The Jetta got new tires today....

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies

Originally Posted By: gregk24

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog

Originally Posted By: Rand

I was UNIMPRESSED with the car version Michelin "defender".. however that was 4 years ago.. I'm sure they are beyond tweaked by now and improved.

The new version is called Defender T+H

And these have excellent reviews from my findings.

Defender T+H is good except for tire rack actually tested it and said it needed a "big bump in wet traction". So why pay premium prices for something that fails in the rain? https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=236 Continental TrueContact Tour would be a better choice if you're in the expensive-tire category. That wet traction is a tough one to get right, when balanced against dry and winter traction at the same time. Siping shape certainly plays a big role. The other part of wet traction performance comes from a very deeply technical area exemplified by "A typical tire compound is examined for the effects of the ingredients on improvements in wet traction, i.e., raising the glass transition temperature of the polymer or the extender oil, increasing the fineness of the carbon black, and lowering the level of curatives."-- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4757-1370-1_13

Those test are from them flying around a drenched wet track. I flew through deep standing water yesterday in the new tires with ZERO problems. I'm not concerned in the slightest.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies

Originally Posted By: Vuflanovsky

The people I know that have the P7 Plus ( two ) don't seem to have any wet traction issues of note but Tire Rack has mentioned this at least twice in their testing. I generally don't look to TR as the grand arbiters of truth in how a given tire will perform on my car given that most of their testing is done with 3 series BMWs...and that concept seems to have been proven right over time. TR is for comparison / subjective valuations and not definitively how x tire will perform on a vehicle that's 700 lbs. lighter, has a markedly different suspension, and has a 6 inch shorter wheelbase in comparison to their test mule. IMO, their testing of a certain tire can usually have a greater or lesser degree of relevance ( both within and outside tire categories ) depending on what you drive.

Besides the UTQG ratings, Tire Rack is about all we've got. Once in a while Car and Driver and Consumer Reports will test tires, but after those all we have are anecdotal consumer reviews and what your Uncle Bob had. I prefer actual tests if they exist. ... We could use good standardized dry, wet, ice, & snow tests, along with sound levels and ride comfort engineering tests: They don't fully exist. It is hard to decide which tire is best for us. Go by the best clues. ----Manufacturer reputation is a start. ----Then actual test reports. ----You can look at a lot of collective consumer reviews. ----Also, JD Power has customer satisfaction ratings for tire brands overall. All else is guessing.

Not really..in my mind at least...there are other tire review sites / tire reviews on the internet besides TR ( some international ) and some give a more subjective assessment than TR's lockstep testing using vehicles that are different than my own. An example of that would be tirereviewsandmore.com which is DT's site. My point was that I think it's a fallacy to say that a test by TR will yield results that are applicable enough that you can always go by them as it relates to your vehicle. TR's wet performance comment about the P7 Plus might be a good example. "TR said x...so why are you buying it??"...can be idiocy as much as the right decision whether there's a high level of standardization / objectivism or not. Don't fall in love with a test....

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: CincyDavid

My '17 Jetta SE has the Bridgestone Ecopia tires...I keep getting the least little vibration around 75-80 MPH, minimal enough that I doubt most people would notice, and I drive that fast infrequently enough that I haven't bothered to address it. I have never, ever bought a Pirelli tire, and the mechanical tech in the body shop where I used to work HATED Pirelli tires, said they were 'square" and it was almost impossible to get them balanced properly. That was a decade ago, and it was not direct experience of mine, so take it for what it's worth.

^^^Yeah, this is a good topic. However, I think Pirelli and other tire manufacturers have lessened this "out of round" tire issue. There are some tires that are difficult to balance such as(in my experience), private label tires. My only experience with Pirelli is with the P4 & P7 and they've been great for us. I can't answer for their HP or Truck tires. And I'm sure there are others who feel differently about Pirelli. I believe that all tire mfg's have their really good tires and then they sell a lot of, mehhh!

 

[Colt]

I've had Pirelli P7 Cinturato All Weather Plus on my last vehicle and they were great tires. Excellent ride quality, handling, super quiet and I never had any issue on wet roads. I'm about to swap out the awful Firestone FT140's on my Civic Touring with a set of Pirelli P7 Cinturato All Weather Plus tires. I have Michelin MXM4 tires on the RDX. Yes, not Defenders but I'm not impressed with them. The last tire I liked from Michelin was the MXV4 which has been discontinued. Fantastic smooth riding and quiet tire.

 

[CharBaby]

The Primacy MXV4 is still available. I have them OE on the Altima in my signature and I still see'em on the tire rack.

 

[Colt]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby

The Primacy MXV4 is still available. I have them OE on the Altima in my signature and I still see'em on the tire rack.

My bad. True but not in a 215-50/17 or 225-50/17. It's a great tire.

 

[CharBaby]

Indeed. My Primacy MXV4 have been a smooth & quiet tire. I really like them for this particular car.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby

Now, will I recommend the Firestone Affinity Touring for her car again? NO! Because they're quite expensive and they rate terribly. I will in fact get other higher rated tires such as what has been discussed in this thread.

Only tire I've ever had that I couldn't get a good 50k out of. The ones I bought were rated for 60k and I had to dump them at 30k. They were making a thumping noise while driving and passengers would comment about the noise. They also rode very mushy on the 99 Accord. Took it to the dealer since I wasn't sure if it was the tires or not. They said the tires were cupped and thought they had some internal damage. When I came back 6 months later for an oil change the first thing they asked me was if I took care of the tire problem. Getting help from Firestone was zero help. After the prorate the tires were more expensive than what I originally paid. I replaced them with some Kellys which were rated for 50k and I had 60k on them when I sold the car. I'm easy on tires and the last set of tires I was able to get 65k out of some Hankook Ventus V2 Concepts that don't even come with a mileage warranty. But they were shot when I replaced them last year with some Nokian eNTYRES.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby

Indeed. My Primacy MXV4 have been a smooth & quiet tire. I really like them for this particular car.

Those were the OEM tires on my Accord, they were pretty worn by 40K miles and were noisy and harsh. Of course that was only my experience.

 

[The Critic]

Any updates?

 

[dubber09]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies

Pirelli Cinturato All Seasons Plus kept getting knocked on wet traction by Tire Rack, so I avoided them recently in my own purchases. I settled on General GMAX AS-05's as a cheaper alternative to the top-rated BFGoodrich g-Force COMP-2 A/S tires in this category. Performance is very close between those two (tire rack tests). Like your Michelins, the Generals had a generous rebate too. All that said, I think the best deal on a medium-performance, name-brand, long-lasting high mileage tire is Walmart's Goodyear Outlast for most cars/SUVs. I wanted a little more performance so I went for the General GMAX AS-05 that was a known performer with tire rack tests.

General G-Max AS-05 here on Forte - excellent tires!! We are very happy with tire performance and price as well. The tire is quiet, very comfortable ride, tons of grip and very predictable.