Michelin Latitude Tour (non HP) or LTX ms (non ms2's)

[ChriSS K]

I'm down to these two. I think the tours might be a smoother ride, but I wonder how they would do in the snow? I've been running the HP's the last 3 years and I've been ok at best in the snow. I should of got the non hp's at the time, but didn't realize the regular tours were rated better for light snow. I have worries about all the stuff I've been reading about the LTX's cracking, but I'm not sure if this is old "lot's"? Suggestions based on these two please

 

[Playsinsnow]

The tours are for moms. The LTX are for trucks. Get the LTX m/s. I have them and they are the BEST tire I have had on the TB.

Edit: The tours for a crossover, ltx for an suv.

They ride the same. Tours are softer and LTX has a higher load rating so slightly stiffer than tours. You won't feel the difference. Guys in Texas put almost 100k on these tires.


LTX ftw.



P.S. The only tire rated for snow is a snow/winter tire. Don't fall for marketing.

 

[Chickenhawk]

I just bought four tires for the wife's 07 yesterday. The Michelin LTX M/S 2 is not available in 245/65-17.

My choice was to go with the new M/S 2 in a size very slightly larger, or stick with the M/S.

I have had the LTX M/S on two Blazers and my Trailblazer and it is the one I know and trust. It is hands down the best tire for our platform and the handling meets even my very high standards. (I drive police cars on race tracks for part of what I laughingly refer to as a "living" so handling is very important to me.)

I went with the LTX M/S. I don't want the best for the price; I want the best, period.

 

[Vicompc]

I have the Michelin Latitude Tour's on mine 30K on them so far. The ride is great and wet weather handling is very good, I would definnately recommend to Tour's.

 

[ChriSS K]

I just bought four tires for the wife's 07 yesterday. The Michelin LTX M/S 2 is not available in 245/65-17.

My choice was to go with the new M/S 2 in a size very slightly larger, or stick with the M/S.

I have had the LTX M/S on two Blazers and my Trailblazer and it is the one I know and trust. It is hands down the best tire for our platform and the handling meets even my very high standards. (I drive police cars on race tracks for part of what I laughingly refer to as a "living" so handling is very important to me.)

I went with the LTX M/S. I don't want the best for the price; I want the best, period.

Did you have any issues with cracking? I'm hearing a lot about this. I'm very much about a smooth ride. I don't go off road and this a my family daily driver. The Tour HP's that I currently have are very smooth, but lack serious tread life and are so so in the snow. Are they discontinuing the regular ms's? I did notice they don't make the 2's in my size.

 

[Chickenhawk]

The only tires I replaced because of cracking were the LTX A/Ts on my first Blazer, but they were ten years old. I didn't put on enough miles in a year to wear out a set of tires on this truck before they just plain get too old. Tread wear is not the only reason to replace tires. Age is another one.

Keep in mind I am pretty anal about handling and tires (and brakes.)

 

[Playsinsnow]

The ltx m/s will be available while they last says 2 different tire sellers. Mine were stamped no more than 4 weeks old when I got them. 46th week year 12.

Have you considered the Michelin cross terrains? I would have bought them over the tours, I didn't because I got the sale down to $850 out the door for my LTX m/s'. They come in our size.

In case you didn't know, I drive a thousand miles and often get caught in the snow. I won't be caught being that "guy from out of town". Depending on the type of snowfall, all seasons will only provide minimal traction and be so-so. Even at 1/8th inch.

 

[ChriSS K]

The ltx m/s will be available while they last says 2 different tire sellers. Mine were stamped no more than 4 weeks old when I got them. 46th week year 12.

Have you considered the Michelin cross terrains? I would have bought them over the tours, I didn't because I got the sale down to $850 out the door for my LTX m/s'. They come in our size.

In case you didn't know, I drive a thousand miles and often get caught in the snow. I won't be caught being that "guy from out of town". Depending on the type of snowfall, all seasons will only provide minimal traction and be so-so. Even at 1/8th inch.

I was able to get by with my tour HP's this past winter in PA. It wasn't the best and to be honest the HP's have no business on my ride. My worry about the LTX would be possible increase road noise. Based on my ride I love how it rides like a luxury ride. I can appreciate the added piece of mine for he snow fall with the LTX I just wonder how much more road noise I would hear?? I drive about 45-50 miles a day round trip and enjoy trips to the shore over the summer. Its my daily/family ride as stated so in order it would be safety, comfort, tread life...

 

[voydriver2002]

the michelin latitude shoes are good. i love the ride and it the rain the are pretty good. had the tires for about 3 months

 

[northcreek]

Got the Lat's on my wife's Equinox and we have had enough snow this year to say without a doubt that they performed well in the white stuff...Mike.

 

[neohio]

Just put 4 245/60R18 LTX M/S on my truck last night.
Kind of hurt the wallet a bit, but seeing as I put 85,000+ on the A/T's on my S-10 Blazer, I should be good to go for many many years.

Best price I could find was Wal-Mart to be honest. I was less than $900 installed out the door with my wife's discount.

