Our experiences have been absolutely perfect with this tire: ultra quiet, superb tracking at all speeds, and excellent cornering. Plus, given the warranty and tread life rating of 700, we had the expectation of good tread life with a 65,000 mile warranty.

It is possible that the few negative comments on this tire come from four problems:

Misapplication
1) Call Michelin to see if your SUV weight and use is a match for the Cross-Terrain. Your SUV may be too heavy for this side-wall.... get something with a heavier load rating.

Mis-Inflation
2) We're all accustomed to putting 28lbs of pressure in our car tires, but SUVs run truck tires which commonly require higher pressures. The Cross-Terrain is rated at 42 lbs. We run 35lbs. This misunderstanding about SUV vs car tire pressure may be one of the leading causes of the Explorer/Firestone blowout problem.

Mismatch of wheel and tire and SUV
3) People sometimes put the wrong tire on the wrong rim, or install non-original sized equipment wheels and tires. Don't try to out-engineer the car designers; out-sized tires and wheels may look good, but often lead to trouble.

Mismatch of tread design and useage
4) Cross-Terrains have a non-aggressive tread design. The treads are fairly deep but are somewhat car-like on the cleat design (see photo above). Cross-Terrains wouldn't be my first choice for regular off the road use.

None of the other tire brands we looked at in the $150 price range offered the tread life, warranty, or security of the Michelin brand. Check to see if there is a $50 rebate going on ($50 rebated on a set of four tires - not $50 per tire).

Our Results: Outstanding on every count. We drove these tires 85,000 miles with one rotation. Further, for the full life of the tires, the other performance dimensions stood out as superior; handling, ride, quietness and looks. My new set cost $160/ per tire (at Sears after a $50 rebate per set) and the SUV feels great once again. Highly, highly, recommended.

Cost details:
My Sam's Club store could not order these this time around so I was stuck with Sears. At Sam's, there is a charge of $10 per tire to mount, balance, replace valve stems, lifetime rotation, disposal fee, and road hazard repairs. So, $40 extra per set of four.

At Sears, they charge $15 for mounting, balancing, stems,
plus $2 disposal, plus, get this, $70 per set of four for road hazard. The Sears total is $98 more than Sam's for the add-ons, and they were $34 more than Sam's on the price, for a total of $132 more than Sam's. I hated to pay it but this was the only way I could locally get these tires.


What's New:
The new version of the Cross Terrain has a new feature called Diamond Black formulation, where the blackness of the tire rubber is enhanced for looks. I don't really see much difference... time will tell.

Recommended:
Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 160