# New Tires for Cruze Eco-Michelin Defenders



## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

Hey grupos locos! Finally got to the point where I felt I needed new tires. Been doing a lot of research but pretty much always been prone to putting Michelins or BF Goodrich on my cars and Suburban so I went with the Michelin Defender. I love the way they feel on my car. I have 41500 miles now and probably still couldve stretched out the usage on the Goodyears as I was not quite all the way down to the wear bars yet. I figured with the Lordstown trip coming up next month I might as well get it done now. You know I have to say that the Goodyears werent that bad a tire and I was pretty impressed never really being a Goodyear fan. I went on Tirerack.com and DiscountTire.com and they listed two different versions of the Defender. The 94T for $139.00/tire (speed rated 118mph), and the 94V for $193.00/Tire(speed rated 149mph) I know I'll never see 149mph in my Eco but I went with the "V" version. I had them done at my local Mavis Tire where I live. They charged me $200/tire mounted and balanced and gaskets changed in the tpms sensors. They also rotate every 5000 miles for the life of the tire. Supposedly the Defender is listed as a 90000 mile tire but lets see what "real world" driving has to say and not Industry Standards tests say. Also had the alignment done for $69.00 so with tax the entire bill was $963.69-$70.00 Michelin rebate so its more like $883.00.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Let us know how you like them and how they impact your fuel economy. Even though my Goodyears have good tread life left I'm slightly concerned I may have a bad tire (shallow cracks in the raised lettering and a slow, but plugged leak) so I may end up buying new tires before the tread life ends.


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

I've always liked Michelins except that you pay way too much for the name. $193 seems awfully steep to me for a V rated tire in that size when there are so many equally good choices in the $140-150 range, but there is def a distinctive ride quality to Michelins. Plus there is no better feeling in a car then fresh rubber! Have they been on long enough to judge fuel mileage changes?


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

obermd said:


> Let us know how you like them and how they impact your fuel economy. Even though my Goodyears have good tread life left I'm slightly concerned I may have a bad tire (shallow cracks in the raised lettering and a slow, but plugged leak) so I may end up buying new tires before the tread life ends.


I still have 5/32" left on my tires but they are coming off when I get NY, I just can't stand the fuel-max's anymore, worst tire I have had since I could afford decent sets.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I've been pleasantly surprised with the Goodyear Assurance FuelMax on my ECO. My last set of Goodyears were Eagle GTs (OEM for the Fiero GT) back in 1986 and they were the absolute worst set of tires I've ever driven on.


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

obermd said:


> I've been pleasantly surprised with the Goodyear Assurance FuelMax on my ECO. My last set of Goodyears were Eagle GTs (OEM for the Fiero GT) back in 1986 and they were the absolute worst set of tires I've ever driven on.


I'm sure all tires have changed quite a bit since 1986  . My gripe with the Fuel-Maxes is they do not inspire confidence on anything but dry pavement, and worse, they don't have much of a safety margin they go from being stuck to the pavement to no traction pretty much instantly without so much as a hint of what is going on. I could accept it if I drove around like Mario Andretti all the time but when it happens at 35MPH going around a corner in the rain I find that completely unacceptable. I'm only willing to compromise so much to gain a couple of MPG and getting in an accident, or worse someone else gets in an accident driving my car, is not one of them.


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

NYCruze2012 said:


> Hey grupos locos! Finally got to the point where I felt I needed new tires. Been doing a lot of research but pretty much always been prone to putting Michelins or BF Goodrich on my cars and Suburban so I went with the Michelin Defender. I love the way they feel on my car. I have 41500 miles now and probably still couldve stretched out the usage on the Goodyears as I was not quite all the way down to the wear bars yet. I figured with the Lordstown trip coming up next month I might as well get it done now. You know I have to say that the Goodyears werent that bad a tire and I was pretty impressed never really being a Goodyear fan. I went on Tirerack.com and DiscountTire.com and they listed two different versions of the Defender. The 94T for $139.00/tire (speed rated 118mph), and the 94V for $193.00/Tire(speed rated 149mph) I know I'll never see 149mph in my Eco but I went with the "V" version. I had them done at my local Mavis Tire where I live. They charged me $200/tire mounted and balanced and gaskets changed in the tpms sensors. They also rotate every 5000 miles for the life of the tire. Supposedly the Defender is listed as a 90000 mile tire but lets see what "real world" driving has to say and not Industry Standards tests say. Also had the alignment done for $69.00 so with tax the entire bill was $963.69-$70.00 Michelin rebate so its more like $883.00.
> View attachment 12618


Off topic which Mavis did you go to? The one in Carmel tried to steal the brakes off of my Trans Am years ago (pads/rotors not calipers).


