Excellent Tires at a Price
Written: Jun 27 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tread life, improved handling, excellent grip, and real off-road looks
Cons: Premium pricing, possible reduce fuel efficiency
The Bottom Line: Want improved handling and a great sense of safety? Get these tires for you SUV, you won't regret it, I haven't.
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| honda1971's Full Review: Michelin Cross Terrain SUV Truck/SUV Tire |
I purchased these tires this past winter to replace the OEM Goodyear Integrity tires (my review on these tires at http://www.epinions.com/content_122139741828) on my '99 RX300 and they have been great.
I purchased them at Sears when they went on sale, so I got them for $124 each. I plus-sized to 235-70R16 from 225-70R16 because the larger tires were actually cheaper than the original size. The extra width was fine, the tires made clearance.
My old tires were down to about it's last 5000+ miles of life and the winter was just starting. We had several snow falls already and the old tires were slipping around almost every turn so I thought it was safer to get new and better tires.
The Michelin Cross Terrain SUV is one of the top SUV tires made by Michelin. I was undecided between the Cross Terrain or the LTX M/S. Both had received excellent reviews by consumer reports and tire sites, so it was really up to price and who carried the tires. Sears had the Cross Terrains on sale so I went for them.
Right off the bat I noticed the difference in grip and handling. The tire's treads are made for off-roading. They're much more aggressive and rugged than the original Integrity. The sidewall of the tires are more firm and so this tire roll and pitch is greatly reduced. My SUV use to roll and dive around each turn, not it's straight and steady. The only fault with stiffer tires, is that you feel the road bumps a little more now. The old Integrity were so soft, it felt like you were riding on sponges, which on some road surfaces here in the north east, may not be so bad.
After getting the tires, we had another two or three snow falls and the difference was like night and day between the two tires. The Cross Terrain took to snow very well. It took on powdery snow, wet snow, and heavy snow without failure. Of course, common sense must prevail here, I drove as anyone should drive in snow, very carefully. My review is not saying that the tires will handle snow at speeds like it does dry pavement.
On wet surfaces the tires grip very well also. My vehicle has ABS and so far I have not had a situation where I have activated the ABS on rainy days. The tires traction and grip around corners is excellent in rain.
It's probably from the slightly larger contact surface, plus heavier tire, but I've noticed approximately a 1 mpg drop with these tires. For a SUV, that's quite a lot to give because I didn't have much to begin with. Given the superior handling and wear of these tires, I would give up that extra 1 mpg for ride and safety.
With this much improved performance though comes a price. The original Integrity went for about $60/tire. These regularly list for $140/tire. If you're in the market for an excellent handling/performing tire and safety is a main point, then you can't go wrong with these.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 126
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Epinions.com ID:
honda1971
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Location: Central, New Jersey
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Married male over 30, father of TWO.
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