Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

In my week or so as a TCH owner, I've been most baffled my one thing: Reviews I've read of the car have different tires, and there appears to be no rhyme or reason for it.

It appears that Camry's are being delivered with either Bridgestone Turanza tires or Michelin Energy tires. The best that I can tell, the Michelins are standard on the normal Camry LE, while the Bridgestone's are standard on the upmarket XLE. I'm not 100% positive, however.

My car has the Bridgestone, which seem to be fine tires. However, I'm sure some of you have the Michelins. I find the whole thing rather odd--in my GM days, only one tire was delivered on a car, unless there were deliberate differences based on trim level. I wonder what gives?

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I agree it is baffling. I have seen both Michelin and Bridgestone tires on the TCH. There doesn't appear to be any pattern.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I got Michelins on mine in NJ. Here are links where you can read reviews on each tire:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Energy+MXV4+S8
The Michelins are in a tire class called Grand Touring all-season at Tire Rack. Grand Touring All-Season tires are often used as Original Equipment and place more emphasis on handling and high-speed capabilities than Standard Touring tires. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/grandtour_as.jsp


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=Turanza+EL400
The Bridgestones are in a tire class called Standard Touring all-season at Tire Rack. Standard Touring tires are typically available in the lower speed ratings and higher aspect ratio sizes and place more emphasis on ride comfort and treadwear than Grand Touring tires. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/touring.jsp

So, if you can believe Tire Rack editors the Michelins are for better handling and higher speed, but the Bridgestones should last longer and ride easier. It looks like the Michelins are a little more expensive at Tire Rack than the Bridgestones.

Link comparing the 2 tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...10&sortValue=1

The info at comparison link indicates the Michelins should last about 70% more miles than the Bridgestones, which doesn't match the tire categories the tires are in.

The other major difference is that the max tire pressure on a Bridgestone is 51 PSI while the max pressure on the Michelin is 44 PSI.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I'm not 100% sure but most hybrids will come std with low rolling resistance tires for added fuel economy. Changing to a different tire may cause a slight mpg hit. There are many threads that will give you more info on the subject.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

Ferrari were 1-2 with Bridgestone tires at the Indianapolis F1 race this weekend whilst the Michelins only managed a 3rd place. Last year at Indy, Michelins were failing and all the Michelin shod cars were parked. :omg:


I don't know that it matters. I have Bridgestones and I'd be just as happy with the Michelins. Tires only start to show their abilities once they are beyond 50% worn. Noise, grip and ride characteristics then become more apparent.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I suspect the tire selection is regional and that the Michelins are more likely targeted in areas where winter snow is typical.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I'm located in NW Arkansas - on the base of the Ozarks. We get 2-3 weeks of snow per annum. My car came in through the Port of Long Beach and I got Bridgestones.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

Sounds like a mild winter to me, we might get 2 or 3 weeks of snow in the fall before winter even starts. I have Michelins... When I got my Sienna it was coming with Michelins and Bridgestones too and there was a lot of talk on the Sienna forums about the reason. I got Michelins on my Sienna too, and I don't recall having seen anything but Michelins on Camrys/Siennas around here. The Michelin web site refers to snow performance and winter traction capabilities whereas the Bridgestone web site makes little or no reference to winter capabilities. So that, plus that fact that here we seem to get Michelins here leads me to my assumption. Maybe time for a poll of some sort. Harsh / mild / no winter and which tire brand.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I will let you all know what I get on mine when it arrives. I'm in Michigan, and we get plenty of snow around here...

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I'm in San Diego and my TCH was delivered with Bridgestone Turanza EL400 tires. So far I've been happy with them, quiet on the freeway and reasonably grippy accelerating around corners (no rain yet) I am curious as to how the tires behave when the tread wears down some, and what the tread life will be with the TCH.

My past experiences with Bridgestone M&S tires on snow and ice (freezing rain in Washington state) was good.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

What pressure do you run your Michelins?

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

35 PSI which is what Toyota recommends for high speed driving in hot weather. I do a lot of 70 to 75 MPH highway driving so used 35 PSI instead of the 32 PSI listed as recommended on the drivers door post.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

Thanks for the background.


I'm not sure if Virginia would be considered mild or not, winter wise, but either way, my car has Bridgestones.

I wonder if this is an issue for all Camry's, not just Hybrids. I made the assumption that the Bridgestone was a bt more upmarket because I read two reviews of the Camry V6 in car magazines and both of those cars had the same Bridgestones as my Hybrid, and then I saw that the Consumer Reports test had the V6 as a Bridgestone and a 4 cyl LE as a Michelin.

