Tire question

Next time I plan on driving 250 mph or re-fitting my Concorde I'll insist on Michelin. Until then I'll go with something that offers a far better ROI.

In the case of my pickup truck, they were actually less expensive than the comparable BFG tire.

It does when nobody makes a V-rated tire in the size that I need!

My point is that I now need to run two different sets of tires depending on the season, because nobody makes a V-rated all season tire in my size. I probably could find an all season tire with a lower speed rating, but good luck finding a tire shop that will sell you an H-rated tire for a car that is supposed to have V-rated tires...

Additionally, I am annoyed that I can't buy Michelins in particular, because I have had repeated balance/trueness problems with the Yokohamas, while experience has taught me that it is very rare to have these issues with Michelins. Oddly enough I have *not* had those problems with my Dunlop snow tires.

nate

Maybe. What kind of damage is it? When did you last have an alignment? Was it aligned by someone who knew what they were doing or a kid from the chain store?

If it WAS a balancing issue, it may have been balanced when it left the shop but one of the weights got damaged.

No, you have only yourself to blame, for ignoring the shimmy. If you have a front-end issue, you can put new tires on there and damage those too.

--scott

Tell that the the automakers and the tire companies.

Let me be a little more specific. These PARTICULAR Michelins dont seem to have a long treadlife.

I have had several sets of Michelins of other types, on other cars, and have gotten ca 70K out of them. I am in general a strong supporter of Michelin.

I had looked into buying a Porsche but was put off by the expensive tires which had to be changed very frequently ( 15-20K miles or so). They were that way to give the ride that many Porsche owners wanted. Same for Avalon, I think.

This is surprising. I bought Michelins for my old Camry not too long ago. The original Michelins on the car had 85K+ miles on them. The least expensive Michelins I could find had a 45K mile tread life. I think something else is going on here. Were the tires properly inflated? Did they wear evenly? Do you like to smoke the tires when pulling away from the light? Wait, I take that last question back. I don't think that's possible with an Avalon.

Tim K

####Your old Camry didnt come with this type of tire. (and it IS a fairly expensive tire...I believe they were $185 each to replace) It is VERY possible to buy Michelins that will give you 70-80k for some applications.

####The tires were properly inflated, and were rotated. They wore very evenly and had great traction. I couldnt believe it either, but found them on Tire Rack and other users who reviewed tdhem seem to have similar results.

It would be very possible with this one, but - no - I dont smoke the tires.

That's right. The Michelin Primacy at Costco is about $125 w/ installation. And these have a 600 tread rating (approx 60K miles) with a 60K mile warranty. And if people are saying the cheap Bridgestones last only 15-20K miles then owners shouldn't pay more than $35-50 having a Bridgestone installed (otherwise these cheap tires would cost too much).

If the drive axle tires are sitting on one of those stick-on white stripes, not at all hard. My minivan, with even less power, does it easily.

It has a lot more steam than you would think. Rated at 268 hp, I am sure it can spin the tires from a stop. It has a lot more punch than my Solara, for sure. And better mileage in addition.

But the point was, these tires have not been abused.

This car came with Michelin 215/55/R17 tires, and they were not Primacy. I can dig back and find what they actually were, if it is important to you.

Some time ago I did some research on the Michelins that WalMart sells here locally. From what I read, they were no bargain. "Store Brands" are not always a good buy, although sometimes they will be cheaper.

Tire Rack shows my originals should have been Michelin Energy MVX4s. UTQC is 440. They are now $177 each, plus shipping, mounting, etc.

Neither of my new Toyotas came with Bridgestones. They BOTH came with Michelins.

You made a blanket statement, although the grammar in the sentence is a little lacking.

"Toyota uses Bridgestone tires because it is a Japanese company" is an independent clause. If you had said "Toyota (often or sometimes )uses Bridgestone tires because it is a Japanese company" your foot wouldn't have gone in your mouth.

Both my cars came with Michelins, and Bridgestone is irrelevant to this thought thread.