Review - Michelin Defender LTX Platinum Tires - Cyberbeast

[TheEther]

This is the thread on this Tire I would have liked to have read but not much is out there. A couple kind members here have them and I've enjoyed reading their notes. The AT's were great through the winter for me but they are noisier than I'd like on the interstate. Most of my driving is City/Interstate with only occasional off-road. The Truck is so quiet I wanted more of that. I wanted to soften the ride a little, /possibly/ increase Interstate speed efficiency, reduce the noice considerably and perhaps have a little better traction than the AT's. I decided to give the Michelin Defender LTX Platinums a try on the stock wheels. Over all I like the way they look, still aggressive but with a more traditional sidewall. I've had them mounted since March 4th, they were properly Road Force Balanced by my local tire shop I've had a long relationship with.

Findings after 3 weeks and 725 miles driven on the Michelin Defender LTX Platinums:

1. Right out of the gate they were quieter than the AT's
2. My steering squircle was not centered (ever so slightly left cocked) after getting the vehicle back from the tire shop. They did observe the proper lift points (I printed out the manual page, handed it to them and showed them where to lift). I drove it on the lift myself and put it in Jack Mode. They did NOT attempt to align it on my request. Tesla did align it at the service center and all is well ($295 bucks later).
3. The ride is softer than the AT's
4. When tuning these tires for quietness, Air Pressure matters. They roar at 47 PSI and at 53 PSI but tends to be most quiet dead nuts on 50 PSI. Oddly though, temperature swings affect this tire more than the AT. 47 PSI at 45 degrees Fahrenheit and 53 PSI at 80 degrees Fahrenheit on Blacktop. I haven't tried it at 60PSI like another member here mentioned. The tires still have a little roar / roar/resonance/warble but not as much as the AT's. Something like half the noise of the AT's which is nice, I hear the Tesla motors more with these than I did with the AT's.
5. They don't (at least at this time) seem to have as good of dry traction as the AT. I notice it in hard cornering and Beast Mode launches. Hoping this will improve as they break in a little more, but doubt I'll see much difference. Not a deal breaker but may cost you a Tenth of a second or two on blacktop in a Bestmode lunch.
6. Wet performance seems to be very good.
7. The Michelin's appear to be more energy efficient than the AT's.
8. Stopping seems great, no issues.

I have a Tessie Subscription and posted a few metrics. In this case on the first two images, I've filtered out all city/short trip driving and showing only interstate drives. If you know Tessie better than I do, by all means suggest other metrics:

Michelin Defenders - March 14 below is a 160 mile round trip. FSD most of the drive kept around 73mph

Stock AT Tires - March 3rd below is a 170 mile round trip of interstate, FSD at around 73 mph.

Below is all drive data for the entire month for the last 3 months.

More Data in the thread below

https://www.cybertruckownersclub.co...platinum-tires-cyberbeast.38583/post-30575900

and

https://www.cybertruckownersclub.co...m-tires-cyberbeast.38583/page-4#post-30604204

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[misdemeanor]

Nice write up! It's always good to have a good relationship with a tire shop. I also have a local tire shop in Lexington that I always take my Teslas to.

Glad to see a fellow Kentuckian here!

 

[donnyb]

Thanks for the info. The Michelin defenders are going to be my next set of tires.

 

[tskyline]

I have been waiting for this. Awesome report. At 13k I still have some time for new tires but, I haven’t gotten to off-road at all and need more efficiency and cornering ability. I think Michelin’s will do the job

 

[Willinak]

Thank you! Good info and timely.

 

[TheEther]

Happy to help. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[puchanix]

Happy to help. Let me know if you have more questions.

Can you please post a couple of photos of how the whole truck looks with the tires?

Thanks!

A.

 

[EMoeller]

Thanks for this writeup. Michelin's are the only tire I use on the road and these are going to be my replacements in the future for my CyberBeast.

Why my "only tire" - I worked for a company that sold material to Michelin and I had an opportunity to go to their test facility in France. These folks are the Tesla of tires, and as secretive as Apple!

Off-road and track may be edge exceptions...

 

[not_elon_]

What’s the point of these tires beyond the cybertruck pirellis? Do they have a foam liner? Do they have a higher load rating so they don’t wear out in less than 20k mi?

 

[btcrealm]

Do you know if these tires are H rated? This only matters for the cyberbeast as the AWD tires are S rated. It sounds like yours is the cyberbeast.

 

[getsometom]

Thanks for the review and report. Would love to see a long term review after 30k usage to get your continued impressions.

 

[Peterwtf]

Nice review. I will try these for my next set. I recently got the Tesla winter tire package. The Duratracs are good, but I only got them because I needed to use my credits, and getting a complete set of rims and tires for about $600 out of pocket sounded real good to me. IMO, the duratracs are good, but they are a little louder and I do notice some loss in range. I think I loose about 10-15% depending on my driving. More in the cold and wet. But I don’t regret my decision. The tires look great, worked great in the snow and rain, and the extra sound is barely noticeable to me. The range hit does bother me. Thats why I want to try these Michelins next.
Btw, I have 2 original rim, tire, TPMS left if anyone wants to buy them. They make great spare tire. $350 each. P/up only please. La Habra ,CA

 

[Gundo]

Thanks very much for this - I've been looking at other options versus stock and the Michelin is top of my list

 

[TheEther]

What’s the point of these tires beyond the cybertruck pirellis? Do they have a foam liner? Do they have a higher load rating so they don’t wear out in less than 20k mi?

The Michelin Defender LTX Platinum's are a 70K mile tire. MUCH different than either CT Stock Option. Pirelli's are also known get noisy too mid-life, these are (supposed) to be quieter and last longer.

 

[not_elon_]

The Michelin Defender LTX Platinum's are a 70K mile tire. MUCH different than either CT Stock Option. Pirelli's are also known get noisy too mid-life, these are (supposed) to be quieter and last longer.

Excellent! How did you decide which to get? The Michelin website shows no tires available for cybertruck if you look up by make and model.

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