KeithL

So when I got my TLX SH-AWD Advance I was disappointed with Acura's move away from Michelin. I am sure 3 factors played into this, first was surely cost, the a combination of MPGs and ride comfort. With the move away from DWB suspension and to pure struts combined with lighter car I feel that sets up for a firmer ride. To appeal to the mainstream using more comfort oriented tires that are very quiet and cheap I suspect was a driving factor. Unfortunately the selection of the Goodyear LS2 is a huge let down in the handling department. Not only did I find the stock tires handled poorly I felt they were somewhat unsafe in the rain where I never felt the car was in good contact with the road.

I decided it was worth it to dump the stock tires and get something better. My thre choices were Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3, General GMAX AS-03, or the Continental DWS 06. I had owned both the Michelin and two sets of the General before and the Continetal was a favorite of many on the Audi World forums.

I owned the Generals on my Infiniti M37S and also put them on my Audi. These are really awesome tires in the rain, never once in over 35K miles ever hydroplaning. The sidewalks are a bit soft and the tires tend to roll a bit into hard turns, but the one real downside to,these tires is they are noisy. The Infiniti has poor sound deadening so they wer very pronounced, the Audi was better but you still knew they were there. For the money they are great tires if you are ok with the noise.

I had out the Michelins on my A6 when new because I upgraded to 20 inch wheels/tires. The Michelins are amazing tires, probably best I ever owned. The Sidewall was a great combination of handling and comfort. Tires were dead quiet and handled well to the extremes both in wet and dry. The only two downfalls to the Michelin are, price (they run very expensive compared to the other two) and they wore out in 17K miles! Others complained of same low tread life. I actually got more miles out of the stock summer tires on my Infiniti than th Michelin All Seasons on the Audi.

I selected the Continental DWS 06 because the previous DWS were highly regarded and well reviewed and the DWS06 were supposed to be better by improving on the original. So far I have 1800 miles on them and must say these tires are great. They are Z rated so the sidewall is firm. I also run the tires about 4psi high, but I find that provides a great sporty yet comfortable ride. These tires transformed the car into a car that I now feel totally safe and secure in wet or dry conditions. With the monsoon like rain we have had here in ATL last few days the car always felt planted and heavy rain was no problem. Only once when driving fast through a large section of standing water did the car even hint at hydroplaning. It plowed through sheets of running water on the roads without issue. The dry handling is top notch. The ride is noticeably firmer than stock tires, but well within acceptable ranges and far more comfortable than the 4G AWD ride. These tires were far less expensive than the Michelins and a little more than the Generals, but I think overall I will take these every time. Assuming the phone get decent tread life I have found my new favors tire. The Michelins were a bit more comfortatabe, but I suspect I would go through 2 sets of Michelins vs. one set of the Continetals.

For those of you looking for an alternative to the sub par stock tires these will not dissapoint.

hadokenuh

Thanks for the awesome review.

Can you comment on the noise between the AS3 and DWS06?

Did you also look at the Pirelli Cinturato P7 AS Plus? It seems to get great reviews as well.

KeithL

Did not look at the Pirellis. From memory I would say the AS3 was a little quieter than the DWS06, but I may be splitting hairs. Both the DWS 06 and the AS3 has a asymmetric bidirectional pattern which is what helps keep the noise down. The General's unidirectional pattern is what makes it noisy. To me if you are not concerned with tread life the Michelins ar the one to get. If you want a slight sportier, tad firmer ride the DWS 06 is the answer. Go to TireRack and you will see the three tires I revised are among the top in the UHP ratings.

weather

KeithL...Thanks for taking the time to provide other TLX owners, some useful information to help transform the ride of their TLX. I am sure that many aren't overly pleased with the stock tires.

hadokenuh

Thanks! This is exactly what I am looking for. I actually put the AS3s on my dad's 3G TL a couple of months ago. They are quiet and handle well. Tread life is yet to be observed but with the tread life warranty, I hope it won't be too bad at the end of the day. I am happy to get 30K miles out of them.

