Tire quality

are michelin better than pirelli?

Yes. But many other brands equal Michelin’s performance, so it all depends on what you are looking for…

I’m looking for good, safe tires for a focus for my 20 yr. old son.

As a broad statement generally applicable across the product line, you won’t go wrong with either brand.

I had a long talk with a fellow who used to test tires for the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. You know those symbols for load and speed and wear etc. on the tire? He tested tires to make sure the markings applied by the company were appropriate. After years of testing all brands of tires, he used nothing but Michelins on his family’s cars.

A company I used to drive for used nothing but Michelins on their entire fleet of over 500 vehicles. They said Michelins got better fuel mileage than any other brand they’d tried by about two MPG. They are also darned good tires.

never owned any michelins or pirellis but i have always been happy with the BF Goodrich tires. i have them on everything i own and have never had any issues

According to Wikipedia, Michelin owns Bf Goodrich, and Uniroyal tires.

I too have been very happy with BFG,s. But The Michelin Symmetry,s on my Impala ride O so nice.

thank you

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I have owned both and liked both, I would buy either again.

Whenever the original tires on my cars need replacement, it’s always Michelins for me.

Michelins tend to be more expensive than other brands, but when you factor in their longer tread life, they are actually a good value in the long run. Additionally, they tend to have a better ride quality than other brands.

Think about it this way–Since Michelin did invent the radial tire concept, they have had a very long time to perfect the technology that was only adapted later by the other manufacturers.

There are lots of good tires out there. Michelin’s are often my choice but they are pricey. If you plan to keep the car for a long time get Michelin. They last a long time and they have very few defective tires reported.

If I can’t afford Michelin, I look for a Toyo tire. Toyo makes very good tires that seem to last about as long as a Michelin. If I want to put a good cheap tire on a car then I look for a Kumho.

Pirelli makes good “performance” tires. They tend to have good grip, but relatively short tread life. I wouldn’t rate Pirelli tires in same class as Toyo and definately not up to Michelin. I would only buy Pirelli’s for a performance car or on a very good “special” that put them in the same league as a Kumho on price.

If a indication of a high quality tire is when the new tire needs very little weight to balance. Then the Michelin’s I recently had installed are of high quality, because these tires required very little weight to balance.

Ever buy cheap tires, and the guy balancing the tire starts loading both inside, and outside of the rim with weights? Its like get those POS tires off right now.

Agree; I’ve never had a balancing problem with Michelin tires and they have the best tread life of all the tires I’ve had, including the original ones that came with the car.

Once I bought economy tires made in Korea. They were called “Marshall” and were impossible to balance especially since the rubber was of inconsistent density (harndness) and they wore to an oval shape. I ended up throwing them away!

Quality control is much better nwo, but the cheaper Chinese tires can still be a balancing nightmare!

Isn’t it about time he started buying his own tires??

To set the record straight, I’ve used a lot of Michelin tires over the years, in fact three of my current vehicles have them. They are good, but not perfect. I have had an occasional one that used more weights that usual, and for a Michelin, that means over 2 oz.

I have had two that blew out through the sidewalls, they had never been run under pressure or hit a curb and they were only two years old. Both came from the same production lot and they had almost 50k miles on them and were down to about 3/32" tread, so they were about to be replaced anyway.

Michelins do not last longer than other brands, that is a myth. If you can put up with the noise, rough ride and poor traction, a Firestone will outlast a Michelin by as much as two to one.

The best tire for ride, handling, low noise, smooth ride and long lasting that I ever had was a set of Bridgestone Turanzza LST’s. They are no longer in production so after over 100,000 miles, I had to replace them with Michelin Hydroedge, which I am happy with, so far.

They’re both very good tires. I really liked the Pirellis I had on one car and one of my sons swears by Michelin, but you can get a responsive tire for a lot less. I have General UHPs for summer tires and love them. If you want a really good education concerning tires, (and good prices to boot) go to tirerack.com. The customer reviews are most helpful.