Tires: Michelin Primacy MXV4 or Energy MXV4 S8?

late response:

much better then the energies in every way, except mileage. I do not get very aggressive anymore. But they seem to handle better as well but I went to new tires from completly worn out tires.

oEo said:

With an RC3 tune, would you say you feel very comfortable in agressive cornering, wet roads, etc?

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peadar said:

Considering the cost of fuel today, that is one of my concerns, and questions. I do not recall seeing much mentioned in comparisons about mileage. Is that to say they are all the same? Or is there a noticeable difference, say between the GY-LS and the Michelin Pilot Exalto? Even a couple of miles per gallon could add up quickly. I have 85,000 on my second set of GY-LS' and want to get then replaced. Has anyone drive on the GY-LS and a Michelin and seen any difference in fuel economy? Thank you.

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Because as an oem tire the car itself gets the same EPA mpg, the tires are similar in terms of fuel economy. All things being equal, (they are far from it and you might question if they ever have been or it is just an intellectual construct.... ) mpg has played a part (been a factor) for me. It remains an important selection tool. There can be a huge difference in quality of the tires. My take is when you drift from oem tires, unless you have done the research for those tires that will match oem rolling resistance (match mpg) , it is almost a given that fuel mpg will suffer. The question usually now becomes how much.

At this writing I am @ 105,000 miles on my GY LSH's. Looks good to go to 120,000 miles (due a rotation in 5k miles) . So say I switch to a tire that gets 5 mpg less (pick your number, any number then show us ( YOUR )the math) Right now, I get an average of 50 mpg- 5 mpg= 45 mpg/100,000 (round numbers for the sake of argumentation) = 2000 gals/2222.22 gals, diff of 222.22 gals @ 4.39 D2 corner store= $975.56 premium MORE per 100,000 miles. This is a min and there is a question if the other selected tire can even last 100,000 miles!!!!

So if a Toyo TPT costs 62 per and a Michelin MXV4 Primacy costs 120 ; that converts to 15/8 tires respectively. For me it remains to be seen if the TPT can match the GY LSH mileages.

My OEM MXV4 Plus tires have ~77K on them, and although I've never had any problems with them, I do agree that there are probably better choices when it comes to wet weather traction. I decided to get my tires at Costco, since it seems to be a good deal. I can get either the MXV4 S8s or the MXV4 Primacys. I've read horrible reviews about the S8s. Is it possible that these are worse the the Plus's Ive been riding? Im tempted to go with the Primacys for this reason. Because I commute 80 miles/day and fuel proces are rising, I also know I would be a bit sad to see my mileage go down. I hoping for some words of wisdom from some folks who have recently taken the plunge. I'm looking for performance comments on the S8 compared to the Plus, and gas mileage drop on the Primacys vs the Plus.

Thank you in advance,
Chris

I already posted but I went from very worn MXV4's to the Primacy and have lost 2-3MPG on average. Keep in mind that old worn tires that were gripping less...

It was totally worth it for the trade-off in grip and if they last longer like they are supposed to it should be a wash with the lack of a few MPG.


Jason

dabear95 said:

I already posted but I went from very worn MXV4's to the Primacy and have lost 2-3MPG on average. Keep in mind that old worn tires that were gripping less...

It was totally worth it for the trade-off in grip and if they last longer like they are supposed to it should be a wash with the lack of a few MPG.


Jason

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Actually DRY grip is normally the best when it gets to being more worn! This for sure is counterintuitive. People that run cars on the track, (special application to be sure; as MOST folks do not run their cars on tracks) go so far as to SHAVE material from tires! Why? Less grip!? NO! MORE grip ! (and less obvious, less mass)

Conversely when it RAINS on a track, tires are almost immediately CHANGED! Why? All those factors that made ferocious dry grip are no longer good for WET grip.

New vs old tires almost no matter what will experience a loss of mpg. Actually another reason why keeping new tires frequency cycles down. Breaking in new tires are a min of 300-500 miles.

Ruking,
In both cases you say the majority of the time. That seems illogical in that if a tire reduces your mileage the grip or resistance would have logically increased.

I agree in motorsports that a lower tread depth provides less squirm but at the levels I deal with I clearly remember more grip when I went from 55K MXV 4's to new MXV4's.

But hey, its just some guy on the internets seat of the pants feeling so it is meaningless really.


Jason

dabear95 said:

Ruking,
In both cases you say the majority of the time. That seems illogical in that if a tire reduces your mileage the grip or resistance would have logically increased.

I agree in motorsports that a lower tread depth provides less squirm but at the levels I deal with I clearly remember more grip when I went from 55K MXV 4's to new MXV4's.

But hey, its just some guy on the internets seat of the pants feeling so it is meaningless really.


Jason

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Well truly this stuff is WAY beyond SOTP's!! All those measurements we used to depend on car rags to publish, can now be measured for between $2-$5k in suction cup instruments pushed to your windshield.

As discussed billions of times, the difference in tire diameter between new and used tires accounts for much of the MPG "reduction" - the wheel is rotating fewer times per mile.

In any case, if you're going to take a 1 MPG hit due to the type of tire, get the Pilot Exalto A/S. I've had these on the Golf for around 55K (about to replace for the summer rainy season). I just got these for the '06 Jetta and the improvement in handling between them and the OEM MXV4 S8 is astounding. The car now feels as if it is on rails while cornering.

Ray

1: .after reading all of this thread I have come to the conclusion that most of you will agree to disagree.
In a subjective discussion without the aforementioned "empirical evidence", it's all personal preference and perception.

2:

Yeah Costco uses nitrogen..

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does this really matter .. really...?? Last I heard/read air was ~72% or so Nitrogen, add some Oxygen (~21%), Argon & other trace gases. For all intents and purposes, seems to me to be pretty much the same mix/same results....in my humble opinion of course.

Nice marketing and on the order of Argon filled dual/triple pane windows, pet rocks.?? save your $$.

stk

It doesn't matter because Costco will under-inflate your tires anyways and you'll have to fill them the rest of the way with 'air'.

Shawn

Is the MXV4 a good tire? Many people are still getting them.

They are an excellent dry road tire, that's all I'm about to say on the matter.