Continental truck tire line blowing doors off Michelin Defender LTX

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Continental has returned fire on Michelin! Terraincontact and LX25 line!!!

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Consumer Reports. I have been following their reports closely and I know in the past for the Michelin Defender LTX they had gotten 75000 miles out of the Defenders. The old Continental LX20 used to get 65000 miles. It looks like the one to beat is the TerrainContact.

Treadlife matters. Right now Im trying to get in touch with this tireshop. First call...hello hello hello...hang up...next few calls...please hold and never come back. Replacing tires is not only expensive but its a time consuming process dealing with these goofballs at the tire shop. Probably when I go down there will have to "leave it" and they take the car for the day..and maybe I have to come back for warranty issues... Thus a little extra treadlife is entirely appreciated and needed.
 
Consumer Reports. I have been following their reports closely and I know in the past for the Michelin Defender LTX they had gotten 75000 miles out of the Defenders. The old Continental LX20 used to get 65000 miles. It looks like the one to beat is the TerrainContact.

Treadlife matters. Right now Im trying to get in touch with this tireshop. First call...hello hello hello...hang up...next few calls...please hold and never come back. Replacing tires is not only expensive but its a time consuming process dealing with these goofballs at the tire shop. Probably when I go down there will have to "leave it" and they take the car for the day..and maybe I have to come back for warranty issues... Thus a little extra treadlife is entirely appreciated and needed.
Thanks for the info Navi, much appreciated.
Do you have the latest CR info on SUV tires? My Mom lives in WI and she wants my help picking out new tires for her AWD 2010 Honda CR-V.
 
I don't know how their rating system works so I'm not sure how to qualify "blowing the doors off" relative to what's been presented. It would seem all three tires listed are excellent with Michelin getting the nod in Hydroplaning resistance over the TerrainContact, snow performance over the CrossContact and rolling resistance over both Continental offerings, but producing more noise and slightly less ride comfort.
 
There was nothing wrong with the T-rated Defender LTX I bought in 2018 and ran to 75000 miles before changing them out. The only flaw was the ride was on the stiffer side. In snow, the Defender LTXs were a champ. I put the Defenders into extreme situations with a 2 wheel drive Suburban truck and then my Navigator...put the Navigator into 2 wheel drive. The tires got through most situations. With the Navigator I purposely found snow piles on hills and was able to find traction from a stop in the snow piles in 2 wheel drive. Finally got the Suburban stuck on a grassy deep snow area but was able to spin the wheels out of that mess. New Defender LTX tires were champs in the snow.

I am guessing the Terraincontact line is an answer to the Defenders. The LX25 is a plusher ride with a little less snow traction and treadwear. Its more for luxury trucks than anything else. The Defender and I suppose the Terraincontact is more for business. The Defenders I know were specifically designed for the commuter Jeep Wrangler drivers where 95% of the time is spent onroad and the other 5% lightroading at best. They really made them for the snow as many Wrangler drivers buy them for the snow in their area.

The only thing bad about the Defender LTX IMHO was it just hit the bumps a little too hard for my tastes....
 
If one wants Michelin LTX on cheap - go with Sumitomo Encounter HT, I did and am very happy with the tires for the past 2 years/15K miles. I do use winter tires in winter.
 
The bottom line with any tire is, it's just like picking out a new pair of shoes. You never know until you get some miles on them. I have had lots of shoes I'll never wear again. And then once and a while you find out what really works for the task at hand.
 
The bottom line with any tire is, it's just like picking out a new pair of shoes. You never know until you get some miles on them. I have had lots of shoes I'll never wear again. And then once and a while you find out what really works for the task at hand.
A tire may perform excellent on one car and not quite so good on another. I have experienced this with my own cars.
 
A few points not already covered on the Continental TerrainContact H/T.

