Car tires are an important part of a car. The tires you choose can determine your whole driving experience. Tires affect how well your vehicle handles, your driving speed, and your driving conditions.
But most importantly, tires affect the safety and protection of your car. Using some specific criteria, you can decide which tires will be most appropriate for your requirements.
There are many characteristics which can be considered while buying a tire like a Tire width, tire profile, Tire size, speeding limit, manufacturer’s warranty, etc
Though tires can be an undervalued car component, they should not be neglected when buying a car, as if they are not appropriately selected, this can lead to car crashes.
To opt for the best choice of tires, we have to compare two top products of one of the leading brands of tires, i.e., Michelin. Their tire series is designed to offer you a stable and comfortable experience with long-lasting performance
By comparing Michelin defender with Michelin premier, you can select which one is an apt choice for your vehicle. Both of these tire series from Michelin is quite popular among their customers, but both have their specifications to fulfill their specific needs.
Comparing Michelin Defender LTX M/S Vs Michelin Premier LTX
Based on Dry Traction:
If we compare Michelin defender LTX MS and Michelin Premier LTX based on dry Traction, Michelin premier stands out as it offers exceptional dry Traction.
The premier tires are designed intelligently to hold on to the turns on dry surfaces with their symmetrical tread pattern and continuous center rib.
They are made up of silica and sunflower oil tread compound. They even perform off-road really well.
On the other hand, Michelin Defender LTX MS has 3D sipes, and a symmetrical tread pattern and strong tread compound give it excellent dry Traction, braking, and acceleration too.
Though all in all, the difference between these two tires in this specific category is minimum Michelin Premier LTX has been rated as more preferable.
Let’s compare Michelin defender T+ H and Michelin Premier A/S in terms of dry Traction. It is found that Michelin defender has earned a score of 99.6 in dry Traction as it offers maximum cornering and Traction because of its max touch construction.
On the other hand, Michelin Premier A/S offers excellent Traction in both dry and muddy land and provides impressive braking and stopping. It provides a smooth, comfortable, and quiet ride.
But according to customer reviews, Michelin Premier A/S does not offer better dry Traction than other all-season tires, so it’s better to opt for Michelin defender T+ H than Michelin premier A/S in terms of dry Traction.
Based on Wet Traction:
Between Michelin defender LTX MS and Michelin Premier LTX based on wet Traction, The Defender LTX has four circumferential grooves, which gives you solid braking performance. It also uses its sipes, which reduces the risk of hydroplaning.
While Michelin Premier LTX uses its EverGrip technology, which spreads the rain grooves around the tire, it also adds emerging grooves on the shoulders when the tire starts wearing down.
These features advance the wet Traction of these tires, even if they wear out. So, Michelin Premier LTX here is more preferable as compared to Michelin defender LTX MS.
In the comparison of Michelin defender T+ H and Michelin Premier A/S based on wet taction,
The Michelin Defender T+ H is an accurate choice for wet Traction because of their advanced technology, which combines tread lock rigidity with interlocking action maximizing Traction in rainy weather and days of light snow.
They also have grills, open shoulders, and straightforward patterns, allowing them to perform better on wet roads.
While Michelin Premier A/S comes with Michelin’s EverGrip technology and tire’s grooves expand when driving your vehicle on wet surfaces, which increases Traction and gives you a comfortable riding experience.
Based on Winter Traction:
The Defender LTX performs on snow and ice based on winter traction as an above-average considering it is an all-season tire. It offers all-season Traction, including snow, which is not such a common feature for all-season tires.
While the Michelin Premier LTX performs decently on light snow, its performance is not as good as defender LTX on deep snow.
They are made up of rubber thread that performs well during spring, summer, or fall, but they stiffen during extremely cold conditions, which affect their braking, cornering, and driving ability
In comparison between Michelin defender T+ H and Michelin Premier A/S based on snow traction,
despite having an intelliSipe technology, Michelin defender T+ H is not particularly designed to perform on deep snow, hardpack, or ice.
Michelin Premier A/S is also not designed to drive through heavy ice
So, if you want to find a tire to drive through extreme cold conditions, you should opt for Michelin defender LTX.
Based on handling and cornering:
Michelin Defender LTX offers Michelin’s MaxTouch Construction designed for better acceleration, braking, and cornering forces to increase the rolling resistance and tread life.
Overall, defender LTX provides exceptional handling and stability, even transporting hefty cargo. Michelin Defender LTX Braking and acceleration ability are exceptional.
Since Michelin Premier LTX, grooves widen as the tire tears out, i.e., new groves emerge, it offers exceptional tread wear and cornering ability. You can go anywhere between 30,000 to 60,000 miles if you maintain the tires and drive with responsibility in terms of numbers. The solid rib center of the Premier LTX gives it an exceptional steering response
Michelin defender offers a combination of the interlocking action of IntelliSipe technology and MaxTouch Construction, which increases its tread life and maintains the tire and road contact during cornering, braking and acceleration and gives it a fantastic tread block rigidity.
While in Michelin Premier A/S, the grooves expand when the tires wear out, which provides more Traction. Even after good ten years, you can still expect a decent cornering ability and handling to be fantastic even when going through dry or wet conditions
Based on Ride and Noise comfort:
The Defender LTX offers a comfortable ride and low road noise on all types of pavement, but on the rougher grooved pavement, it has some minimal noise level, which is quite inevitable.
