Michelin Defender LTX M/S 

These are really excellent all around tires. Our (mine and wife's) spirited driving has taken a little off the corners of these tires than would otherwise been the case for a mellow driver which proves the great mileage we have gotten with these things. There is more tread left on 40K than I would expect.

Dry traction is much better than expected for a touring tire.
Wet traction is very predicatable and stable. I am impressed with the traction.
Noise is almost always quiet.
I have rotated every 5k and there is absolutely no feathering or irregular wear.
Balance has been beyond exceptional. Build quality is excellent.

These tires are a long wearing, very stable and prudent choice in tires especially if you scoot around alot running errands or put in mega miles.
Definitely would buy again.

I have never done a tire review, but I have been so happy with these tires, I wanted to do it. I have owned many different tires over the years. Several brands and types. These by far have been the best I have owned. Overall, the Yokohama brand has been very good, but this particular tire has been great. I did not want to do a review until I had the tires for awhile. They have been great in the snow and rain. Traction is excellent. Great handling and quiet. Had my first rotation, and they are wearing very well. Cannot say enough about this tire. I hope they keep making them. I will buy them for any of my other cars if available. The other point to mention is the price. Very affordable; especially for what you get.

We got exactly what the warranty said we would out of these tires. The van has always felt sure footed in wet conditions even at the end of their life, we've had alot of rain in our area in the past few months. Ice/deep snow traction was a little lacking but then again the van was parked in our driveway where it was iced in. We're buying them again.

I purchased this tire like many others, because of the excellent wear reviews and their price. I live in NW Indiana, right at the tip of Lake Michigan, so I was not sure these would be able to handle the tremendous amount of Lake Effect snow we encounter. I had these installed right before Thanksgiving, and through the season the performed great. I even made it to work in my Sonata during the huge blizzard that shut down Lake Shore Dr. in Chicago...yes I was one of the idiots on the road. The performed great, and I did not get stuck once in over 12" of snow...this was fresh snow at the time, so I'm sure it would be a different story if it was wet snow.
My only issue with this tire is it's traction on wet roads on rainy days. The only way I can take off from a stop without "chirping" the tires is to put my car in 2nd gear. I don't knoow why they worked so great last winter, but I get this issue with water. THe stopping distance is also not great, as I had a car pull out in front of me on a rainy day last week. The intersection was about 100 yards ahead of me when they decided to creep across the road and I stepped on my brakes and slid right at him. If he would have been going any slower we would have hit. I can say I fely in control steering wise, but I just could not stop.

We have another winter upon us, so I will try to remember and post back in the spring. Overall right now I am happy with these tires, and for the price and winter performance, who wouldn't be!

Just had these tires for a short time. Do a lot of driving in heavy snow, but got them at the end of the season. The little bit I did drive on snow was able to get through with no problem and had great traction.

This is my wife's everyday driver and the one we usually travel in so it has do do everything. Very good tires for snow, ice, and dry driving. Smooth, reponsive (as your going to get with a mini van) and quiet. Ran them 8000 and then rotated and saw no signs of wear, should run well. Would definitely recommend these tires for the price and value. The OEM Goodyears on this vehicle were terrible. Nice improvement.

The Avid Touring-S is an outstanding value! Superior ride comfort and very low noise levels are definitely the tire's strongest point-- comparable to the much pricier Goodyear Assurance ComfortTread. Dry traction is excellent, and handling characteristics are predictable and appropriate for a T (or S) rated tire-- with steering response feeling slightly numb. However, the tire falls short on wet traction. I have to be very careful to avoid spinning the wheels when launching from a stop in the rain. I drive a light-weight front drive vehicle with a manual transmission which facilitates this by default, but I did not have to be as careful with previous sets of tires. Once in-motion, wet traction is stable though not great, so automatic drivers shouldn't have quite the concern. I do not get any snow, so cannot comment on that front. I have 30,000 miles on my set, and predict a 60,000 to 70,000 thousand mile lifespan. Proper inflation, alignment and rotation is a must for any tire if you expect it to last-- it amazes me how many people neglect this. (A note on treadwear warranties: They are a marketing tool used by tire manufacturers. Your tire will most likely not last the length of the warranty. This is not cause to write a scathing review.)



Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase. This is my second review of this set, and with increased mileage, I have not been disappointed. Living in Southern California, wet traction is not a priority, and the outstanding ride comfort and quietness can not be beat for the money. It's USA made too!

