Michelin Car Tires

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
April 01, 2013

This tire is a on powerful heavy car and it is the best set I have ever owned. The wet traction is astonishing. The mileage not so sure about that but they have 30,000 warranty, so we shall see how close they get to that.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
April 08, 2013

The first summer tire I had on my car was the Conti DW, and I was blown away. They were a bit noisy, but wet or dry, they stuck like glue. Then I decided to go with an A/S tire, the Bridgestone 970 AS Pole Position; after 2100 miles they came off. Great tire, really, but not the tire for my car, not enough grip.

So while I contemplated going for the DW again, I thought I'd splurge and try the PSS. First thoughts, WOW. Quiet, quiet quiet. Shortly after having them installed, took them on a really twisty road or two north of Portland, up hwy 30 a bit. It was raining out a bit, so I thought the perfect time to try them out.

Wet grip? Outstanding. Very predictable, great on-center feel. They feel heavier than the AS tires, but I think that's just the increased level of grip and being so quiet. Dry grip? Got a chance to try that this weekend a bit. Again, outstanding. Did I mention they're quiet? Yeah, my MINI has never had it this good. Dry grip was great, I'd say this compares very well with the DW, but the PSS is quieter by far.

I plan on rotating every 2K to make sure I get the most out of them that I can as I tend to drive pretty aggressively when I do drive =)

Updates to come.

Initial Review, 1,050 Miles on Tires
April 18, 2013

Excellent tire! Very much better than the replacement Firestone 500 Police, Kumho's, and particularly, the Goodyear Eagles Z-rated that came on the car. I had a tread separation on one of these at 24,000 miles - inexcusable on a Z rated tire at highway speeds. The Kumho's handled excellently, and probably gave slightly superior dry traction vs. the new Pilots, but were toast in 16M miles, which is ridiculous. Love all aspects of the Pilots to date. Well worth the very premium price.

Initial Review, 200 Miles on Tires
April 25, 2013

Just put these on my Cayman after wearing out my second set of Michelin PS2's and taking off my Michelin Alpin winter tires. They look great. Very different feel. Immediately more comfortable - softer ride, quiet, but there's a slightly "floaty" feel and a brief delay when you turn the wheel before the car turns. Still grips on a hard curve, its just the connection between driver and road is a little fuzzy compared to the other tires which, frankly, are punishing as every day drivers. Was only getting 32,000 miles out of the PS2's and needed more durability for my dollar. Haven't driven them in rain or snow yet. Will update. So if you switch from a dedicated high performance summer tires, which are all considerably more expensive and last half as long, be prepared to trade off some precision for comfort.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
April 18, 2013

The Michelins replaced General UHP tires which handled much better - but got noisy after about 25,000 miles. The Michelins have a higher sidewall even though they're the same size. So it's softer riding and much quieter. But I'm giving up on performance. Handling dynamics have changed - more understeer. The grip on the Altimax UHPs were progressive - telegraphing when they're about to break loose. The Michelins break loose a bit more abruptly. So the tire require a less sprited driving style. Perhaps not a fair comparison - comparing high performance summer tires with all seasons. Too soon to tell if there's any difference in fuel consumption. I expect a longer treadlife based on my previous experience with Michelins MXV's on a different car. I'll update this review after I've had experience driving the car in wet conditions.

Initial Review, 3,500 Miles on Tires
April 10, 2013

My 2001 had Yokohamas on it when I bought it (Used). Tread date on tire was 2007. I bought the car in 2009 and they were dry rotting by 2012. They were also very loud, with a high pitch hum on the highway. These Defenders are so much quieter I can't beleive it. No hum. Great handling so far. We never got a great snowfall here in Chicago so I can't rate them in deep snow but they did save my butt when a car pulled out of an alley on an icy road and these babies gripped! I had Harmonys on my old CRV but I like these even better.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 17, 2013

Absolutely awesome!

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire transformed my car:

1) Increased ride comfort
2) Reduced road noise
3) Increased responsiveness

I highly recommend these tires! :)




 

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 21, 2013

This is my third set of tyres on my car. They replaced Michelin MXMV4s. They are amazing tires, though they do ride a bit firm. They are super quiet.

Initial Review, 17,000 Miles on Tires
April 17, 2013

A good tire for the price, a little noisier than expected, but if I wanted a quiet tire I would have gone with michelins. Previously had pirelli scorpion atr's, they were the best tires I ever had on my truck, did everything far beyond my expectations, but the price jumped up $300 for the set so I started looking at other options. Decided to try these out, I liked the all terrain tread for the snow and driving on the beach. So far holding up well, probably get 35 to 40,000 out of them, not bad for the way I drive. A lot of tread squirm for the first 2-3,000 miles but settled in after that, had to slow down a lot for the on/off ramp almost felt like I was going to lose it, but never lost traction though. But, after 2-3000 miles the uneasiness went away and the back end didn't fell like it was going to pass me anymore. They definitely don't handle like the pirelli's they replaced, it helps to remind me I'm driving a full size truck and not a sports cars. I'm sure I added about 10,000 miles to the life of the tires because of it. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Initial Review, 75,000 Miles on Tires
April 15, 2013

