2 year update/bump
The Michelin Pilot Exaltos have come to the end of their life, with
42,556 miles installed on a 2001 Jetta sedan. I found this thread because I'm searching for new tires, and again considering the Hydroedge, so this popped up.
The slightly disappointing treadwear on the Exaltos (warrantied for 45k) was partly due to the fact that they are directional tires and the right side of the car wore quicker than the left, leading to one right-side tire being no longer legal, whereas the others have maybe 3 to 4/32 (and should be replaced in any case). I have seen several people commenting recently that the right front wears quite a bit quicker, I'm assuming because the transmission doesn't split power evenly to the front wheels?
A quick review of the Exalto:
It's an excellent tire. The car "rides on rails" thanks to stiff sidewalls and dry traction is excellent. Snow traction was always on par with other A/S and they are very good in the rain.
I had some feathering and said uneven tirewear, but next time I will be sticking to 5k, 5k, and 10k rotations thereafter. I think I missed a rotation in the middle of these tires' lives. Either because of rotational-laziness or because they were at the end of their life, the tires became pretty noisy in the last 5-7k and winter traction was dangerous and hydroplaning common but predicable. This was no surprise to me; when an A/S tire goes into its last 25% of legal tread depth, these areas will decline rapidly. This is a TDI forum so I guess MPG matters; I consistently break 50 mpg for a tank, and had a >56 mpg tank with these on. These tires didn't hold me back. But I'm just one data point and correlating tires to mpg is difficult.
----
So what should I replace them with
The major difference from my original post is that I now have dedicated snow tires; no more worrying about snow traction, no more worrying about the Hydroedge in that department.
I've looked at just about every 195 65R 15 tire under the sun, and entertained buying Cooper (CS4 Touring), Goodyear (TT), Nokian, and General (Altimax), but tonight I've finally just said, "Why abandon what works?" and think that I will stick with Michelin.
My priorities for a tire are: quiet & smooth on the highway at all reasonable speeds, strong enough sidwalls to avoid ANY spongy, floaty sensation, & good $/mile.
So:
• Hydroedge (now with Green X (increased silicia content over old Hydroedge I hear)): Doesn't meet load requirement. Concerns: road noise.
• Harmony: Doesn't meet load requirement. Cocerns: handling, wet weather performance when the tread wears down.
• Energy Saver (new release, my understanding is that its been in Europe for a while): Doesn't meet load requirement. Concerns: handling, wet weather performance when the thread wears down.
• Pilot Exalto. Concerns: $/mile.
• Primacy MXV4. Concerns: None really, although some on tirerack say it feels squishy.
ARE THESE DIRECTIONAL?
Now a big question is whether I should eliminate these first choices based on their 89 rating, which corresponds to 1279 lbs/tire in the 195 65R 15 rather than the 1356 of the 91 rating. Please keep in mind I do not tow.
To air on the side of caution, I will assume that the car, when fully loaded, retains its empty weight distribution, when in fact I'd expect it becomes much closer to 50-50. Empty, the rear axle carries ~1200lbs and the front ~1800. I will again assume for sake of 'worst case scenario' that the car wasn't loaded well or the two fat arses were shotgun and right rear so that one
side of the car is carrying 20% more payload weight than the other side.
The curb weight for ALH MK4 Jetta Sedan is just about 3000 lbs. The GVWR for my Jetta is 4023 lbs. So I have 1023 pound load on board (yeah, right,
). I'll say 60% of that load is still being carried by the front tires: 614 lbs. Of that 614 lbs, we will say the right front is carrying 20% more than the left front, or 368 lbs of the 614 lbs of payload on the front axle.
So the most stressed tire in this worst-case GVWR situation is carrying: 368 from payload + 900 lbs (1800/2 ) =
1268 lbs on the tire.
The MKIV Jetta is a small car. I just don't see a payload over >900lbs, ever. I don't see it possible to exceed the gross vehicle weight without trying to, because of its dimensions and particularly rear passenger space. For one, you can't fit five 200 lbs people in it. I might however, on occasion, carry 3 large people and a large payload for a roadtrip. So it is feasible that I might get three 200 lbs guys and their luggage. 400 pounds of gear in the trunk? I don't think so. Maybe 200.
Because the car struggles to fit four adults, and based on the above snenario, I would tend to agree with those who say Volkswagen was cautious with the 91 rating. I do not feel that I, nor almost anyone, will ever exceed 1279 lbs/tire and therefore will not eliminate the above tires on this basis, although a higher load and speed rating could imply better handling from its greater strength and reduced sidewall flex at high speed and thru corners.
Well that was a ramble and a half. Let me know if you have any suggestions, Michelin or not. I'll be purchasing in early August.
Regards.
