New Nitto 421s

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I have been a Michelin person most of my driving life when I can afford it. I purchased a new GMC Acadia Denali in January of 2018. It came equipped with Michelin Premier LTX tires, so I was happy until I started driving it. The car is a front wheel drive and the front tires spun every time t started from a stop. I tried to be careful when I took off and I would always spin the front tires. They rode comfortably and weren't excessively noisy. I only had 13,000 miles on them and I finally said enough. I took them off with plenty of tread left on them, I didn't care. I put on a set on Nitto 421s. Talk about grip! When I got them put on and got the car back it was raining torrentially and I didn't spin the tires taking off. They have great grip, wet or dry. Another thing I noticed is they seem to be quieter on a wider range of roads than the ‘Michelin's I replaced. I've had one other set of Nitto before and had decent luck with them, but these 421s seem like they might be the real deal..I might try a set of them on my Tahoe when it needs new tires.
 
Originally Posted by cbpat1
I purchased a new GMC Acadia Denali in January of 2018. It came equipped with Michelin Premier LTX tires, so I was happy until I started driving it. The car is a front wheel drive and the front tires spun every time t started from a stop. I tried to be careful when I took off and I would always spin the front tires.


I am not sure how the tires spin every time you accelerate from a stop. It looks like you are in Florida, where there is no snow or ice like we have up here. It sounds like using a little lighter foot on the accelerator pedal may be in order here. I don't think it is the tires, and it is not like that vehicle is making 1200 horsepower or something.
 
Originally Posted by propuckstopper
Originally Posted by cbpat1
I purchased a new GMC Acadia Denali in January of 2018. It came equipped with Michelin Premier LTX tires, so I was happy until I started driving it. The car is a front wheel drive and the front tires spun every time t started from a stop. I tried to be careful when I took off and I would always spin the front tires.


I am not sure how the tires spin every time you accelerate from a stop. It looks like you are in Florida, where there is no snow or ice like we have up here. It sounds like using a little lighter foot on the accelerator pedal may be in order here. I don't think it is the tires, and it is not like that vehicle is making 1200 horsepower or something.


No....it can be the tires. I had some MXV4 tires on a Honda Accord that would break loose on overflow from the center landscaping strip being watered by the city.

Sometimes Michelins are compete garbage.
 
My mxv4's weren't complete garbage, but after 30K I could easily spin the wheels in the slightest but of wet with the Corolla's mighty 1.8L. I ran them a bit further, but my Continental PureContacts were better wet tires at 50K then the Michelin's were at 10K.

Yet I'm not allowed to recommend other, better Michelin tires here without hearing complaints about Michelin bigots filling BITOG.
 
According to our resident tire expert, OEM's dictate the desired characteristics of the tires they put on vehicles from the factory. Most often that is Low Rolling Resistance, for the best possible fuel economy. The downside to that is less grip. So the Michelin Premier LTX tires which came stock on your vehicle, likely are not the same as the tires branded the same, but sold at tire stores.

Nitto is a subsidiary of Toyo. I've generally had a good experience with Toyo's. I have them on three vehicles, currently.
 
Originally Posted by 02SE
According to our resident tire expert, OEM's dictate the desired characteristics of the tires they put on vehicles from the factory. Most often that is Low Rolling Resistance, for the best possible fuel economy. The downside to that is less grip. So the Michelin Premier LTX tires which came stock on your vehicle, likely are not the same as the tires branded the same, but sold at tire stores.

Nitto is a subsidiary of Toyo. I've generally had a good experience with Toyo's. I have them on three vehicles, currently.



Here lies the rub.....your first impression with a product is just that.....a first impression. So whoever is responsible-the manufacturer, or Michelih for dictating the specs-if the product is lousy then you are most likely not to go any where near it a second time. ESPECIALLY AT THE PRICE POINT MICHELINS ARE SOLD AT.........

I don't understand why these tires just are not called something else. Especially if they are making compromises to the vehicle manufacturer that results in ride and/or handling issues. As I mentioned-The MXV4 Michelin tires on a brand new Honda Accord EX-L I purchased would break loose over the smallest amount of road moisture. These same tires (in name at least) were being sold when I was looking at replacement tires and I ran the other way.
 
