Which Michelin's for my Accord?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
2,919
Location
Indiana
Currently I have a set of Michelin Pilot HX MXM4's in 225/48R18 on my Accord. I've got 45k miles on them. I run mostly highway miles on this car. The tires are probably good for another 30k. I've been happy with these tires. But on Saturday, one of them blew out...I hit something on the highway at 75MPH.

I'm going to go with Michelin's again. Which tire do you recommend?

I basically have these choices: Primacy MXM4, Pilot MXM4, Pilot Sport A/S 3+, Michelin Premier A/S, or the Defender.

I'm really easy on tires because the car going in a straight line at 75mph 95% of the time. The OEM tires that came on the car new (I bought the car with 33k miles on it already), took me to 78k miles. And I could have gone to probably 90k!!!
 
Last edited:
Ugh, stinks when that happens.

A 4 cyl accord isn't really a high performing vehicle, but the handling of accords is reasonably sharp and competent.

lll say that the 225/50-17 energy saver AS that came as OE fit on my 15 HAH have been very satisfactory.
 
Don't buy the A/S 3's as recommended by the members above. They have there place, but not for you since you said your easy on tires and
go 75 MPH in a straight line 95% of the time. The A/S 3's will have a shorter life, provide less fuel economy and ride harsher than what you have now.
The Michelin's on your car are a low rolling resistance tire and the A/S 3's are not and you can expect to take a real world hit in fuel economy.
I'm not taking a silly 5W20 vs 5W30 type fraction of a single MPG either. It can be over 1 MPG. Account that cost in extra fuel used in a 50k span.
 
Last edited:
Really? You guys are recommending the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ for someone who states their car is mainly a commuter and is 'easy on tires'?

Do you guys work in sales by chance?
 
I would do the Premier A/S - though I don’t see it in a 18” size to fit a 2010 Accord.

The Defender would probably be my second choice though I also don’t see it in an 18” size for a 2010 Accord.
 
For your driving, and mine for that matter, I would get the Premier. Reviews are good with the only odd comment is that they have a distinctive sizzle sound at highway speed on some surfaces.

Make sure you look at all alternative sizes to see if any are on special. 225/45; 235/45; 225/50; 245/45 are good choices if you have 18x8" wheels and you do a set of 4.
 
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Really? You guys are recommending the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ for someone who states their car is mainly a commuter and is 'easy on tires'?

Do you guys work in sales by chance?

Assuming OP meant to type 225/45/18, the Y-rated version of the A/S 3+ is the cheapest all-season Michelin option on Tire Rack. It's even cheaper than the V-rated version.

If OP meant a different size, the A/S 3+ is still probably cheaper than many options as Tire Rack has been significantly discounting it for a while now.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Don't buy the A/S 3's as recommended by the members above. They have there place, but not for you since you said your easy on tires and
go 75 MPH in a straight line 95% of the time. The A/S 3's will have a shorter life, provide less fuel economy and ride harsher than what you have now.
The Michelin's on your car are a low rolling resistance tire and the A/S 3's are not and you can expect to take a real world hit in fuel economy.
I'm not taking a silly 5W20 vs 5W30 type fraction of a single MPG either. It can be over 1 MPG. Account that cost in extra fuel used in a 50k span.

And what happens if you have to have to deal with an emergency situation at 75 MPH? Or hit an unexpected wet patch around a blind corner?

Grip is the most important thing a tire does. When you sacrifice it, you're accepting an extra measure of risk not only for yourself but for others. I guess I can't speak for everyone, but I don't have the cojones to say that's worth 1 MPG out of 30.

"Shorter life" means it'll take less time to get down to the wear bars. That's probably true. But even at the wear bars, an A/S 3+ will still work better than those other tires will with most of their tread.

NVH: Again, probably true. But we're not talking about a runflat winter tire here. The A/S 3+ actually has a pretty soft sidewall as performance tires go.

In sum: The MPG and NVH advantages of those other tires are minor if not insignificant. Their tread life advantages are a false economy. But the grip and traction advantages of the A/S 3+ -- and thus its safety advantages -- are huge. If that's not a no-brainer, I don't know what is.
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
"Shorter life" means it'll take less time to get down to the wear bars. That's probably true. But even at the wear bars, an A/S 3+ will still work better than those other tires will with most of their tread.


I suppose you have evidence to back that up? I’d like to see it because I think it is hogwash.

I’m particularly interested in the “unexpected wet patch around a blind corner” on 2/32 A/S3 vs Premiers with most of their tread.
 
Ugh, the Primacy MXM4 are the worst tires my folks have had on their car in winter conditions, and it's AWD.

For a commuter Accord, I'd go with the Premier or Defenders.
 
Originally Posted By: LotI
For your driving, and mine for that matter, I would get the Premier. Reviews are good with the only odd comment is that they have a distinctive sizzle sound at highway speed on some surfaces.

Make sure you look at all alternative sizes to see if any are on special. 225/45; 235/45; 225/50; 245/45 are good choices if you have 18x8" wheels and you do a set of 4.


Yeah, I was looking at different size options.

I can get the Pilots or Primacy in 225/45R18
I can get Pilot Sport A/S 3+ or Defender in 225/50R18

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
I would do the Premier A/S - though I don’t see it in a 18” size to fit a 2010 Accord.

The Defender would probably be my second choice though I also don’t see it in an 18” size for a 2010 Accord.


I have some Powder Coated 18" wheels from a 2013 or 2014 Accord Sport on my 2010:

IMG_20170616_232026.jpg
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
"Shorter life" means it'll take less time to get down to the wear bars. That's probably true. But even at the wear bars, an A/S 3+ will still work better than those other tires will with most of their tread.


I suppose you have evidence to back that up? I’d like to see it because I think it is hogwash.

I’m particularly interested in the “unexpected wet patch around a blind corner” on 2/32 A/S3 vs Premiers with most of their tread.

Can't blame you.

Basically, something like that has been true for literally every top-of-the-line performance tire I've ever owned when compared to a tire in a lower performance category.

Part of the point of a tire like the A/S 3+ is that it keeps working down to the wear bars. Theoretically hydroplaning resistance and traction in deep unpacked snow will suffer at low tread depths, but for most people it's extremely rare that that'll be a problem; the A/S 3+ grips much harder than the others when it finds a hard surface again, so it takes quite a depth of water or snow and really high speeds for the tread difference to be the critical weakness. Barring that -- in other words, in basically all contexts -- the tire retains quite a lot of its performance as it wears.

Many of Michelin's lower-performance tires play the same trick. But the margin between an A/S 3+ and the lower performance classes is so big that you'd be hard pressed to degrade it enough for the lower-performance tire to be competitive in most situations.

Either way, the point here is that if you compare usable tread life -- i.e., not from new to the wear bars, but from new to poorly-performing -- the A/S 3+ doesn't have much of a disadvantage vs. a lower-performance tire, if any.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top