Initial comment about mpg comparison might be incorrect. Better answer tk somewhere down the road. *NM* |  |  |
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Laz - Tuesday, 30 April, 2013, at 5:54:00 pm |
A few days back I switched back to the Goodyears, first the rears and then the front tires. Here are some observations on the Michelin PA4 n-spec 19s:
Optimized for cold weather, they are confidence inspiring insofar as dry road acceleration and turning. They felt nearly as crisp as the Goodyears. A slight downside, but manageable, is that they are more prone to ABS inducing lockup under even mildly hard braking.
They have a somewhat coarser ride, feeling like they're not quite balanced right. Along with the road texture one feels with the summer tires, there's an overlay of what feels like a slight imbalance at certain speeds, in my case around 73 mph. NB: this could be part of the issue, and after about 500 miles I had the rears rebalanced, and this because one winter wheel's center bore wasn't machined properly; the center cap not fitting. (Tire Rack sent a replacement.) The fronts will have their balance checked now that they're off. Again, while balance might be part of the issue, whacking the tread with a hammer produced a ringing, whereas the Goodyears don't, which I attribute to each tire's damping properties, and this in turn, along with tread pattern and overall construction differences, cause the roughness experienced with the Michelins.
In spite of having a lower frequency of rotation per mile by .5%, and "Green X" technology, the initial, and subjective observation of fuel efficiency is perhaps a couple per cent lower than the Goodyears.
I hadn't noticed the coarseness until after having the defective (rear) wheel changed, so I first put back on the rear Goodyears only, and went on the local interstate to get to 70+ mph. It seemed the ride was somewhat smoother, and further still after changing the fronts and taking another run. In the next week or so I'll have the Michelin fronts rebalanced, but won't be mounting them until Autumn.
One last observation about the Michelins, and this was to be expected: with the first 70º day, they squealed somewhat and felt just a little bit greasy.
An apology: just like all too many customer reviews concerning snow/winter tires, I only drove in snow, and light snow at that, a couple times, so I can't really speak to their effectiveness in that regard. The main point for me anyway was to have safe <45º tires on the car. It is pretty wild though to have snows rated to 149 mph!
Optimized for cold weather, they are confidence inspiring insofar as dry road acceleration and turning. They felt nearly as crisp as the Goodyears. A slight downside, but manageable, is that they are more prone to ABS inducing lockup under even mildly hard braking.
They have a somewhat coarser ride, feeling like they're not quite balanced right. Along with the road texture one feels with the summer tires, there's an overlay of what feels like a slight imbalance at certain speeds, in my case around 73 mph. NB: this could be part of the issue, and after about 500 miles I had the rears rebalanced, and this because one winter wheel's center bore wasn't machined properly; the center cap not fitting. (Tire Rack sent a replacement.) The fronts will have their balance checked now that they're off. Again, while balance might be part of the issue, whacking the tread with a hammer produced a ringing, whereas the Goodyears don't, which I attribute to each tire's damping properties, and this in turn, along with tread pattern and overall construction differences, cause the roughness experienced with the Michelins.
In spite of having a lower frequency of rotation per mile by .5%, and "Green X" technology, the initial, and subjective observation of fuel efficiency is perhaps a couple per cent lower than the Goodyears.
I hadn't noticed the coarseness until after having the defective (rear) wheel changed, so I first put back on the rear Goodyears only, and went on the local interstate to get to 70+ mph. It seemed the ride was somewhat smoother, and further still after changing the fronts and taking another run. In the next week or so I'll have the Michelin fronts rebalanced, but won't be mounting them until Autumn.
One last observation about the Michelins, and this was to be expected: with the first 70º day, they squealed somewhat and felt just a little bit greasy.
An apology: just like all too many customer reviews concerning snow/winter tires, I only drove in snow, and light snow at that, a couple times, so I can't really speak to their effectiveness in that regard. The main point for me anyway was to have safe <45º tires on the car. It is pretty wild though to have snows rated to 149 mph!
Laz - Wednesday, 1 May, 2013, at 5:45:00 pm |
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