TomR00

Wow, doesn't look like Chevrolet picked a very good OEM tire for the SS in the Michelin Pilot MXM 4 tire, at least according to 1164 people and 28 million miles on the TireRack.com survey.

Here:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=Pilot+HX+MXM4

TomR

dr_fosg8

Yep, same for most OEM tires it would seem. The Michelins that came on my explorer were only a so-so tire and the 17 firestones on my HHR were complete crap. However the Michilin Pilot exalta A/S tires I put on the HHR are far superior to any tire I have bought thus far.

Nebulous1

Those summary numbers oversimplify things. For example, they lose points for people who say they wouldn't buy them again, even though many of the survey respondents wouldn't buy them again simply due to their retail cost.

Different people want different things from a set of tires. Personally, I could not care less about a smooth ride or noisy tires. I just want as much traction as I can get, and I'm fine feeling every crevice and pebble on the road. So, I always buy high performance all-season tires. Of course, higher performance is frequently associated with poor tread wear, particularly from those types of miscreants who burn off the line or squeal around corners. . But poor tread wear costs a lot of points in those surveys from those who care more about tread wear than performance.

The survey respondents are driving many different types of vehicles, in different environments, with different driving styles. I find the results of drivers who list their driving style as "spirited" are the most useful for me, since that's closer to my driving style.

All that having been said, the demographic I imagine for the HHR SS doesn't seem to match that of Chevy's marketers. After all, they do expect 70% of HHR SS sales to be automatic transmissions. That says worlds about the market segment they are targeting. They've chosen to shod it with an all season grand touring tire, not high performance. It doesn't make sense for what I want, but most vehicles are compromises between different characteristics, and particularly so with the HHR SS. I mean, c'mon, is it a minivan, a retro van, a sports car, wagon, SUV, what? I suppose it falls solidly into the "crossover" category.

That said, check out TireRack.com's test report on the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 at http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...irePageLocQtyc. The combined road and track rating is the highest of the all season grand touring tires in the test. But at the very least I wish Chevy would offer high performance tires as an available option.

Mifunego

The MXM4 tires were the stockers on my turbo Jetta, and I can say from actual experience that they were CRAP. Terrible performance in dry or wet. And I actually had the unfortunate experience of driving them in the snow until I swapped on my snows.

MWG2

I put the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires on my 2LT HHR and they are EXCELLENT, absolutely EXCELLENT. And when you add the rear sway bar, the HHR handles exceptionally well.

See post #8 in this thread:

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/general-hhr-4/hhrs-snow-12729/

LT1GMC

Best to take the Tire rack surveys with a slight grain of salt. Of the 4 different sets I've bought using Tire Rack survey as a guide, I've only been pleased 2 times. Thats 50%, so just barely better than the local tire shop.

PS: Even if its the same brand, model and size as original, there is a difference between OEM tires and replacements, you will notice the originals have a specific number on the sidewall somewhere, I don't know if its a higher Quality Control thing or what, but I've noticed differences in feel between OEM and replacements that were the same thing.

Nebulous1

She's supposed to be born next Monday, but it will probably take the stork another 3-4 weeks to get her here. I've read a number of reviews where people said their MXM 4's hydroplaned, as well as the TireRack.com tests, and it's just not worth it to me to stick with the stock tires.

I don't care about snow or ride quality. My idea of ride quality is all about wet road cornering and braking. So putting a touring tire on a performance vehicle seems downright silly to me.

I'm leaning toward having a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 All Seasons waiting at the dealership for her when she arrives, though possibly Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Positions.

I've driven different Pole Positions before, on my old '84 911 and my old '01 A4 Quattro. I was thoroughly satisfied with both (though tread wear was somewhat short, as expected). Have never had Eagle F1s, but it seems from the latest TireRack tests that Goodyear might have made some advances since the RE960AS came out.

Any thoughts?

Retrorod

GM uses a system that provides specific requirements for every OEM tire. They are the only manufacturer that I know of that does this. All GM OEM tires have a "TPC" number on the sidewall that relates to that specific tire and application. One must remember, if you are a vehicle manufacturer you need to make some compromises when equipping a vehicle....I think, overall, that GM does a pretty good job in this regard. If you want racing tires.....buy them.

Nebulous1

I totally respect GM's TPC system, and wish it was an industry-wide standard. And I've got no problems whatsoever with making touring tires the default on the HHR SS (though I question other decisions, like making 70% of them automatics). After all, every vehicle component is a compromise of one form or another, and tires are no different. I think they've chosen excellent touring tires. Assuming most of their demographic wants touring tires (reasonable assumption), then it should help model sales & satisfaction. I just have to think that a significant portion of SS buyers want performance tires. So I wish they offered optional performance tires. After all, it is an SS, and they are trying to reinvest some performance points to shine up the rusty old SS badge.

Nebulous1

FYI - TireRack finally has 225/45ZR18 Goodyear Eagle F1 All-Seasons in stock again. Goodyear is offering a mail-in rebate of $50 when buying a set of them (through 05-APR). So I went ahead and ordered a set today.

I still don't know when my SS will get here, but at least I'll have a new set of tires waiting. Gonna take the MXM4s off ASAP before they get too much wear, then sell them as 'almost new'.

Probably no TPC number on the F1s, but I think that's because GM keeps the test criteria confidential. So, unless a tire manufacturer submits a tire for testing (and pays GM accordingly), they don't get the number. I wish GM would open the TPC test criteria to public domain. Then any tire company could easily conduct the same tests on every tire they offer without having to pay GM to do it. It could only be beneficial for the entire industry, and promote more competition.

I heard GM will offer a performance tire on the Cobalt SS as part of a marketing plan to delineate that the Cobalt is a sportscar. So, no optional performance tires available on the HHR SS, to delineate that it's a retro-wagon-crossover-thingy, as opposed to a sportscar.