Michelin pilot exalto a/s

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 4:03 am

i'm gettin some new rubber for the vibe, based off the reviews on tire rack and my dads obsession with michelin i'm goin with the pilot exalto a/s. newneptune's mini review helps too. my conti's still have tread left but i dont want to deal with them for the winter. since i cant afford rims i'm stayin with the stock 16's for now but i increased the width to 215 from 205, discount tire direct says they will fit and local tire dealer said it would be fine too. also they will be filled with nitrogen, i'll see how that goes. as long as they come in on time i'll have them by the 23rd (last day of fall break and have to come back to campus). i'll keep this thread updated as weather changes and i get snow n such.

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 8:54 am

Why not go for the 225/50/HR16 so the diameter will remain stock and save $21 per tire? Just a thought.

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:08 am

i've heard that 225 width isnt recommended for a 6.5-7 inch width rim, and that it should only be used for like a drag strip and non full time use. Also handeling wouldnt be as good because going through truns would cause more side roll onto the wall of the tire. i'm not worried about the speedo bein off cause it has been slow since i got the vibe, according to gps(portable garmin unit) when the speedo says 70mph i'm actually at 68mph. once i get the new ones on i'll take a short drive with the gps again and find out what is what. i didnt think of there being a price difference or not that much. i actually purchased the tires through a local tire place and being a member of AAA allows for $10 off per tire and there is a rebate deal with michelin. if i got them online i'm not sure if i would have had to pay to get them mounted and theres the cost of shipping too

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:35 am

According to TireRack, a 225 width is perfectly acceptable for a 6" wide rim as shown in their own specs chart.http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...ocQty=You've got it backwards, a 225/50 series tire is going to have a shorter sidewall than a 215/55 series tire, so handling will be worse with the 55 series tire. In addition to your speedo being off, the engine will have to work a little harder to turn a taller tire and lets face it, the Vibe engine has to work pretty hard as it is.

GMJAP · Post by **GMJAP** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:57 am

I'm in need of new tires myself and have been looking at the same tire. Seems to be lots of good reviews of them.Now I just need to find some nice lightweight wheels to put them on!

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 11:24 am

You will post pics when you get'um, right?

CAN-AWD-VIBE · Post by **CAN-AWD-VIBE** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 11:37 am

you really think that gps is exact... have you tried this same test in another car with digital speedo to compare if your vibe is out or maybe the gps is just not quite that accurate? I mean I have been in gps that says you are here but really you are a few meters away... that is a difference.just a thought.Quote, originally posted by djb383 Â»a 225/50 series tire is going to have a shorter sidewall than a 215/55 series tire, so handling will be worse with the 55 series tire. you didnt mention even dropping down to a 55 aspect ratio... you are not staying with 60 series are you?use this to see- http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.htmltry to keep those revs/mile as close as possible

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:15 pm

205/55/16 is the stock size. Not sure where 60 series comes in.

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:27 pm

yea will post pics when i get them.haha i'm too slow can-awd-vibe, the stock conti's are 205/55-16is the difference in diameter goning to cause mechanical issues? as long as it wont i'm not gona worry about the difference, the 215 will have fewer revs but the 225 is a lb more than the 215 and .8 inches wider than the stock (215 is .4 wider) which is a big difference on a 6.5-7 inch width rim

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:57 pm

Again, the 225 is perfectly acceptable to run on a 6" wide rim, according to the experts. I'm running 225/50/16 Goodyear TripleTreds on the stock rims. They are a great tire.......very quiet, great handling. Have 10K on them now and they look like they were installed yesterday. 215's probably won't cause any mechanical issues but as I mentioned earlier, the load on the engine will be slightly more with a taller tire.

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:00 am

disappointed, tires didnt come in over the weekend so now i'm back on campus and have no idea when i'll get them on once they do come in

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:20 am

my tires finally came in and they feel good, they offer so much more grip. i cant wait to see how the nitrogen affects things, gas milage and stayin filled. to an extent i kinda cant wait for snow to see how they handle in it. i dont notice any difference in the size but i didnt have time to actually compare it with the old conti's.i took some pics but they were done in the garage and it was kinda dark in there so i wasnt totally sure what i was gettin pics of

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:59 am

update-> the first 400ish miles they didnt seem that impressive but now they feel great.warning to those considering or who have increased the width of their tires compared to stock, the original tires were 205/55-16 and i went to 215/55-15. apparently this change offset the odometer and spedo, i figured they could hook somethin up to the obdII or somehow adjust the pcm to compensate for the new size (this is also what the tire dealer said) but pontiac says they cant and theoretically they can void my warranty cause the wider tires is putting more stress on the car and affects the timing and this n that. so now on tues or wed i have to go to the tire place and get them to replace the tires with the original width.this is really stupid that they cant adjust for the new size

