Michelin or Uniroyal?

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Help me decide: For my wife's '08 Highlander...Michelin Cross Terrain $900 OTD or Uniroyal Laredo Cross Country $480 OTD. Both include lifetime balancing and rotation. I love Michelins and generally get screwed when I try to cheap out, but almost half-price for the Uniroyals is tempting. Anyone here have any experiences to relate with the Cross Country's? Main concern is smoothness and quiet. Tread life is secondary.
 
My Dad put a set of the Uniroyals on his 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. After 14,000 miles he is very happy with them. The tire shop he went to is a large Michelin dealer and the saleman recommended the Uniroyals.
 
Well, Uniroyal and Michelin are both part of the "MAST" family. Generally Michelin is marketed towards high end, older customers and provide higher quality than the Uniroyal. They are marketed towards the soccer mom cost conscious customer.
 
Before you buy either you should see what kind of deal you could get on a set of Coopers or Yokohamas.
 
Perhaps not helpful, but here I can get Michelin LTX MS2's for 660 out the door at Sams, or BFG Long Trail Tour for 500 out the door.

Those are what I'm looking at for ours.
 
Michelins are excellent tires. I love them.

BUT, we have uniroyals on our Accord and they are a great tire for the price. In this case I vote for them.
 
I'm sure that both tires would be fine tires. But I've never been unhappy with a Michelin purchase. I've been unhappy with purchases of other brands, though. With tires, I don't compromise, and buy the best that I can afford.

That said, I don't think the CrossTerrain is Michelin's best effort. I like what bepperb suggested in the LTX M/S2 or the BFG Long Trail T/A Tour, if they're available in your size.
 
Check if Tire Rack has any objective performance reviews.

It's not entirely a case of "you get what you pay for", though I'm sure for her driving it won't make a world of difference. I'd say just get something that's quiet and wears well.
 
Bridgestone Dueler Alenza on my wife's 2005 Highlander.

Great tire for both ride comfort, handling, and little, if any, noise.

Check that tire out before you drop coin for the Michelins.
 
Originally Posted By: SWSportsman
Help me decide: For my wife's '08 Highlander...Michelin Cross Terrain $900 OTD or Uniroyal Laredo Cross Country $480 OTD...


Stop right there. You already know the answer.
 
the previous owner of my 2001 Cherokee had put Uniroyal Laredos on it. They're GREAT tires in the dry- VERY smooth, VERY quiet, and they balance with almost no weights at all, even after 40k+ miles. Now the down side... they absolutely stink in the rain. No grip at all. Maybe its just because this set is old and the rubber is hardened a bit, but they're really pretty bad, especially on that greasy wet pavement just after a light rain starts to fall.

My current favorite tire is the BF Goodrich Long Trail T/A Touring. Its as smooth and quiet as the Laredo in the dry, but grippier in both dry and especially the wet- I've got a set of 4 of those on my daughter's 99 Cherokee so I have a great comparison. The only downside is they take a bit more weight to balance, but not a whole lot like, say, a BFG All Terrain. BF Goodrich and Michelin are part of the same company too, FWIW, but BFG tires tend to be priced better than Michelins. My folks replaced Michelins on their Durango with Long Trails, and you'd never know the difference except for the price. I'll never pay the extreme premium for the Michelin name again.
 
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I've been unimpressed with BGF Long Terrains over the long haul, they just do not hold up like the LTX M/S at all.
 
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
I've been unimpressed with BGF Long Terrains over the long haul, they just do not hold up like the LTX M/S at all.


This is my experience. We bought 4 sets of truck tires (load range E) this year, and the Michelins we wore out ran over 60k miles on a 9000 pound city driven vehicle!

And 900 bucks for the OP is really a high price. Shop a bit, hit Discount Tire Direct last.
 
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
I've been unimpressed with BGF Long Terrains over the long haul, they just do not hold up like the LTX M/S at all.


These were likely the older Radial Long Trail T/A, and not the relatively new Long Trail T/A Tour. The two tires are very different, the new Long Trail T/A Tour being a much better choice.
 
I got the P265/70R-17 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDAR H/T-S on my truck and have been really great. We actually got quite a bit of snow last year and the ice age hit in January that shut pretty much the whole state down for about 4 days. I lost power for the first time at the house for 4 days. Brrrrrrr, I didn't like remembering that. Anyway, the only vehicle I could use was the truck and let me tell you, that thing handled beautifully in the snow and I had great traction on the ice. I was one of the few trucks that was out running around those days. Lot's of other trucks in the ditches or simply getting stuck because of no traction. Those tires really impressed me and kept me confident.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd

That said, I don't think the CrossTerrain is Michelin's best effort.


I just got rid of a set of CrossTerrains, which I thought were pretty underwhelming. They felt solid, grippy and reasonably quiet at first, but got really rough at half life, as well as out of round. Replaced them with Bridgestone Dueller II, which most people consider a mediocre tire, and so far they are much superior.

I was also considering the Geolander, but for my particular application the Duellers got better reviews. I would highly recommend reading the reviews at Tire Rack for all tires on your specific vehicle. This was an eye opener for showing how tires act differently on different vehicles.

But whatever you do, don't automatically assume that the Cross Terrain lives up to Michelin's reputation.
 
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