Tirerack picks Michelin Premier A/S as the best

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Originally Posted By: Traction
Tirerack picks Michelin Premier A/S as the best

To be perfectly clear, TireRack did not pick it as the best tire; its survey participants did.
 
Thing is, Tire Rack didn't "pick" anything. This is their survey results, which comes from customers, not Tire Rack themselves. Additionally, with only about 200,000 reported miles on the survey, it's not always the most accurate. There is a lot of early adopter "shine" that skews new tires high in the survey. Honestly, how can you rate snow and ice traction when the tire was introduced after the last winter? Compare the Premier A/S at #1 with 200,000 reported miles to the MXV4 at #4... with 22,000,000 reported miles of reviews.

If you want to see what Tire Rack themselves think of the tire, it was included in a formal test back in the spring. It tested tops there, but not by much.
 
Originally Posted By: MrHorspwer
If you want to see what Tire Rack themselves think of the tire, it was included in a formal test back in the spring.

Yup. And they have yet to test them in the snow.

How can you crown an all-season tire as the best if you have not tested its winter performance yet?


The text of that "article" is majorly misleading. Here is another incorrect statement:
Quote:
Tire Rack also re-tested the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 in the light truck/SUV studless ice and snow category. The DM-V1's average score of 8.8 remains well ahead of the Bridgestone Blizzak W965 and Michelin Latitude X-Ice Xi2, each at 8.4.

TireRack did not re-test anything. They have never tested the DM-V1. The scores are survey averages, not some test scores.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
TireRack did not re-test anything. They have never tested the DM-V1. The scores are survey averages, not some test scores.

LOL if that is true
 
They did say they tested them last winter. Shaved the tread to 5/32 and beat some new tires. At least that is what I read. We will see.
 
yea that whole article is flat out retarded.

also the whole shaved down thing is stupid and not logical,

lets start with a tire that has 8.5/32 and shave down to 5/32 which is 42% of its Tread depth shaved off

then lets take a tire that starts at 11/32 and shave to 5/32 thats.. 55% of its tread depth shaved off..

makes no sense to me except to weight it to the premier's advantage.

They really need to age the tire about 4 years then run them for 50000miles then test them.

or if thats too hard just shave each tire to 50% of its starting tread depth... and don't cherry pick tires.

like when they tested the WS-80 and said its better than the goodyear WRT on ice, and better than the xice xi3 on snow.

ok well how much better was it vs the xi3 on ice, and how much better was it compared to the goodyear on snow?.. cherry picking tests.


That all being said.. I still like the tirerack tests.. but take them with a grain of common sense.
 
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Originally Posted By: Rand

like when they tested the WS-80 and said its better than the goodyear WRT on ice, and better than the xice xi3 on snow.

ok well how much better was it vs the xi3 on ice, and how much better was it compared to the goodyear on snow?.. cherry picking tests.


To be fair, that wasn't a Tire Rack test. It was an introductory test report put on by Bridgestone. They reported that in the test, which is a nice bit of transparency:

Quote:
To get an advance look at how the Blizzak WS80 performs, Bridgestone invited select tire dealers and members of the media to Steamboat Springs, Colorado to experience production-spec Blizzak WS80 tires in their natural habitat, driving on snow and ice.


They also note that they'll be doing their own testing when the weather is right:

Quote:
Tire Rack will be doing a complete test with production tires in the fall and winter of 2014/15.


It's not really any different than any of the manufacturer-sponsored "first look" articles that the major auto mags do for new cars. As long as you know who's sponsoring the event...
 
Not paying extra for less tread.

Let's see how long it takes them to re-release it with the full 10/32 of tread.

Yeah I know that the 8.5/32 will still last a long time because Michelin's non-performance tires last forever, but you still want the extra tread for snow and rain.

@Rand, your tread depth percentages are slightly off: tires are legally worn at 2/32, not 0/32.

So 5/32 from 8.5/32 would be 54% worn.
8.5 - 2 = 6.5 (the usable tread)
8.5 - 5 = 3.5 (the amount used when 5/32 are left)
3.5 / 6.5 = 54%

Replace the 8.5's with 11's, and you get:
5/32 remaining of 11/32 would be 67% worn.
 
This particular tire had some funny survey results from a while back, making one wonder about how ..."truthful..." the scores actually are. One poster recorded survey scores from a week apart, and the winter scores improved DRAMATICALLY!! with very little change in reported miles... ? In the summer...!