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I agree, if OEM tires are really made worse, they should be labeled as such, "SHT Edition" or something. But I thought the major difference was just tread depth.

For reference, my so-so MXV4 tires were not OEM. They replaced some truly awful dealer installed Telestar Weatherizer tires which I yanked at about 16K as too dangerous to use. Compared to them the MXV4's were awesome.
 
The more I drive these Nitto 421s, the more I like them. Of course one of the posters noted that this is only an initial impression and he is absolutely correct. The comparison between the Michelin's are fairly accurate in that tire wear wasn't the issue, is just that the Michelin premiers just didn't have enough grip in front. Another poster suggested I use a lighter foot while accelerating, but it's not necessary with the Nitto 421s because they have enough grip that with my style of driving the front wheels aren't spinning when I'm taking off. These are my first imp, but so far, so good. I'm extremely happy, I just hope they hold up well. I know they are rated for 75,000 miles, but I'm happy with 40,000 good miles and changing tires when they aren't totally worn out.
 
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Originally Posted by HangFire
I agree, if OEM tires are really made worse, they should be labeled as such, "SHT Edition" or something. But I thought the major difference was just tread depth.

For reference, my so-so MXV4 tires were not OEM. They replaced some truly awful dealer installed Telestar Weatherizer tires which I yanked at about 16K as too dangerous to use. Compared to them the MXV4's were awesome.


I'm just stating what our resident tire engineer has stated. But he has said made with different goals, not necessarily worse.

A quote from an older thread:

Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Originally Posted by spasm3
I'm convinced that the OE tires are not the same as the same brand/model you buy aftermarket.......


Allow me to confirm that.

Also allow me to talk about what is involved in qualifying a tire for OE and what that means to you - here:

Barry's Tire Tech - OE Tires

Short version: The OEM (Vehicle Manufacturer) sets the specs the tire has to meet - and they are different than what a consumer would want. A consumer wants wear and traction and a vehicle manufacturer wants fuel economy - and those 3 things are incompatible.

Also each OEM has its own ideas of what 3 way compromise is needed, so each OE tire is different than every other OE tire. And tires for the aftermarket are different still.
 
Originally Posted by 02SE
Originally Posted by HangFire
I agree, if OEM tires are really made worse, they should be labeled as such, "SHT Edition" or something. But I thought the major difference was just tread depth.

For reference, my so-so MXV4 tires were not OEM. They replaced some truly awful dealer installed Telestar Weatherizer tires which I yanked at about 16K as too dangerous to use. Compared to them the MXV4's were awesome.


I'm just stating what our resident tire engineer has stated. But he has said made with different goals, not necessarily worse.

A quote from an older thread:

Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Originally Posted by spasm3
I'm convinced that the OE tires are not the same as the same brand/model you buy aftermarket.......


Allow me to confirm that.

Also allow me to talk about what is involved in qualifying a tire for OE and what that means to you - here:

Barry's Tire Tech - OE Tires

Short version: The OEM (Vehicle Manufacturer) sets the specs the tire has to meet - and they are different than what a consumer would want. A consumer wants wear and traction and a vehicle manufacturer wants fuel economy - and those 3 things are incompatible.

Also each OEM has its own ideas of what 3 way compromise is needed, so each OE tire is different than every other OE tire. And tires for the aftermarket are different still.



You are missing the point. Many times what the manufacturer wants in an OEM tire compromises some other characteristics. Many times making it worse in some other aspects.

There are very, very few OEM tires that cannot be improved upon dramatically with a good after market tire replacement. Then you can have the same exact name on the sidewall (MXV4 in our example) that could very well be a better tire than OEM but since you had an awful tire experience on your new vehicle you won't by it for replacement,

There-I think the horse is dead now...........
 
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Originally Posted by CKN

You are missing the point. Many times what the manufacturer wants in an OEM tire compromises some other characteristics. Many times making it worse in some other aspects.

.


No, I got the point perfectly well.

Which is why I said what I did in my first post, and essentially the same thing here:
Originally Posted by 02SE
I'm just stating what our resident tire engineer has stated. But he has said made with different goals, not necessarily worse.
 
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