But, I'm beginning to think its totally random across the board.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

Extra Mile Option Package F includes:
-Extra Mile Extended Life Tires
-(3 Years / 36,000 Miles)
-(6 Yrs/100,000 Mile

I do not have this package and mine came with Bridgestones.

Anyone take 'F' and get Bridgestone EL400 Tuaranza tires or what did you get?

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I just got my camry hybrid over the holiday weekend in San Diego. I was in a unique (irritating, actually) situation where I wanted a hybrid with leather (for the dogs). The supply is seemingly non existent in San Diego County right now. One dealer had a ribbon blue in leather, but it had a hideous "chrome wheels package" and while they were willing to swap out the wheels to stock wheels, they didn't have any techs to do it that day. So I bought the car and drove it a couple of days with the chrome wheels on the michelins for a couple of days. Then they swapped the wheels out and the new wheels have the bridgestone's. I could tell no difference, and I'm not exactly a "granny" driver. I'm coming from a 2000 BMW 540i. In case you're interested, yes the BMW was fabulous to drive, but I wanted something more reliable and with better gas mileage. The BMW was 18mpg, up to 20mg combined if I tried really hard. So far getting 38 mpg overall with TCH!

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I got my hybrid in VA as well and they have Michelins so I think you're right its just totally random across the board :)

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I tried 38psi on mine for a few days. I found the ride was a bit hard for my tastes on bumpy city pavement. I backed it off to 36psi and I think I'll probably end up sticking with the 35psi "high recommended" as TKCamry has done. This is what the dealer had set them at to start with.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I got mine in Maryland, through a dealer trade with a New York dealer, and I got Bridgestones. Seems pretty random to me.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

Hi

Just got mine yesterday , we live in real winter country here : Montreal.

I have Michelins.

Anyway, L'll swap them for real winter tires when the white stuff will start..

But, I wonder.. did Canada get only Michelins ??

Bob

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

Seems to be so here, maybe random between Michelins and Bridgesstones in the US. Here's a question for American TCH owners with Michelins. Where are your tires made? I notice the Michelins we are getting are "Made in Canada", but I wonder if the source of Michelins on American model TCHs is different??

I'm not sure if the Michelins we get are shipped to Japan for the assembly line, or somehow put on when it arrives here (not sure how they'd do that). I know in western Canada Toyota has a wheel manufacturing plant, but I don't know if that includes any of the wheels that end up on North American Camrys.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

The Michelin tires on my TCH delivered in NJ were Made in Canada.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

My TCH (HM/SR package, blue) has Bridgestones and the TCH sitting next to mine at the dealer when I picked it up (same HM/SR package but in white) had the Michelins.
I would say it's random based on the fact that two TCHs with the same option package delivered to the same dealer (Chicago suburbs) have different tires.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

Picked up my TCH from New York State just over the NY/NJ border and it has the Michelins. An 07 Camry XLE that I saw at the same dealer had the Bridgestones. The TCH that I test drove last month in Freehold NJ had the Michelins on it.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I wonder if one of the more ambitious TCH owners might construct a comparison table of our average gas mileages (using our online "COMPARE" online database) according to tire brand, similar to the "age" post.

In other words, what are gas mileage averages for Bridgestone vs. Michelin users?

As long as I'm wishing, it'd be nice to see a similar comparison of high vs. low PSI tire pressures.

By the way, I have Bridgestones, and my tire pressures are 46/44 PSI. Average mileage currently 37.5 MPG.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I think driving habits/conditions and tire pressure will have a far greater impact on mileage than tire brands. For example, I'm running the same tire as you and LESS pressure (40PSI F/R) and am averaging 40.5 MPG.

YMMV :shade:

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I picked up my TCH today, and it came with the Michelins (West Michigan here).

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

We just drove home our TCH, It to came with Michelins MXV4. Central California

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I checked my TCH last night and it has Michelins. I'm in CT and we do get lots of lovely snow and ice storms...

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

I don't think there is any hidden formula. I have test driven TCH's in ATL with Michelin and moine came with Bridgestone. It is common today for car manufactureres, exepcially with high volume cars to multi-source their tires. Personally I prefer Michelin, but I'm not loosing any sleep over having Bridgestones. for those of you pumping up your tires over factory spec, are you resetting your TPMS? This will help you know if the tires fall below a certain point that you haev set, not below a certain point below 32psi.

Re: Bridgestone vs. Michelin
 

My loaded 2007 TCH came with Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 that were made in CANADA and I keep all 4 tires at 34-35psi cold.