Michelin Defender T+H

[FordFocus]

Does anyone have any pictures of this new tire yet? I Originally heard that it was coming out in March but it looks like Tire Rack has some in stock are ready. I'm guessing this is just the regular Michelin defender now with the Michelin Total performance rating instead of just Green X. looks like all the sizes available in the tire rack or H rated makes me wonder if the full line will be H rated now and higher? Also curious if they're going to keep the tread depth the same? Any information is appreciated as I will be buying a new set when I'm ready to take my winter tires off of my wife's Malibu. Tirerack

 

[TheStig83]

I just ordered a set from DTD and they will be here in 2 to 5 days so when they get here I can take pictures for you if you would like. I know it's a 80,000 mile warranty tire that is H rated. Can't wait to get them on my Fusion. The firestones are toast on it now.

 

[Rand]

Hopefully they last better than the defenders that wore out in
The continentals that replaced them are better in every way.

But of course michelin may have tweaked the tires.. since tons of people weren't even getting to half the treadwear warranty mileage.

 

[TheStig83]

I've never seen a 80,000 or 90,000 mile tire wear out completely in less then 25,000 miles ever in my life. If they wore out that fast then I would say either (a) your tires where not rotated enough or even maybe not rotated properly, (b) the tire pressure was not set properly or checked enough and the tires not kept aired up, or (c) your alignment on your car is off and is causeing the tires to wear out way to prematurely. (By the way I am not accusing you of any of these things so don't take it personally. Just stating possible causes for the tires wearing out prematurely) I test prototype vehicles for a living and beat the ever living [censored] out of them and push them to their limits on every tire you can imagine and have never wore a set of tires out that fast in my entire life and the cars at work don't get there alignment checked accept when they first come into the shop and the tires only get rotated every 10,000 miles or so and we push these cars up to about 50,000 miles or more. I find it odd though that those tires on you car wore out that fast. Maybe you just got a bad batch from 2013. I think they changed the compound back then and had problems so they ended up changing the compound again in the last year or two from my understanding. Like I said though I drive on every brand tire and the best ones are Michelin with Continental close behind in 2nd. 3rd beat tire is Pirelli and then I would say Hankook would be 4th and so on and so on. Glad you like you Continental tires. I'll stick to my Michelins though. I've have Continental tires on my car when I got it and they where toast at 30,000 miles. They should have got more then that out of them especially since the alignment was perfect and air pressure was checked every 2 weeks and kept right at 34 pound like the door placard says. I was kinda shocked to that they wore out so fast though but I guess factory tires don't last all that long anyway. Well when they arrive at my house I will post up pictures of them on this forum so you guys can see if anything has changed on them. Cheers guys.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: TheStig83
I've never seen a 80,000 or 90,000 mile tire wear out completely


First off google it.. there were plenty of others. Certain sizes of the defender were horrid for tread wear.

Tires were rotated twice a year or about every 4000-6000miles.

When replaced 2 were at 4/32 and 2 at 3/32 which I dont live in a desert so I dont believe in 2/32 replacement time.

The alignment is not off on the car. I run michelin xice xi2's on it in the winter and they are wearing fine. still 6/32 tread after 5.5 winters

Tire are generally run at 34-35psi.

The car spec is 32psi front and back and +4psi for winter tires.

you shouldn't compare your oem continential tires to my aftermarket continential tires.

same as I wouldnt compare aftermarket michelin's to OEM michelins(which are usually subpar).

On OEM tires they are spec'ed by the car manufacturer not the tire manufacturer.

There is of course exceptions to this.. for example the cherokee trailhawk came with Firestone destination AT tires that are quite good.

I am not a michelin basher... and not a fanboi either.
I prefer michelins if I can get a deal on them.

I had a set of Michelin premier on my 2015 forester and they were excellent.
I am also happy with the Michelin xice xi2.
I purchased the defenders too.. they didnt come on the car.. They are infact the only michelin tire I've ever been severely disappointed with excepting oem models.

The new continential CONTROL CONTACT TOURING A/S are a new model and they are what the defenders should have been.

