Topic: Mango's 2012 Acura TL SH-AWD Elite

[Julie]

Oh, I'm going for 245s, brotha. Those skinny tires will look terrible IMO.

I put 255s Xice on the MDX (whatever the stock width is) last year and it just plows through snow, slush, ice, anything. The SH-AWD is unstoppable and made the system on my WRX look like a POS.

Xice are REALLY good but are CRAZY soft. If will really affect the handling if your TL if you have sporty pretensions FWIW. Marshmallow land.

We had the original XIce on the Camry and they were unstoppable. I have been researching winter tires for the miatas. The XIce2/3 are popular on that forum, and what Vmango said is exactly what they say as well.

[mmret]

I am torn between feedback of forum regulars vs the TireRack survey.

[Julie]

Go for it. That's what I bought for the M3. Terrific winter tire, IMO.

Interesting. How is the dropoff on dry roads? I'm sure its noticeable but is it soft enough to be annoying?

RE LM60 vs XI3 -- true for the category but based on the TR survey (assuming they are comparable between classes) the XI3 scores better on dry weather handling too. Looking at the tread compound they "seem" more similar to each other than either is to the Wintersports or Pilot Alpins (or even some of the Pirelli Sottozero stuff). *shrug* maybe I'll as my tire dealer guy.

EDIT: links to surveys

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=X-Ice+Xi3&partnum=445HR8XI3XL&wTire=8&autoMake=Acura&autoYear=2013&autoModel=TL+SH-AWD&autoModClar=with+Technology+Package&snowSortCode=16485&sortSize=18&wtpackage=true&tab=Survey
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+LM-60&partnum=445HR8LM60XL&wTire=2&autoMake=Acura&autoYear=2013&autoModel=TL+SH-AWD&autoModClar=with+Technology+Package&snowSortCode=16485&sortSize=18&wtpackage=true&tab=Survey

I don't think the two categories (winter vs performance winter) are comparable. The tires are ranked according to how they compare to the highest scoring in each category, and each category's highest score is different (8.5 vs. 8.9)

[Julie]

I am torn between feedback of forum regulars vs the TireRack survey.

This dates back to 2011, but APA classified them in separate categories, and both came out among the best in their respective categories. They have good comments as well - check it out: http://www.apa.ca/tire_wintertireratings.asp

Direct links:

Regular winters: http://www.apa.ca/WinterTires2011-PassengerCars.asp (It was the XIce2 at the time.)

Performance winters: http://www.apa.ca/WinterTires2011-Performance.asp

[mmret]

Yeah you're probably right. People are most likely responding to the survey relative to the thing's performance category.


I am now intrigued by the Sottozeros though. The tread pattern just looks so sexy.

[Julie]

Yeah you're probably right. People are most likely responding to the survey relative to the thing's performance category.


I am now intrigued by the Sottozeros though. The tread pattern just looks so sexy.

I like those too. They scored well on the APA tests. See link I just posted.

[mmret]

I think on the family cruiser carrying the kid you go with the crazy safe, crazy good Xice.

Yeah the trick is that this is my sporty DD for now and in ~2 years it will be the family mule. I will have Wintersports on the Z4 when that rolls around. Meh. Maybe flip a coin. My wife likes sportier tires too.




Just get the Sport Editions. What's the downside?

[Northernridge]

That's not my car...well my car but not my car. I'm shopping for winters and came across this dude in the Acura forums and thought his car looked clean. It's like 1 in 50 finding rims that look good on the TL. I think less is more in terms of wheels on the TL.

I'm torn between aftermarket and just finding some stock TL 18s for winter. I like my current 19s enough that I'm not so sure I want to buy summer 19s and use them for winter.

I can't handle steelies - to each their own but I want to roll with relative good looks (insert TL joke here) for 5 months.

These kinda emulate my stock 19s but are reasonably priced 18s...thoughts?

These ones will look good on the TL. However, any black wheels in winter will take on the look of steelies when rolling so I'd go with silver wheels in winter. As a flyer, what do you think of white wheels with maybe black rim trim? White on white in winter...You'd be a blizzard. 

Your car has quite a bit of mass so I'd avoid any 5-spokes that are too spindly...slightly beefier spokes or at least tapered outward not inward like those pictured above.

[quadzilla]

I think on the family cruiser carrying the kid you go with the crazy safe, crazy good Xice.

Yeah the trick is that this is my sporty DD for now and in ~2 years it will be the family mule. I will have Wintersports on the Z4 when that rolls around. Meh. Maybe flip a coin. My wife likes sportier tires too.

Just get the Sport Editions. What's the downside?

I think you have to be honest with yourself about where you drive in the winter. If you stay in town 99% of the time, a very sporty tire will be great but if you spend every weekend up in snow country, you might want to give up some sporty feel for better snow traction.

