Rich Stern
Well-Known Member
This is in regard to our Chrysler minivan. First, let me say that I believe minivans are very hard on tires. A 4300 pound vehicle riding on tires that might otherwise be found on a 3400 pound sedan. Front wheel drive in a heavy vehicle can be particularly taxing for the tires mounted up front. Lots of weight bearing, steering, and braking forces to contend with.
The Chrysler came with OEM Michellin tires. They wore unevenly, and were pretty much done at 30K. In fairness, a slow leak in one of the tires contributed to underinflation issues and brought the whole set to an early demise. I replaced them with Continental's premium touring tire. A slight improvement in wear performance, but still some uneven wear, and the ride quality had declined badly, despite good effort to keep them maintained. They showed signs of underinfation wear at the end of their life, 35K miles later.
I looked at a lot of tires for replacements. Stopped by a Pep Boys and talked to the manager. He made a strong pitch for the store's premium Definity brand, saying that they've been getting excellent feedback from customers, and that although he wouldn't expect they'd last to the 75K warranty on a minivan, he thought 60K was very realistic with regular rotation. They had a 4th tire free rebate going, as well. Took a chance.
Glad I did.
After 5K miles, the tires are ready for the first rotation. For the first time in the van's service life, the ride is still as good as when the tires were new. They're holding air pressure better than the Michelins or Continentals ever did. No signs of uneven wear. Very little wear at all. I'm just back from a long, roundtrip drive (900 miles) that I've made a half dozen times in this vehicle. It was, by far, the most comfortable drive I've experienced in those half-dozen times. Good handling in the rain and excellent tracking.
Sometimes, it pays to try something new. We'll see how these do after another 5K miles.
The Chrysler came with OEM Michellin tires. They wore unevenly, and were pretty much done at 30K. In fairness, a slow leak in one of the tires contributed to underinflation issues and brought the whole set to an early demise. I replaced them with Continental's premium touring tire. A slight improvement in wear performance, but still some uneven wear, and the ride quality had declined badly, despite good effort to keep them maintained. They showed signs of underinfation wear at the end of their life, 35K miles later.
I looked at a lot of tires for replacements. Stopped by a Pep Boys and talked to the manager. He made a strong pitch for the store's premium Definity brand, saying that they've been getting excellent feedback from customers, and that although he wouldn't expect they'd last to the 75K warranty on a minivan, he thought 60K was very realistic with regular rotation. They had a 4th tire free rebate going, as well. Took a chance.
Glad I did.
After 5K miles, the tires are ready for the first rotation. For the first time in the van's service life, the ride is still as good as when the tires were new. They're holding air pressure better than the Michelins or Continentals ever did. No signs of uneven wear. Very little wear at all. I'm just back from a long, roundtrip drive (900 miles) that I've made a half dozen times in this vehicle. It was, by far, the most comfortable drive I've experienced in those half-dozen times. Good handling in the rain and excellent tracking.
Sometimes, it pays to try something new. We'll see how these do after another 5K miles.
