Michelin Defender Winter Performance

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Hello..

2008 Odyssey needs new tires and the Defender is on my short list. I am concerned about the many, many reviews that say the Defender's are only average to poor in the snow. Since we are approaching the end of a brutal winter I am looking for comments from Defender owners as to how well your tires did the past several months in the snow, ice, and slush.

Thanks!
 
Well, we don't have tons of snow down hear, but I have Defenders on my Audi and they did well in the snow we had this winter.

Are they the best for snow? Probably not. But if you are seeing more snow than what I drove in for an extended period of time you should have winter tires on there anyway.
 
I, like yourself, was concerned about the winter reviews also. I put the Defenders on a Toyota Corolla and have found them to be good. Saying this after being spoiled by the winter tires on our other car.

The Defender wearing Corolla has had no issues with going through unplowed streets. This car is a dedicated street parker so it always gets plowed in after heavy snow. This year with the snow-freezing cycles the tires did surprisingly well. I only had to dig myself out once. I just drive right over the plowed snow with smooth throttle when getting in and out of spots.

If I ever manage to wear these out on that car I'd consider buying another set.
 
I'd recommend getting some cheap wheels and buying dedicated snow tires. It makes a huge difference on any car.

Discount Tire will swap them for free every season, and having snow tires will actually extend the life of your normal/all-seasons.
 
My brother has them on 2 vehicles (Suburu and a Minivan) - say's he's happy with them in the winter.
 
They are average on light snow and ice (compared to other all season)

if you look at the tread pattern you can see why they are average or worse in deeper stuff too

you are better off getting general RT43 if you need superior winter performance.

If winter performance is a priority, consider winter tires on separate rims or nokian wrg3
 
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I put the Defender on our Odyssey in Oct 2013. Given that this winter had not been too kind to us, the tires did very well.
 
I had the Harmony, the model before they became the Defender and it was pretty good. Better than the Pirelli P4 I had in between two sets of Harmonys for sure.
 
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