When I had my Mazda6 I went for more snow vs sport one year and hated them. The marshmallow ride drove me crazy every time that I had to sell them and replaced them with a sportier tire.

The biggest problem with tires is you can only go by reviews and then hope you made the right choice.

[mmret]

I am torn between feedback of forum regulars vs the TireRack survey.

At the end of the day it's your call but I've driven on both Xice and wintersports for years. I think on the family cruiser carrying the kid you go with the crazy safe, crazy good Xice. They're on the MDX for that reason. For my sporty personal ride it HAS to be a winter sports tire. Considering we only get a big dump a handful of times and the rest of the winter is dry or rainy....I want that bare road handling.

Seriously, I never slid around with the WRX, even in the big dumps.

I dunno.  The Xice has gotten much better over the years in terms of remedying some of the sponginess plaguing the first gen.  I don't buy winter tires for cold weather traction or even necessarily snow traction.  My primary concern is ice traction, which is why I would prioritize the Xice even for the TL.  I found the latest generation Xice quite livable on my Mustang GT.  I mean, really, we are talking about December through March, a mere four months, at least some of which demands less spirited driving.  Even if dry handling is compromised, it is not for very long.  Plus, the reinstallation of your summer rubber in early April makes you feel like you just modded the car.

XIce on a Mustang GT! That is intriguing.

[Weels]

These ones will look good on the TL. However, any black wheels in winter will take on the look of steelies when rolling

Want to buy my steelies ??

Nah, i disagree with the steelie comment.  Anything looks better than this....ok,, anything this dirty will look like hell,  but will never buy steelies again



I think those Andros would look great esp on a white car.  I'd be looking for dark rims for sure.

[Julie]

Well, I think I'm going to listen to my heart on this one.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHCq983d2Ik

Good call, whatever it is. You want to smile every time you walk to your car... and every time you walk about from it.

[aquadorhj]

even though i kinda like the steelies, i think it would be kinda bad ruining the clean look of your TL..

get some nice silver 5 spokes!!

[mmret]

I am about to pull the trigger on the same or very similar package. Just trying to decide on the exact wheels I want.

[Railton]

Tires23 is where I purchased the Sumitomo rubber for the rx-8 years back.
Railton

[Railton]

Tires23 is where I purchased the Sumitomo rubber for the rx-8 years back.
Railton

And you were happy with your experience?

Yeah, at the time. The price was good, installation went smooth. The tires were loud as shat after a couple of years though but that's no fault of Tire23.
You have my blessing to use them.
Railton

[rrocket]

Tires23 is where I purchased the Sumitomo rubber for the rx-8 years back.
Railton

And you were happy with your experience?

You can't actually order online?  You have to call them?

[mmret]

Tires23 is where I purchased the Sumitomo rubber for the rx-8 years back.
Railton

And you were happy with your experience?

You can't actually order online?  You have to call them?

I usually email them for quotes and then do deposit / CC over the phone. They are not a massive operation like TR...it grew out of a small local shop with a super cramped office.

They have a bigger space now.

[aquadorhj]

Tires23 is where I purchased the Sumitomo rubber for the rx-8 years back.
Railton

And you were happy with your experience?

You can't actually order online?  You have to call them?

I usually email them for quotes and then do deposit / CC over the phone. They are not a massive operation like TR...it grew out of a small local shop with a super cramped office.

They have a bigger space now.

so... if they are small shop as you say, how the HEL! are they beating TireRack prices?     we all used to read all about how the retailers in Canada pay more than Retail in US for buying Wholesale in Canada?
are all other retailers just lying their a$$ off?

[mmret]

Tires23 is where I purchased the Sumitomo rubber for the rx-8 years back.
Railton

And you were happy with your experience?

You can't actually order online?  You have to call them?

I usually email them for quotes and then do deposit / CC over the phone. They are not a massive operation like TR...it grew out of a small local shop with a super cramped office.

They have a bigger space now.

so... if they are small shop as you say, how the HEL! are they beating TireRack prices?     we all used to read all about how the retailers in Canada pay more than Retail in US for buying Wholesale in Canada?
are all other retailers just lying their a$$ off?

It used to be a small physical location. A few years ago they upgraded to a MUCH larger one....probably has like 10-12 bays. I'm sure they do loads of volume now and even back then in their small operation days.

Regarding prices. In my experience there are a couple of shops in GTA that offer similar pricing, sometimes even besting Tires23 by a little bit. These were all independent operations. Its the "big name" places that had the highest costs - Costco, Crappy Tire, Active Green and Ross, etc. especially when you started asking for larger tire sizes and more specific wheels.