Consumer Reports Premier A/S vs Primacy MXV4 Test

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Good handling and better rain traction? You want soft compound? High mileage rating? You want a compound which does not wear aka hard compound. It is always going to be a compromise.

From my limited personal experience, I had best experience with Dunlop and Michelin. Almost every other brand that I have tried, I was disappointed in terms of how soon the tires used to get out of balance and started thumping. The ElCheapo ones barely lasted 1/3 of their tread life. I essentially wasted my money on them.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
From my limited personal experience, I had best experience with Dunlop and Michelin. Almost every other brand that I have tried, I was disappointed in terms of how soon the tires used to get out of balance and started thumping. The ElCheapo ones barely lasted 1/3 of their tread life. I essentially wasted my money on them.

Ditto.

The Pilot Super Sports in the rear of my last car took 25k miles to get near the wear bars, and their worst problem was a slight amount more road noise. They didn't even hydroplane in standing water on the highway. A friend of mine has run them until bald, and had the same experience. Zero meaningful hydroplaning even with zero tread. There are plenty of tires that would take more mileage to get that low, but I'm not aware of one that wouldn't start getting iffy in the wet with more than 25k miles on it -- except maybe the Pilot Sport A/S 3, which is another Michelin...

Also been having a similar experience with balance retention. In my experience, the cheaper the tire, the more often it needed re-balancing.
 
No doubt about it, Vikas, as regards Michelins.

Generally speaking, from my experience Michelins are the easiest to balance and present fewer problems as they wear than many others. Some do have an early surface cracking issue. And they are never cheap tires.

I have the LTX M/S 2 on our truck and they are fantastic and wear like cast iron. Loved the MXV4s and most of the PS line as well. They are always my first choice unless there is a reason not to go with them.
 
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Some do have an early surface cracking issue.

Funny you mention this -- I've heard about it before, though I've never seen it. Any idea what models suffer from it?
 
d00df00d, I saw it first on a set of Pilot Exaltos, circa 2005-2006 (not mine). They were surface cracking on the sidewalls on one side of the car only, which we figured out was the side of the car facing the sun more during most days. It started about 2-3 years in, and then didn't worsen after year 4. It was a concern, but the cracking was deemed not too deep (superficial) to remove them from service. The owner was able to stick with them to year 7, at which time they replaced them with new Michelin MXV4s. They've been fine, but it's only been a couple of years on them.

I've since seen it on a couple other sets of Michelins (again, not ours), but not as bad as that one set of Exaltos. One was a set of Pilot Sports, but I don't recall the exact model.

But of all the sets of Michelins we've owned over the years, we have never had a cracking issue with any of them.
 
So they shaved one tire 3.5/32 and another tire more? so they were both equal at 5/32 depth?

Whats the point of that.


how about you shave each tire 50%

I am also skeptical about the wet traction after 5 years or so of aging/use.

I doubt it will be close to the new shaved tire performance.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
So they shaved one tire 3.5/32 and another tire more? so they were both equal at 5/32 depth?

Whats the point of that.


how about you shave each tire 50%

I am also skeptical about the wet traction after 5 years or so of aging/use.

I doubt it will be close to the new shaved tire performance.


Cause 5/32s is near what ultra-conservative CR will state a smart safe shopper should change their tires (at 4/32s).

It's not about after x years of wear, it's about performance right before when CR has previously advocated you should ditch them
 
Just wanted to give some feedback, as I switched to the Premier AS last year from the Primacy MXV4 (and previously Energy MXV4) on my Accord.

Currently have just over 10k miles on the Premiers and they seem to be wearing fine. Rotated every 5k miles. No issues with ride or road noise; they seem to be similar to the Primacy and the older Energy MXV4 in that regard. The Premiers seem to have a slightly softer sidewall than the Primacy MXV4 did, so I usually inflate the premiers to about 35 PSI vs. 33-34 for the Primacy. Factory recommend is 32 PSI but that's way too soft with any tire I've used.

