Why do folks seem to love Michelin?

[Jett Rink]

I'd say that I trust Michelin to manufacture a quality tire that will do well in most circumstances. Yeah, they can be pricey, though. Come to think of it, what tires worth putting on your vehicle aren't increasing in price?

I guess a better question is can you do just as well (if not better) than Michelin with some other tires? Sure, I think you can. There are other good tires out there.

No tire expert here. Just based on personal experience from driving 25 years.

 

[rjundi]

Every tire maker has a some standouts above the rest. However Michelin and every other tire maker has an average bunch and a few real losers.

I personally think that Michelin has more of the top tier tires so there are many happy customers they hit. All tires are a sum of compromises to come up with the product. If price is the top concern in tire purchase then Michelin is not your tire.

 

[newtoncd8]

Quote:


The Bridgestone Dueller H/L does seem to have slightly better specs and customer reviews than the Michelin SUV CT on Tirerack.com. Both of these tires seem to be in the $135-$145 range, so they are competitive from a cost standpoint. Do you feel that the Bridgestone tire will provide a decent ride and outlast, or at least have an equal service life, to the one from Michelin?



I have about 27,000 miles on the Alenza so far (treadwear at 9/32) and they are wearing excellent. For reference, I got about 36K on two sets of Michelin's (the OEM and the replacement set) .... with 9/32 left on the Alenza, there is no question, I will get significantly more wear out of them. At least so far, it has been a very quiet tire that gets around nicely in all seasons.

On the other hand, I have the Pilot Exalto A/S on my A4, so I do like Michelin's, I just think the Energy MXV (OEM tire on the RX330) leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Tosh]

Originally Posted By: MillerMan
never had any michelins car tires I didn't like.
but I never had the cheaper grades, always mid to high end lines.

never had any problems with them, they rode smooth and quiet, never warped or went out a round.

grip was good to excellent

Same here. All stayed balanced "down to the cords," plugged and all. Expensive, but one of the few cases of giving you your money's worth.

Plus, you gotta love Bibendum!

 

[Loogie]

I just replaced a set of Michelin X1 on my Monte Carlo with a set of Michelin X-Radials from Sam's Club (which are supposed to be very similar to the X1, except slightly less performance-oriented.

The X1's went 74,000 miles, and I could have run them through the winter to reach the 80,000 mi warranty, but there was a rebate sale, and they were starting to feel a bit slippery.

I also placed a set of X-Radials on my wife's CR-V. They are substantially quieter than her old Bridgestone Duelers.
The total cost for both sets of tires after rebates was just over $800. The Michelins handle very well, are quiet, and wear like iron.
I know with the X1 at 32psi, I was able to get about 32 mpg when I drove from Michigan to North Carolina last summer...this was with the AC on the entire time, through the mountains...and I wasn't babying it. Those tires gripped VERY well in the mountains.
Hopefully the X-Radials will deliver similar performance.

 

[RacerE7773]

I had 13 inch Michelin-made Kmart tires on my old cavalier in '92. They were a decent tire, but there's no way I could afford Michelin again. I'm going to be getting either Bridgestones or Firestones for the car asap.

 

[oilnoob425]

In the recent CR test of UHP all-season and UHP summer tires Michelin Pilot Sport A/S came in only in 7 place among UHP A/S. On the other hand Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 came in 1 place among UHP summer tires. I know that Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 wins a lot of tests and considered one of the best tires in that category, but I think majority of their models are not any better then similiar cheaper offerings from other manufacturers. In the short Michelin is overhyped due to it's high class status, kinda like Mercedes-Benz of tires, in reality most of their tires are not any better than other brands tires, yet overpriced.

Most importantly you have to look at the specific tire and look for tests (not user reviews and opinions) in that category.

 

[glennc]

Many of the good points of any high quality tire will not be shown by a CR test. In fact the last time I bought tires based on CR's recommendation they were Falken ZIEX-512s, which turned out to be pretty lousy tires.

 

[oilnoob425]

Why were they lousy though? Was that something you have noticed instantly or came up later on? Because CR doesn't test them long term. They just evaluate their properties by testing when they new.

 

[glennc]

The 512s had average traction but lost steering feel compared to the Michelins I'd had on the car before. They were decent in most other ways, but they didn't last at all. A cheap tire for a cheap price was my final impression.

You are right that CR only tests when new. Therefore the way a tire holds up throughout its life, not just in terms of total wear but balance, noise, evenness of wear and so on, aren't factored in to their scores. I think these are among the areas where Michelin seems to have an advantage over most other brands and especially most cheap brands.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Guess I am the only one who doesn't care much for Michelin.


Nope, you're not the only one, I'm not a Michelin fan either. I've had them on a couple of different cars and never liked them. And they are a lot more expensive than other better performing tires too. Plus most of the Michelins have very ugly looking tread patterns, IMHO.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Patman
Nope, you're not the only one, I'm not a Michelin fan either.

+1

The only Michelin tire I'd consider right now would be the PS2... if not for the astronomical price.

 

[CumminsISB]

I just switched to Cooper Zeon LTZ 285/60/18 120's extra load. From the Dodge CTD optional michelin A/S 265/75/16 e rated. These Coopers are by far the best wearing tires & have outperformed the Michelins A/S i am very pleased with Cooper Zeon's

 

[Titan]

I bought a city-driven vehicle that appears to not have had rotations, and the original tires on the front had too much edge wear, so, I bought Michelin LXV4's and put on the front of my Gramp Marquis. At just over 30,000 miles of 99% highway driving...they still look new! These tires Slap and Thump over expansion joints, but, with the soft suspension of the Gramp Mobile, the end result is a still a good ride. I'm surprised at how well this car handles high-speed turns (70 mph on a 40 mph-posted ramp, for example), with no wash-out or squeeling.

I've heard the Symmetry is a much quieter tire. But, for 127.00 a piece, I'm going to take the rear tires (the Original LXV4's that now have 62K miles, and look like they'll easily hit 70 or even 75K miles) and buy two more LXV4's to replace them, put these new ones on the front.

When all is said and done, this car will perhaps go 150,000 miles on OEM's plus 4 new tires. Hard to beat that kind of performance/longevity/value on a 2-ton car.

 

[artificialist]

Michillens have been one of the few factory tires that are NOT junk. That is why I like them.

That in mind, replacement tires from other brands can be very close to Michelin quality, yet cost far less.

 

[harry j]

My last set of Michelin Harmony tires lasted 84,000 miles and had more to go. They wore evenly and two of them didn't even need balancing weights.

 

[harry j]

My wife just got a set of Michelin Harmony tires on her '96 Accord. The gas mileage went up to 25 around town and the ride is oh so smoooooth. You really gotta love it.

 

[Mr Nice]

Her gas mileage went up due to:

the tires being new or..... because the Michelin Harmony tires have lower rolling resistance ??

 

[glennc]

I am right in the middle of getting a set of Harmonys for my car. One of the very few tires in my odd size. Glad to hear the good reports since they are NOT cheap.

I'm having a problem because the vendor, Costco, has a $60 discount on a set of four Michelins, but they will not give the discount while also honoring the warranty on the previous set (BFG Touring). Does that sound odd? Seems like it should be two separate transactions, technically. Purchase of new tires, and partial refund for tires that did not meet warranteed mileage.

 

[meep]

the warranty is a mfr pass-thru. It's really more of a discount on the next set of same-brand tires. If your sony tv breaks under warranty, sony fixes it/replaces it. They don't give you a discount on a JVC. Make sense?

M