And suddenly, this tire, Michelins brand new premium all season, moved up to # 1 in its category, with fantastic winter scores, just ahead of the fall/winter buying season...

hmmmmmmmmm... !? Read into this as you wish... but something seems...OFF.

This thread...

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb..._Le#Post3493401
 
Originally Posted By: Traction
Tire rack tests the Michelin Premier A/S as the best touring tire. Time well tell.
http://www.moderntiredealer.com/channel/...ium=Enewsletter


Bravo. It more than likely remains at least one of the best A/S tires out there.

All these unsubstantiated reviews mean something, but not too much. Many folks rave about new tires after they've been driving on skins for years.

Best taken with a grain of salt, indeed...
 
The surveys are screwy in my opinion. I created a thread about it when I first noticed the issue: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3493401/Are_TireRack_Survey_Results_Le

A few days to a week after I created that thread, the survey results jumped again, further improving their winter performance.

Last I checked, the tire has about 210k miles worth of reviews, and one review alone was 60k miles which I believe is one of the reviews that caused the winter ratings to jump considerably.


That being said, I put the tires on my car a couple weeks ago. I went with them because they had them at my local Costco, so I wouldn't have to order them like I would the Continental PureContacts I was also looking at. So far I've put about 700 miles on them, and I can't really complain about anything related to their driving/handling characteristics. My tires have been quiet and smooth, and have given me excellent grip. The only negative I've experienced is a noticeable decrease in my MPG.

I don't know if it's because they aren't low rolling resistant or what, but the car doesn't naturally roll as easily when I take my foot off the brakes, it also takes more gas to get the car moving, and when I take my foot off the gas I can feel the car slow down more than it did with my old tires. Similarly, there are hills leaving my work where I normally just take my foot off the gas and coast down, usually getting my speed to a little above the speed limit. However, ever since changing the tires, I need to keep my foot lightly on the gas just to maintain the speed limit.

It's still early, and if I remember to I'm planning on posting a review of the tires after I've had them for a while. Overall I'm happy with the tires, like I said they'er quiet and smooth, with good driving/handling characteristics. But if I knew they'd be like this when I got them, I might've gone with the Continental PureContacts just to give them a try. I feel the survey results of the Continentals is more accurate b/c with more surveys they've been able to minimize the extreme results that would skew the results of tires with fewer reviews.
 
Quite true and a good catch, Around here people go till the steel is showing. I never do and it makes the numbers even more in favorable(towards tires with more tread depth)
I'd likely replace them between 3/32 and 4/32

Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Not paying extra for less tread.

Let's see how long it takes them to re-release it with the full 10/32 of tread.

Yeah I know that the 8.5/32 will still last a long time because Michelin's non-performance tires last forever, but you still want the extra tread for snow and rain.

@Rand, your tread depth percentages are slightly off: tires are legally worn at 2/32, not 0/32.

So 5/32 from 8.5/32 would be 54% worn.
8.5 - 2 = 6.5 (the usable tread)
8.5 - 5 = 3.5 (the amount used when 5/32 are left)
3.5 / 6.5 = 54%

Replace the 8.5's with 11's, and you get:
5/32 remaining of 11/32 would be 67% worn.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand


They really need to age the tire about 4 years then run them for 50000miles then test them.

or if thats too hard just shave each tire to 50% of its starting tread depth... and don't cherry pick tires.

.. I still like the tirerack tests.. but take them with a grain of common sense.


Yes...or this...WAIT 4 years until the Premier has had the miles run out with ACTUAL miles and performance reported....Early adopters as beta testers for the skeptical among us...
 
There shouldn't be much if any real world Premier A/S snow reviews. I think TireRack had these tires before they were released which gave them an opportunity to test in late snow, but the tires were released to the public on April 1st. Unless those reviews came from people in the great white north, I would probably ignore those reviews.

You always have to wonder how many reviews are planted by companies. No way to stop it.
 
Originally Posted By: badtlc
You always have to wonder how many reviews are planted by companies. No way to stop it.

I'd sooner think that people can't be bothered to look at what tires they actually have... or don't understand that tire manufacturers use the same brand name across a bunch of different types of tire (Bridgestone Dueler, I'm looking in your direction).
 
Originally Posted By: badtlc
You always have to wonder how many reviews are planted by companies. No way to stop it.

Another issue is that as you fill out that TR survey for an all-season tire, it will ask you to rate it on its winter performance, among other things, regardless when the tire was first released. Prudent thing to do would be to answer these winter questions with "N/A", but I wouldn't be surprised if many reviewers are just guessing on these questions. And so I agree, these winter scores should be ignored for now.
 
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