I am debating among the Pirelli P7, AS3, and DWS06 for the 19"s on my 4G. I think I am gonna go with the P7 because of its smooth/quiet ride that everyone is talking about.

TERRY A KHAN

hadoenuh,
After the first 10,000 mile the AS3 became extremely loud on 2011 RL. The noise destroyed the the quietness of the RL.
Replaced with the P7 now at 10,000 miles and the noise level is extremely good and quiet.
However, the AS3 is a bit sharper in handling and road grip, this is the only trade off I can find.
At the same time this may not be the case with your Acura since the drive system may differ.
Only if the AS3 could hold it's quietness like the previous Pilot Sport AS.

hadokenuh

Hey thanks for your input. That's disappointing to hear regarding the AS3. But again thanks for reassuring my decision on the P7.

Great thread with valuable information!

NoTrace

Has anyone had any experience with the relatively new BFGoodrich g-Force COMP-2 A/S? TireRack reviews (both consumer and TireRack themselves) put it at top choice for the UHP segment. I'm really debating getting it at some point.
Also wondering about how significant is the difference between UHP and Grand Touring. I'm not going racing, but good handling, traction are obviously important. Smooth ride and noise levels are also becoming factors for me these days.. I don't see any solid choices in the GT segment though.

KeithL

I'm surprised, my AS3 were fairly quiet right down to 4/32 at 17K miles. It was just tread-life that made me dump them.

smarty666

Question regarding All Season Grand Touring Tires. These are some tires that can replace the OEM Goodyears. Any recommendations on what one you think would be better if you want to go the Grand Touring route for replacement tires?

Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus
Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus
Continental Purecontact with Ecoplus
Goodyear Assurance Comfortred Touring
Michelin Premier A/S
Michelin Primacy MXM4
Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus

KeithL

It really depends on what you want to accomplish. But from your list I have strong bias toward Michelin and Continental.

Nexx

99.5% of TLX owners are just fine with the stock tires. the 0.5% who make up the a small portion of the enthusiasts are thrilled with them.

KeithL

I agree, but I also think real enthusiasts are not, some consider them enthusiasts, but I think those that are true car people into the ride and handling may be living with them, but not happy. Others if they experienced something better would realize what they were missing out on. But true, 99% of owners are just using the car for transportation. Even some average owners if they drove a TLX with better tires might realize it as well, ignorance is bliss.

Charlieu

I'm one of those that are "living with them". I have the Bridgestone Potenzas on my car. I think they are a little light on grip and a little heavy on road noise. They track well at high speeds and do okay on wet roads. They are like a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Tastes good, but not very exciting. As in the past with all my Japanese cars, Bridgestones will not be on my car after these wear out.

KeithL

I think the Potenzas are a huge improvement over the Goodyears, I had Potenzas on my old 2004 3G TL

HondaOwnerForLife

DWS06 235/50/18's when the GY LS2's are low enough in read life to justify it, so I'm thinking 7/32nd's?? I just can't get from the SHAWD what it can give with the Goodyears...

rocket_pup

I would have been fine with them too if they didn't break traction so easily if you stepped "too hard" on the gas. What good is it to have 290 bhp if you can't transmit it to the ground? Also, the Potenza's have mushy cornering, but they are pretty quiet and have a good quality ride and seem to have reasonable tread wear.

rocket_pup

I recently put on a set of Conti's DWS06 (245-40 R19) also. These are a night and day difference over the the Bridgestones!

I was considering the summer version (DW), but the DWS06 is rated better in grip and tread life so I opted for these. Wet grip is like you're always driving on dry pavement. There's more bite at a standing stop, and it's hard now to break the tires loose at a stop light. The side walls are more firm (going from a 50 sidewall to a 40) but it's not like your cornering on rails. (I may upgrade to Eibach Pro-Kit springs next year.)

