[Gummy Bear Wagon]

I'm a Michelin fan. I saw how well they were built when I worked at a tire shop in college, and I told myself, when I can afford them, I will buy them. If you put 20,000 miles a year on your car, Michelins are going to be the best all-around tire and can be cheaper if you put 80,000 miles on them. Their only weakness is if you are not rolling out lots of miles, I would not recommend them since they dry rot faster than other brands. There are other tires that will beat a Michelin in any single category, but the higher price buys you quality that scores near the top in every metric.

 

[Gummy Bear Wagon]

I respectfully disagree. I've had a few sets of Michelins over the last 20 years and didn't appreciate any of them.

Michelin does offer a range of tires so I would be interested in which you had. We are not talking about Pilot Sports or the special fuel economy tire when we talk generalizations of their tires. I sure hope you were not buying the Michelin line-up from Walmart. Walmart is the only retailer I know of that sold Made in China tires from them.

Most LRR tires ride like garbage. The well-rounded Michelins can offer a nice ride and fuel economy. I would still avoid their Energy Saver.

I have seen a few bubbles in tires, and I think Michelin held more than its share, but bubbles are very rare.

 

[Gummy Bear Wagon]

I had them on 3 different cars as the OE tires. All three rode well enough and the tires seemed to wear reasonably well but the sidewalls were mush and the handling suffered because of it. I really don't like it when I can feel a tire roll over in hard cornering and I can see scrub marks an inch up from the tread. Maybe I'm weird but ride quality, treadwear and mpg are not as important as confidence in emergency maneuvering and the "giggle factor" of a car being laid into a corner and feeling like it's on rails. In the case of a top heavy minivan or suv a properly firm sidewall is even more important.

I am familiar with scrubbing on the sidewall. You drive your car hard. This is a matter of under inflation for the tire for your style of driving. You can get a higher performance category of tire and it will require less of an increase in tire pressure. I wish I could take my van around the corner on two wheels. All the tires I have ever owned would roll over the sidewall when I push the car to the limit during autocross. Add 10 psi and it saves the tires and also acts like an increased spring rate in the suspension.
I had Pilot Exaltos (daily comfort-based performance?) on my sports car and loved them. Once that size was no longer available, I put Premieres on. The steering response suffered drastically and there was no noticeable improvement in ride quality or noise. It was still a good tire; it was just not meant to be handled like that.