I am trying to decide which tire I should get for a Nissan Murano we just bought. Going off of previous threads, I hope I am giving enough information.
I live in Denver Colorado, I will be driving a 2012 Nissan Murano S AWD vehicle. I am interested in light to moderate snow traction as well as good wet traction. I would like it to be as quiet as possible and as smooth as possible. I wont’ be doing much towing with the vehicle, just driving back and forth to school and maybe up the mountain in the winter to go skiing.
Two tires that I thought might work but then the reviews said they weren’t great in snow are Michelin Defender LTX and Michelin Premier LTS. Would these work or do you have any other suggestions? On our 2012 Chevy Cruze LT we have Nokian eNTYRE tires on them and I think they did really well in the snow we have had so far. Would the eNTYRE C/S be a better option than the Michelin’s?
I already did that, it didn’t help me choose, thus why I am writing here. Normally I say thanks for the help but I guess for this, thanks for giving me something to read.
I went to the one where they rank them in green shades and rank them from 1-10 I think. That makes me lean toward the defender definitely, but then the customer reviews and opinions make me think that maybe both are not the right fit or that the Premier may be better due to the wet traction. We get about the same number of wet road days as we get snowy road days. Thats where I am torn.
I mostly always used Goodyear but now have Michelin and General and like them both. Its what the car came with mostly. I also agree that the info on the tire sites can be confusing. I simply have a trusted shop (not the discount shops) that I use and usually follow their recommendation. In your case I think an all season would work just fine. The only issue would be your jaunts to the mountains in the winter. That’s when you should have a winter tire, but you can’t use them year round.
For that car I would put Dunlop Signature II tires. The tread pattern looks good and I had good snow performance with the old pattern which did not look like it would have any traction. I had a 2013 Rav 4. I live on a hill in central Maine.
I feel your pain. There are so many options. And there are many more opinions usually never accompanied by the criteria they were using. The good news is that I’ve never really bought a bad set of tires, so it’s likely you’ll go through all this trouble and realize after a couple of months everything’s fine.
Michelins are typically the most expensive option so if you have questions about them, I wouldn’t buy them. I seem to remember having Dunlops on my Blazer (don’t recall if they were Signature II however) and never had any issue with snow the few times we got it here. It sounds like you have real world experience with the tires on your other car so that would be a good option.
Sounds like you got two good options - call one heads, the other tails - flip a coin and be done with it.
If you’ve been to Tire Rack, then you’ve looked at the best information available. Asking here is only going to get some personal opinions based on a small sample size.
My opinion? Any of the major brands are going to have tires that will work for you. Selecting the right model is what is important.
Not all tires come in all sizes. What size does your new vehicle need?
I also research on tirerack and have bought tires from them. The November Consumer Report always has tire tests and reviews, and CR publishes these elsewhere and on line.
Based on those reviews, and wanting all-season tires with outstanding snow traction for my Town and Country I replaced my just OK Goodyears with General Altimax RT 43, T rated. After 2 winters in MN and WI we are very happy with their performance in every respect. They are listed as one of 4 Recommended tires on CR’s test of 15 all-season tires, not at the very top of the list, but better than the 14 others for snow.
For crying out loud. Walmart, Discount tires, Sams , Costco and so many other places have online charts that show what tires fit a certain vehicle and give prices even a Caveman should be able to purchase a tire.
My neighbor went to Sams Club and had tires mounted while she shopped.
Often the name and model of the vehicle is not enough info to fit tires. Wheel and tire sizes can vary with the trim level of the car in question. Or a previous owner put on different wheels. The OP had some criteria and was asking for help in finding tires that fit the car and satisfied those criteria as well as possible. All tire choices involve compromise.
I replaced the Michelin Latitude Tour OEM tires with the Michelin Defender LTX on my 2013 Equinox FWD last year July. Other than a small drop in mileage (~0.5 mpg) there has been no downside to this choice. Wet/Dry traction is improved, the tires are quiet despite a more aggressive tread, and steering feel is excellent.
There was a near blizzard in South Jersey this winter, I drove my daughter to work at 5:00 am in nearly a foot of unplowed snow and the Equinox had decent traction with only FWD. Other than some tire spin at an intersection with a upward slope the car had no issues. If I had AWD I don’t think I would have had any problem moving.
Your best option would be to buy a second set of wheels, preferably all-steel for inexpensiveness and resistance to destruction when curbed, and mount winter tires on them. Nokian makes one of the better winter tires that is also the most fun to say; the Hakkapeliita.
I used to live in the Rockies and snow tire requirements vary greatly based on where in the mountains you intend to drive. If your ski slope of choice is off of a well-plowed main road then even a good set of all seasons will probably suffice. If it’s up a steep, narrow, winding road that doesn’t get cleared until the road grader lumbers over, then you might want something more aggressive, or resign yourself to having to fit chains to the tires.
If I recall in Colorado, in particularly severe driving conditions you can get a ticket if you don’t have proper snow tires and/or chains mounted. The most severe weather can make that a legal requirement even for AWD.
Shadowfax is right. I have had great luck with Blizzack DM-V2 tires on both a Forester and Highlander, not that different from a Murano. I have dedicated rims for the Highlander and I strip the rubber on the Forester twice per year. Either way works fine. I prefer the individual rims. Occasionally, I will get a test vehicle that has exceptional all-season tires in snow and I will try to note that in the story or review (like I did here). However, there is no real comparison to the performance of winter tires below 40 degrees F and when the snow and ice show up. Winter tires work.
I have had good luck speaking by phone to Tire Rack sales people. My experience was that they knew quite a bit about what works well for customers on individual models. Worth a shot. My local tire guy (Doug at Medfied Tire in Mass) also knows what works well for his customers and has always given me good advice. Once I ignored that advice and bought a tire I thought might work better. Nope.
Yes. When I went to my local garage to ask about tires (after researching on tirerack and Consumer Reports) I said I was leaning toward a certain Michelin and the General Altimax RT 43 [T]. The garage man said they used those on their truck and thought they were very good for our conditions here in Duluth, MN. He could also get them for about the same price as tirerack’s delivered price and would mount and balance them at no additional charge. He could not come close on the Michelin price, but the Generals tested out better on snow and ice, and have been very good tires that met or exceeded my hopes.