# The 18" Michelin Pilot (LTZ trims)



## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

Pretty good tire I'd say. You can really whip this thing around in them. The car handles wonderfully in rain and snow with solid braking. It seems slightly noisy though. 

The real point of this thread.. I took her in for service I'm at 45,000 miles still on the original set. I drive 50% city / 50% highway (my commute is about 85% city, but I do a lot of leisure and work highway driving out of town). My tread depth as of the other day was 7/32 all the way around. I can't recall what the original specs are for wear, but I should be able to reach 60,000 out of these and my driving isn't all steady state freeway driving. Happy Cruising my LTZ Cruzen!

EDIT: Andrei & John, the first guy who measured my tread depth misspoke.. smh.


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## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

Which specific Pilot are you referring to? LOL

I'm not familiar with the exact tire used on the LTZ's, but there are like, 10-15 different types of Pilot tires.


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

Here is the tire I'm reviewing.

So at 50.3K, I had my most recent tire rotation. It turns out the service guys suck at measuring the tread depth since one guy last time had me at 6/32 and 7/32 and the guy this time measured them at 8/32. Either way, I thought these tires would be finished by 55-60K but I think I can last all of next summer on them and run 70K on them. I'm swapping them out for the winters at 55K this winter, so considering I put roughly 12-15K from April - November I should be good for another year.

Yes, 70,000 miles out of the original tires. No, I don't drive 100% highway. Pretty remarkable. Keep em inflated to 38-40 psi cold (max is 44 psi) and let the good times roll!!!!

Another note, it is kind of funny that this car uses H/V rated tires. I don't think anyone will get a Cruze up to 130+ mph!


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## Silver LT RS (Jun 4, 2012)

Michelins will run you a long time. Twice i have put well over 100,000 miles on Michelin LTX MS tires on my pickups.


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## Poison Ivy (Aug 10, 2013)

ErikBEggs said:


> Here is the tire I'm reviewing.
> 
> So at 50.3K, I had my most recent tire rotation. It turns out the service guys suck at measuring the tread depth since one guy last time had me at 6/32 and 7/32 and the guy this time measured them at 8/32. Either way, I thought these tires would be finished by 55-60K but I think I can last all of next summer on them and run 70K on them. I'm swapping them out for the winters at 55K this winter, so considering I put roughly 12-15K from April - November I should be good for another year.
> 
> ...


I beg to differ. I have buried the speedo in ours at 220kph and it was still accelerating, slowly but still going. That is 136mph. 1.4 turbo 6 speed manual.


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

At 41000 miles I decided to change all four tires. I probably could have gone until 50,000 miles because I was almost at the wear bars on the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tires that came on the car from the factory. This time I decided to go with Michelin Defenders. Supposedly they are rated for 90,000 miles but let's see what real world driving brings me. I got the Defenders rated 94V which states they are good to 149 miles per hour. I seriously do not think I will be going 149 mph in my Cruze at any given time. I have to tell you I really like the way these Defenders handle. I keep my tires inflated to 40psi and the car still rides very nicely. I have had Michelins on on other cars before and always liked them. I've had them on my wifes Jeep Grand Cherokee and currently have them on my Chevy Suburban. I have the LTX M/S. They really are great in all weather including snow. Not that we have had very much of that here New York lately. As soon as the Hankook tires wear down on my wifes Chevy Sonic I plan to put the Michelin Defenders on her car as well.

Sent from AutoGuide.com App


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## Poje (Aug 2, 2012)

Poison Ivy said:


> I beg to differ. I have buried the speedo in ours at 220kph and it was still accelerating, slowly but still going. That is 136mph. 1.4 turbo 6 speed manual.


Yep, i went a couple of times to 130mph... :laugh:

As for the HX MXM4, they are a good all around tires, silent, confortable and decent road manners, but not exellent in anything.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

H/V rated tires are more for sidewall stiffness than max. speed. For instance, two identical tires...the V-rated will corner better and not smush up when loaded hard. They do tend to last less long though.



> As for the HX MXM4, they are a good all around tires, silent, confortable and decent road manners, but not exellent in anything.


Yup, sounds like most Michelins. They're an excellent road/highway tire, but not real great at handling in any department.


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## Poje (Aug 2, 2012)

jblackburn said:


> H/V rated tires are more for sidewall stiffness than max. speed. For instance, two identical tires...the V-rated will corner better and not smush up when loaded hard. They do tend to last less long though.
> 
> 
> Yup, sounds like most Michelins. They're an excellent road/highway tire, but not real great at handling in any department.


You're right, except the Pilot Super Sport, probably the best all around Summer tire of all time.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...autoYear=2012&autoModel=Cruze&autoModClar=LTZ


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

jblackburn said:


> Yup, sounds like most Michelins. They're an excellent road/highway tire, but not real great at handling in any department.


They are better than any of the OEM tires on the other models. They let the Cruze LTZ run 0.85+ on the skidpad.

The thing about handling.. when is the Cruze going to have enough balls to actually stretch the limits of a tire?

I won't put these tires back on though.. I'm eyeing up the All-Season Super Sport 3


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

Poje said:


> You're right, except the Pilot Super Sport, probably the best all around Summer tire of all time.
> 
> http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...autoYear=2012&autoModel=Cruze&autoModClar=LTZ


Great if your autocrossing, but not if you drive 25,000 miles / year like a lot of us on the forum.


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## Mike220 (Jan 5, 2011)

LTZ 18" with Michelins here as well. This thing does handle the twisty's pretty well and @ 44k miles I have 6/32's left which is apparently "green" on the 15K mile incremental maintenance report I have from the dealer. I have had a few of my co-workers drive with me for lunch and they always say "aren't you afraid the car is going to spin out, slide or push"? I don't even drive fast or whip turns hard with people in the car. I usually say nope, i'm actually taking it easy right now. Most drive family sedans so maybe that's why.


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## Poje (Aug 2, 2012)

ErikBEggs said:


> Great if your autocrossing, but not if you drive 25,000 miles / year like a lot of us on the forum.


Ya, that answer was meant for the previous comment about handling.

I have the equivalent from Dunlop on my car right now and i'll have about 25k miles done on them when i change them, so one set of tires per year and for what my needs are, thats quite good.


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