It's almost time for new tires on the 210 wagon. I'm only considering Michelin at present. Can anyone compare/contrast between the Energy MXV4 and Primacy MXV4. It confuses me to have two tires with basically the same name.

FWIW, my priorities are primarily quiet and smooth (as in very round, not necessarily very soft riding), and secondarily a reasonable balance between steering response and ride harshness. Treadlife of 30K-40K is adequate, I'd rather have the traction of a softer compound vs. the extreme life of an 80K mile tire.

Your thoughts? BTW, I'm not very open to other brands, I've had very, very bad experiences in the past experimenting with Goodyear, Yokahama, Kuhmo, and Dunlop. Heck, I recently put Michelins on my motorcycle.

- JimY

I can only give you a small bit of info. My Michelin Energys were six years old, and I just noticed some wires on my rear tire. Went to Discount Tire this morning and got a set of Primacys, then drove my usual 70 miles to work.

Salesman said I could choose b/w the MXVP or the Primacys - the Primacys were $5 each cheaper. He said the Primacys were a bit harder on the sidewalls, but the wear rating was for 650 instead of the 400 for the MXVP. When I asked why he had both, he said the MXVPs were on their way out and the Primacys were new to market and had all the latest technoligies applied. Not sure how true that is, but I needed a set of tires quick so I bought them.

Roadnoise is less than my old set (no surprise there), ride is a bit stiffer (that's a good thing), and they cruise wonderfully stable at 100+ mph (I had to test them out). Will they last the 80k I want them to? We'll see.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600