I have 205/55R16 size tires on my car. Brand new they're no better in the snow than my 97,000 mile old OEM Michelins that I replaced! Sliding and spinning everywhere no matter how slow you go. I had them "road force balanced" when new and rotated them every 4000 miles along with watching how they were wearing to adjust tire pressure accordingly. Longevity is excellent but they're absolutely terrible in the snow. I now have 75,000 miles on these and they're at 3/32". They handle corners better now that they're almost slicks. I've been driving on these through 2 winters now. Was hoping to get a good compromise between cornering and snow capability. I'll just get a set of performance tires to get me through the next 4-8 seasons. I might as well get the tires I want if all-seasons don't work any better! I'm not about to waste money on winter tires.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2013

OK....just purchased a set of these tires, replacing a set of Goodyear tripletreads. First impressions as I have only had them a week:

QUIET! Wow.....huge difference from the Goodyears. From day one the old tires were loud, which over time became monotonous. New tires are a nice change.

Responsiveness.....not so much. Most of my cars are shod with performance rubber. This is my first venture intot he land of "luxury touring". While not a deal breaker, these tires are soft.....you can feel the sidewalls squishing on sterring/cornering input. Cant feel the road through them either....as I describe it, like driving on marshmallows.

Fuel Economy.....on my instant average display, these are getting 3-4 higher MPG than the Goodyears. Nice. This wil save some serious scratch if it holds up over the life of the tires. Thats a 10% bump in mileage!

More to come in time, but overall....so far the tradeoff for my typical 60mile each wau highway commute is worth it. Im getting old as the quiet is actually more appealing on this daily drive than the performance handling.

Initial Review, 22,000 Miles on Tires
April 13, 2013

I put these on my GTI because it came with some Pirelli Pzero All Season tires that would not hold traction with an APR Stage 2 tune. These tires immediately transformed the car into a much more stable platform, both in straight line as well as cornering. These tires bite the ground aggressively.

I put 20k miles on them and show very little wear, I don't know how Michelin does this, but as a result I just purchased a set for my 2011 Corvette Grand Sport. This car's OEM Goodyear Supercar Gen2 runflats were at the wear bars in 9,000 miles!

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 03, 2013

These tires are excellent on dry/wet pavement but lacks any real snow/ice traction.
I use my car to deliver news paper, so I have to drive more or less 80 mi every day 7 days a week for this job.
I needed a long lasting tire and good handling because sometimes I have to haste to deliver on time on some curvy back roads.
These tires fits the job perfectly much better than the MX4 that used to be on my car and they were pretty good
And a added plus my fuel economy has gone up 3%

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2013

Went from the OEM 225/45/18 Hankook Optimo H431 on OEM 18x8 to 245/35/19 Michelin PSS on 19x8.5 wheels. I'm very ocd when it comes to proper air pressure. I use nitrogen and run 38psi, 3psi over oem to optimize for proper load rating. Even though I drive a 4-door sedan, I drive it spirited! The PSSs in my honest opinion is an incredible tire in all aspects. I use to race BMWs and Mazdas in SCCA and know a little about racing. Hence, this tire has great turn-in and allows for sustained control cornering with little push. The variable contact patch seems to just bite the harder I engage cornering and handles the car's weight transfer during cornering, maximizing lateral grip. Wet weather handling is great, however our rainy season has yet to hit us down here in central Florida. In the rain that we have had the tire does very well in both handling, hydroplaning, and breaking. I've driven on Goodyear's F1, Bridgestone's S04, and Conti's Contact DW & DWS. Looking forward to updating this review after I put some mileage on the tires. Stay tuned!

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
April 10, 2013

Excellent snow tire especially when paired with an all wheel drive sedan. The car stuck to the road like super glue(TM) in every winter driving condition. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
March 06, 2013

This tires are extremely smooth when it comes to ride, and the very low level of noise compared to the dunlop's that it had before it's huge, i ride most of the time in city, but since it's an BMW M it has a lot of torque even in low rpm's so the wear on the tires are common but in this case are better than others that i had, i've had this car since 2004 and i haven't done many tire changes but his time i decided for the michelin's due i was tired of the noise in the previous tires when they start to fade, in this case since the tire draw it's what i call neutral with no extravagant design it's more comfortable when it's fading.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
March 26, 2013

I replaced my Bridgestone Turanza Serenity tires with the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. I am very impressed with how quiet the ride is (I can faintly hear the engine at highway speed now), and the ride is smoother than the Bridgestones too. What impressed me most about the tires is the snow traction. This is not a car made to perform in the snow. My wife and small child got home from the airport in a snowstorm recently with no trouble and I was very happy to have chosen these tires, which were better in the snow than the Bridgestones ever were. I have a steep lip on my driveway, and it is difficult without 4WD in the snow - I was very surprised that the Continentals had no problem getting the car into the driveway that night.

The only negative I can say is that maybe they seem to drift a little bit more than the previous set I had on at highway speeds, but well worth it for the above improvements. I have only had them a couple months, so cannot speak to the durability yet, but at this price and performance vs. the Michelins I was considering, I would be ok to replace at 40k instead of 50k.

Initial Review, 22,000 Miles on Tires
March 31, 2013

bought my car two weeks ago and hit my first pot hole and the tire blew. totally dissatisfied.