I'm still breaking them in (>500 mi), but they don't seem to transmit a lot of road noise.

joneswood

I had the Conti's on my M35X. They were a total game changer. I will ride out the stock tires on my TLX for a while, but will get the Conti's in the near future. Will either due the Conti upgrade or add remote start. Wonder which is the better bang for the immediate buck?

rocket_pup

I would say the Conti Extreme Contact DWS 06. (I personally would not get remote start unless I lived in a colder climate that would require me to warm up the car.)

youngTL

If I was getting pure summer tires, what should I get? I want something that runs quiet but is also grippy. I'm not super concerned about tread life (although 10k would be too short, lol).

I have a set of dedicated winters so something directly for summer would be nice as opposed to an all-season.

rgpolson

I put a set of 19" Conti ExtremeCOntact DW on my sh-awd. I also had a set on my 2009 TSX. Love the tires. Very grippy, good ride, and no noticeable increase in noise level.

rgpolson

Look nice too:

MikeM95831

I put some General AltiMAX on my Maxima in October or so, and they have been great. Just got our 2.4 Tech less than 2 weeks ago, and wish I had negotiated for a set of these tires. Go check the Tire Rack reviews, these are near the top. Plus, 700 AA. They seem like a bargain to me. Under $110 each.

tm602502

Thanks guys! Greetings from a fellow Atlantan!

I know it is an old post - just navigated here via Google. I recently bought a used 15 TLX Advance from CarMax, and there are crappy "Ironman" tires on it. I've installed Continental ContiProContact, General Altimax RT43, Sumitomo HTR/02 in the past, and I had no clue about what would be the best ones for TLX. At least now we know DWS06 is pretty solid for TLX. Kudos for all of you.

Vteck_10

Nice wheels. Lighter wheel upgrade is a plus. Make the car lighter and more responsive. Your wheel/tire combo is pretty light at 45lbs. My 19 inch Volk racing weight 18.5lbs. With tire, I was at 46.5 lbs. I went with Michelin A/S 3 + at 245/40. What is your tire size?
The A-spec wheels are good looking, Just wish it was lighter. But nice upgrade to your A-spec from your 15. I still have mine. Waiting on the Type-S to upgrade. Still on the fence about the new grill (too big). Will wait and see.

Christopher.

Hmm, in other threads guys are all about the Michelin A/S 3+ tires - I wish I could see more opinions from people who've owned both those and the Contis.

It'll be time for me to get new tires before too long - I have the "OK"-ish Potenzas, not the Goodyears that people are hating on so much.

Strange to hear the Goodyears are so bad, I remember having Goodyear Eagle LS on my VW Golf GTi years ago and they were nice and grippy - I just wore them out pretty fast because they were fairly soft tires.

I drive with Traction Control off to fully appreciate the power that the V6 can deliver (it's honestly almost like owning a different car, between driving with it on vs off) and I have a Sprint Booster which a gentleman on another TLX forum was nice enough to give me because I was hating how slow the throttle response felt. So, I know the Sprint Booster doesn't make the throttle respond FASTER, but, I have gotten used to having it on in "red" mode all the time, I I don't think I'll take it off, but, really turning off Traction Control has fixed almost everything I felt was "wrong" with the TLX lack of responsiveness to driver input.

So, I'm not taking my TLX to "track days", but I am a "driving enthusiast" and I do experience my tires losing grip occasionally (usually it's intentional, just for fun) so I'm looking for a tire that will upgrade my driving experience, give me a little more grip off the line, but not wear out super fast. Which ones should I get?

ultrapogi

I have owed both that A/S 3+ and the continental DWS 06. I felt the continentals were quieter, smoother, and better grip. I had the Michelin on my old 15 TLX AWD. And they lasted about 35,000 miles. I sold my rims with the contis at about 13,000 miles on the 18 TLX AWD and they only went down from 9/32” to 8/32”. The tread still looked new. So I assume they would last longer because they are also rated for better tread wear. I was sad to seem them go. The grip was insane especially in dry conditions. It was kinda hard to get them to break loose and slide. Really good rain and light-medium snow traction too. I hope that helps from my experience.