I got the Premier AS at Costco and paid about $590 installed for a set of 4.

I can attest to the fact that the wet handling on these tires is phenomenal. You almost cannot tell you're driving in the rain because the tires perform the same in the dry as they do in the wet. Snow performance was very impressive as well and better than the Primacy IMO. We had a heavy snowfall earlier this year and I was able to make it to work in conditions where even SUVs with 4WD were sliding out.

I realize that the Premier AS gives up a bit of dry handling performance, but I think the performance consistency (dry vs. wet, new vs. worn) more than makes up for it. I don't think any other tire today can claim to have the same performance in dry vs. wet conditions.
 
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Originally Posted By: d00df00d


The Pilot Super Sports in the rear of my last car took 25k miles to get near the wear bars, and their worst problem was a slight amount more road noise. They didn't even hydroplane in standing water on the highway. A friend of mine has run them until bald, and had the same experience. Zero meaningful hydroplaning even with zero tread. There are plenty of tires that would take more mileage to get that low, but I'm not aware of one that wouldn't start getting iffy in the wet with more than 25k miles on it -- except maybe the Pilot Sport A/S 3, which is another Michelin...

.


Rear tires are less likely to hydroplane , because the fronts are moving a lot of the water ... while driving straight.

Hydroplane resistance is purely about tread depth and to a lesser extent tread pattern. Bald tires, even Pilot SS's , will hydroplane... don't kid yourself into thinking they won't... they will, probably when you least expect it...!
 
Thanks. I think I'll go with my friends' experience with real live bald Pilot Super Sports, though.
 
Pss's are some very unusual tires, especially the latest version.

They have very little tread pattern at all, and yet they stick like glue ESPECIALLY in the rain. And they are totally unique IME in that they do not degrade much with wear at all. Many other brands I have tried were quite good when new but lost performance rapidly with wear.

Of course they can and do hydroplane, but they are so far beyond other tires I will never use anything else...
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
My PSS's came with a 30k mile warranty. I have never had any tire last over 19k miles on my car. Either they lose a whole lot of money or they know what they are doing....


I doubt your car is indicative of all the business Michelin get with the PSS.

And some people don't claim the warranty or they fall outside the time limit to claim.

And even when they do claim, the deal is to get a pro-rated discount at the full retail price and it ensures repeat business.

So overall, I suspect they know what they are doing. But by all means use their policies to your advantage. One of my vehicles has a staggered set up and I will only get half the mileage from the rears so 10k to 20k miles depending on the tire. I've chosen tires whose 40k mile warranty doesn't stipulate "half mileage if different size on rear".
 
I am considering Premier based on decent winter traction according to Tirerack.com for my wife's Subaru Legacy turbo wagon.

Decent choice? Spendy at $730 installed locally.
 
[Quote: Reggaemon]... well I have a set on a Subaru Impreza H rated 205/55-16 that ride like they are over inflated by 20 lbs.
I have the same issue with our Pirelli P7 Cinturato A/S + in the same size("H" 205-55-16) on the Mazda3 in my signature! I wouldn't say that these P7's feel like they're 20 lbs. over inflated but, definitely more than the 32 psi that were in the tires. I guess that I'd prefer another "T" rated tire on this car.

Overall the P7's are a very good tire in all foul weather conditions. But, their ride over road imperfections DOES NOT mirror the tirerack testing though, they are very quiet. Noticeably quieter than the Hankook Optimo H727(a quiet tire itself) that they replaced!
 
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I just put Premers on my Camry. It's been about 400 mles now, so far they are great! Nice and quiet. had not had much rain to fully test out the wet traction yet.

Price was $577 OTD for size 215-60-16 95V.

I did look at the Cooper CS5, very tempting! It came down to price, the local Cooper dealer wanted almost $700 for them, so the Premiers won out. Maybe next time the Coopers!
 
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