Alternatives to OEM tires

I do mostly city driving here in Florida and my originals made it to 77,000 miles. Still had not reached the wear bars.

 

My tires were right at 4/32. Car rides so much better with new shoes. Much more compliant. Tread depth is key. Also tires were 6 years old. Rubber degrades over time.

 

The differences in tire life from the OEM Michelin tires brings into question possible quality control issues at Michelin.

I’m sure someone here can come up with a reasonable explanation as to how one owner gets 12K miles and another gets 77K miles, assuming the low mileage figure isn’t a result of track days every weekend. Key word here is “reasonable”.

 

I do think tire wear is probably proportional to something like the speed squared, due to greater side forces, higher heat, and higher power transmission to the road for the drive wheels. Probably 95% of my driving is 55 mph or less, and 85% 45 or less, so I'm an unusual case (not just in this aspect haha).

 

I'm around 3/32 at 35k. This wasn't terribly surprising from what I've seen, but still disappointing. The traction has also been disappointing, especially while accelerating. I had no confidence in them quickly accelerating from a stop either in wet conditions, or while turning.

Moving to CrossClimate2's and I'm expecting a much better experience there, as well as their full warranty.

 

Michelin hasn’t offered a warranty on Original Equipment tires since 2018. Wouldn’t you get the same “full” warranty if you purchased any of their other tires, including the Energy Saver?

 

Putting guesswork aside, we haven’t heard a high number of complaints, if any, about uneven tire wear, which is commonly attributed to improper tire pressure and/or an alignment issue. We’ve had reports of even tire wear occurring prematurely.

Straight line travel at 80mph, as opposed to 55mph, isn’t going to cause a 60,000 mile tire to wear the tread down to 2/32” in 15K-20K miles, assuming the tires are properly inflated and the alignment is correct on both subject vehicles.

Lateral forces would be the #1 culprit, which is why I suggested track days, to which I would add aggressive driving as possibilities.

 

Yes. Point being that I'll be out of their OEM warranty trap. I had to replace one at a couple thousand miles which theoretically held a 55k retail warranty, but I was denied claiming a prorated warranty due to it being mixed with OEMs.

The energy savers clearly don't reliably meet warrantied mileage ratings and I'm glad to be moving off of them.

 

Wouldn’t the tire you purchased have had a different date code than the OE tires? That would make it unique to the other 3.

 

I can vouch for the cross climate 2s being a fantastic tire that have withstood 36000+ miles of wear on my 2.0T accord that was tuned to just shy of 300hp and 345 lbft of torque at the wheels. They are about half way worn out and were wearing unevenly due to an outer tire rod that needed replaced. I drove that car like I stole it very regularly, and I still believe they will hit their 60k warranty without issue. Fun fact, the accord also runs 235s just like the clarity, so I could see one getting easily the same, if not a lot better, on a slightly heavier car but without the abuse I put them through.

I can not attest to good fuel economy but wet and even dry grip was very good, and the snow performance was stellar. I actually kept my stock touring wheels just so that I can keep the cross climates for winter use on my clarity. I can do a more in depth MPG assessment then.

 

At 53k miles I have decided to replace my original tires, still life left though, with something that hopefully work better in the snow and wet. Went with Nexen 5000 platinum. Got them for $111 each, $560 installed, at Discount tire and so far they ride nice.

 

Have you been able to compare your maximum EV range between the OEM and Nexen tires?

 

Not yet, I’ve only had them for 2 days. But I will post back once I have an idea on range and ride.

 

I've had those Nexens now for 6 months and 5k miles. I'm still very happy with them. They're still smooth riding and quiet, have good traction, and I've seen no reduction in EV range.

 

In my all city, Chicago, 26 mile work commute I haven’t noticed a change in guessometer mileage, although I am running them at 37psi whereas the old Michelins were at 35.

 

After having the nexen platinums for a few months now here is my observations. The traction is better than originals on dry and wet pavement but maybe about the same or worse on the recent snow we had in chicago. Driving at slow speed around town there is not much road noise but the bumps in the roads are noticeable. At highway speed I though the noise was about the same but then when I was having conversations you can definitely tell the there is much more road noise in the cabin. I think they are a good tire for the price but next time I will maybe go with the cross climate 2's.

 

Have you reinforced your October impression that the Nexens offer the same range as the Hankook/Pirelli/Goodyear summer performance tires MINI chose for the SE? No one else on this forum has found tires that match their range.

 

I have no idea about those other tires, but compared to the OEM ones y summer electric mile may be 1 or 2 miles less. So basically the same.

 

My apologies. I got mixed up and thought I was on the MINI Forum, not the Clarity Forum. However, your results are welcome because it's good to know there are efficient alternative tires for the Clarity.

 

Adding a data point, I just replaced OE at 39k miles , most down to 4/32, car bought new 2018. There were life left but it’s 6 years old and rain season coming and black Friday sale.
New tires are Goodyear assurance outlast from Walmart. They are affordable, 600 usd every thing included. 80k miles rated. So far I have no complaint coming from 6 year old OE tires. Everything seems to be slightly better quietness ,ride quality , mpg about the same.