185/80 R14 Tyres

I had 3 of these fitted to our caravan (2 road wheels, 1 spare wheel) in Feb 2016. As the weight is spread over 2 wheels, instead of 4 in a car, reinforced van tyres are now almost always required for caravans or heavy trailers (Load index 102/100 8-ply in this case; normally run at 60psi pressure). With a manufacture date code of 4215, these tyres are now over 7 years old, and are well due for changing, despite only covering about 2000 miles per year on average. They have shown virtually no signs of tread wear, and no cracking in the sidewalls or tread, but age deterioration internally is of course not visible. I've been very happy with these tyres to date, and plan to replace them soon with the exact same brand and type.

Wonderful tyres. Fitted them to my van and then swapped them onto my breakdown truck after that. Never left me stuck and have got me out the shit on a few occasions. Will buy again.

Excelent grip on mud, gravel, good grip on light/heavy snow & tarmac. Average grip on wet tarmac. Noisy, but not Big deal, used on Subaru Impreza wagon.

These XAS radials were what my Dad always fitted to the family Ford Granada estate car back in the 1980s; some sizes are still available from Michelin Classic. I remember these tyres being very good and dependable: we never had to change them due to failure or puncture in many years of family holidays, even towing a caravan and fully loaded with lots of luggage, two parents and three large boys. They were quiet at all speeds and on most road surfaces; they gripped well on wet and dry tarmac and concrete, around corners and while braking. Each set lasted many thousands of miles over several years despite my Dad being a quite aggressive driver. With him at the wheel the Michelins never squealed or slid, despite his hauling the heavy car around corners often a bit too quickly for me and his passengers.

The only weaknesses of the Michelin XAS were what you might expect from a tyre with no winter or off-road credentials: very little grip on winter snow and ice, and poor traction on the wet grass and mud often encountered on British farm caravan sites. These tyres will probably be expensive, but are worth the price for on-road use in spring, summer and autumn.

Slightly noisy, and stiffer, penalty paid for excellent grip in wet and snow.
No appreciable wear yet.

Fantastic in the snow in the UK (last year and this), and ok in summer, with these tyres on my rwd automatic 93 Toyota Estima I've had no problems with snow in winter (but i often stopped to help dig others out) or mud in summer fields.

The old normal tyres i had, would get stuck on the smallest amount of snow or ice.

Wear has been fantastic, too. doesn't show any signs of wearing at all yet (snipes are still clearly visible). The high load rating (102) also means i don't mind so much about the odd bump, or being on the heavy side.