New Tires Q5 - Which Michelin?
 

My 2015 neutered Q5 TDI needs some new tires.

I usually go with Michelin for all my tires, and generally Costco.

Trying to work out what the difference is between:

Latitude Tour HP
Premier LTX
Primacy MXM4
Premier LTX

They're nearly all identically priced! And I cannot for the life of me work out the difference!!!

We've got the Premier LTX 18" tire on our 2015 Q5. Great tire. I see two versions at Tire Rack: one version has the Audi A0 designation, the other does not

hitch-
I was in the same situation last year. I prefer Goodyear or Michelin and Costco makes the buying easy, plus they have a national "will patch flats free" policy. Sadly they don't carry Goodyear, which IIRC makes the best choice for these cars. And it took them over a week to get the tries in.

The Michelin's I got were chosen because they're competitive in price, competitive in wet/dry handling, competitive in just about any rating--but they're also the tread compound that is designed to increase traction as it wears, instead of losing it at the usual pace.

Offhand, I have no idea which one that was, but a quick look at Tirerack or other vendors will get you that information. Any tire marked as "Audi OEM" is not the same as a retail tire. Usually the OEM tires are compromised in some way, so they cost the car company less than the "real" brand.

These Michelin's are a noticeably firmer harder ride than the original Dunlop's, which were a POS that went bald in 15,000 miles. (!) If I was really sensitive to that, I'd probably drop 2psi all around and see how that changed things, but it doesn't bother me.

I am also a Michelin fan and fastidious about air pressure and rotation. I've had multiple sets of OEM Latitude Tour HP on a Jeep Grand Cherokee that ride and handle wonderfully but to Dr Strangelove's point about OEM, none lasted more than 20K miles. I have not tried the retail version which may last longer. I've also had Primacy MXM4 on a BMW X5 and again rode and handled very well. For my 2017 Audi Q5 with 235/55-19's, tread depth for various tires seems to be as low as 8.5/32nds to around 10/32nds with claimed mileage warranty from 35k to 65k miles. All tires are basically done when they hit the molded in tread wear bars which occurs around 2-3/32nds. Manufacturers will put on an OEM tire with a speed rating that matches the top speed of the vehicle. Performance tires with higher speed ratings tend to be softer compounds and at the lower end of the depth scale for more grip, better braking and less tread squirm during high speed maneuvers. I don't need high performance tires (usually H speed rating is adequate) so I like replacement tires with more depth and longer life. Overall I think Michelin does a great job of balancing ride comfort, handling and durability but all tires have trade-offs so consider your particular priorities. The tire with the absolute highest mileage rating may also have the harshest ride, worst rain/snow performance and terrible grip.
The Premier LTX is the newest of the three you mentioned and I will likely give the AO version a try when my Q5 needs tires. Tire Rack has great information, mainly derived from averaging customer ratings in multiple performance categories such as wet, dry, winter, comfort, tread wear etc as well as how many cumulative miles the reporting customers have driven on them so more miles means more individual experience and a more comprehensive evaluation. Currently tires in the 235/55-19 size rank as follows:
1. BF Goodrich Advantage T/A Sport LT 100% of #1 Reported Miles 141K
2. Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season Plus 92% of #1 5.5M
3. Michelin Premier LTX 89% of #1 5.9M
4. Michelin Latitude Tour HP 84% of #1 14.0M
5. Yokohama Geolander G055 84% of #1 556K
And so on with Dunlop Grandtrek Touring at #10 and 67% of #1 1.9M
Discount Tire has some good information as well as retail centers for installation, TPMS sensors, warranty claims etc. Good luck!

Big fan of Michelin in the UHP tire market, the 4S on a sedan/coupe are second to none. That being said there Pilot Sport A/S 3+ is one of the best A/S they make, I recently put new tires on my Q5 and went with the Pirelli Scorpion Verde A/S+. I usually don't "like" A/S for our winters here in WNY, but these tires are awesome. Great traction in snow/slush, quiet and just and overall a great tire. Also helped that I got a dang good deal on them from a buddy that manages a Mavis Tire, $700 installed for 235/55/19's. Make sure if you do get them, get the "+" or Plus version, the non-Plus version is not nearly as highly rated or good.

Depending on your needs...that is, do you need some snow traction, I would recommend the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+.

I've got over 50K on mine, and am just replacing them now...they are great for moderate snow conditions, too!

Jason
New York

Since they are the same price and same manufacturer you could go by wear ratings if you wanted.

Latitude Tour HP is a crossover touring all-season tire looks like it came as a possible OE tire and has a 440 A A rating
Premier LTX is also a crossover touring all-season tire and has a 620 A A rating. (So in theory should last about 40% long than the Latitude Tour HP since we are comparing same manufacturer.)
Both above are LT Light Truck tires.
Primacy MXM4 is a grand touring all-season passenger car tire usually the more comfortable but less sporty of the categories with a 500 A A rating. (So somewhere in between the above two.)

This is great info. I have just started researching for our 2015 Q5 TDI. We run a winter tire but our summers our done. We do a ton of highway miles on the weekends.

Cheers,
Mike

We'll be at 40k miles this summer with the Michelins. They'll need to be replaced earlier summer. Tire has been nothing short of perfect, I've never even rotated them they've worn so nice.

We got 41k miles on the original Continental LX Sport tires - - another excellent, problem-free choice.