Raven · Post by **Raven** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 8:03 am

There is absolutely nothing wrong with running 215/55/16 tires. They are only 1.74% different in diameter. Anything under 3% is considered acceptable and harmless. Your speedometer would show 58.9 mph at 60 mph. You've been driving on them for a 1 1/2 months. If you asked for that size there is no way the tire shop will change them for free, it's going to cost you large. My Nokian snow tires are 205/60/16, a difference of 3.16% and I am not the least bit concerned. Here's a link for a tire size calculator: http://1010tires.com/TireSizeC...t=yes

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:11 am

Changing the width of the tire will have ZERO effect on the speedo and odometer. Changing the diameter/circumference/height WILL have an effect.

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:52 pm

changing the width caused the overall diameter to change. i didnt think the speed and odometer were read directly from the tire/rim because then every time your tire pressure is low wouldnt that also affect the reading?

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:43 pm

Quote, originally posted by coldmm803 Â»changing the width caused the overall diameter to change. i didnt think the speed and odometer were read directly from the tire/rim because then every time your tire pressure is low wouldnt that also affect the reading?In your case, you changed the width and NOT the aspect ratio. Because of that, the diameter changed. If you are going to change one number (section width), you have to also change the other number (aspect ratio) to maintain the original diameter.The speedo/odo do not read directly from the tire/rim. They get their readings from the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) which is located somewhere in the drive train (tranny I believe). Both front tires would have to be very low to have a significant change on the accuracy of the speedo/odo.A taller (than stock) tire is harder to turn, a shorter tire is easier to turn. A wider, or narrower, tire, that is the same diameter as original, is neither harder or easier to turn. Likewise, a taller or shorter tire will change the entire drive train speed including the speedo/odo readings. Even if you could re-program the speedo/odo, to compensate for taller/shorter tires, you can not compensate for the physical change that is placed on the engine and drive train.

CAN-AWD-VIBE · Post by **CAN-AWD-VIBE** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:56 pm

Quote, originally posted by coldmm803 Â»i didnt think the speed and odometer were read directly from the tire/rimhow else will the car know how fast they are spinning... the VSS reads the rotations and knows your speed. If you change the height of the tire you change the rate at which it spins (taller tires spin slower the smaller tires) and that will screw with the speedo.tires go like this... first # 205- is width, second # 55- is a % of the first to give the sidewall height the last # is the rim diameter.a P205/55R16 is 205 wide and 55% of 205 tall, got it?so if you change the 1st # you need to change the 2nd % for the height or it will spin slower or faster as the case may be.and as far as reprogramming the speedo, usually the dealer can only change the cars computer to optional tire sizes already available for the vehicle. ie. OEM sizes 16" (base) or OEM 17" (some base and GT's). You can't just pick a size and make it work.

engineertwin2 · Post by **engineertwin2** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 3:24 am

Don't forget, your tire diameter changes over time as it wears down so speedo accuracy is all approximate anyways. If you know how far off it is, then you don't have to worry. I wouldn't let the dealer bully you around...

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 3:31 am

i cant afford to loose my warranty so i dont have much choice, they can pin any mechanical failure as a result of the tires. they most likely couldnt prove it but i'd rather not take the chance. i know i said it once already but this sucks

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:09 am

got the tires switched today for free which make me happy and the warranty/pontiac. still wish i had that extra width but i cant afford new rims let alone another set of tiresapparently, i never talked to the guy that sold me the tires until tuesday (parents actually did all that cause i was down at school originally), but he had no issue with switching to the 205/55-16 since the dealer couldnt do anything about the 215/55's to compensate for the wall height difference

prathman · Post by **prathman** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:13 am

I agree with Sunny above that there wasn't anything wrong with continuing to use the slightly larger tires. You mentioned earlier that with the stock size the speedometer/odo read about 3% high (70 mph vs. 68 actual) and that's about what we see in both of our Vibes as well.Switching to the 215 size makes a difference in diameter of a bit under 2% so it would have made the speedometer/odo *more accurate* than the stock size but they still would have been a bit on the high side - just by 1% instead of 3%. And the effects on engine load and wear of such a tiny change in effective gearing are totally negligible. The engine would be turning just a tiny bit slower for a given road speed but with a bit more load. That's usually considered to be a good thing for longevity but at the expense of a little acceleration. But again, a change of 2% is so small that it won't have any noticeable effects either on the positive or negative side.So thanks for bringing this up - I'll probably switch to the larger (215) size when we need new tires to reduce the speedometer error.

