Costco Michelin X-Tour vs Michelin Defender T+H

I just picked up a set of Premier A/S at Discount Tire yesterday, and they also carry the Defender T+H. They readily price-matched Costco when asked, as though they get that question a lot. So, that might be another option for anyone Michelin shopping -- at least in areas that have Discount Tire or America's Tire. I think DT price match as a rule, but there may be some variance in whether a given DT store will match a given competitor's price. (And do not know if they'd price match the Defender T+H to the X-Tour.)

(BTW, I see from your profile we've got the same year car in the same town. Must be "Replace the OEM Tires Week?")

 

So far I've only had the opportunity to try them at slow speeds: local roads and rush hour freeway traffic. On the ride home from DT, I definitely noticed the loss of slickness compared to the worn LRR tires -- i.e. the car just seemed slow and I was conscious of gassing it more. (So I switched off my usual ECO mode at least til I get used to it.) Kind of funny, since I really never liked the slippery feel of the stock Yokohama's so I deliberately chose replacements with better handling and traction, but apparently I got used to "slippery" more than I realized! I'm not sure how much of the difference is because the tires are new vs. how much is from the switch from LRR.

Braking seems very good and solid so far... these tires sure do grip whether you're stopping or going! But again, that's in comparison to worn LRR tires.

Tomorrow I'll finally get to try them on a longer and hopefully faster freeway drive, so I should have a chance to evaluate everything better.

 

Quick update after ~60 miles of freeway driving: Seems fine so far. I'm no longer feeling like the car seems radically "slower," so it must just have been a matter of my getting used to it. Seems about as quiet as you can hope for on the I-5 (i.e. quiet on the smooth parts, a little thumpy on the bumpy parts but not loud-thumpy.) Tracking and handling seem good, maybe a little bit of new tire squirminess, but not even much of that. Took it around the I-5 S to I-8 E connector and they felt fine, if not exactly gripping like fly paper. (Assuming there's still lubricant on the tires, they may become grippier in a few hundred miles. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=5 )

So far I'm really happy with the braking. Even though the car always braked well thanks to the regenerative braking, I was never a fan of the feel. Braking now feels more smooth, solid, and comfortable. Makes logical sense that grippier tires would do that, just wasn't something I'd thought about in advance.

MPG... Too soon to tell, esp. since weather has heated up. I may be losing 10% over the old tires, or maybe it's less. Again, hard to tell how much of that is just new vs. old tires and how much is the tires themselves.

Looking forward to trying them in the rain, though Accuweather says I'll have to wait til mid-October for that!

Will update further after I've driven on them for awhile.

 

For the record, we have Defenders on our 2010 liftback and our 2012 v (wagon).

Note that you will most likely take a 3-5% hit on MPGs. However, the performance of the Defenders have been great. They are far, far better in rain and snow than what we had previously. And the treadwear rating is fantastic. When considering tread life I think the Defenders are a great overall value.

One interesting observation....we put the Defenfer T+H's on the 2012 v (wagon) shortly before a 5K mile road trip. I wasn't initially happy at all with the MPG hit. However, after the road trip the tires seem to have 'broken in' or some such thing. MPG is almost back to normal now. Of course, the MPG hit could have been due to something else like a rubbing brake pad, etc... However, the tires are by far the most likely culprit.

 

We don't have retail store of Discount Tire, but just ordered winter tires with alloy wheel from Discount Tire Direct | Tires and Wheels for Sale Online. They did match the lowest price I found on Michelin Xice 3 for me. I was initially going to order from Tire Rack with cheapest steel wheels, but after checking DTD, I found out I can get Xice on MB alloy wheel mounted and balanced ready to install on my car shipped free for $450 after all rebates. That's $170 less than Tire Rack or $300 less than local tire store. They are great!

 

Costco ran out of T+H and energy saver so I just ordered X TOUR A/S T+H 195/65R15 for only $374 after all rebates. I still think its a good deal. They said this one will last 15% longer than the defender T+H. They don't have T+H now because every1 still think that is the best one. But anyways, I like to try new thing and they still warranties it to 80k miles or 6 years.

 

There's a thread that says the xtour doesn't have the Defenders Comfort Technology. Not true....

Same exact tire but just branded differently.

 

I didn't screenshot it, but Comfort Control Technology is rebranded in the xtour to MVP or MPT....I forget which...

 

Another viable option are the Bridgestone Ecopia 422 +. Good mileage and quiet at least from the start. I had my 4 installed at Costco for only $348.28 out the door. I ordered online and they called when the came it. I did pay an extra optional $12 bucks when I came in for the TPMS kits.
Ratings Treadwear 640, Traction A, Temperature A.

 

When the Defender "morphed" to Defender T+H the GreenX badge (indicator of LRR) became Total Performance (also indicator of LRR, but more of a balance??). That might be nothing or something, probably nothing, lol.

 

I have both kinds of Defenders..and I don't see much difference between them...although they are on different vehicles of course!

 

Me neither, I’ll hold off rotation til 5,000 miles at minimum.

 

Just purchased Michelin Premier A/S at Costco.
They are offering a $110.00 dollar instant rebate.