The premier LTX offers a smooth and comfortable ride because of silica and sunflower oil in its rubber compound.
This rubber material also helps these tires to remain soft in lower temperatures. Combining these two compounds gives these tires an increased impact absorbing ability, which results in a smooth riding experience.
The premier LTX also has twin steel belts strengthened with polyamide cord, which further escalates its smooth ride capability.
Michelin offers Michelin Comfort Control Technology that gives a comfortable ride by limiting unwanted noise and vibrations.
You can get miles of a quiet and smooth ride from these tires. Its ever tread compound confirms a smooth riding experience throughout the life of a tire.
The Michelin Premier A/S comes with Michelin’s EverGrip technology, and its grooves expanding feature increases the Traction and provides a smooth ride.
Based on tread life:
This particular feature offers a large gap between Michelin defender LTX and Michelin Premier LTX.
Michelin Defender LTX comes with Michelin’s MaxTouch construction, which offers greater tread life than premier LTX as you can travel 10 to 20 miles more with Defender LTX than premier LTX.
Michelin Premier LTX comes with 60,000 miles tread life warranty, but many customers have reviewed that they are worn out much quicker than their guaranteed mileage. But still, they offer a decent tread life due to their superb tread design, which evolves when tires begin to wear out.
The Michelin Defender’s ever treading technology helps them to survive extreme weather conditions. They have been proved to be long-lasting because of their IntelliSipe technology.
Michelin Premier A/S offers a decent tread life because of its rubber compound’s internal design and components, I.e., silica and sunflower oil.
Based on the warranty:
The Michelin Defender LTX offers a 70,000 miles tread warranty on T + H sizes and 50,000 miles on LT sizes. They guarantee tire uniformity for the first year or first 2/32 inch of wear.
A free replacement during the first year of wear is offered by them. They also offer a 3-year flat tire changing service and Michelin’s 30-day customer satisfaction guarantee.
The Michelin Premier LTX offers a 60,000 miles tread-life warranty. They guarantee tire uniformity for the first year or first 2/32 inch of wear.
The Michelin defender offers a 70,000 miles warranty
While the Michelin premier A/S offers 60,000 miles tread-life warranty, they guarantee tire uniformity for the first year of wear.
Based on compatibility with vehicles:
Michelin Defender LTX, Michelin Premier LTX, Michelin defender, Michelin Premier A/S will fit the following vehicles:
- Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe, Avalanche, S10, Suburban, K2500, Colorado, Blazer
- Dodge Ram, Durango, Dakota
- Ford Expedition, Escape, Ranger, Bronco, F-150, Excursion, Explorer
- GMC Yukon, Sierra, Canyon
- Honda Element, CR-V
- Hummer H3, H2
- Isuzu Trooper
- Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee, Liberty
- Land Rover Discovery
- Lexus GX470
- Mazda B4000
- Mercury Mountaineer
- Mitsubishi Montero
- Nissan Titan, Xterra, Frontier, Armada, Pathfinder
- Toyota Tacoma, Tundra, FJ Cruiser, Sequoia, 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Highlander
Though it is not a complete list, many other vehicles can fit these tires.
Michelin Defender LTX – Overview of all aspects:
The overall review leads us to the conclusion that:
- It offers excellent year-round Traction, braking, and handling,
- It has a comfortable ride and longer treadwear.
- It is ranked as one of the top tires in the truck/SUV all-season category.
- The overall review of Michelin premier LTX leads us to the conclusion that:
- These are good quality all-season tires foe SUV crossover
- They provide an exceptional experience in terms of ride
- They provide an ultra-long tread life
- The overall review of the Michelin defender leads us to the conclusion that:
- The Defender has a smooth and comfortable ride quality and an impressive dry and wet traction.
- It offers a quiet ride.
- Its Traction on snow and ice is above average for an all-season tire.
- Despite having a longer 90K mile tread guarantee, the tires often wear out before reaching this mileage.
- These tires need to improve their cornering grip, especially at higher speeds.
The overall review of Michelin Premier A/S leads us to the conclusion that:
- It has an exceptional ride quality
- Excellent handling and cornering ability
- Offers superb hydroplaning resistance
- It has good Traction for the long life of the tire
- Not a good performance in deep snow and ice
- They don’t provide the best dry road handling as compared to its rival all-season tires.
Conclusion:
When it comes to Michelin, LTX we reviewed them positively in terms of wet, dry, and snow traction except in few cases where the tires became noisy on rough, grooved surfaces.
Michelin Premier LTX was reviewed positively in all aspects, i.e., wet and dry Traction, hydroplaning, tread life, etc. except the snow traction area where these tires don’t perform well.
Michelin Defender was given an 85,000-mile treadwear rating. And received an “A” grade for Traction and a “B” class for temperature resistance.
It also received a Uniform Tire Quality Grading Treadwear rating of 800 during our review.
Michelin Premier A/S was reviewed positively in all aspects except dry Traction and snow traction. Their performance is below average in these aspects compared to other all-season tires.
Regardless of the choice of tires, you decide to buy. It is good to research which type of characteristics and qualities you would prefer in a tire and determine the characteristics that work best for you according to your specific driving needs.