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

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I went to the one in Brewster on North Brewster Road. I live right down the street near HH Wells High School. The Mavis Tires here used to be Mallory Kotzen.
I do not understand why they would try to steal your brakes and rotors?
As of right now I have not had them on long enough, nor done enough mileage to judge any fuel mileage changes. I am quite interested to see how these workout. As far as price is concerned I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" and I am sure I could have gone with cheaper tire, but to me nothing beats a fresh set of Michelins!


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

NBrehm said:


> I'm sure all tires have changed quite a bit since 1986  . My gripe with the Fuel-Maxes is they do not inspire confidence on anything but dry pavement, and worse, they don't have much of a safety margin they go from being stuck to the pavement to no traction pretty much instantly without so much as a hint of what is going on. I could accept it if I drove around like Mario Andretti all the time but when it happens at 35MPH going around a corner in the rain I find that completely unacceptable. I'm only willing to compromise so much to gain a couple of MPG and getting in an accident, or worse someone else gets in an accident driving my car, is not one of them.


Are you going to stick with the original tire size, or go with something wider?


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Are you going to stick with the original tire size, or go with something wider?


 I stayed with the OEM size. I did think about getting a wider size but believe me these are just fine. So much better than the Goodyears. They ride so much quieter and are very very grippy tires.

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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

NYCruze2012 said:


> I stayed with the OEM size. I did think about getting a wider size but believe me these are just fine. So much better than the Goodyears. They ride so much quieter and are very very grippy tires.
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com App


After seeing the scratches I have to buff out of my Eco wheels, I would not mind a wider tire. I think a 235/50/17 would look better also. I have a year or two to figure it out though. 

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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Are you going to stick with the original tire size, or go with something wider?


I'll probably stick with the stock tire size, with a better compound 215's should be plenty of tire for this car.


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

NYCruze2012 said:


> Sent from AutoGuide.com App
> 
> 
> I do not understand why they would try to steal your brakes and rotors?


The tech that worked on it has an LS1 Camaro and I had just put on brand new Baer eradispeed rotors and Hawk HPS pads, at the time they cost about $900 for just the rotors and pads. I guess he didn't think I did my own work and wrote up my pads and rotors as needing to be replaced. They never called me and when I got back he already had everything off and was just waiting for my approval to put new pads and rotors on and even gave me a 25% discount. Needless to say I got my mount balance and alignment for free and a gift certificate from Mavis Corporate for $500.00 when I went postal. I obviously can't prove it but I am 99% sure that those pads and rotors just may have ended up on that Camaro. I had the mavis in Newburgh try and bag the front wheel hubs on my Tahoe once too. That was the last straw and I have never gone back. I had nice billet Timken hubs on it and I go to pick up the truck after inspection, they still have the wheel off and I see this old rusty hub on the front. You can feel rest assured that I avoid letting anyone I don't know personally touch anything on my car anymore.


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

Wow that is absolutely horrible! After reading that I completely understand why. I do most of my own work anyway on my cars with the exception of course of computer diagnostics or anything else that is out of my realm. I also am pretty particular on who works on my cars not because of parts theft but because I really don't want them screwing them up.

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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> After seeing the scratches I have to buff out of my Eco wheels, I would not mind a wider tire. I think a 235/50/17 would look better also. I have a year or two to figure it out though.
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com App


Scratches from what?


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

NYCruze2012 said:


> As far as price is concerned I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" and I am sure I could have gone with cheaper tire, but to me nothing beats a fresh set of Michelins!


I somewhat agree with that, but there are quite a few exceptional tires that cost less than Michelin. But as stated before, there is a certain ride quality to Michelin nobody else seems to have and you either love it or hate it. With my Legacy GT I went from Michelin Pilot sports (Now called Pilot Super Sports) to Nitto 555's and it was night and day. The Michelins had a marginally better ride but the Nitto's devoured them in the twisties. 555's were $25 cheaper per tire too. In the end it all depends on the characteristics you want and I personally am willing to sacrifice, to an extent, ride quality for performance.


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

*Correction they were Nitto Invo's on the LGT, not 555's, rest is accurate. In fact just looking them up on DTD the Pilot Super Sport is $170.00/ tire, Pilot sport A/S is now $198.00/tire (closer to the performance factor of the Invo) and the Invo is $137.00/tire (225/45/ZR17 size). So that price disparity has increased even more than a few years ago. That's alot of money.


