All Season Tire Reviews

Initial Review, 12000 Miles on Tires
January 13, 2012

Came OEM on wife's 2011 Equinox LTZ AWD. Amazing tires so far, have owned other Michelin's and have never been disappointed with them. 12K miles so far with no problems. Just experienced our first snow/ice of the season -- no issues to report. Replaced 1 tire due to road hazard (nail) with same tire (and wife was able to drive on the damaged tire for 300 miles prior to replacement with NO problems). Steering response is a bit muted, but is likely due to the design of the Equinox suspension and not a tire issue. First vehicle we've owned with AWD so results may be skewed, but our experience has been nothing but positive so far. Would highly recommend this tire to other 2nd-generation Equinox owners.

Initial Review, 10000 Miles on Tires
January 29, 2012

If you'll notice i gave this tire 10's across the board, those 10's are for a comparison to other winter tires, NOT summer/all season tires.

These tires, however, will be the only winter tire i will ever buy as long as it is being produced, excellent traction on snow/ice/slush, which can get heave in the cleveland winters. between these and teh AWD quattro system there was absolutely no stopping my car in the snow, until i hit the brakes, and these grabbed wonderfully. easy decision from now on. i have used blizzacks and x-ice in the past, and although they were good products, this is a much better choice.

Initial Review, 2500 Miles on Tires
January 31, 2012

This is the only 245/55/19 replacement for all 2008+ toyota highlander OE tires. Everybody know the OE bridgestone and toyo tires on highlander are ----. This is the only tire that met my expectation including dry, wet and snow performance. I am a skier and I need a all season tire that good on dry, wet and snow. This is what I got and I made a good choice. I have try them on dry, heavy rain and snow + icy road. It perform very good especially on the snow. The deep agressive tread makes my 4WD looks better, I mean sportier. Stop thinking twice. I highly recommend this tire for all highlander owners who wants to replace the bad quality OE tires.

Initial Review, 200 Miles on Tires
February 03, 2012

Best snow tires I ever had. Live in Syracuse NY, and these things eat the snow up. The only complaint I have is that there very loud when dry, or wet. I would recommend these to anyone and planning on buying another set when the time is needed. Not the most sporty tires, but defiantly great for the winter season.

Initial Review, 3000 Miles on Tires
January 20, 2012

The main reason I bought this tire is because I'm poor. I couldn't shell out for a dedicated set of winter tires, so I looked for the best all-seasons I could find, and these fit the bill. I was most apprehensive about our Chicago blizzards; I hoped these tires would cut it. Well, today we got hit, and hard. Now, my car has wide OEM M5 wheels... that's 275 in the rear. And it's RWD. And stick. It shouldn't have gotten anywhere in this weather. Cabs were being pushed along as they were sliding all over the place, FWD cars were getting stuck on uphill inclines. Yet my 5-series soldiered on. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't dignified. But these tires got the job done, and I'm home. Well done, Continental.

Initial Review, 1000 Miles on Tires
January 25, 2012

These tires are a beast on ice. I climbed a hill that was completely covered in ice without one hiccup in traction (to be fair, it was paired with Subaru's incredible AWD). Where I live I only get maybe 2-3 significant snow falls a year along with a few 1-2" snow falls. Along with my WRX being a daily driver, I have zero need for a dedicated snow and summer tire setup. This is a nice blend of the two in one set of tires that offers good performance in both. Of course, don't except the same level performance from dedicated tires. However, the DWS is more than enough for the average driver.

You can't except top notch dry traction and cornering with these tires. They are all seasons. If you want that level of traction, get a dedicated summer tire like the Continental DW.

I have Epic Engineering lowering springs installed on my WRX. Lowering springs by nature make for a harsher ride, especially over road imperfections (pot holes, cracks, etc). These tires were a nice complement to them. They balance out the harshness of the springs. The smooth ride from the tires and the rough ride from the springs even each other out for the most part. Although, no tire will ever eliminate the harshness from a large pothole. With stock springs, these are a dream to drive on.

Overall, as long as you don't live in a place with significant snow fall where a dedicated snow tire is needed/required, these are the perfect blend for every day use.