Christopher.

Yeah, thanks - I had read so many people saying basically "get the A/S 3+" until I stumbled on this thread tonight.

Seems like either set (A/S 3+ or Conti DWS 06) will feel like an upgrade to my Potenzas?

I wonder if they have similar sidewall stability? I've never driven/owned a sports car with really low profile tires to know the difference, but, the 18" wheels on my TLX are still a step up over previous cars like my old Camry w/15" or the Toyota Sienna that I traded in to get the TLX... I did have the VW GTi, but that was quite a while ago.

After upgrading the tires, my next step would probably be brake pads with a harder bite. I have to convince myself not to trade in my TLX to get the Civic Type R... If only the R was $30K instead of $37K, it would be an easy decision to go ahead and do it. But, currently, I need to sell myself on the enhanced quiet + comfort + driver assist features of my car and keep it since the price of the R when added on to the loss I would eat on the TLX is too much at the moment...

dezymond

Both those tires would be a significant upgrade over the garbage stock tires. Have had the A/S 3+ for the past year and a half and am still very happy with them. Have roughly 23,000 miles on these tires and they're still as quiet as they were day one. By 10,000 miles those Potenzas were making significantly more noise than when I drove the car off the lot. Pretty disappointing tire choice by Acura, only they out did themselves by putting an even worse tire on the 4cyl TLX.

Also, don't even begin to compare your TLX and a CTR, not even in the same realm.

Christopher.

Well, I have a question about that - I guess the Potenzas that come on the 3.5L V6 P-AWS TLX are the "97", but the "98" Potenzas are actually equal, or even superior to, both the A/S 3+ and the Contis in all areas except SNOW traction (according to the tirerack.com review) - so, are the 97s really "trash" compared to the 98, or, are you specifically referring to the hated SH-AWD stock tires? I spent a brief while trying to find answers about what exactly is different between the 97 and 98, but no luck so far digging up relevant info...

EDIT: Hmm, I guess you also had the 97 Potenzas, since you're saying that's what yours had stock - I'm over 20,000 miles and I only notice the noise on certain types of concrete roads. It is a little annoying, since one of the big draws of paying a premium price for a car like the TLX is the peaceful quiet interior.

Why, what's so bad about the CTR? I mean, sure there's more road noise, less features, and a less comfortable ride, but from what I've seen it seems like a fairly decent car as a "daily driver" regardless and I'm willing to make those sacrifices for the superior power to weight ratio and improved handling. I suppose the CTR is more ideal for either the younger guy without kids + long road trips, or, the guy who can afford it as his "second car"? I can't, at this time, afford to buy one as a second (well, third, since my wife also has a car) "just for fun" car, but I'd like to own a car that was that much fun to drive, before I get too old to enjoy it. (I just turned 50 this summer)

From my perspective, once I've punched the throttle, or, taken a turn hard, [in the CTR] I'll completely forget the garish appearance and the lack of "luxury" because I really do thoroughly enjoy "spirited driving". I just wish we didn't have these damn speed limits that we do here in the USA. I'd gladly give up gun rights in exchange for having the speed limits removed, and, there would be less deaths overall! A win-win!

dezymond

Yes I had the "97" Potenza on them and they were not a very good tire imo. I haven't had much confidence in Bridgestone the past couple years for "everyday" tires and don't own a sporty enough car for their higher rated lines.

As for comparison between the two, there is nothing wrong with the CTR at all. I'm just saying comparing a TLX to a CTR isn't a realistic comparison, it's apple to oranges imo. You're comparing a car made for the masses for good fuel economy, comfort, daily driving, and luxury versus a car that was made in limited quantities and is concentrated on performance. Yes Acura's marketing for the TLX is "sport" oriented, but they missed the mark and badly too (no performance car would come with eco-tires from the factory, shouldn't even be a thought). The TLX has a good reliable engine, paired with a shotty transmission (Yes I have seen your posts about how to make the TLX perform better, but I'm comparing out of the box for both.) versus the CTR with arguably one of the best manual transmissions on the market, something Honda has always done well. When comparing two different classes of cars you're always going to point out what you want out of each car (you want the TLX to be more sporty, but you want the CTR to be more quiet. If you want the best of both worlds you're talking euro performance territory.) So again, apples to oranges.

