I've recently had four Michelin X Radial DT tires installed on my 1985 Corolla LE sedan, size P175/70R13.
These tires are truly awesome. The way my car drives has changed so much, it's unbelievable.
Very few major manufacturers make good tires for my tire size and I didn't have many choices. Michelin, the largest manufacturer of tires in the world, thankfully makes these great tires.
They were top-rated all-season tires in Consumer Reports' November 2005 rating.
I previously had Bridgestone Turanza LS-T for seven years, which had great actual tread life (still most of the tread was left), but they were otherwise rather mediocre tires with excessive road noise and poor fuel economy and not-so-good handling and hydroplaning.
My new tires have:
- Top fuel economy -- I gained close to 10%
- Extremely low road noise, virtually inaudible from inside the car
- Top quick steering response
- Top overall handling
- Good ride
- Good winter performance (according to the ratings)
- Good tread life (according to the ratings)
- Good hydroplaning resistance (according to the ratings
I would strongly recommend these tires to anyone and for any car. They are also possibly OK for snow and ice use. Some people complained about not reaching 80,000 miles in tread life but I really don't care. These tires are so great that I don't mind changing them every five years. Hopefully they will still be available next time I need them.
They are only available from Costco. You can order them online and pick them up at your local Costco, free of shipping charge. If you aren't a Costco member, there is a 5% surcharge and you need to take them somewhere else for installation. Make sure that there is a tire sale. In my case, there was $70 off of four Michelin tires and I got them for less than $60 per tire, including the 5% charge, with no shipping charge, and I picked them up from my local Costco.
Note that, if you're wondering, DT stands for different tread. Manufacturers use this term whenever the design of the tread pattern changes. If the design of the tread pattern changes again, they use DDT (different different tread), and so on. But, fortunately, from the tread pictures posted in the November 2005 issue of the Consumer Reports, the ones which are currently sold are the same ones they tested and gave the highest rating back then. In other words, the tires in that issue are the Michelin X Radial DT tires.