 

[Playsinsnow]

I was able to get by with my tour HP's this past winter in PA. It wasn't the best and to be honest the HP's have no business on my ride. My worry about the LTX would be possible increase road noise. Based on my ride I love how it rides like a luxury ride. I can appreciate the added piece of mine for he snow fall with the LTX I just wonder how much more road noise I would hear?? I drive about 45-50 miles a day round trip and enjoy trips to the shore over the summer. Its my daily/family ride as stated so in order it would be safety, comfort, tread life...

I thought the same thing about noise. Coming from AT' with over 120k miles on the TB, I only noticed an increase in control. No excess road noise.

My wife has way better hearing than I, I'm "disabled" to some with my hearing and didn't notice anything. She did notice her winter wheel noise so she knows what I am asking.


Turn some tunes on?

 

[glfredrick]

I'm now running the Firestone Destination ATs. REALLY GOOD on snow, ride better than Coopers and Bridgstones, and are quiet on the road (probably not as quiet as a pure street tread but this IS an suv, right?). Best tire I've ran over the past 20 years and I don't say that lightly. I've NOT been a fan of Firestone at all. That this particular tire won me over is saying something!

 

[ChriSS K]

Just wanted to follow thru with this thread guys and say that this soccer mom went with the Latitude Tours. I think I'm more of the soft ride to match the denali comfort. I can say they feel night and day from the HP's that I had. So far they have been great with all this rain we've been getting this weekend.

 

[gmcman]

I just left the Tours (Non-HP) and I had 70K on them and was still shy of the treadwear marks. They are by no means "soccer mom" tires.... I would have gone with the LTX M/S but I wanted that whisper quiet ride and I hear the M/S can give that, sometimes not..not sure but I loved the Latitude Tour. They did OK in the snow, much better than the Cross Terrains as the Tour has more biting edges and holds more snow.

I would have opted for the M/S2 but they are not avail yet in our size but the 255/65/17 fills the wheel well nicely. I chose the Continental Cross Contact LX-20 and I really like them, but they come up slightly short to the Tour in comfort.

 

[ChriSS K]

I just left the Tours (Non-HP) and I had 70K on them and was still shy of the treadwear marks. They are by no means "soccer mom" tires.... I would have gone with the LTX M/S but I wanted that whisper quiet ride and I hear the M/S can give that, sometimes not..not sure but I loved the Latitude Tour. They did OK in the snow, much better than the Cross Terrains as the Tour has more biting edges and holds more snow.

I would have opted for the M/S2 but they are not avail yet in our size but the 255/65/17 fills the wheel well nicely. I chose the Continental Cross Contact LX-20 and I really like them, but they come up slightly short to the Tour in comfort.

70k is nice. How often did u rotate them?

 

[gmcman]

70k is nice. How often did u rotate them?

Ran 34-35 PSI front and rear, rotated roughly every 4-5K. Also had alignment at time of install.

 

[Bruce83]

I will never buy a set of michelin latitudes ever. They came on my wife's 2010 Ford Escape and at 30,000 miles they started to cup and thought it was a front wheel bearing. Took it into the dealer for warranty and showed me that it was the tires and not any of the bearings. At 40,000 we could not take the tire noise any longer and bought a set Continental CrossContact LX20's and they are quiet as a baby.

 

[Playsinsnow]

I will never buy a set of michelin latitudes ever. They came on my wife's 2010 Ford Escape and at 30,000 miles they started to cup and thought it was a front wheel bearing. Took it into the dealer for warranty and showed me that it was the tires and not any of the bearings. At 40,000 we could not take the tire noise any longer and bought a set Continental CrossContact LX20's and they are quiet as a baby.

Rotation schedule and how often was air checked? Curious is all. 10kon cupped tires sounds a lot. She corner fast?


Care to check in when the Conti's have 30k? Better comparison...

 

[gmcman]

I will never buy a set of michelin latitudes ever. They came on my wife's 2010 Ford Escape and at 30,000 miles they started to cup and thought it was a front wheel bearing. Took it into the dealer for warranty and showed me that it was the tires and not any of the bearings. At 40,000 we could not take the tire noise any longer and bought a set Continental CrossContact LX20's and they are quiet as a baby.

I will go out on a limb and say the reason your Michelin's cupped was from the Escape and not the tires. They likely didn't start cupping at 30K but long before and became visibly cupped at that point, once a tire is cupped there isn't much you can do at that point unless you shave it down, this would only be effective if there aren't any separations in the belts either but that's a stretch. I can't count how many times when I was mounting tires how upset a customer was knowing they had to trash a set of tires from an alignment/balance issue, sometimes it's worn shocks.

When you had the Conti's installed, did you get an alignment or have it checked? If so what were the before and after measurements? Hopefully you did as to not tear up the new tires.

I would seriously suspect an alignment first, then worn shocks. Don't let the fact low mileage means your shocks are good.

Once you hit 40K the cupping naturally got worse, if the tire wasn't flopping around from bad shocks then I would suspect an alignment issue.

Was the Escape ever in an accident?

Not to sound negative but just food for thought.