And if you really enjoy spirited driving, you kinda chose the wrong car from the start. For TLX money, you could've gotten some really good "spirited" cars for the same price, albeit through the used market.

Christopher.

So - you're right on pretty much all those points, but, there are mitigating factors: this is my one car, not an "extra" car. Most of the time I'm driving around town, doing errands, taking the kids somewhere - and, I also spend a fair amount of time on long road trips with the kids. So, although I would really love the thrill of pushing the CTR hard on back roads, that's only a very small portion of the overall use I would get out of it. Yes, the CTR is "good enough" to satisfy me from a "daily driver" perspective but in that regard, the TLX really shines (from a sedan perspective - a minivan would do even better as a family vehicle + road trip machine). So, to me in particular, the CTR and the 3.5L V6 TLX are actually both quite competitive choices, though yes, they have different strengths. I once bought a V8 Formula Firebird for $150, so I'm thinking perhaps I could scratch my itch to get a visceral thrill from driving for cheaper than the price of a CTR, but keep my TLX for it's strengths, which one cannot by for such a cheap price...

I currently have on loan, while my TLX is in the shop, a 2018 3.5L V6 SH-AWD Asepc TLX w/only 300 miles on it. This is very nice for me, though I would have vastly prefered to have a CTR to borrow - I was quite curious as to how different the SH-AWD and Aspec versions would feel compared to my P-AWS/non-Aspec version.

Fresh from the dealer, without many miles yet, this new SH-AWD Aspec actually feels relatively sedate compared to mine which I've been driving for a couple years - I think the car really does change significantly as it "learns" your driving habits. And, perhaps I appreciate the Sprint Booster more than I realized (I have it in mine, but not in this loaner).

Garythegreat

You have got to be kidding! Lack of knowledge must be bliss. Go to Tirerack and check out how terrible the stock Goodyears are. Esp if you get snow. I swapped them out my past 2 TLXs right away . Premium tires can transform your ownership experience and reveal the full potential of the car.

Garythegreat

i went with the Mich Premier. They were good, not super, at everthing, incl light snow. You would be happy with them. However i did not repeat since the treadlife was much shorter than expected . Still a great all around replacement for OEM .

Pocketman

I just "upgraded" from a 2017 TLX to a 2020, both 4cyl FWD Tech. Both cars equipped with stock Goodyear Eagle LS-2. I didn't notice any problems with the 2017. Yesterday, wife and I were running errands and I thought, "crap, these tires are noisy." As we pulled into the driveway, my wife said "this car is quieter than your other one." For most of us, tires can be somewhat subjective. Perhaps the 2017 was noisier than I remember?

I see there are are reasonable alternatives. Among others, TireRack recommends the Vredestein Quatrac Pro. I've never heard of Vredestein. I do not want to mess up the handling or create a harsher ride, but I would like to reduce the road noise. Thoughts?

Garythegreat

---------
They are a Dutch based, India owned company that seems to get good ratings. Although fairly rare in N America and hence not that many miles on them in the reviews. You have hopefully checked the various US and Canada review sites for noise and handling comments when driven on similar vehicles. However it is very important to get some comments from someone with significant treadwear since a good tire can become loud or less grippy with even modest tread loss. That is why I went to the Premier on my first TLX. I have since switched from All Season to All Weather (Toyo Crossover) so I dont have the hassle of changing tires twice a year and so far all is good, except for initial cost and treadlife. The tread on the Vredestein looks like it should be good in modest snow. If that is also important to you, look for a review that covers snow performance.