6 Years / 70,000 Miles treadware warranty is the same as the Michelin.

“Repair voids warranty” on the Continental. If you pick up a nail and the tire can be repaired, your warranty is gone. No such exclusion on the Michelin. I had just that happen to me on my Michelins a couple weeks ago. Warranty is still in effect.

Hecho en Mexico.
 
Would much rather see some objective measurements like tire rack does, than these colored marks. I can’t make heads or tails out of how much better one thing is than another, nor what blowing the doors off means.


A few points not already covered on the Continental TerrainContact H/T.

6 Years / 70,000 Miles treadware warranty is the same as the Michelin.

“Repair voids warranty” on the Continental. If you pick up a nail and the tire can be repaired, your warranty is gone. No such exclusion on the Michelin. I had just that happen to me on my Michelins a couple weeks ago. Warranty is still in effect.

Hecho en Mexico.


Interesting. Thats all a bummer.
 
A few points not already covered on the Continental TerrainContact H/T.

6 Years / 70,000 Miles treadware warranty is the same as the Michelin.

“Repair voids warranty” on the Continental. If you pick up a nail and the tire can be repaired, your warranty is gone. No such exclusion on the Michelin. I had just that happen to me on my Michelins a couple weeks ago. Warranty is still in effect.

Hecho en Mexico.


Ah ..... Mmmmm ..... Not exactly:

From Michelin's Warranty:

"........ This warranty does not cover tires damaged due to misuse, abuse or accident such as: – Road hazards (e.g., cuts, snags, bruises, impact damage or punctures); ....... "
 
Ford used to put Conti AT tires on
all the new trucks and they were very quiet and long lasting but horrible in the snow. Down right dangerous.
Of course time moves on.
Good luck.
 
Ah ..... Mmmmm ..... Not exactly:

From Michelin's Warranty:

"........ This warranty does not cover tires damaged due to misuse, abuse or accident such as: – Road hazards (e.g., cuts, snags, bruises, impact damage or punctures); ....... "

No, exactly. Exactly what I said; precisely. Michelin does not offer a Road Hazards warranty. However a tire repair does not void their mileage warranty. A tire repair does void Continental’s mileage warranty. Separate Road Hazard warranties if any are offered by the tire dealer, in my case Sam’s Club. A punctured sidewall requires tire replacement and would be handled by road hazard warranty. A repairable puncture in tread though, does not require tire replacement nor does it void Michelin’s treadwear warranty. A repair of any kind voids Continental’s warranty. There is your difference.
 
A few points not already covered on the Continental TerrainContact H/T.

6 Years / 70,000 Miles treadware warranty is the same as the Michelin.

“Repair voids warranty” on the Continental. If you pick up a nail and the tire can be repaired, your warranty is gone. No such exclusion on the Michelin. I had just that happen to me on my Michelins a couple weeks ago. Warranty is still in effect.

Hecho en Mexico.

You can always get a road hazard warranty which does cover those things.
 
Right, you can get a Road Hazard warranty to cover the complete destruction of the tire for example by hitting a pothole or getting a sidewall puncture. I have one on my Michelins. Continental though is doing something fundamentally different. A normal flat tire repair where they could fix it and send you on your way, voids the TREADWARE warranty on Continentals. Michelin does not do that. See the difference? We are not talking road hazard warranty. A road hazard warranty does not give you a new tire when all that was needed was a simple flat repair. It also does not warrant a certain lifetime of the tread. That is what the treadware warranty covere. Yet a simple repair voids the treadware warranty on the Continentals. Their mileage warranty goes out the window.
 
I'm all about Michelin for my tires. I have the Defenders on my truck and run between the Road5 Trail and Anakee Wild for my adventure bike. On my truck I switched from Falken Wildpeak E rated tire to the Defender in standard load rating. The difference in ride is amazing. It's like I'm on a cloud. My truck now rides like a car. The savings in unsprung weight also makes a difference in the handling and feel behind the wheel.

The E rated tire served its purpose for hard core off highway travel. Being a daily driver all that weight and tread noise was not worth it.
 
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