Michelin Premier Tires

Good for you for sensing that the tires needed to be changed before they caused a problem even though they were still technically legal. Tread depth makes an enormous difference in the wet.

But beware of comparing old worn tires with new ones.

Somehow the new are always better because we will self justify the wisdom of our purchase decision according to the behavioral economists.

You sure seem to be running a different tire pressure than most here recommend. Might try experimenting maybe +2 PSI at a time to see how it affects your mileage. I run 38 and 36 but I've seen others higher.

Lastly, the dash readouts are an approximation I've been told. A spreadsheet or some app like fuelly.com and measuring over many fill ups should give you a better readout on where your driving style, your weather and your location puts your mileage. I know I've varied at least 25% depending on the conditions and the variability of the fuel shut off at the pump (a 60 is followed by a 30 and I realize the first fill up shut off too early).

 

Thanks for the review. The Premiers are probably what I'm going to go with, when the time comes.

So, you went with someone else after Costco's refusal? Their tire department has been ticking me off of late, wonder sometimes why I keep renewing...

 

Still on my first tank of gas with my Michelin premiers and I am very impressed with snow handling. Kids had a snow day last Monday, but I had to drive 17 miles each way to doctors office in Syracuse NY. Secondary streets were snow covered and I would expect to slip and inch my way slowly up any inclined snow covered streets with my old Toyos. With the Primiers I was gripping and zipping uphill on 1 to 2 inches of snow.

I did some sound testing with a sound meter App on my android, but only found a 5 decibel decrease on the same trips after changing to the Premiers. The prius v is build for low weight not sound proofing and lets in lots of road noise.

The ride feels less jarring on bumps and pot holes, but the pressure is set low at 32 PSI front 33 rear from installer (I know it should be higher in front, working on it). The max pressure is higher on the Premiers than on the Toyos, so I plan to experiment with incremental higher pressures when it gets warmer outside. Aim to get back to 39 PSI front and 37 rear.

I don't drive aggressively enough to test handling.

I have 3 years of MPG on fuelly and look forward to comparing a full year on the new Premiers. I am willing to give up %10 MPG for the safer ride in wet and snow, but hope for closer to my lifetime 42 MPG. Thanks for the heads up on potential lower MPG during break in of new tires.

 

I also have the Michelin Premiers. No change in gas mileage now that I'm at 5K on them. Much quieter and better performance. Expect much longer use due to 60,000 mile claim. Toyo Proxes A20 were harsh and worn to 4/32" after only 25K. Very satisfied and paid $700 fro 4 at my dealership (sale: buy 3, 4th one free). First time I've ever bought tires from a dealer, but they were lower than TireRack, DiscountTire, etc.

 

Curious, did you consider the Energy Savers? Your reasoning?

 

There's always been a cogent debate over whether its better to go with a tire that gets better MPG or one that gets better tread life. The ES-AS tires get the best MPG but don't last as long as some others. It may well be more cost effective to go with the longer tread life.

I once calculated that my ES-AS would earn 50% of the cost of the tires over their life, based on $3/gal gas and a 4MPG gain. At $2/gal that's much less of a possibility. I just figured it was a better "green" decision to go with higher MPG.

The total cost per mile of the longer life tire vs higher MPG would be an interesting study.

 

My Michelin ES-AS tires gained me 4MPG over the stock Toyo with the same pressures (40psi). It was like flipping a switch and clearly obvious.
Compared to the Michelin Premier? Not so much I'm sure, but might be 2mpg difference. My point was: what if the Premier gets you another 20K miles of tread life compared to ES-AS? I'd expect that to save you more $ than the 2mpg, or even 4mpg. But it all hinges on the price of gas.

Compared to the handling of the OEM Toyo, the ES-AS is vastly superior - no comparison in any weather. I threw the Toyos away with only 1000 miles on them and never regretted it.

 

I've just looked at tests and data, was wondering if the Michelin ES AS tire is different in OEM versus non OEM versions, or if there is even a non OEM version. The new Pirelli seems to be at the top of nearly every category, while the Michelin tire is older, and seemed to be better at only mpg. Also, most consumer reviews seem to like the Michelin Premier A/S better than the ES.

 

Yes, there are OEM and retail ES-AS tires. Sometimes the OEM uses ES (non AS) which is a very different tire.

As far as MPG, the proof is in the pudding and nobody has yet reported better MPG than the ES-AS. To some extent, those things that tend to make consumers rate a tire as "better" are not likely to be qualities of a true LRR tire. IOW, no single tire can do it all.

 

Do you have any proof, anything that corroborate this: that there's a difference between the Michelin Energy Saver A/S Toyota puts on the car, and the one you can buy?

I don't mean this as a challenge; it's just I hear this often, but remain a bit incredulous.

 

So far that appears to be true, they do return the best mpg according to most drivers. But a lot of drivers complain about the Energy Savers not tracking as well, requiring more wheel adjustments. Some drivers complained a bit about wet performance, as well as turning grip. As always, while tires get better and better, they all have their plusses.

 

Absolutely zero complaint about them "tracking" here. The OEM Toyos were horrible in that regard. Likewise, cornering and wet performance have also been excellent.

 

So far, I have about 12,000 miles on my Yokohama OEM's. No visible signs of wear, they handle pretty well, no problem in rain at all. I have nothing to compare them against mileage wise. It's so hard comparing tires, every vehicle is different, different sizes can act different on different vehicles. About the best luck we've had in any tire has been the Yokohama Avid Envigor, which we've had on two vehicles. The '07 Camry hybrid has a set for years now, and the fronts were toasted finally.

Outside of the unknown quantity Pirelli, I had seriously been looking at the Michelin Premier AS, which appears to be a better tire in every way than the ES, sans mpg. But like a lot of things, tires are mostly subjective opinion. The Premier seems to be a great overall mix.