ShakMan

Ok. After driving for 1000 miles and reading various threads, I put my Bridgestone tires on sale on Craigs'L and replaced them with Michelin Primacy MXV4. Wow, what a difference tires makes on the 300h. I got em at my local Costco dealer here in NCAL with nitrogen. Net difference was $150 and it was worth every penny.

The ride was a lot smoother and quieter. If you get a chance at the dealer, I would always opt for the Michelin.

I did notice a few minor differences. The Bridgestone's are firmer tires and it seems like you only have to tap the pedal lightly to maintain speed. The Michelin's are a little softer and it needs a little more pressure but has more traction.

My net MPG this morning was the same (i read somewhere that Michelin might get a drop in MPG). No such thing (at least today with me)

KennyLexus

Yes, the Michelin Primacy tires are great. I put them back on my '11 ES before I sold it. The car rode smoother than the aftermarket no-name tires. I would definitely consider swapping out the Bridgestones with Michelins but I'm putting a set of aftermarket wheels on this car. And the Michelin Primacy doesn't come in the size I need.

mrBillFL

what kind of air pressures are you using? factory 33psi? or?

larrytstar

There was a long thread on this forum a while back about what contributes to a smooth, quiet ride. For a while the prevailing opinion was that 17" wheels, instead of 18's, were necessary to have a smooth, quiet ride. Then folks discovered that the brand of tires was a bigger factor - in this case, the Michelin Primacys being much smoother and quieter. As a result I insisted that my my UL with 18" wheels come with Michelins. The salesman was fine with that until my car arrived with Bridgestones. He tried to talk me into the Bridgestones. When I refused, he tried to charge me more money for the Michelins. I refused and he threatened to cancel the deal. I told him to keep the car - that I would not pay anything extra. He changed his tune and delivered the car with Michelins. I am very, very pleased with the ride and lack of tire noise.

mrBillFL

FWIW, I'm running 35/34 but am wondering about dropping pressure for more grip. I have 17" michelin's.



but at this point I'm trying to max out on my mpg. once I get a baseline I'll play with the pressures...

ShakMan

I am using factory 33 psi with nitrogen from Costco. I just drove home and it's great. I forgot I do have 17' wheels.

IS350atWOT

iTrader: (1)

I never thought the ES300h's ride was a little rough like some people are saying. That's probably because I have the Michelin Primacy's. This is good to know. I have always found Michelin tires to be a superior tire and this is another example.

ShakMan

You are 100% correct. For the 300h, Michelin tires makes a huge difference. Tires pick up virtually no road noice and rides smooth(er).

i will post my mpg at the end of the week.

mrBillFL

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....h&autoModClar=


green x = low resistance , and 500 treadwear is pretty hard rubber... probably get 50,000 miles out of a set...

UTAS

Yep. Agree with all of you. Michelin's are superior to Bridgestone's.

Green X = low rolling resistance. Look for it on select Michelin model tires.

UTAS

I had the same experience in '09 when purchasing our 2010 RX450h: Came with Bridgestone's, after I had told the sales guy that I only wanted Michelin's; he tried to make me sign without looking, and I got up and walked. An hour later, a phone call, and all was okay with the Michelin's - in this case, they were the Latitude's with Michelin's Green-X technology. Smooth ride, excellent handling and quiet. Still going strong with 38K miles and 5/32" tread remaining.

ShakMan

Here is my MPG since I switched to Michelin's from Bridgestone's. My commute is 50 miles daily (70/30 freeway/City). There was a thread that MPG's might go down but I have not seen any difference.

haYnflyer

I was wondering if someone who has the Michelin Primacy tires could let us know what the car's noise level is in decibels?

I loaded a sound meter app onto my phone and it works well. Of course, I understand that road surface and speed have a lot to do with noise levels so maybe we could state the noise levels given various road conditions. We can all safely assume that the windows are up, sound system off, and a/c not blasting and creating ambient noise.

I have Bridgestone Turanza EL400 tires.

My readings at 55 mph and the phone/meter placed on the center console are:
Smooth asphalt pavement: 66
Smooth concrete freeway/interstate: 69
Rough asphalt (but no potholes): 74

My friend's X5 with Bridgestones gave similar results.


For kicks, I also downloaded an app that measures vibrations so see how smooth my car was.

On smooth asphalt pavement at 55 mph with my phone/meter on the driver's seat between (but not touching) my legs:

Smooth asphalt pavement: 2.9

I'd really like to be able to measure vertical acceleration as that would be a better gauge of ride comfort as well as an app that measures the harmonic frequency of cars. This last measure would allow us to judge a car's "quality" as a lower harmonic frequency is typically equated to a more rigid, pleasing and refined passenger cabin. Ford trucks, once upon a time, were made of something called "Quiet Steel" and it helped to make the ambient noise less noticeable. The difference between simple noise and the harmonic frequency, as I understand it, is basically a measure of a sound's pitch. While two sounds could have the same "volume", the one with the lower pitch is deemed "better" as the sounds will fall outside the range of human hearing. This will make the car seem quieter and have a higher quality "white noise".

Anyway, I'd be curious to know what other drivers are experiencing with their Michelins before I buy a set and yes, I know how unscientific the results might be.

The apps I am using can be found here:

Sound Meter:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ra.sound&hl=en

Vibration Meter:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ibration&hl=en

Thanks!!!

Fly4u

I'm experimenting with 40psi on my Michelin Primacy tires to see the effect on mileage. Will probably reduce a few psi for proper wear but will likely remain above the recommended 33psi.

UTAS

There are new Michelin Primacy LC tires available that are (according to Michelin) even quieter than the Primacy MXV8 model tires. http://www.michelin.in/tyre/patternd...rCar/PrimacyLC - not sure if these are OEM specific yet.

I had Bridgestone Turanza w/Serenity (to this day, don't know what that means, b/c these were anything but serene), and the comparison to Michelin's were considerable, i.e., the Bridgestone's were much noisier, harder riding, had flat spots after being parked for a while, and resulted in about a 15% drop in mpg. That was on a 2008 Avalon, which originally had Michelin Energy MXV4 (the fore-runners to the Primacy models).

I would steer clear (pun intended) of Bridgestone's and always "nudge" (read: demand) the sales people to provide Michelin's on any new car - in this case Lexus. Both, our hybrids RX and ES, have Michelin's with Green-X - these are wonderful tires in wear, quietness, ride comfort and economy.

Sorry if I sound like a Michelin sales person, but this is simply experience.

@ Mr. Bill and Fly4u - we used to pump our tires to 40psi on the company fleet cars in the middle east - this presumably would eliminate the extreme heat when driving desert freeways. The company became wary, b/c they had so many tread separations using Uniroyal tires. I would not recommend it on my personal car - try 36psi max - that's about 10% over the recommended pressure. In FL and CA, it can become pretty hot on the pavement, and one should be wary of blowing a tire off the rim due to heat and increased pressure.