OE tsx tires in snow

[road_head]

hey everyone. my mom is looking at getting a TSX but she's concerned about the stock tires in the snow. we're up in buffalo and we can get some serious snow. the tires are the same tires that came on my brother's CL-S 6 speed and they suck in every which way. my question is has anyone experienced a tsx in the snow with the stock tires. thanks.

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by road_head

hey everyone. my mom is looking at getting a TSX but she's concerned about the stock tires in the snow. we're up in buffalo and we can get some serious snow. the tires are the same tires that came on my brother's CL-S 6 speed and they suck in every which way. my question is has anyone experienced a tsx in the snow with the stock tires. thanks.

havent experienced snow yet... just got my tsx in may... im not worried.. even tho michilin tires suck... if your moms worried... get some snow tires just for winter

[road_head]

thanks for the reply. i think that's what she had in mind. she'll probably go with some steelies and snows since the salt and stuff really make a mess out of aluminum rims.

[divinewisdom]

Originally Posted by TSXmike

havent experienced snow yet... just got my tsx in may... im not worried.. even tho michilin tires suck... if your moms worried... get some snow tires just for winter

i wouldnt take the OE tires in snow either.

[road_head]

divinewisdom, you're totally right. the problem my mom & i have now is that we asked a salesman how the car was in the snow and he said it was great, no problems. he claimed that SUV's were off the road and he wasn't. so right there i knew he was full of shit. so she's contemplating getting a different car all together from a different dealer, that's how pissed she is. but thanks anyway.

[divinewisdom]

Originally Posted by road_head

divinewisdom, you're totally right. the problem my mom & i have now is that we asked a salesman how the car was in the snow and he said it was great, no problems. he claimed that SUV's were off the road and he wasn't. so right there i knew he was full of shit. so she's contemplating getting a different car all together from a different dealer, that's how pissed she is. but thanks anyway.

LOL. salesman sucks. i wouldnt even ask them anything, let alone let them sell me the car. you should really look into working with their internet/fleet sales dept. get a quote online, through the dealers website. usually you get way better deals. plus you dont have to deal with the salesman.

[MrChad]

I never had issues with our TSX in the snow on the OEM tires, the VSA is fantastic.

However for our second winter with the car I did spring for a set of 16" alloy rims and 215/55/16 Goodyear snow tires and that was an even better combo.

[AcidLotus]

The OE michelin tires suck. They squeal around corners and do suck in the snow with less than 90% tread life.

[MrChad]

Originally Posted by exciv2000

The OE michelin tires suck. They squeal around corners and do suck in the snow with less than 90% tread life.

I won't ever say they suck. The Mid-Ohio driving uses the OE tires on the TSX OEM rims initially until they wear out at the driving school.

The OEM tires didn't perform much worse then the A-spec Goodyear Eagle GSD3 tires. I've done the driving school program on both types of tires.

You'd be hardpressed to tell any of them apart at speed, even the best z rated road tires squeal.

They'll squeal all day but it takes a good bit before they let go. The simply squeal to keep those that don't know any better from driving the car past it's limits.

[AcidLotus]

uh, no.

[AcidLotus]

uh, no. They still very much suck. Nobody even said the A-Spec tires were any better either.

[MrChad]

Originally Posted by exciv2000

uh, no. They still very much suck. Nobody even said the A-Spec tires were any better either.

I currently have 225-45-17 Pontenza RE050A-pole positions on my Accord. They are very quiet, but they also have a super low tread rating of 140AA!!!

And I know RE050A tire rates very well with the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3.

Having driven the F1's 235-45-17 z-rated back to back with the Pilot's V-rated 215-50-17 , I can tell you for a V-rated the tire the Pilot does very well. Yes, the pilot do yell at the higher speeds but the point at which they let go is very good. It's also a predictable tire. Road tires are designed to squeal long before they let go.

The pilots didn't really have much complaint at 90mph track speeds either, they brake and held corners very well, yes they had noise the entire time. It wasn't that much worse then the Eagle F1 which has been one of the highest rated tires of recent BTW.

For a V-rated tire to hang well with a Z-rated tire I would say that's a very well made tire. And the tread on our Pilots looks very good after almost 25,000mi. I doubt I've ever had a Potenza or any Z-rated tire last much past that point given their design.

[AcidLotus]

That's all fine and dandy but you're not going to convince me or anyone else who thinks that they suck otherwise, and believe me, there are a lot of people who think these tires suck.

[MrChad]

Originally Posted by exciv2000

That's all fine and dandy but you're not going to convince me or anyone else who thinks that they suck otherwise, and believe me, there are a lot of people who think these tires suck.

What tire are you running instead?

I have heard a lot of people complain this is the worst tire ever made, yet everyone seems to run them until they are worn out? Must not be so bad then.

This is hands down a fantastic V-rated tire, which is an ideal year round performance tire. My only other experience with a V-rated performance tire was the Potenza RE92 on the prior gen Lude and the TSX pilots are a much better tire in every way. If you also look at the specifications for this tire and closely compare them to other tires of similiar size the Pilot usually rates superior in terms of tread life, road noise, tempreture rating. It's an impressively spec'd tire.

V-rated tires make concessions in 2 areas. 1st the tread pattern is usually designed to perform well in light to moderate snow, so the tire will have lots of small sips in the tread to hold and mantain snow in the tread for traction on said snow. This can manifest as tread squirm noise in the dry. 2nd the tire will run a slightly harder compound for better EPA fuel mileage, it's a lower rolling resistance tire in effect.

You can likely upgrade to very grippy tire like the Goodyear Eagle F1-DSG3. However, you will likely need to find a wider rim 7.5" vs 7" OEM so you can run a larger 235-45-17 tire size. 215-50-17, has a limited choice of premium tires with the needed sidewall rating for the weight of the TSX. Second, you will be penalized in fuel economy and likely be forced to own a second set of tires as most optimum Z-rated tires are 3 season only rubber.

I don't really see tire squeal as a reason to down rate the Pilot-V as you can still push these tires well past the squeal point with good adhesion. I've run some of the other so called bargain brand tires. Yokohama makes several types of Z-rated tires that will fit the TSX. That said, I've found most run into a huge tread noise issue about half worn. The noise is so unbearable I was forced to buy new tires to hear myself think. You'll find the Parada and ES100 series tires in this catagory.

Kumho is another brand many love to recommend for the price as well. I've had a few sets, balancing and remaining balanced was an issue, with my last and final set suffering a tread uniformity issue I've never seen on any other tire. I think I'll avoid Korean tires for the short term until the QC improves.

With that said I'll stick with the major OEM tire brands for now.

Aside from a tire squeal approaching the 8/10th mark the Pilot V have performed very well in deed. Even with track use, which I'm sure a very small sub set of users could ever comment about.

[AcidLotus]

You don't seem to understand. They suck! Point blank period. Stop rationalizing them to yourself, as everyone already knows they suck except you.