 

[Bruce83]

Rotation schedule
Every other oil change (around 14000 miles)
how often was air checked?
Even though Escape has air pressure sensors checked once a month, but did have one tire fixed due to a nail
She corner fast?
No and she drives 90% freeway
when the Conti's have 30k? Better comparison
28000 and new tires are still quite

When you had the Conti's installed, did you get an alignment or have it checked? If so what were the before and after measurements? Hopefully you did as to not tear up the new tires.
Had alignment checked after they said the wheel bearing were okay (30000) and it was good. When we got the new tires had a four wheel alignment done too.
I would seriously suspect an alignment first, then worn shocks. Don't let the fact low mileage means your shocks are good.
Struts are still good
Once you hit 40K the cupping naturally got worse
Agree, even with a cross rotation of tires
Was the Escape ever in an accident?
Never

Before we got the new tires I did do some research. Since I wanted to stay with Michelin's, I read a lot comments on them and found a number of complaints about the Latitude tires being noisy. The comments on the Continental CrossContact LX20 tires were all good, so I went with them.
By the way I don't buy tires due to price or long mileage. They are the most important part of any vehicle, due to their contact with any type of road. Next is brakes, as the vehicle has to stop.

 

[ChriSS K]

Rotation schedule
Every other oil change (around 14000 miles)
how often was air checked?
Even though Escape has air pressure sensors checked once a month, but did have one tire fixed due to a nail
She corner fast?
No and she drives 90% freeway
when the Conti's have 30k? Better comparison
28000 and new tires are still quite

When you had the Conti's installed, did you get an alignment or have it checked? If so what were the before and after measurements? Hopefully you did as to not tear up the new tires.
Had alignment checked after they said the wheel bearing were okay (30000) and it was good. When we got the new tires had a four wheel alignment done too.
I would seriously suspect an alignment first, then worn shocks. Don't let the fact low mileage means your shocks are good.
Struts are still good
Once you hit 40K the cupping naturally got worse
Agree, even with a cross rotation of tires
Was the Escape ever in an accident?
Never

Before we got the new tires I did do some research. Since I wanted to stay with Michelin's, I read a lot comments on them and found a number of complaints about the Latitude tires being noisy. The comments on the Continental CrossContact LX20 tires were all good, so I went with them.
By the way I don't buy tires due to price or long mileage. They are the most important part of any vehicle, due to their contact with any type of road. Next is brakes, as the vehicle has to stop.

I can speak for the ones I have and that they are super quite.

 

[Playsinsnow]

I've never noticed road noise with any Michelin. 14,000 miles seems like a lot of miles between rotations (could be ford spec). I know my wife's car will eat up tires if I don't rotate them 5-6k. She also drives like you would want your daughter to.

 

[gmcman]

Problem with reviews, especially tire rack....the latitude tour HP and non HP have same reviews, they are not filtered. Whether the poster puts in for both, doesn't know the difference, or whatever. I can find the same reviews all over the place...replicated for different tire models.

Latitude tour non hp is a premium touring tire at the top of it's class. Doesn't mean there can be blems, but the HP is a different animal and cannot be compared.

 

[ChriSS K]

Problem with reviews, especially tire rack....the latitude tour HP and non HP have same reviews, they are not filtered. Whether the poster puts in for both, doesn't know the difference, or whatever. I can find the same reviews all over the place...replicated for different tire models.

Latitude tour non hp is a premium touring tire at the top of it's class. Doesn't mean there can be blems, but the HP is a different animal and cannot be compared.

Agreed! I can say that I've had both...I had the HP's and went to the non and I can say for a fact that the non HP's are night and day. I can't believe how smooth they are.

 

[shepherd92683]

There is not a better riding SUV tire than the Latitude Tour. Hands down, I've sold that tire for years and for the application they are used for nobody dislikes them because of noise. They only create noise if there is uneven treadwear. Tires DO NOT wear unevenly for no reason... Something causes it!

The difference to sum up between M/S and Latitude tour I would say is Latitude gives better ride and fuel efficiency. M/S will last longer (despite what mileage warranty says) and give better traction. Can't go wrong by any means with either product!!

 

[shepherd92683]

Problem with reviews, especially tire rack....the latitude tour HP and non HP have same reviews, they are not filtered. Whether the poster puts in for both, doesn't know the difference, or whatever. I can find the same reviews all over the place...replicated for different tire models.

Latitude tour non hp is a premium touring tire at the top of it's class. Doesn't mean there can be blems, but the HP is a different animal and cannot be compared.

I'm sure the reason people have complained about noisy latitude's are people that have had them oem as they are stock on a lot of vehicles. Those are the same people that say they rotate their tires but have a 6/32" tread depth difference front to rear and the tires are cupped!!

 

[ahabofthepequod]

Just had to replace the original Michelin tires from my '08' TB. They were great in all kinds of weather and gave a smooth quiet ride. Did my homework and since I don't go off road decided I didn't need an aggressive tread design. The Tours seemed to be the pick. So far they have proven to be quiet, smooth and good on wet roads.

While a bit older than most of you out there I don't drive like an old man (but I still get to enjoy the Bose system). I often haul quite a bit of weight and expect the same performance from my Tours. Besides the white letters look good with the Granite Black.