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

I believe in general all tires have made a dramatic increase in price over the last few years partially due to the cost of a barrel of oil. I do not ever remember them being this pricey though.

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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

NYCruze2012 said:


> I believe in general all tires have made a dramatic increase in price over the last few years partially due to the cost of a barrel of oil. I do not ever remember them being this pricey though.


I have not noticed any significant price increase in the last 5+ years. Maybe its the larger wheels on your cruze? average price 16in $100 a tire, 17in $150 a tire, 18in $200 a tire. Call me cheap but thats why I bought the 1LT with 16in wheels.


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

spacedout said:


> i have not noticed any significant price increase in the last 5+ years. Maybe its the larger wheels on your cruze? Average price 16in $100 a tire, 17in $150 a tire, 18in $200 a tire. Call me cheap but thats why i bought the 1lt with 16in wheels.


cheap!!!!!


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

Okay guys a little bit of an update here. I have put on about 300 or so miles and fuel mileage seems to be holding constant. No significant changes in gas mileage on my Eco. I also have to say the tires as they are starting to be used more are quieting down quite a bit and the ride is quite comfortable but I also have a feeling of immense control. My car feels super responsive and very grippy on the road.

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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

What PSI are you running them at and what is the sidewall max PSI?


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## ronbo10 (Sep 19, 2011)

I have been using Defenders on my CR-V (2002) and have been very happy with them. They are marketed by Michelin as an eco tire (low rolling resistance), and I can vouch that I have been getting better fuel economy with these tires than with the oem Michelins and their Bridgestone replacements. They have a stiffer sidewall than the aforementioned tires yet still give a good ride. Turn-in response is better, as you would expect. Still, some Tire rack customers who have posted their opinions on Tirerack's website report significantly worse fuel economy, though they seem to be outliers and a little suspect. It's heartening to see that you are (so far) getting good results.

An advantage of going with a tire rated for higher speeds is that the sidewalks do tend to be stiffer, and consequently you are likely to experience good turn-in characteristics (better than that of the lower speed rated tire of the same design) as well as better control at the limits of adhesion (I feel the oem tires on our Eco's are fine up to a point and then they just seem to suddenly go a bit limp when cornering at higher lateral accelerations). I'll definitely be interested to see your reports as you accumulate miles.


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

obermd said:


> What PSI are you running them at and what is the sidewall max PSI?


I have been running these tires at 40 PSI. On the side of the tire it says 44 PSI Maximum Pressure.

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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Out of curiosity, why the Michelin Defenders vs the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus?


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

obermd said:


> Out of curiosity, why the Michelin Defenders vs the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus?


obermd if that question was directed at me I've never been a big Bridgestone fan. I had Bridgestones on my BMW motorcycle and hated them. I either prefer Michelins or BF Goodrich tires.

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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

NYCruze2012 said:


> obermd if that question was directed at me I've never been a big Bridgestone fan. I had Bridgestones on my BMW motorcycle and hated them. I either prefer Michelins or BF Goodrich tires.
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com App


Fair enough. I prefer Bridgestone as I've had nothing but wet and snow traction problems with Michelins.


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## Gravity (Apr 6, 2013)

NYCruze2012 said:


> obermd if that question was directed at me I've never been a big Bridgestone fan. I had Bridgestones on my BMW motorcycle and hated them. I either prefer Michelins or BF Goodrich tires.
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com App


Bridgestone builds motorcycle tires in the way Mobil 1 makes oil filters (THEY DONT). for your own satisfaction please try the serenity plus's theirs simply no better tire.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

I always see a couple MPG drop with new tires, at least the first 3,000-6,000miles.


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

obermd said:


> Fair enough. I prefer Bridgestone as I've had nothing but wet and snow traction problems with Michelins.


 See now that is funny that's just the opposite for me. I have the Michelin LTX M/S on my wifes Jeep Grand Cherokee and to my wife absolutely loved them in the snow. On my Suburban I had BF Goodrich All Terrains because I love those tires are they were great in all weather.
This is just a side note but the Michelin Defender(94V speed rated 149mph) happens to be on national backorder right now because of demand for these tires. I was extremely surprised when the tire shop I went to said they had a complete set in stock in my size. To me I figure what are the odds of that? Anyway this is the shop that I've been going to for the last 10 years that used to be called Mallory Kotzen but was recently bought out by Mavis Tire Corporation.

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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

Just a quick update here. I absolutely love these tires. They are so quiet and it is like riding on butter! So far they are definitely worth the money.

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