Way off topic: who knows tires???

runrun411

runrun411

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I wanted to get new tires for my 09 Honda Accord so I was talking to the guy at Mavis Discount Tires. This guy is just some tool that's paid to say "oh yeah, that's a good tire". It's like talking to the out of work car salesman who's working in the plumbing department at Home Depot. I'm looking to replace the Michelin Pilot HX M4Ms with a better performance tire. I drive a long commute (about 70 miles one way) and I'm a very spirited driver so my main priority is good grip and handling. What do you recommend?
 
Have you looked at Tire Rack? They don't show a Pilot HX M4M, but they show an HX MX4M. The HX MX4M is in the Grand Touring All Season...I recently looked at 3 tires in that category, the Michelin Premier A/S, Continental PureContact, and the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus. Those seem to be the 3 to pick from, I got the Michelins but I haven't driven on them yet, a friend got the Pirellis and loves them.
 
I have 28 years in the tire business. Are you looking for true performance, or a good performing all season tire? Mostly highway miles or combination. How many miles a year. How important is ride quality? Also what kind of mileage?
If you'll rate these things in order of importance.
 
runrun411 said:
I drive a long commute (about 70 miles one way) and I'm a very spirited driver so my main priority is good grip and handling.
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You can't have both, grip/handling and long wear for your 140 miles round trip. Grip/handling tires are made with softer/stickier components that wear down faster. Long lasting tires are made with "harder" components that last longer. I'd put your Accord in the same category as my wife's Lexus ES 350...built more for comfort than speed. I put some Goodyear Triple Tread Assurance tires on her Lexus about 20,000 miles ago and I'm very happy with them They look like I bought them yesterday and handle surprising very well. I'd buy them again in a heart beat.

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runrun411 said:
I wanted to get new tires for my 09 Honda Accord so I was talking to the guy at Mavis Discount Tires. This guy is just some tool that's paid to say "oh yeah, that's a good tire". It's like talking to the out of work car salesman who's working in the plumbing department at Home Depot. I'm looking to replace the Michelin Pilot HX M4Ms with a better performance tire. I drive a long commute (about 70 miles one way) and I'm a very spirited driver so my main priority is good grip and handling. What do you recommend?
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Hankooks. I love my Ventus V12's on my GC and I tear it up. Best tire on the market for the money. They get great reviews too.
 
Also are you going to run these tires year round or do you have winter tires you run?
 
I'll be running them year round with mostly highway miles. Yes, it'll be nice if they'd last a while but good handling is really important to me. I do over 80 (won't say how much over 80) most days and I need tires up for the job.
 
Spend some time reading tests and reviews on tirerack for ultra performance all seasons.

I can get by with summer tires year round. You probably can't up there. All seasons tend to have softer sidewalls. For a decent handling all season, the Michelin as3 has done well on front on my CTS-V. They are not extreme performance summer tires like the re11 though. They also don't rate too well for snow though which isn't too much of a concern here in north Texas. The new bfg g-force all seasons look promising. I ran their kdws on a grand am and they handled well. My wife's car is a G8 GXP. It currently has cooper rs3A's on it. Softer sidewalls though. They still handle triple digits on a 2 ton sedan though. Moddly enough I had decent luck with Federal 595 tires even in some snow. Not the up most in straight line traction for v8's, but should he fine on an accord. A
For the best, run a set of summer tires and a set or winter tires.
 
Yeah skip my Ventus suggestion, they are Summer hi pro and love the Florida weather.
 
If available in your size I would really suggest the Conti DWS 06 as a very good combination performance and winter capability.
 
Personally, I'd stick with the stock Michelins. Great tire, great wear and great handling. I run the Pilot Sport 2 on my Porsche, you will not find a better tire.
 
WaxMaster1 said:
Personally, I'd stick with the stock Michelins. Great tire, great wear and great handling. I run the Pilot Sport 2 on my Porsche, you will not find a better tire.
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I'd suggest trying the Pilot Super Sport or Bridgestone RE11. Both are better tires. I know I won't go back to ps2's.
 
I currently have Continental Extreme Contact DWS on my S4. Had the Hankook V12's on it before that. The Hankooks are slightly grippier but are terrible in cold weather. The Contis are pretty decent all around tires but not max performance. Personally, I didn't like the Hankooks at all and was glad to get rid of them. They were noisy and wore out much faster than they should have.

And yes, I drive the Contis "over 80" once in a while, too. Like, daily. ;)

I was going to suggest the Pilot Super Sports, as did Octopiston. But I don't think those are all that great in cold weather, either. But they would hands-down be my first choice in warm weather (I have a separate set of winter wheels.. which I highly recommend). I'm only running the Contis now because I got them new with a set of wheels.

You might consider having two sets of wheels/tires, if you can afford it. It's more money up front, but several years down the road you break even because your tires all last twice as long. Get a set of good performance tires for the summer, and a set of snows for the winter. I've been doing that for 15 years and I have long since stopped caring about winter driving conditions. All wheel drive helps a bit, too. :)
 
I think I'd second the Continental DWS's. Since you live in NY and will be running one tire all year, they will probably suit you the best. I have a car running the PureContact and really like them, but they are more of a grand touring tire. When mounted to our humble Mazda hatchback, it does exactly what we need of them very well.
 
I have an 09 Acura TSX, and there is no way I could get by with running an all season all year round. The stock Michelins that came on the car (same tires that your Accord was equipped with) were extremely unimpressive and didn't do anything very well. That, and the $225/each price tag was also unimpressive. I replaced them with Nitto Motivos, which outperformed the Michelins in every way. I got over 50K out of them. I actually thought about purchasing them again, but came across Cooper Zeon RS3As and decided to give them a try. So far, I have about 1000 miles on them and they are doing well.

I drive 70-100 miles a day, and the car has almost 150K on it now. I have an extra set of wheels with General Altimax Arctic for the snow.

Good luck!
 
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