Michelin Hydroedge vs others

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My mom's Camry, that my sister has been driving for the last few years, will be needing new tires in the not so distant future ($$$$). The BFG Touring T/A Pro series from Sam's Club have almost 50k miles on them. They're suppose to be a 70k miles tire, but due to the tire pressure being rarely checked they have worn down to 4/32nds on the shoulders of the tires and the middle has about 6/32nds tread. On a recent highway trip in heavy rain my sister said they were hydroplaning. Of course she didn't slow down as much as she should have by going 50-55 mph. They've gotten noisy too. One of the tires is on a corner that had a bad wheel bearing, and now there's a loud humming noise even though the bearings were replaced.

I've been researching and found some budget tires in the $300-$350 range, but I'm wary about traction, treadwear, and the overall quality of the tire. I came across the Michelin Hydroedge and they look like the perfect fit for what I'm looking for. The price is about $100 more than the budget tires on the list after a $60 rebate. The treadwear rating is really high and reviews on Tire Rack are good.

What are the thoughts of members here who have/had these tires? How does the Hydrogedge compare to the tires below? Are they worth the extra money over the budget tires?

The budget tires on my list are:
Sumitomo HTR H4
Sumitomo HTR T4
Kumho Solus KR21
Kumho Solus KH16
General Altimax HP

I'm also looking at the the Goodyear TripleTred, but they would be about $60 more for a set compared to the Hydroedge unless a rebate comes up along the way.

Thanks for any opinions.
 
Not sure what year Camry your Mom has but:

I just put Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S on my 2009. Had them on my 2005 Camry as well.

This tire was $114/ea this time around and it beats any inexpensive tire I have ever owned. They are round (no vibration issues), wear evenly and offer excellent wet performance. This is the perfect tire for this car.

If it's within your budget, I would recommend it.

I can also vouch for the KR21 as being a decent tire. It is probably made in China (if that's important to you).
 
I'm on the second set of Hydroedge on my wife's Toyota Sienna.
They're good solid tires. Long lasting, good in the wet and ok in the snow.
Just put a set of Altimax HP on another car but it's too soon to tell how well they'll wear. They are goood in the wet but haven't driven them in the snow yet.
 
I have the Hydroedge tires on my 99SL2. Love them. Good wet traction. Quiet compared to other tires. Balance good. Hug the road in turns well. I initially bought Goodyear Comfort Treads and they would not balance properly. I would get bad highway vibration. After the 3rd visit for re-balancing I complained to customer service. One of the owners of the company called and told me "he would have the boys put Michelins on and that I would probably like them". He was right. Tire Rack reviews back then reported similar balancing problems with Comfort Treads. This is the second set of Michelins I have purchased in my life. The best tires I have used so far.
 
I have a set of General Altimax HP's that have about 4000 miles on them. I've been extremely happy with the Altimax HP's on both dry and wet pavement. I haven't had a chance to use them in snow, but Tire Rack reviews lean toward very good snow traction.

Assuming the treadwear is good I can't imagine paying more for the Hydroedge when the Altimax HP's handle and ride just as well.
 
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Not sure what year Camry your Mom has


It's a 2004 LE with 205/65/15 tires

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I can also vouch for the KR21 as being a decent tire. It is probably made in China (if that's important to you).


I would prefer not to use Chinese made tires, but they are priced nicely.

I think the Pilot Exalto A/S is out of her budget. I'm looking at Michelins because they seem to have good traction and a high treadwear rating.

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Long lasting, good in the wet and ok in the snow


The two important things is good wet traction for the summer rain and good treadwear. We're lucky we don't have to deal with snow here.

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This is the second set of Michelins I have purchased in my life. The best tires I have used so far.


That is good to know

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Assuming the treadwear is good I can't imagine paying more for the Hydroedge when the Altimax HP's handle and ride just as well.


Assuming the treadwear ratings mean something, the Hydroedge (800)should wear longer than the Altimax HP (440). The Altimax would be $306 w/ shipping and the Hydroedge would be $427 w/ shipping - $60 rebate making them only $367. So they will only be $61 more and I hope that they will last at least 80k miles with proper care since they are rated for 90k miles.

Thanks for the replies
 
Michelin will lasted a long long time, all the tires I tried on my '94 LS400 did not lasted more than 35-40k miles, but the Michelin Harmony is still having more than 4/32" tread left after 50k miles.

If you can afford Michelin Hydroedge, I would go with it. If the price of Hydroedge is too high for you then the next best choices would be General Altimax HP or Pirelli P4 All Season

PS Remember to check tire pressure at least once every few months if you want long lasting tires and good MPG.
 
