Well, I was hoping to gather some recent information and generate some discussion in this thread, and that's certainly happened !

With thanks to everyone, and with all due respect to all who contributed, I think the overall question of tire selection comes down to what's of value to a vehicle owner :
1.) Applicability of a tire to the vehicle
2.) Backing of the manufacturer of the product offered
3.) Ride Quality
4.) Road Noise
5.) Tread life

GPSMAN1 states a very valid point....comparisons need to include a factor that speaks to the relative age of the tire, since performance changes as the tire (not just the tread.....you need to include sidewall flexing, staying in-balance, rotation on the rim, etc.) ages.

I've spent about 20 years working in the rubber-chemical industry, and part of that time included working at the tire-manufacturing plants (yes....including Michelin, who are ultra-secretive for several reasons), watching tires being designed, built, tested and marketed. Sitting at a tire xray or holographic imaging machine and seeing what's inside of a just-completed tire carcass is 'enlightening' to say the least. (I saw tire-builders in mainland China put broken CONCRETE in the tread mix for low-speed truck tyres, to 'help' the treads last longer....true story). After all that, for several years, I thought I would NEVER find a Tire (Tyre ?) manufacturer that I could trust, to be honest. I still think much along those lines. However, everyone needs tires on their vehicles, including me. So, all factors then get 'weighted' to see what kind of compromises I can live with.

I've seen individual runs of any manufacturer's tires have serious problems....then, the next run is much different/better.

Soooooo......in this case, I'm hoping that the awful performance that gpsman1 has quoted with his set of Michelin's is possibly an indication of a 'bad run' of tires, and not due to a deep-seated design problem. gpsman1 may turn out to be right, and if that happens with my new set, I'll be the first to gripe to the dealer (Ford, in my case) and demand another set (yep...they'll be pro-rated, and a serious hassle)...plus, I'll post those results here too and join gpsman1 in the chorus against these tires. Everything that I've seen in the multiple threads on this board, plus some others, led me to believe that the ride quality and noise level were better than most.

Apologies for the lengthy message, folks.......and, *THANKS* again for everyone's input.

Cheers,
Gary

 

I've still got lots of tread left on my original Michelin's at 22k miles and it's the best ride I've ever had at 45 lbs (and least noise). The last vehicle I had at 45 lbs, sounded like a basketball dribbling when I hit bumps in the road.

 

Tire wear is different for every driver and their driving habits, their roads, loads and tire pressure. Johns front end may not be as tight as it was for the first 70,000 miles as it is now at 105,000 miles.

I remember people complaining that their Eco-Plus original tires wore out at ~20,000 miles while Johns and my tires were still going strong at 65,000 miles.

Even if my Michelins Latitude front tires go bad before 35,000 miles like John's, the ride, handling and noise is still by far better than the Eco-Plus for me. The MPG is better as I'm pretty sure I have the world record lifetime MPG in my '09 and '05 FWD FEH's.

As Colchiro stated, the thin Michelin sidewalls allow much more give for a softer ride at higher PSI. I can tell it even more in my '05 FEH with a much stiffer suspension than my '09 FEH. All the more reasons to keep those Michelins on the high psi side for sidewall wear and better MPG.

The Eco-Plus was the best tire made for wear and MPG at the time IMO, but they're no longer made. If they were, I'd still go with the Michelins myself. Money is not everything when it comes to the safety of your family and friends. The Michelins are a great tire in the rain here and I feel much better with them than the Eco-Plus. One of the reasons I don't rotate my tires is because I have a full size spare and matching set of rims for both my '05 and '09 FEH. If the fronts wear down faster like they normally do, I'll take both worn Michelins and replaced them with my new '09 Michelin spare and change my '05 Eco-Plus spare and just buy one new Michelin for the front. I don't see much wear on my '09 rear tires at 21,000 miles and the rear Eco-Plus are still going good at 66,000 miles on the '05.

This is not a thumbs down thread when you have the first people who have experienced both tires on their FEH, and in my case two different year FEH.

GaryG

 

Went to an authorized Michelin dealer today.

Two of my tires (most time on the front) had between 3 and 4/32" of tread left. 2/32" is the legal limit I think.

Two of my tires (most time on the rear) had beween 7 and 8/32" of tread.

All 4 tires had about 28,500 miles on them. ( which was less than I thought after I got my paperwork out )
The tread wear rating for the Lattitude Tour is 65,000 miles.
The DOT code says they were made in the 31st week of 2008.
( so you can see if you got some from the same lot )
I installed them the 6th week of 2009.

Michelin is pro-rating two tires, and selling me two at $76.00 each.
The are not doing anything about the rear at 8/32".
I had phyical damage to one on the rear, and need to pay $149.00 which they say is full price.

I get a free alignment if I buy 4, so I will.
I'm getting a 5th full size rim for $65 and putting my one good tire with 8/32" on the spare and will have a full size spare now.

Just FYI.

 

UPDATE:

I got 4 new Lattitude Tours on my rig now.
I got the shop to come down $10 on each tire.
I got the shop to come down to $10 each for M&B.

So I got out the door with 4 tires mounted for a little change over $500.
Free alignment, Free lifetime rotate & balance. Free lifetime flat repair.
So not too bad.

We'll now see if it was a bad run the first time or not.

Oh, the spare "rim" that met Ford Specs for size out of the "book" would not fit. Well, it would fit on the rear, but would not fit on the front. Who knew?
I really appreciated the shop trying it out on both positions.

Turns out, the spare "generic" rim would not clear the calipers on the front.
Was ok on the back. But what a hassle if a flat occurs on the front.
Thus, I'm still shopping for a full size OEM rim. I have one good spare tire.

 

BTW.... my back brake pads look BRAND NEW. No joke. I don't think they have been stopping the car much at all. I'm not kidding. About 10mm of "meat" left on the rear pads.

The front pads look really good too. About half way gone. About 5mm of meat left one the front pads. Even wear on both sides.

108,000+ miles.