I have a 2015 Accord Sport that came with 18" wheels and 235/45-18 tires. While I have no issues with (and generally prefer) a stiffer-handling car, I was never real happy with how much road noise these Bridgestone Potenza RE97AS generated, how hard they made every crack in the pavement feel, and certainly how terrible they were in the cold wet months.
So I bought a set of 17" wheels from an Accord LX V6 off Craigslist in the spring that came with a set of still-good 215/55-17 Michelin Primacy MXV4 that I was planning on just straight-up replacing for some real winter tires. Well I got them on the other day and I'm impressed. The car rides so much better, the road noise has been reduced considerably, and while we haven't seen any rain or bad weather yet, by all accounts the Michelins should be far superior to the Bridgestones. All for a small (albeit noticeable) decrease in turning sharpness and outright cornering grip. Not a bad compromise at all for how I drive the car and what I use it for. And being genuine Honda Accord wheels they look good, too. I even like the style of the 17's a little better than the 18's. And thanks to Honda's passive TPMS, I didn't have to deal with any sensor issues. The new plan is to run these Michelins through at least one winter here and all through next year just to get my money's worth out of them then we'll see if I'll replace them with a dedicated winter tire. But then I'll have to put the 18's back on in the springtime, so...
This makes me curious how the newer Accord Sport rides and handles bad weather with the 19" wheels it now comes with. No thanks!
So I bought a set of 17" wheels from an Accord LX V6 off Craigslist in the spring that came with a set of still-good 215/55-17 Michelin Primacy MXV4 that I was planning on just straight-up replacing for some real winter tires. Well I got them on the other day and I'm impressed. The car rides so much better, the road noise has been reduced considerably, and while we haven't seen any rain or bad weather yet, by all accounts the Michelins should be far superior to the Bridgestones. All for a small (albeit noticeable) decrease in turning sharpness and outright cornering grip. Not a bad compromise at all for how I drive the car and what I use it for. And being genuine Honda Accord wheels they look good, too. I even like the style of the 17's a little better than the 18's. And thanks to Honda's passive TPMS, I didn't have to deal with any sensor issues. The new plan is to run these Michelins through at least one winter here and all through next year just to get my money's worth out of them then we'll see if I'll replace them with a dedicated winter tire. But then I'll have to put the 18's back on in the springtime, so...
This makes me curious how the newer Accord Sport rides and handles bad weather with the 19" wheels it now comes with. No thanks!