Initial Review, 1200 Miles on Tires
January 11, 2012

I had Michelin Arctic Alpine's on my 1998 Park Avenue from the first winter of 1998-99 until I gave the car to my best friend this fall (2011). The treadwear was about 40% for the total vehicle distance of 145,500KM; or about 40,0000-50,000KM of winter driving. This is very impressive. One set of winter tires for 13 years. I loved these excellent performimg tires. The Micelin Latitude X-Ice Xi2, I believe and trust, will serve me even better. I do realize that because of the softer rubber compound, I will probably get no more than 60,000-75,000KM over the life of the tires. I bought this car last July 08 2011. It is now almost exactly 6 months later and I have only 3,600KM. That is an average of 600KM/month; or, about 3,000KM per 5 month winter season per year (Nov. - Apr.). I expect these tires to last the entire anticipated life of 12 years of the cars - with only 36,000KM. They are even better performing than the Arctic Alpines. At very cold temperatures the tires do not get as hard and rough riding. The ride is very smooth and quiet. After just one month of driving in ever type and kind of fall/winter (in Winterpeg (sic) Winnipeg, Manitoba), wet, snow, ice and black ice conditions; I found these tires to be absolutely superior to anything I have ever driven. It took only about a month to know the full limits and performance boundaries of these tires. I feel very comfortable and confident driving in every kind and any type of witer situation - even where angels might fear to tread. I was a driving instructor in the Canadian Army for my 3rd & 4th years. I am a spirited driver yes; but, I am sensible and know when to slow down according to driving conditions. They far exceeded all of my expectations. I would never drive in Manitoba without the very best top line Michelin Winter Tires on separate rims. The main reason is safety. When spread out over 12 years of winter driving; this is relatively inexpensive considering the cost of a luxery sedan. I am very Happy. :)

Initial Review, 1000 Miles on Tires
January 17, 2012

We are finally getting some real snow on the ground, I've been able to see how these tires handle it (part of the reason I got them).
They do really well, MUCH MUCH better than the "all season" tires I had before.

Dry traction is "bleh" in my opinion, they don't handle heavy acceleration very well, so no drag racing on these. My car runs close to 300BHP, I can spin 1st/2nd and scratch 3rd no problem, but otherwise they do ok.
Cornering is another "bleh", they're soft and don't have a stiff sidewall (mostly the reason they work well in the snow), but it's a trade off I can deal with... I wouldn't do an autocross with them.
Wet traction is pretty decent, they cut right through water like it wasn't there. I have less traction than dry obviously, but it's much better than some other tires I've ran.

Initial Review, 30000 Miles on Tires
January 10, 2012

Absolutely well worth every penny. I've gone through deep snow that would have left me stranded using All-Seasons. These tires are the best. I compared the ratings of these and Blizzaks and decided to get the Michelins. I've been running these for 3 seasons now and the tread wear is excellent.

Initial Review, 700 Miles on Tires
January 11, 2012

These tires are great. I personally love Michelin tires and was happy that my car came equipped with the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4, when it was time to purchase new tires I was surprised to see how much the OE tires were going for especially since I wasn't completely blown away by them. After doing some research I discovered the Pilot Sport A/S Plus and was excited to discover that not only are these performance all season tires but there are much cheaper then the OE tires. After driving with these tires I notice that the handling has definitely improved drastically and the ride is comfortable for me. So overall I believe that these tires are a great bargain for a person that wants to enjoy their car.

Initial Review, 12000 Miles on Tires
January 18, 2012

My wife and I are autocrossers, and are used to UHP or better tires.

We bought these after the previous BFG all-seasons proved worthless in snow. While not delivering 4wd acceleration traction in snow, as long as you don't try to start on an icy hill, these work great in the snow. Ground clearance seems to be the limiting factor in snow driving. Cornering and braking in snow are great.

This past winter, we kept them on too long, but they still worked well through Memorial day. Yes, they are a little squishy cornering in the dry (compared to a good UHP all-season), but they still deliver acceptable cornering (beyond what most people will ever see). That said, they ride well and are quiet, especially for such an aggressive tread pattern.

With 12k miles of aggressive driving in 2 winters, these tires should easily last another 3-4 winters (especially if we change them appropriately).

There are not many tires I'd recommend to anyone, from the mildest to most aggressive driver, but for snow service, these tires have my highest recommendation. The only reason I didn't give them 10's across the board is that dry traction is not as good as a UHP tire, but still very acceptable.

Initial Review, 2500 Miles on Tires
January 17, 2012

I bought these for my Subaru Impreza for the up coming winter. They did not impress me during the first snow fall. In light snow they were adequate but once the snow gets to about 4-5cm it becomes very slippery. I did not expect Winter tire performance, but i expected them to at least hold grip with (gentle) acceleration. In the wet, its the same story as the grip just is not there. If you are in the market for an (all season) that works for you year round this is not the set to buy.

