still comfortable, smooth and quiet. On paper, they are the best option for our car, well at least for me since they provide the best of both worlds. The only down side is cost. ~$230 each (give or take, sometimes there is the $70 rebate). I would have just gone with these if the cost weren't so high.

2. Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus. At ~170$ each, it's cheaper and being advertised as comparable to the Primacy. From my research, there are mixed reviews for road noise. Some says they are super quiet, some says very noisy. But most of them agree on smooth and comfortable qualities.

3. Continental DWS. At ~170$ each, they are a great alternative. I had 2 of these tires before on my other car. They did provide smooth and quiet ride but wore too fast and seemed to have balancing issue. I had to take the car to Discount Tire 2, 3 times to get it resolved. I also think since they are high performance all season, they will get louder as they get older.

4. Primacy MXV4s. I know I know, these are "granny" tires but I really want a quiet ride. Problem is they don't come in stock 245/50 size, so I'd have go with 235/55 if I wanted to. With the taller rubber, they should provide a super smooth ride. Down side: big drop in handling department.

That said, I went with the Primacy MXM4s. Discount Tire was able to give me some credits on the Pilots MXM4s so I was able to live with the total cost. I was going to try the Bridgestones since they have 30-day satisfaction guaranty but I figured with the credit they give me, it wasn't worth the time to go back and forth.

500 miles later, I am a lot more happy with the ride. It's significantly quieter and smoother. Even my wife said the same thing. IMO, Acura should stick with these high quality tires on their future vehicles. I know the new RDXs have them.

Hope the info helps others making their decisions.

 

How are the Primacy MXM4 and the Pilot MXM4 compared in terms of dry and wet performances ?

 

It hasn't rained since I got the new tires but the Pilot MXM4s aren't that good on wet conditions anyway, I think the Primacy MXM4s must be better, if not much better.

For dry performance, I feel they are the same. Again, I don't push any of them to their limits but I haven't been able to break loose on either set yet.

One thing that's obvious is the Pilots' sidewall is stiffer than the Primacies. This makes sense because the Pilots are V rated and the Primacies are H rated.

 

Sounds like you got <18k out of your original tires and could be back again in 20k miles for another set.

I'm surprised Discount didn't steer you to the Yokohama 580s. I have been happy with my Yokos and they seem to be wearing well, quiet, and perform reasonably well too. I have about 16k miles on mine now with no issues. After two sets of Michelins and <24k life each tire, I had enough to look to another tire brand. I wish you the best, but don't be surprised if you need a new set in 2 years.

 

Actually, the Pilots were at 9/32 all around when I replaced them. So there was a lot of tread life left on the set. I just couldn't bear the noise any more. Michelin has tread life warranty so they should give you some prorated credit if their tires wear out prematurely, provided you rotate them often.

The Yokos don't come in the stock 17" size. I am sure they would have been suggested them. I personally had bad experience with the Yoko 580s before on my wife's car - always vibrated at 60mph+, after countless numbers of re-balancing, and they replaced 2 out of round with new ones, and still vibrated (got better, but still vibrated), I switched to Primacy MXV4. No more vibrations. I am not bashing Yokohama because I had good experience with the brand before (S-drive, Geolendar).

 

Thanks for the information hadokenuh. I am also considering the Primacy MXM4s when I'm ready to replace my tires. Will likely go that route unless I decide to replace the car before it's time for new tires.

 

Thanks Hadokenuh. I'm interested to hear how you like the Primacys on your TL. I have the Primacy MXMVs on my wife's Camry (16") and the Pilot MXM4s, (17") like you had on my 2010 fwd TL.
The Primacys are super quiet on the Camry (I know it's a totally different car) and we have no issues. Have not used them in the winter. The MXM4 Pilots on my TL are "OK" in many respects but I only have 20 k kms on them (about 12,000 mi.) They seem a little stiff to me but traction is still good. I drove 6 hours through the mountains of W Va. last December in winter storm "Dion" which was the worst road conditions I've seen in many years, and the tires were fine. My only complaint is that they are noisy like you said on some types of pavement. Unfortunately we do not have many options in the oem size. We'll see how they do as they age. I am not a boy racer anymore so I am mostly looking for a quiet ride and good traction in poor weather conditions but I do not accelerate or brake hard nor take corners at high g's. On a side note, I know Yokohamas have a decent reputation but I had one set on my Integra and I will never buy another set of Yokos. They were the worst tires I've ever had on any vehicle.

 

Just want to update on the wet traction. It was raining pretty much whole week last week. The tires performed flawlessly.

The only thing left is to see how they wear and how long they last.

Get these tires for replacement if your budget allows.

 

I have the primacys on my 19's, they came stock with the car. They've performed fine so far, but if I remember correctly they're not as grippy as conti DWS in dry weather. I'm going to try the Hankook ventus s1 noble2 next time I need all seasons, they're highly rated.