It is hard to remember the old tires how they rode when new, how quiet they may have been vs the new tires. I have taken maybe 5 cars when new to the tire store to have michelins installed. I can always tell the difference, but the oem's are not expected to match up with a regular quality tire.

I remember a set of Goodyear's on a '77 Old Cutlass. I went also to Sears in north dallas one Saturday morning to see what deal I could get on trade for Sears labeled Michelin's. A customer overheard me talking and pulled me to the side. He offered me much more then I could got on any trade deal. The new michelins was like having cotton in your ears. Thought I was riding on pillows instead of tires. Like any tire around 35,000 they got noisier and road somewhat stiffer. I don't think I was rotating and balance them often enough. Later I learned 5000 miles the tires hold up much longer.

 

I replaced the OEM Michelin S8 on my '08 with the Primacy MXV4. My warehouse club had them in stock, and after 6000 miles, the only notable downside is 2 MPG drop in FE, despite the fact the Primacy was a 'Green X' tire. The tire is noticeably smoother riding at the same pressure, and has proven quiet. The purchase price was a bit more than ideal - $800 all-in for the set, including lifetime balance, road hazard, disposal fees, taxes, etc. that the warehouse club bundles in the purchase. Wear rating is a bit better than the OEM - which lasted 42K miles and still had a mm or so to wear bars, but got dicey on wet roads.

 

Some things to think about when comparing tires. Assuming a tire is rotated when needed to avoid uneven tire wear, it should get quieter as the tread wears down. Also as tread wears down the rolling resistance should decrease. Less rolling resistance means better fuel efficiency. As tread wears down, the diameter of the tire reduces, and it has to make more turns to travel the same distance. Your indicated miles traveled goes up, as does your mileage reported by the trip computer. This is a false indication of improvement, as it is just caused by a distance error.

So, when you put new tires on, you should expect some increase in road noise, and some reduction in fuel mileage (both real and indicated).

The diameter effect issue comes into play when switching brands too. Tire Rack reports revolutions per mile so you can tell whether you are going bigger or smaller when selecting tires. Anything different than your original tire for revs per mile, is going to affect mileage accuracy.

 

I don't see how you could loose 2 mpg by switching to a better quality LRR tire. I had the oem set of mich. S8 tires on my then new '07 TCH. I decided to go with the new mich fuel saver tire at 21,000 miles. Michelin advertised these saver tires to give a 8% increase in mpg. I was already averaging 50 mpg with the S8's and jumped to 55 mpg with the LRR saver tires. That was a 10% jump in mpg. I only put 17,000 miles on these ties and they still looked new when I traded the car off. The car had 38K on it when I traded it. Still I got 52 mpg average for the time I owned the car. Lots of 45 mph driving speed on that one to get the high mpg numbers.

As I stated earlier my new '12 XLE came with bridgstones. I read on the tire rack site customer reviews that's not a very good oem tire. I swapped them in for a new set of primacy tires. My second tank went 803 miles at 58 mpg. My third tank went 815 at 57 mpg. Part where I live near white sands new mexico, the other is it's very dry here in the desert. I did drive rather slow just to see how efficient this new '12 Camry hybrid is. I'm satisfied and will now drive like everybody else.

I do keep 40 psi cold (tested only at night) in my tires. At that pressure they ride great and seem to help the LRR feature especially during our dry winters. I don't recommend high tire pressure if you live in a wet area or when driving in ice and snow.

 

I listened on the way home rolled down the window and they seemed quiet, I'll bet quieter than the origianls, but I'm not an expert at remembering back ground noises from nearly five years ago. I had to pay attention to be able to hear the tires, so I guess that means they're e quiet.

 

The primacy mxv4 tires shows excellent LRR on the consumer reports fee based web site.

The michelin defender tires show excellent for noise and ride. Don't think their are many tires that can match that.

As far as I know the oem tires usually have a shallow tread. This is so the car handles good on a demo test drive. The dealer want's his new car to ride smooth and quite. So the oem tires may use a softer rubber that would wear out in 20,000 miles vs the long lasting store bought replacement tires.

 

Good article which points out the changes to expect when switching from a worn tire to a new tire:

Worn to New Changes

 

Just replaced mine last week as the originals are long gone and the replacement Michelin Energy Saver A/S were down to 4mm of tread left at 60,000 miles. Went with the Michelin Primacy MXV4 to replace them with and look forward to seeing how they work.

 

I'm glad to hear this. I worried the 9/32 tread on my Saver tires would not last long. I traded my '07 off for the '12 TCH. My tires still read 8/32 which had about 17,500 usage on them.

The Saver tires I had were a bit noisy before I traded the car off. You may have read my experience of whine from the oem Bridgestone tires that came on my '12 TCH. I didn't wait, I called many discount tire stores in El Paso and located one that gave me $65 trade in on a new set of Primacy's. I could have got more selling them by advertising but my wife rather me trade. Right off we both could tell the primacy's were so much quieter and rode smoother. Even at highway speeds these tires were quiet other than the usual inertia sounds.

I bought the 93V primacy's which are the oem version and are 9/32 tread. I paid more and should have went with the lower priced deeper tread 94H primacy's. Guess I was anxious to try out the new cars higher gas mileage on one or two full tank runs. Came out surprising me with the '12 not even broke in yet.

Anyway bet your going to love the michelin primacy tires. When I had them put on the car, I talked to a few of the tire rack employees. They say the primacy's always takes minimum weights. One fellow said he had just installed a set and didn't even require any weights.

The primacy is a green-X LRR tire and I would think it would match the Energy Saver tire for LRR performance and may include a better ride. You can look forward to 70K miles if you got the 94H tires. Like I tell people sometimes Michelin's cost more, but they are a good riding quality tire and last a long time.