Is Michelin really that good

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Ditto here.
Originally Posted By: KzMitch
I am on my third set of Michelin LTX M/S and they're fantastic.
I get about 80,000 miles out of them. Great in snow and rain.
It's the only brand I'd buy and I'm willing to pay a premium for them.
 
I had a set of Michelin Latitude touring tires on my Expedition. The tread life is amazing and the ride was quiet and smooth. They failed prematurely due to sidewall dry rot, and I had a blowout on one. They had 3 years on them and about 35K miles. With a little bit of debate with Sears and Michelin, they gave me a 50% credit towards a set of new LTX MS 2's and a fresh warranty.
I tried to get a partial warranty claim when I showed them the dry rot originally, since they come with a 6 year 65K mile warranty, but they would not cover that. After the blowout, they took it more seriously to get me into another set of different Michelins.
Bottom line, I am happy with the ride, tread life and handling and hoping that the LTX MS2's will not have any sidewall dry rot issues in the next couple years. Happy so far with 1 year and about 25k miles.
 
The high grade performance Michelins like the Pilot Sports are big dollars. I've had Michelin Primacy on my last 2 cars....300K miles total. They were the factory tire on my 1996 Lincoln and 1 of them got a rub at only 10K miles. At 30K miles another front tire got that rub and had to be replaced. Since then I've averaged about 50-55K miles per set. The last set lasted 10 yrs and started showing signs of sidewall cracking. They were worn out too. You'd expect better mileage but I like the ride, quiet, and performance in snow and rain. I've got BFG's on another car and those are a bit noisy. I may consider the Continental for my next set as those tend to give a smooth and quite ride too, for less money than the Michelins. I'm only doing 8K miles per year so the Michelins work for me. I've rarely gotten past 60-65K miles on tires, even with mostly highway driving.

I'd probably agree that at $250-$300 per tire in the larger sizes the Michelin Pilots/Sports are that good. But they better be for that price. Those are well-suited for top quality performance cars like Corvettes and other 400-500 hp factory cars.
 
Short answer is yes.

Long answer, I've owned tires of many major brands, including Pirelli, Uniroyal, Yokohama, Goodyear, Continental, General, and Michelin. And I've liked things about most all of them. But overall I am the most pleased with my Michelin purchases. I love the long tread life, they handle and brake well, and tend to perform well in bad weather.

One thing I've never understood is why so many here seem to believe that Michelin tires are some of the most expensive. Yes, there are many that are cheaper, and also less expensive. But I have found that there are plenty of tires that make the Michelin tire prices look to be about middle of the road.
 
There's a lot better out there than Michelins for a better price.

My grandmother's Trailblazer has had 2 sets of Michelin Cross Terrains. The first set was 6 years old and the sidewall was splitting like a banana from dry rot. Then the second set dry rotted at 3 years old. That's was the last straw, the Trailblazer has Continentals now.

The Michelins were extremely smooth and quiet though, it was ridiculous how smooth and quiet they were, but the safety for her was not worth the silky smoothness of garbage tires.

I had a set of Michelin HydroEdge tires on my VW. They were cracking too but not as bad as the Cross Terrains. One of them got flat spots all over it and all of the tires were so loud that the car sounded like an airplane going down the highway. They were replaced with Pirelli's and I couldn't be happier.

I've gotten a bad taste in my mouth three times from Michelin, not gonna go back and use those pieces of garbage again.
 
They are great tires but way over priced IMHO. The Cooper CS5 Grantouring tires were every bit as good as the Michelins on the grand marquis we had and probably half the price.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
There's a lot better out there than Michelins for a better price.

My grandmother's Trailblazer has had 2 sets of Michelin Cross Terrains. The first set was 6 years old and the sidewall was splitting like a banana from dry rot. Then the second set dry rotted at 3 years old. That's was the last straw, the Trailblazer has Continentals now.

The Michelins were extremely smooth and quiet though, it was ridiculous how smooth and quiet they were, but the safety for her was not worth the silky smoothness of garbage tires.

I had a set of Michelin HydroEdge tires on my VW. They were cracking too but not as bad as the Cross Terrains. One of them got flat spots all over it and all of the tires were so loud that the car sounded like an airplane going down the highway. They were replaced with Pirelli's and I couldn't be happier.

I've gotten a bad taste in my mouth three times from Michelin, not gonna go back and use those pieces of garbage again.


I can't fault you for sidewall cracking, they are known for it, but the experience you had on your vw sounds like a shock or alignment issue. on the flipside the one time i had scorpion art tires on my jeep they cupped for no reason and wore out in 20k. Regular alignments, regular rotates, not off road...
The defenders are smooth and quiet on my soul, I wish I would have gotten the bfg Advantage ta on it instead, defenders are soft and squishy and excellent on ice, and the bfgs have a stiffer sidewall and more of a lug tread design with a harder compound. While I can't fault the Michelins, the bfgs would have been crisper and would have had better snow performance.
 
