ksing44

I absolutely love my new tires!!! I suspect many of you get performance tires, but I think Grand Touring All Season tires may actually be the best tires available from any given manufacture. At the very least, they are versatile tires, that are good in most conditions and that have great ride characteristics.

When I purchase my 1995 E320 in 1997 with 16K miles, it still had the OEM Continental tires. I hated those tires. I thought the Continentals were noisy, uncomfortable, and they didn’t handle great either. I switched to Michelin MXV4 Energy. As I remember, I liked them OK in the 15” size. When I switched to the 16” x 7.5” wheels with 205/55/16 tires, I repurchased the Michelin MXV4 Energy Plus tires. They were quiet and comfortable going down the road and they handled OK in dry. The problem was that they absolutely stunk in the rain and they squealed around corners and even made squealing noises when turning around in parking lots. The next time I needed tires, I switched to Bridgestone Turanza LSH tires. They were much better in the rain and they did not ever squeal, but they were not quite as quiet and comfortable as the Michelins.

These new Michelin MXV4 Primacy tires are truly the best ever. They are more quiet and more comfortable than any tire I have ever had. They do not squeal at all, even during rather extreme cornering, and they feel like they are glued to the pavement. They even felt sticky when I just washed them with a soft brush. They also seem to be good in the rain.

As for looks, the sidewall seems very rounded. Especially compared to the Bridgestone Turanza tires, which seemed rather square. Anyway, I truly love my new tires.

Kestas

Good to hear. I'll need four new tires real soon and I'm seriously considering the very same tire. I also see that TireRack is hosting a sale on these tires - $81 each, down from $107. The tires are rated:
Wear: 440
Traction: A
Temp: A
which fits well with my driving style. I only put 5K miles every year on the car, so I don't need high-mileage tires, and I might as well get ones with good traction.

The reviews from owners are very negative when it comes to winter traction.... not an issue on my summer-only car.

ksing44

For that much savings, I would have gone for Tirerack even though I love my Indy. That really is a good deal.

I always just ignore the stuff about winter for the all season tires. Especially for our rear wheel drive vehicles, I think we all realize that dedicated snows are the best option for winter.

howie

Best tire = Contis

ksing44

Not in this test
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...m%3D26HR6MXV4P

ZorroAMG

LOL @ "Best tire = Contis" ...if that was the case why do most porsche owners swap them out when they get their new cars with contis already on them? (Me included)

Michelin Pilots FTW

howie

Michelin tire = best for motorcycles

Contis best for cars! I've tried them all! The best set of tires were on my M3 and they were I think Conti IIIs. Nothing like it. Best handling tire ever. I dunno what u guys look for in a tire so of course your opinions are going to be different. And as far as tirerack goes...they SELL TIRES thats what they do. They get kick back from companies so whoever pays the most get endorsed. They don't know $chei$$e except what pays them best!

Kestas

My only experience with Contis shows they had horrible tire rot after 5 years.

Any review of good handling, smooth ride, or other such nuance of a new tire pales when the tire is about to disintegrate on you.

The 8-year-old Michelins on one of my cars are just barely beginning to show any kind of rot.

howie

like i said, I dunno what type of tire you guys look for and what it needs to do but I don't need any set of tires to last me more than a year. 5 years is just ridiculous. I would never ride 5 or 8 year old tires. Give me something that I can use safely to push my car to the limits without worrying about "are my tires gonna hold up in this turn doin 90mph in the wet" and with the Contis I never had to worry. Even when they were @ 20% they felt like gum!

Conti Contact 3s!!!! The difference you pay in price for the pilots is not worth the minimal smoothness gained

Diesel

I agree. I had Conti's for about 2 years. Garbage. Michelin's were awesome. For my last set, thought I would take the advice of the tire guy at Kaltire and went wth Falkens for the summer. I was surprised as to how quiet these tires are and have awesome performance. As for winters, I recommend going with Nokian's, I think there are better than Michelin Pilots, cheaper and better grip, quiet, can't tell they are winter tires.

Ksing44, thanks for the write up, my brother has an S 320 and was looking for new tires, will recommend the new Michelin's...

shdoug

Had some Contis on a Silverado pickup- They were ok for that but I never would have dreamed of putting them on a car. The Michelin Pilots on my BMW are awesome! I don't have a single complaint about them. They'll take whatever I can dish out in any weather. The Pirellis it came with sucked bad in the snow!

It's hard to go wrong with Michelin unless you're on a tight budget. My dad gets around 60,000 on his Michelins, but that's on a Honda.