I have a 2001 Toyota Highlander 4WD and need new tires, The tires Iam looking at are Michelin LTX M/S2 and Continental CrossContact LX20. I have Michelins now and really like them. Anybody have any opinions on the Continentals? All responses will be appreciated.
If you're not familiar with Tirerack.com, I'd suggest reading user reviews there about your choice of tires.
Fwiw, I have P265/65/17 MS2's on a 4Runner, and the traction is excellent. However, living in the desert southwest, I've found the tire sidewalls are prone to cracking, aka dry rotting. In Indiana, you'll probably be fine. I've found many internet complaints of this condition since I started researching two days ago. Mine are 3 years old with 22,000 miles and will need to be replaced shortly. Manufacturing date is the 1712 > the 17th week of 2012. There is barely any tread wear, but the bead of the tire is cracking extending two inches from the wheel, and the shoulder has cracks extending 1" from the tread. The longest cracks (checkering) are more than 1" in numerous places. Michelin won't warrant the tires until the shoulder cracks intersect across the entire sidewall, calling it weather & ozone related, not a manufacturing defect, yet they'll warrant them when the entire sidewall is cracked. A lawyer could have a heyday with that interpretation. Not happy right now.
On our second set of Michelin M/S (different tread than the M/S2 mentioned above because they're made for different sizes) on our 2nd Gen HL. Completely pleased with the M/S. Excellent dry, rain, and snow traction along with great tread wear (you should see minimum 70k miles).
We have the Continentals you mentioned on my daughter's 1st Gen HL. I'm not as impressed with them so far, but we'll see how they last. Snow traction isn't as good though. If I had a choice, I'd choose the Michelins.
Thanks for the replies. One of my concerns was traction in the snow. I know the Michelins are very good in the snow. 05Moose, thanks for that information.
I've had Michelins both Cross Terrains and LT-MS. Very satisfied with both. I am currently running General Tire Altimax RT43's and I'm pleased with them. Just as good at about 2/3rds the cost. Haya......
It's only money. I paid $448 for the RT 43's down the road, ie taxes, shipping, mtg and bal. Everything. Then got a $50 rebate. (Took my wife to diner with it.)
Priced out those Michelin's: Just North of 7 bills. Ooooo, Haya.
Just sayin'....and I like Michelins. (But not that much.)
Price OTD is not something you should be considering. It's price per mile you get out of them factored in with traction. Take the Michelin AT2 for example. For $800, you'll get 80k-100k miles of life all with excellent traction. The price per mile is actually not that high when you compare to tires where you get 50k miles out of them.
Snow traction in mountains with windy up hills and downhills is highly important to us (we get feet at a time and have had to drive with 2-3 feet on the road). I've had lesser tires (like Cooper) that just didn't perform well in the snow. That's why I end up returning to Michelin. They prove themselves more when you try another brand.
My parent's 2001 Highlander is running on Michelin X Radial LT. I think we got them around 70k miles from Costco. Car was primarily driven in NJ until last year when they moved down here with me in Louisiana. Handles really well in bad weather. Cars has about 130k miles will need to replace all 4 soon. Parents wants to get another set of Michelin brand tires until....
Last December when my wife and I bought a 2014 Porsche Cayenne. Came with the Conti CrossContact and he really likes them too. No snow comparison but it handles really well in the rain. Only put about 5k miles on it so far so not sure how they will hold up.
05Moose, I could not agree more. However I think there may be a problem with the mathematics if you consider my personal experiences with tires on the Highlander. The AWD Highlander is awful hard on tires. The only vehicle worse was a Ford F-150 3/4 ton pickup I had back in the day. Anyway, I have yet to get over 55K miles on a set of tires on my Highlander. Any tires. That includes three full sets of Michelins. I get about the same longevity with brand XYZ. So the "better vs best" tire math goes right out the window in my case. Haya....
^ Drive on a lot of rough roads or ones with oil & chip surfaces? We got 70k on our last set then replaced them before the snow. Could have put on a few more thousand if it weren't for winter. BTW, the LTX AT2 do last longer than the M/S.