Tire Replacement - True "All Season" Tire Recommendations?

[60_Driver]

If you bought these Michelin Premier LTX’s from Discount Tire Store, you can get 40% mileage warranty credit (24K / 60K) from your original purchasing price towards your cost of your next new set of tires. You won’t lose anything for short tread life.

Any reason why you choose Goodyear® Assurance® WeatherReady® tires this time?

I bought them at an NTB (now known as Mavis). I understood that if I attempted a claim regarding the mileage I’d get a prorated discount on Michelin tires only. Also, being at 3/32” wouldn’t quite get me to where I could make the claim and I’m not willing to run these tires into the winter now. We just got our first snow last night.

I went with the Goodyear Assurance Weatheready tires this time because I wanted a 3PMS tire that I could run year round. Everything’s a compromise but it didn’t appear that these tires will be too bad in the warmer months. I also don’t mind losing a little bit of the sporty driving characteristic compared to the Michelin tires as the CX-9 is our kid/grocery hauler now. I made an irresponsible sporty car purchase for the wife earlier this year. The rwd, 6 speed drop top BMW is reserved for fun drives only.

 

[yrwei52]

I bought them at an NTB (now known as Mavis). I understood that if I attempted a claim regarding the mileage I’d get a prorated discount on Michelin tires only. Also, being at 3/32” wouldn’t quite get me to where I could make the claim and I’m not willing to run these tires into the winter now. We just got our first snow last night.

I went with the Goodyear Assurance Weatheready tires this time because I wanted a 3PMS tire that I could run year round. Everything’s a compromise but it didn’t appear that these tires will be too bad in the warmer months. I also don’t mind losing a little bit of the sporty driving characteristic compared to the Michelin tires as the CX-9 is our kid/grocery hauler now. I made an irresponsible sporty car purchase for the wife earlier this year. The rwd, 6 speed drop top BMW is reserved for fun drives only.

I have been getting new tires at Discount Tire many times, their mileage warranty credit can be applied towards any other brands of tires I prefer, no problems. Usually they urge me to buy new tires at 4/32” tread depth, and would credit me accordingly. If NTB (didn’t know it’s Mavis now) can give you prorated discount only on Michelin tires, and you want Severe Snow Service rated (3PMS) tires, highly rated but most expensive Michelin CrossClimate² could be the choice. Unfortunately CrossClimate² currently doesn’t offer size 255/60R18 nor 255/50R20 used on the CX-9.

Goodyear® Assurance® WeatherReady® is Severe Snow Service 3PMS rated, and hopefully your experience won’t be like NWDriver’s on 3PMS rated Vredestein® Quatrac Pro, and turns out to be satisfactory. Please report us back.

Since your local Sam Club is so busy (similar to Costco tire service everywhere) do you have Discount Tire Store nearby you can try to install your new tires?

 

[60_Driver]

Good thoughts, but no discount tire near me. I’m okay with waiting 3 weeks for the install. We’ll just keep fingers crossed for good weather till then & take my truck if not.

 

[Gremlin]

Following-up here to update you all on my tire situation on the CX-9 (2019 Grand Touring on 20" wheels). The stock Bridgestone Ecopia H/L 422 Plus lasted about 28K miles and I needed a set of all-season tires that would do decently well in the snow, but was looking to retain good driving characteristics (turn-in feel, not too soft, quiet on the highway).

I bought Vredestein Quatrac Pro's and was extremely dissatisfied with them. They had very loud tire noise and also an annoying sound frequency of tire noise. At 20mph the tires were noticeably loud. The worst part aside from the noise was the complete change in the driving dynamics of the CX-9. It simply wasn't fun to drive at all anymore. The on-center steering feel was totally vague and not responsive. I don't know if this is possible, but even normal acceleration from a stop felt more sluggish. I checked the PSI and everything was as recommended. Wet traction didn't seem very good. Disclaimer, I never tried them in the snow, perhaps this is where they shine.

Luckily both Tire Rack and Vredestein have a 30 day return policy. So I exchanged them for the new Pirelli Scorpion All Season Plus 3 tires. The fun-to-drive characteristics of the CX-9 are back! Great steering feel overall and on-center steering feel, no sluggishness behind the wheel, and the tire noise isn't bad (although I think the stock tires were actually quieter, shockingly enough). They ride composed and smooth, yet not harsh. I'm a big fan of these tires for this vehicle and the driving style that I prefer. I'll report back after I have them in the snow and let you know how they perform in that regard.

Thanks for the follow up on this! My 2021 came with the Falken stock tires, based on the terrible reviews I have been planning on switching them out for the Pirelli’s because I’ve had great experiences with them in rain and snow on several other cars.

We finally got out into the snow last week and came home mid-storm last weekend. All in all I was actually a little surprised how well the car did on the Falkens, perhaps it was that expectations were pretty low to start with, or maybe the traction control and AWD systems are that good, but we had minimal issues even through deeper snow. On ice the stopping distance is a bit longer than I’d like though.

 

[PTguy]

You will find that the stopping distance on ice is only as-good-as-it-gets with certain real winter tires (I like Bridgestone Blizzak) or studded tires. Even the new all-weather tires...all seasons that meet the snow test and have the snowflake on mountain symbol...aren't great on ice. We're having icy roads this week. My car with the Blizzaks is much better than the other car with Michelin X-Ice3 winter tires. I don't know how the newest X-Ice Snow would perform.

I've only had the Falkens in snow once, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they worked. I'm pleased with the Falkens. There are better tires, but I'll keep the Falkens on until they're done.

 

[Gremlin]

You will find that the stopping distance on ice is only as-good-as-it-gets with certain real winter tires (I like Bridgestone Blizzak) or studded tires. Even the new all-weather tires...all seasons that meet the snow test and have the snowflake on mountain symbol...aren't great on ice. We're having icy roads this week. My car with the Blizzaks is much better than the other car with Michelin X-Ice3 winter tires. I don't know how the newest X-Ice Snow would perform.

I've only had the Falkens in snow once, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they worked. I'm pleased with the Falkens. There are better tires, but I'll keep the Falkens on until they're done.

Yup, I had thought I'd be replacing the Falkens ASAP, but I'll be keeping them until they're done. We don't get enough snow where we live and don't get up into the mountains/snow quite often enough to justify the expense of a separate set of snow tires and rims, so I usually just aim for a good 3PMSF tire.