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:40 am

You may not have a speedo error. We had 2 '05 Vibes, one was slightly off and the other (still have) is spot on (70 mph) using GPS. We replaced the stock RS-As with 225/50/16 TripleTreds (much quieter), which are virtually identical in diameter to stock, and speedo has remained accurate, as expected. We did not want to increase the load on the engine, even slightly, as the little 1.8L has a pretty good load on it to start with.

GMJAP · Post by **GMJAP** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:57 am

Got new Pilot Exalto A/S shoes for baby Friday. So far I'm liking them a lot. Feels more solid and tighter.

prathman · Post by **prathman** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:55 am

"You may not have a speedo error."As I already wrote, we're seeing about the same 3% high error as the original poster - so yes, we definitely do have a speedometer error on both of our '06s and the odometer error is also about 3%. As to the supposed load difference on the engine, it's generally considered to be better for longevity and economy to be running a little lower RPMs (i.e. higher load) at cruising speed, but acceleration/responsiveness suffers. If you'd prefer faster RPM & less load then just lock out the overdrive (for an AT) or keep it in 4th gear (for the 5-spd manual). Those measures would at least be significant enough to have an effect (albeit probably not a good one unless doing something like towing a heavy trailer). The 1.7% change due to the marginally larger tires is negligible.My only concerns with the 215 size would be whether there's ever a clearance issue at the limits of suspension travel and whether road debris might be kicked up against the side of the vehicle.

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:57 am

GMJAP, glad to hear ur enjoying the new rubberwhen i had the 215's my odometer was off which is a leagal issue that i'd rather not get involved in. i figured if the odometer is off by .05mi per mile, that means over 3,000 mi period (an oil change) my odometer would be missing 150 miles. i'd rather not have a dealer deny my car for maintnance or even if i'm selling if for a new car because they happen to notice that the tires are a wrong size. i used .05 mi because thats about what i noticed based on the road markers on the trunpike.

djb383 · Post by **djb383** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:26 am

I wouldn't want the drive train spinning any faster or slower than the way the factory originally set it up. Since the factory has spent millions on testing in order to determine optimal rpms, who am I, or anyone else for that matter, to say what is better.

GMJAP · Post by **GMJAP** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:03 pm

Quote, originally posted by GMJAP Â»Got new Pilot Exalto A/S shoes for baby Friday. So far I'm liking them a lot. Feels more solid and tighter.After driving on them for a while now I'm very happy with the performance. I've been very glad to have them during the ice storm and generally crappy weather down here. I used to spin the wheels once in a while starting at lights in wet weather, but haven't even with ice and the Pilot Exaltos.Down side is my mileage has dropped about 10% or 3mpg. Not very excited about that, but not too suprised; OEM tires are usually very low rolling resistance to boost their CAFE numbers.

coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:18 am

we finally got our first snowfall that stuck to the roads lastnight, it was maybe 1/2 an inch prob closer to 1/4 but i went out to a parking lot behind a food store down the road and i was unable to do doughnuts, i could not break these tires loose to cause a slide. however, when i was turning into the shopping center (at basically a non snow covered road speed 25-30?), making a right that turns into 2 lanes, i tried to take the normal right most lane but kinda slid into the left lane (from someone elses point of view it would look like i just turned into that lane). i was totally in control tho (compared to the stock conti or even a pickup with no weight in the back), since there was no one else around i wasnt worried and allowed the car to continue the "slide", i didnt immediatley correct it and had no problem when i did correct it.i'm not gona make a conclusion on a loss in gas mileage since it is winter and i cant compare to last yr since my cat died in the begining and at some point i did switch to 89 octane, i dont remember when that was

Michelin pilot exalto a/s

Michelin pilot exalto a/s

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (coldmm803)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (djb383)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (coldmm803)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (coldmm803)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (GMJAP)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (coldmm803)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (CAN-AWD-VIBE)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (CAN-AWD-VIBE)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (coldmm803)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (djb383)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (coldmm803)

Re: (coldmm803)

Re: (coldmm803)

Re: (djb383)

Re: (coldmm803)

Re: (coldmm803)

Re: (engineertwin2)

Re: (coldmm803)

Re: (prathman)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (coldmm803)

Re: (djb383)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (GMJAP)

Re: (prathman)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (GMJAP)

Re: Michelin pilot exalto a/s (GMJAP)