First.... :Knock on wood:
I've been running mostly Michelin tires since 1980 and I've probably had at least than 25 sets on cars and trucks (I've had 5 sets on the 3 vehicles I own right now, and have owned about 40 vehicles, so 25 sets may be a conservative guess). I've never had a single bad tire or any complaint with Michelins, but I sure have had problems and complaints with other brands.

Now I hope bragging on them doesn't jinx my Michelin luck....

 

I vote for the MXV4 Primacy H-rated tires. Got them 2 weeks ago. I thought my LS430 had a quiet ride on the original Dunlops. The Michelins ride way better. And their treadwear rating is excellent. I decided on the Michelins after reading posts from owners who had them. I am happy with my decision.

 

I stayed away from Michelin tires for decades -- never thought they were a good value at their premium prices. I had a set of Michelin Primacy MXV4 all season tires installed on the summer chrome wheels of my 00 LS400 last weekend -- bought them because of the rave reviews and due to them being on sale/cheap at Costco.

It's too early to tell if I will like the Primacys ... I'm going easy on them while they are new. I absolutely loved the Bridgestone RE750 summer tires the Primacys replaced. The RE750's were directional tires in the ultra high performance category and actually made the LS sort of fun to drive -- but they lasted only about 22,000 miles of summer only use which is not bad for that kind of tire and my occasional boy racer excesses.

I suspect the Primacys are going to be more than a bit squirrelly if pushed hard -- but maybe it's time for this 60 year old geezer to stop driving to the point of tire breakaway on curves.

 

I just put a set of Toyo Versado tires on my 04 UL. http://toyotires.com/
So far they are great - I was debating between these and the Primacy, but the reviews were close and these were much cheaper.

 

Purchased new michelin's on 4/12/10 at Costco, Staten Island, NY. Took about an hour. Purchased Primacy MXV4, Mich Performance H/V, 225/60HR16 98H. The out-the-door was $706.76. The base price was $579.96. The other costs were: NY Tire Tax $2.50 x 4; Mount & Balance $14.00 x 4; Tire Disposal $1.00 x 4 and 8.875% State Tax= $56.80.
Directed to return to store at 25 miles to have the Lugs retorqued (which I did). They replaced all the valve stems and use nitrogen to fill the tires. Rotation, rebalance and flat repair are included in the price. Rotation is due at 6,348 miles.
All the staff are trained at the Michelin facility and have their credentials and photograph on the wall in the waiting area. The latest Cosco magazine has an in-depth article on the stores tire facilities. Too much to go into here.
The difference is amazing. The handling, quietness and smoothness had me kicking myself for not changing tires sooner.

 

Costco is Michelin's biggest customer. They move an incredible number of tires. Another excellent tire retailer is Discount Tire. They (at least around here) have well-trained technicians and the latest equipment, and overall do a very good job. Top-notch operation, and about the only one that I'd trust my wheels to.

 

Drive it like you stole it!

 

Dan...I saw those tires online a couple months ago, and I like those tires A LOT. (on paper at least..lol) When the time comes, and I'm thinking about 12 months, they will be absolutely one of my choices!

My comparison/watch list so far are (randomly):

Toyo Versado LX
Dunlops SP Sport 5000M
Dunlop SP Sport Signature
Falken Ziex ZE-912
Michelin Primacy MXV4
Michelin Pilot HX MXM4

My personal criteria, in no order are: a) price b) quiet ride c) tread pattern appearance d) all season performance e) tread life.

Ratings and performance (of those categories, not cornering or skidpad performance) aside, I personally love the tread pattern of those Versados! It may sound stupid to some of you, but if a tire had A+++ ratings all across the board, but had an ugly/irregular/overly aggressive unidirectional tread pattern, I'd hesitate to buy..but that's just me.

Can I ask where you bought them and $ paid, etc?

 

Hey I'm 64 and still drive like I stole it. Have had the LS to the limiter (131mph) and my bike to 142 all in the past year. Traded in a Mustang cobra for the LS. Love the LS but the "Stang" had passion.

Back to the thread..I vote for Michelins.

 

If you guys look at the reviews for the Primacy tires on tirerack.com, half of the reviews are negative. Customers say that they make way too much noise. Im confused!

 

http://www.tirerack.com/survey/Surve...irePageLocQty=

Not sure which reviews you are reading. About that one review.. I don't drive on concrete highways often so I can't judge the noise there. I drove over one briefly last summer - I noticed the noise but it was a non-issue. The other passengers in my car didn't even notice until I said something about it.

 

Not sure which reviews you're looking at, but according to the category comparison, Michelin Primacy MXV4 scored lowest in noise, along with the best performance rating in 10 of 12 total categories (edged out by 0.2-0.3 points in a couple of wet tests). http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...l&sortValue=13

Re: customer responses, you have to take into account the type of vehicle and also add the proverbial "grain of salt" for all snapshot responses, whether positive or negative. From what I see, it looks like the Michelin tire gets the overall best ratings all around.

 

I did the Costco Primacy tires in March. At first I felt the Primacys were more harsh and noisy then the OEM Dunlops they replaced. After 200-300 miles the Primacys seemed to become more quiet and smoothed out. Or else I just got used to them. I have about 1000 miles on them now and ride, handling, noise seem just fine at this point.

I also went back to Costco after 25-50 miles - to have the lugs re torqued, I asked the tire guy if they ever found loose lugs when doing a re torque and he said he did not know as no one had ever come back, except for me - mr ocd : )

 

Um, I've done that too. But usually, I tighten them with my torque wrench.

 

Just purchased 4 BFG Advantage T/A H
22-55r-17 for my 2004 LS, don't buy them. Not as smooth as the Dunlop SP5000. I can hear the tire noise from the BFG.
They were cheap, 126 each with free shipping and $60 rebate from discount tire direct at the time.