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Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Some of their models are, yes. The LTX M/S2, Pilot Super Sport and Pilot A/S3's are all fantastic tires that I've owned.


We buy several sets of LTX MS2's regularly. They are the finest load range E tire we have ever run in the history of our family biz. Up to 3 times the mileage of competitors while delivering excellent traction in all conditions.

The new gen PSS is also amazing. But I feel certain Michelin has a few dogs in their line up as most do...
 
My Camry had Michelin mxv4 primacies , very god tires and quiet too, unfortunately I didn't know at the time how expensive they were and didn't take care of them, even worn out they were quieter than my new Goodyears, and rode better too.
 
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Some of their models are, yes. The LTX M/S2, Pilot Super Sport and Pilot A/S3's are all fantastic tires that I've owned.



I can back up the LTX M/S2, just changed them over the summer on the wife's Wrangler...with 150000 miles. That's not a typo, we had them on for 150k, from 39k to 159000. Worth every penny.


BWA haha just noticed my typing error....post should read "from 39k to 189k".
 
Originally Posted By: hansj3
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
There's a lot better out there than Michelins for a better price.

My grandmother's Trailblazer has had 2 sets of Michelin Cross Terrains. The first set was 6 years old and the sidewall was splitting like a banana from dry rot. Then the second set dry rotted at 3 years old. That's was the last straw, the Trailblazer has Continentals now.

The Michelins were extremely smooth and quiet though, it was ridiculous how smooth and quiet they were, but the safety for her was not worth the silky smoothness of garbage tires.

I had a set of Michelin HydroEdge tires on my VW. They were cracking too but not as bad as the Cross Terrains. One of them got flat spots all over it and all of the tires were so loud that the car sounded like an airplane going down the highway. They were replaced with Pirelli's and I couldn't be happier.

I've gotten a bad taste in my mouth three times from Michelin, not gonna go back and use those pieces of garbage again.


I can't fault you for sidewall cracking, they are known for it, but the experience you had on your vw sounds like a shock or alignment issue. on the flipside the one time i had scorpion art tires on my jeep they cupped for no reason and wore out in 20k. Regular alignments, regular rotates, not off road...
The defenders are smooth and quiet on my soul, I wish I would have gotten the bfg Advantage ta on it instead, defenders are soft and squishy and excellent on ice, and the bfgs have a stiffer sidewall and more of a lug tread design with a harder compound. While I can't fault the Michelins, the bfgs would have been crisper and would have had better snow performance.
Actually what happened is at 15k miles one tire got some sidewall damage and was replaced under road hazard warranty. That replacement tire was really weird, it wore like iron, but got flat spots all over it, to the point where walking by the car you could see them. The tires had regular rotations and the other tire on that side (which was on the car for longer) had no flat spots at all. They had about 63k miles on them when I replaced them and they had 7/32" of tread.
 
I have given up on Michelins... Back in the day when the X was king they were great. The Sears rebranded Michelins were really good.

But I have had to many go bad just sitting. Sidewall cracking and tread chunking make them not worth the investment.

I just pulled a set of 1/2 worn Primacy's off my Saab becasue I could not keep them balanced.

I've had real good luck with Toyo's on trucks, and Coopers on cars
smile.gif


I've also had extremely good service from Kenda's on motorcycles and utility vehicles. I now have two sets running on cars. One set on the front of the go-faster required zero weight to balance either front wheel - amazing
laugh.gif


But, to be fair, they are on ProStar wheels which are very well made.
 
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Originally Posted By: M1Accord
It runs about 50% more than BFGoodrich. I need tires soon and bought them at Costco since they don't carry other brand in Honda Fit 185 55 16 size.


In that size, yes, they are bar none the best. I went through this dilemma this past spring. Our Fit is riding on Michelin Premiers. They're easily the best-riding and wet-gripping tire in that size we've had on the car. We've had the junk OEM tires, Conti DWS's in 205/50-16, and Blizzak LM-25 snow tires on the car.

If your area gets rain for any significant portion of the year, get the Michelins. The Avid Ascends are reputed to have so-so wet grip. I can attest the Michelins have fantastic wet grip. The price difference was worth it to me.
 
Good tires but not worth the price. What I noticed after working around used tires is that the name brand ones tend to be more durable than the no names.
 
Their aftermarket stuff is good - except for the Harmony/X Radial series. I'd still pick a Michelin over a Bridgestone anyday.
 
ALWAYS first choice when it comes to Summer/performance or All-Season tire. Always in balance, they keep performance for a long, long time.
Michelin winter tires? Would not put on a car even if someone paid me.
 
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