Anyone have the Michelin Defender tire?

[adrew]

We are looking to replace the horrible Bridgestone RE92s that came on our '11 Yaris before a road trip in December. They hydroplane terribly and the car's traction control and ABS get set off constantly when it's wet, even when driving calmly.

Michelin has replaced several of their non-performance lines with this tire and the Defender is what Costco has in the car's size (185/60/15). It did well in the tests at TireRack but when I looked at it in person at Costco it felt like it had a super-soft, roly-poly sidewall. I am not looking for something with super high performance but we don't want glacial steering response, either (this is for my better half's car).

Any feedback? I was planning to put Pilot Exaltos on it but apparently they have been discontinued everywhere.

[adrew]

Anybody? I'll let this die, if not.

[thegoodson]

It's a very popular tire up here. Traction and longevity are the biggest benefits of the defender. They won't have the handling of the re92, but they don't suck like them either.

[Denniswhat]

We sell a lot of these at work. The 90,000 mile warranty is a big selling point for most people.

[adrew]

Thanks for the feedback. So are people happy with them? Most reviews I've found have people putting them on minivans and crossovers -- haven't had much luck finding ones for smaller cars.

The RE92s we have are not even sporty-ish like the other sizes that come on different cars -- in the Yaris size they are only T-rated. So there are really no redeeming qualities -- they are loud, wear extremely quickly and have no grip in reserve when it's wet.

The new tires are going on my better half's car -- she's a calm driver; handling isn't too important. We just want something that'll improve braking and handling on wet roads and doesn't set the ABS off all the time. Quieter would be nice, too -- sounds like these are what she needs.

[nm+]

They seem fairly expensive and the 90,000mi warranty tells me either the warranty is worthless (they generally are, the pro-rated warranties pay out very small) or they won't grip well.

[BRealistic]

Looks to be tops in its class.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=ST

The Firestone Precision Touring is a close second (less in most but better winter driving) but +-25% cheaper.

[adrew]

They seem fairly expensive and the 90,000mi warranty tells me either the warranty is worthless (they generally are, the pro-rated warranties pay out very small) or they won't grip well.

They're $103/ea. The current $70 off 4 promotion brings it down to $85 each, not too bad. It would be $400 with installation, nitrogen and lifetime balancing, rotation, road hazard.

There's nothing really decent in the 185/60/15 size so I figured I would go with something quiet that would last awhile.

[tjl]

Based on the available reviews, it is probably the best 185/60/15 choice. There are two H-rated tires in that size (Hankook Optimo H426 and Kumho Solus KH25) which are OEM tires for the Ford Fiesta, but they don't seem to be particularly exceptional. The older Falken Ziex ZE-912 (supposedly good performance in non-snow/ice, but wears out quickly and has high rolling resistance, making its lifetime cost rather high) is also available in that size.

If you want something sportier, you may want to look at the 195/55/15 size, where V-rated tires like the Yokohama Avid ENVigor are available.