 

[TheStig83]

Seems like you might have taken offense to what I wrote so sorry about that but every tire company has lemons. Like I said I'm sure your tires where the 2013 bad batch. That seems to be the batch everyone had problems with and Michelin was made aware of it and fixed the problem. It was a compound issue and has since been changed. The continental tires I hear a lot and I mean a lot of horror stories about are the purecontact and the extremecontact. They seem to like to blowout way to much. Reminds me of the old firestones on the explore. It happens that much with those continental tires. Now they might be good for the first 10,000 to 15,000 miles but after that they go down hill from my experience on the work cars.

 

[nthach]

I put on a pair of Defender XTs to match the non-Costco Defenders in 2013, and they were 80% work at 50K - they were the first series run from their new plant in Mexico, I ended up replacing all 4 of them when one of the XTs had a shard of metal in the shoulder. The ones I have now are made in South Carolina, I'm expecting 60K from these - accounting for [censored] roads.

 

[TheStig83]

Yes they are now made in the USA again. I saw the old Defenders where made in Canada and Mexico. The old Defenders from 2013 where the bad ones. All tire companies seem to drop the ball every once in a while though. Nobody is perfect. I think I read somewhere that the defender is what replaced the harmony and hydroedge. I do know that they had a problem with the rubber compound they used on the first Defenders and that's what was causing the premature wear problems on them. I know that's not a issue anymore on them now. My mom has a set of Defenders on her Saturn Aura that are a few years old and have a good amount of miles on them and they still have a ton of treat left on them. They are the T rated 90,000 mile ones. Car handles great wearing these tires too.

 

[nthach]

Michelin also makes the Defender in Italy as well, the set on my parent's van were made there so I assume it used the improved compound. I just prefer to get my tires from Costco, if only they carried Continental and General as well...

 

[TheStig83]

I did not know they made it in Italy as well. You could get good deals on tires from Walmart too. I saw they sell Michelin and I believe I saw General tires there the other day.

 

[FordFocus]

Would be great if you post a few pictures.

Tire rack finally has a picture still no tread depth information

 

[FordFocus]

Does anyone know what the T+ H stands for? traction an handling? Hopefully doesn't confuse people what speed rating they are.

 

[TheStig83]

 

[TheStig83]

 

[TheStig83]

Can't find any pictures of them on tire rack though. If you can post a picture of them from tire rack that would be awesome. I'm pretty sure they look like the current Defenders but idk

 

[TheStig83]

The T+H probably does stand for Traction + Handling

 

[TheStig83]

Regular Defender by Michelin

New Defender T+H by Michelin

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: TheStig83
The T+H probably does stand for Traction + Handling

They do have a few H-rated sizes that fit things like the Lexus LS430 and the older Mercedes S-Class/BMW 7 Series that use a 225/55-17 or 235/60-16 H-rated tire, as well as many Subarus.

Sounds like Michelin's targeting this towards luxury car drivers who want something long-lived but not necessarily sporty.

 

[TheStig83]

Originally Posted By: nthach
Originally Posted By: TheStig83
The T+H probably does stand for Traction + Handling

They do have a few H-rated sizes that fit things like the Lexus LS430 and the older Mercedes S-Class/BMW 7 Series that use a 225/55-17 or 235/60-16 H-rated tire, as well as many Subarus.

Sounds like Michelin's targeting this towards luxury car drivers who want something long-lived but not necessarily sporty.


They come in H rated and T rated and some V rated. It is the same exact tire as the regular defender but what they did is they added more silica to the tire compound so it won't have the same problems as the older defender did with the tires not lasting the 80,000 miles they where supposed to. They did this to improve the durability and longevity of the tire. They still are available for ever single vehicle the original defender tire was offered for. It's a great all season tire. I personally have just basic all season firestone affinity Touring tires on my Fusion and at recommended air pressure it had kinda a mushy soft feel to it. Tires would scream when pushed hard on back roads. Bumped the tire pressure up a pound or two higher and it became a different car. Handles so much better and is super easy to control and I can push it super hard through back roads and the tires never scream and that's with [censored] basic firestones. I know the Michelin tires will be a major improvement in every way on this car.

 

[The Critic]

It has been a while since this thread was started and it appears that a few people have this time. Can you provide some updates on how these tires are working out for you?