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Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac

Assuming the treadwear ratings mean something, the Hydroedge (800)should wear longer than the Altimax HP (440). The Altimax would be $306 w/ shipping and the Hydroedge would be $427 w/ shipping - $60 rebate making them only $367. So they will only be $61 more and I hope that they will last at least 80k miles with proper care since they are rated for 90k miles.

Thanks for the replies


The ability to report their own numbers makes treadwear ratings between companies somewhat useless. It's ok if you're comparing it to another Michelin, but mostly meaningless when you're comparing it against another brand.
 
i installed the Hyrdo edge on my 2004 PT Cruiser. It came with [censored] Goodyear tires. The Hydroedge was a great tire and never had a problem with hydroplanning in the rain...something that happened even with a heavy dew with the Goodyears....
 
I've had P205/55/16R Hydroedges on my Civic for about 1,000 miles now. Here are some observations/opinions:

They tend to follow seams on the freeway if you're driving complacently. I've been surprised a couple times by them wanting to go with the flow. Maybe I should expect that from a tire that grips so well, or perhaps it's a symptom of a relatively wide contact patch on a light car. Dunno. It took about a month to add the mental adjustment to my autopilot.

Dry and wet traction is excellent, much better than the OE Bridgestone Turanzas. I haven't been able to hydroplane during our flash floods, either. They also grip well on the light dusting of sand we get on our roads here in the desert. Cornering was a little softer (the sidewalls don't feel very stiff) until I inflated them a bit over the door jamb ratings. Stopping power is excellent as well.

I'm getting about 10 less miles per tank with the Michelins.

I expected these tires to be noisy, but they're not. Yet. I suspect they'll get louder as they wear down. They're a much smoother riding tire than the Bridgestones even at 40/38psi.

At 1,000 miles I have no idea how many miles I'll get out of them. I hope to go at least 4x as far as I did on the Bridgestones.
 
I can vouch for the Goodyear Assurance Tripletred. They are excellent tires all around. Also, for slightly bigger vehicles, the Michelin LTX M/S tires are also excellent.
 
I have the Hydroedge on the Saturn. With a mixture of city and highway driving, the tires have about 6/32 left after 35,000 miles. This is despite 7-8k rotations and inflating the tires to a couple of pounds over the OEM specs.

While I did have some alignment issues over the last few thousand miles, they did not affect the tire wear. However, even when the alignment was good, these tires are rather noisy. In addition, their grip isn't very good.

Save your money and look into other options. I'm not too happy with these tires and I certainly would not buy another set.
 
Ordered them on Monday from Discount Tire Direct. UPS should be dropping them off Friday. They were $416 for the set and there is a $70 rebate from Discount and a $60 rebate from Michelin (that I hope is stackable). So So they come to under $290 if both rebates work out. I don't think that is too bad.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
While I did have some alignment issues over the last few thousand miles, they did not affect the tire wear. However, even when the alignment was good, these tires are rather noisy. In addition, their grip isn't very good.


Maybe the extra weight and sound insulation in the Camry will alleviate that.
 
My neighbors like the Hydroedge for good handling and otherwise good performance but find them noisy on their Sienna.

Originally Posted By: MONKEYMAN
I initially bought Goodyear Comfort Treads and they would not balance properly. I would get bad highway vibration.
I'll bet that the balance was fine and that the tires weren't round. Goodyear makes a lot of egg-shaped tires. It took seven to find four round GY TripleTreds for my car. I'd buy GY tires again only if the shop had more than four in stock so I could reject the out-of-round ones.

In this region the best prices are from Discount Tire/America's Tire. Always ask for the lowest price they can sell you the tires. Consider whether you want to buy the extra cost road hazard warranty. I don't think it's worth buying.
 
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In this region the best prices are from Discount Tire/America's Tire. Always ask for the lowest price they can sell you the tires. Consider whether you want to buy the extra cost road hazard warranty. I don't think it's worth buying.
At DT in this area, I suspect everywhere, the prorated road hazzard is included with cost of installation, LT balance/rot, valvestems etc. The certificates for total replacement are extra. It's sort of a non prorated road hazzard that gets you a new tire.

I agree that I would think twice about purchase of certificates. That said, call it a fluke, but my son got a nail in an unrepairable part of the tire shortly after purchase. He went back to DT and they gave him a new tire for the cost of the certificates. It was much less than the cost of a new tire, and now all his tires are covered.

For most folks though, I wouldn't pay the extra as you are already covered by a DT roadhazard warranty.
 
The replacement certificates were automatically added to the cart when I checked out, but I removed them figuring it's a rare occasion to have a tire get a puncture that can't be fixed.
 
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