These are absolutely excellent tires for the price, and I'd recommend them for nearly any normal vehicle. I've had several sets of different Yokohama tires, and have enjoyed every single one of them (including AS530, various AVID and Geolander truck tires). These AVID Touring-S tires have been perfect for 60,544 trouble free miles so far as of today. I'm currently right at 4/32" tread on all 4 tires so they are getting a little thin, but they have worn pretty evenly as they've been rotated every 6,000 miles. I always keep them at 2-5 lbs above the recommended pressure, for mileage sake (except for a few times in the snow where I dropped the pressure to around 20-22 just to make sure my wife could get around for a few days while I wasn't around). These tires have driven all over the USA east of the Miss. River and dealt with every imaginable road condition; including deep snow and ice in Northern Michigan, to flash floods in Georgia and Florida, to insanely cold polar vortex and burning hot southern temperatures (and everywhere in between, including washboard dirt roads). These tires have performed flawlessly even with my driving style (aggressive, but smart). My only critique of dry performance is that they will squeal early like most normal passenger A/S tires, but they still maintain good traction and feedback throughout hard cornering (as hard of cornering as a Corolla can do, mind you). This includes driving 80mph in barely above freezing temps on West Virginian curvy mountainous roads = no issues. Wet performance is great, even in deep water where the OEM Goodyear Integrity tires would hydroplane easily. Braking has been fantastic, even recently in the cold rain with 4 or 5/32" tread. Road noise has increased a little bit now that they are getting a little more worn, but nothing above what I'd call normal (once again it's a Corolla so it's not OEM sound-dampened like a BMW or Benz). Treadwear is exactly as advertised. Fuel mileage has been great, 35-38 mpg.

I've put roughly 5k miles on these tires and loved them. I've been on dry and wet pavement and the tires operated perfect. This winter they ahve done great in 5" of snow and I couldn't be happier. Before these tires I had the AVID TRZ and they too were great tires. The Touring-S are a step down but still perform better than any other tires I've purchased. The Touring-S are a little louder than the TRZ but not enough to bother me in the slightest. I plan on putting these tires on my wifes Civic within the next few months. If you are are looking for an overall great tire that is not over priced give these a try. You will be impressed. As long as Yokohama continue making tires to match the current standards I will continue to by them. The are made in the USA so that is even better.

Great difference over OEM tires. Ride like they are stuck to the road, corner surely but not darty like a sports car. Touring ride friendly, nicely comfortable and sure footed. I think I sometimes hear a little noise depending on road surface but am not sure and the tires are still new. Will update in 30,000 miles. I hope to find the same Yokohama quality and value I have had in the past.

We bought these Yokahama Avid Touring-S tires to replace our aging BF Goodrich Premier Touring radials, and so far we couldn't be happier. We immediately noticed the ride quality is much better & these tires are much quieter on the highway - we can listen to the stereo without having to crank it up over the road noise. We've driven in some rain & the wet traction is vastly superior to the BFG's. the braking & cornering seems better, too. I haven't driven a lot of miles on them yet, so I can't rank them in all categories (ice & snow traction, for example.) They seem like excellent tires & my wife feels much safer with them on the van. I will write an updated review after we have put a few thousand miles on them & driven them in the snow. Right now I think these tires a re a great buy & they easily out perform the tires that they replaced.

I bought these to replace the original Goodyear tires that came on the car. I am satisfied with them overall. There is a very slight whine at highway speeds but it is barely noticeable and I have to listen closely to even hear it. Other than that, they are very quiet riding tires and have not gotten any noisier after 40,000 miles. Tread wear is good and they stay in balance. They ride and handle very well during my normal driving on dry roads. I drive in snow occasionally in winter and the traction in snow and slush is decent considering that the Corolla is a pretty light car.

The only real complaint I have with them is that they have poor traction on wet pavement. They will break loose during moderate to heavy braking and cornering. Part of the reason this is so noticeable is that they handle so well on dry roads that it makes the grip on wet roads seem much worse than I would expect.

Overall a good tire and, even considering the wet road traction issue, I would probably buy them again.

I really like these tires, they are still sitting in the garage. I plan to install them the day before the first snow. These tires will replace the second set of OEM Goodyear RAs. The Goodyear RAs were/are good tires but didn;t last too long. I'm looking forward to the reported long tread life with the Avid Touring-S. I picked up these tires when passing thru Soyth Bend, IN, no shipping charged, but did pay local sales tax. The stop at Tire Rack's headquarters was interesting and enjoyable. A BIG operation.