IF you are in the market for a fuel efficient (highway), quiet, and comfortable tire, you will find this to be a good purchase)

Initial Review, 3000 Miles on Tires
January 27, 2012

We have only had one seriously heavy snowfall so far this season; the Blizzaks were outstanding! I plowed through several snowbanks to see how they'd take it; come through every bit as well as the last set of snow tires on the vehicle--Hakkapeliitta 4s.

Initial Review, 12000 Miles on Tires
January 31, 2012

Now that I have about 12,000 miles on these tires, I can say that I am pleased with them. The perfomance is not quite as good as the OEM Bridgestones, which only went 11,000 miles. I replaced those with Kumho tires which went about twice as long. The Kumhos became really noisy as the tread wore, and were driving me nuts. So I replaced them even though there was some tread left. The Continental tires are much quieter, so far, and it looks like they will last quite a while longer. Since I live in So Florida, I can not comment on winter performance, but they are quite good in the wet. So it looks like a good compromise for me, good performance and reasonable tread life. Oh, I went for an all season tire because it sometimes does get cold here and I did not want to have a bad day with summer only tires. I also wanted to be able to drive to the frozen north if I (heaven forbid) had to. If I were into maximum performance or track days, I would select something else. By the way, I keep them properly inflated and rotate every 5K miles.

Initial Review, 2000 Miles on Tires
January 12, 2012

Truly night and day difference with all-season Michelin tire. These tires are simply excellent! My Honda Civic is very light and usually is pretty much skating rather than driving on the light ice. But after I got these tire - I have much more control, car is much more predictable. Deep snow traction is also quite amazing - car just drives through it, without visible struggle. Here in Denver you don't usually get too many snow days when you actually need true winter/snow tires, so at first I was hesitating to get a specifically snow tires set. But after taking the car out on the recent snow I'm totally happy that I got these tires. Can't really comment on the thread wearing - I only had these for 1.5 months. Overall, great winter tires!

Initial Review, 10000 Miles on Tires
January 15, 2012

Bought these tires for my 06' f150 got over 10,000 on them and look like atleast 20,000 more to go for sure. My main concern in selecting tires is snow performance. This is my "good" truck as I like to say so i have a 1995 f150 on 37s for the dirty work in hunting season and hammering around the backwoods so i neeeded tires that were highway friendly and get great winter traction.. These tires are the best tires that I have ever run in the snow I dont worry about fresh heavy snowfall or back roads that arent maintained in the winter. I do use this truck to hunt out of town in the winter so I still needed tires to get me whereever i point it and these sure do. They stop great,bite great and turn perfect in all the winter conditions I have had them in and the price well you cant beat it. Im also considering buying them for my 95' in a 35 inch because i like them so much. ok I know im acting like these tires were sent from heaven or something but all in all I am very impressed with them and they do perform very well in all types of snow conditions and I actually feel safer with them on my truck I know i will be buying them again, I would recommend them to everyone if they want a great all terrain tire.

Initial Review, 1000 Miles on Tires
January 10, 2012

These are my first high performance all-season tires. I did a driver skills day recently. It was 39 degrees and raining.
The tires' cold, wet weather grip was truly amazing. Great grip in the wet skid pad, figure eight, autocross, and slalom. Very progressive and even at the limit. No surprises.
Strong breaking in the wet.
Hasn't been dry enough in the northwest to judge the dry performance.
Recommended for wet climates. The other cars on summer tires were noticeably less balanced and struggled from grip.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
January 18, 2012

Bought these tires based on reviews here, as well as price. I downsized from OEM 205/55/16 to 195/65/15 and got a new set of wheels. The Vibe can be scary in snow and ice due to its light weight, although the ExtremeContact DWS I had on the last 2 winters performed quite well. With the DWS earing down a bit I wanted to try winter tires, and the Generals have performed very well in light-moderate snow. They still slip on ice, but cornering and braking are vastly better than before, and much better than on my AWD Subaru with all seasons. The main downside of these tires is that they are extremely floaty on the highway. It actually takes work to make sure the car keeps going straight in the lane, and if it is very windy this can be nerve-wracking at higher speeds. Cornering seems fine, it is just that the tall tread and lack of a solid center rib probably makes it float around more. To be fair, I am comparing a taller sidewall, narrower width tire to the OEM size, so that will account for some difference in stability just by itself.