Michelin Premier A/S - Final Conclusion

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About two years ago, I purchased a set of Michelin Premier A/S tires for my Prius. Since that time, I have driven about 40,000 miles and the tires have worn to just under 4/32". For my driving style (which is on the aggressive side), the service life I received was actually a bit longer than other sets of tires that I have purchased for this same car. During this time period, I was actually quite satisfied with the performance of the Premiers; most notably, they delivered reasonably good steering feel and fantastic wet traction (even towards the end of their lifespan). Areas of improvement for these tires would be improved rolling resistance and a slight reduction in tread noise.

With the current rate of wear, I could have probably traveled another 10k miles before reaching the wear bars. However, the Black Friday specials and the reasonable prorate adjustment credit from my local tire dealer motivated me to purchase replacement tires a bit sooner than originally planned. While I considered getting a different tire this time, none of the other options in this size (215/45-17, V) provided compelling reasons to switch from a known quantity.

Here are some pictures of the new tires. I apologize for the nighttime pictures and the very very very dirty car.

Untitled by The Critic, on Flickr

Untitled by The Critic, on Flickr

In conclusion, I do recommend these tires for anyone who is seeking a "grand touring" type tire. Although the pricing is a bit on the high side, the overall performance of the tire is quite good and I would not be concerned about the 8.5/32" starting tread depth. The service life is reasonable (competitive) and Michelin will standby the tire and address premature wear with an appropriate pro-rate adjustment.
 
The Premier has that typical Michelin tread look. Similar looking to my Primacy MXV4 93V on my Altima(215-55-17). I am quite surprised that your Prius has this size even as an option...a nice thing.
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I won't be looking for another tire just yet however I will consider Michelin again as I love the smooth quiet ride they provide. My particular MXV4's don't seem as aggressive in our winters as the original reviews showed at one time. I have a friend that put on some MXV4's on his '09 Prius as they showed to be a good A/S tire in the snow. He wasn't impressed. However, I have been more impressed with some other A/S tires in snow for our nasty winters. Those being...G/Y AssComTrd, Hankook Optimo H727, Pirelli-P4/P7
 
Originally Posted By: Danno
...Also, aggressive driving and Prius just does not compute here.


LoL same here. Anyways, what was the wear rating on those? Regardless of the longevity until they reach minimum depth, here in the snow belt (well, not this year so far) I'd shy away from a tire with such scant treat depth as snow traction does correlate strongly with depth- and the less you start with the less you have through out the tire life.

That said, I've rarely heard bad things about any Michy, and I would NOT be upset if I bought a car with any set of Michelins on it.
 
I've had the Michelin Primacy MXV4's since 2001 (300K miles on 2 cars) and they are decent A/S tire, especially with my front wheel drive. 50K is a typical life for these though some have gone further for me. Current set are 3 yrs old with 20K miles and show light UV cracking already on the sidewall. If that ends up taking them out before wear, I'll probably try something different next time.
 
We sell a lot of these at work just like we do the defenders. I just dont see getting 60k out of these tires with tread starting out at 8-9/32. Most new tires start out with 10-11/32. I wouldn't mind a set of these on my malibu when the factory continental tires wear out but i can get a 90k continental for $30 less per tire.
 
I suggested these to a friend for his Subaru Forester - they seem to do good in LIGHT snow and the slush, he didn't want to go through the ordeal of swapping out tires just for Tahoe. Michelin does make a Defender LTX in his size, so I'll be suggesting those next, especially with a full 10/32nd of meat on on them.

However, I will say the Premier A/S did make his car a lot safer to drive in the rain, the stock Yokohamas were iffy when it wasn't sunny outside.
 
We don't see anything close to that level of wear on our Primacy A/S, but driving style is a lot less aggressive. These are great tires, a huge winter improvement over the MXM4 and Contitrack tires we had last time. They also handle better in the rain and slush.
 
I have a set of Premier A/S tires on a sedan. They replaced a set of Defender's that were wearing fast. A common complaint with those tires, apparently.

The Premier A/S tires are great in rain, and do well in light snow. They ride better than the Defenders, and so far are quieter as well. They have a shorter tread wear warranty than the Defender's, but may or may not wear faster than the Defender's in actual use. But with the better all-around performance, even if they do prove to wear faster than the Defender's, that is an acceptable trade-off.
 
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Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Aggressive driving nullifies the point of owning a Prius.

I take corners a bit hard, but that's about it.
 
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