Pirelli or Michellin...
 

What's the best?

In terms of what - coolness, longevity, wet traction, overall?

In terms of performance, I have found that Pirelli is the way to go. They are a bit pricey, and they don't last too long, but they have some SERIOUS road grip. The last set I had was on my 600. It tracked nicely, but they were really noisy (to me). Now, the 600 runs Toyo Tires, which I have found to be quite nice tired for road, and medium grip. I would say they are better handling than michelins, but they wear like crap.... Nuthin like 30,000 miles to a tire at best with these.

Now with the michelins... They are good tires for everyday road use. They have 50000 mile warrantys, and are a good road tire. They are fairly quiet, and they wear nicely. They get good grip in the wet, very good grip when dry, but it cannot compare to the tire based off of performance.

Overall, I have found that Toyo is a good tire. I have a set of Toyo Open Country's on the ML, and they have excellent road grip, and minimal road noise. They are decent offroad tires, but not the best, as it is still a street tire. They arent the cheapest, but you will find them comporably priced to michelin.

I have never been a huge fan of Pirelli tires. From my experience, they have a short life, are noisy, and seem to end up out of round faster than any Michelin.

I prefer Michelin, not only does the tread last long, but the tire actually stays perfectly round for the entire life of the tread (usually).

I work in a large body shop. The boss's son recently bought a set of Pirelli P Zero Nero's for his Acura and my wheel/tire guy drove himself half nuts trying to get them balanced...said he used the most weight he has ever had to use on a car wheel to get them to balance. He showed me a print-out on the roadforce measurements (whatever that is) and said the numbers were amazingly bad. The tire wheel/tire guy swears by Michelin and says Conti is OK as a second choice. When I'm feeling rich I buck-up and get Michelin, when I'm feeling poor, Kumho seems to work fine for the way I drive. For that matter, I have always had good luck with Kelly-Springfield, one of Goodyear's second-tier brands.

I would also bet that the average Michelin takes much less weight to balance than the average Pirelli.

Overall

hmm, michelin it is...so Pirelli is really then only for short-term use and for looks?

Of the two choices, Michelin is better overall. But in term of performance then Bridgestone is better than either Pirelli or Michelin. Best value for the money is Kumho.:)

Pirelli's are almost always noisy and though grippy in their higher tier tires they have a less predictable edge than some of the michelins.

Michelins are one of those thay may not be best in every category but they are usually "in the medals" in almost all categories. Except cost...doh!

Conti's are awful in my experience but I've heard some feedback that they are improving somewhat.

If you have the coin go Michelin....there are frequently good secondary options but they vary widely on a case by case. Luckily Luke can tell you what those are....

Hope this helps...

Yes it does...Thanks man.

My two cents. I know that Pirellis and Michelins have a nice name status, and I have had decent luck with both, but they are not the best price/performance value. Check out some of the Japanese tires. They are excellent. I have used Yokohamas with lots of good results. The Yokohama Avid H4S is very good. The Falken (Sumitomo) Ziex ZE-512 is available H or V is a highly rated and at great prices.

Falken Zeix 512 vibrate at highway speeds on my '01 VW Golf (195-65-15). I went for alignment at my local Firestone dealer (I have lifetime alignment agreement) and the manager said "Those Falkens have a vibration, don't they?" The Falkens are hit or miss. With less than 27K, switching to Michelin very soon.

I never really seemed to trust Falken for some reason...I guess this is it.

Between Pirelli and Michelin my vote would be Michelin. Another premium brand to consider would be Bridgestone. Value for your money try Yokohomas. I also had a tire installer have difficulty balancing Pirelli's. He suggested Yokohomas which worked great. I was also happy with Michelins but am currently driving on Bridgestone and am very satisfied with them.