Michelin Agilis CrossClimate vs Michelin CrossClimate 2 — Compared

“Just an update. I emailed Michelin about the Agilis vs. Defender: My email: I am thinking of using LT 275/65/18 for my Land Cruiser. I cannot decide between Michelin Defender vs. Agilis CrossClimate. I do plan on taking my car off-roading over mild terrain (more rocky, less mud). My Land Cruiser is around 6000 lbs. I read that Agilis has double the nylon reinforcement as Defender and has a tougher sidewall. Are these things true? Is Agilis a tougher tire? On-road, is Agilis as quiet as Defender? How is the rolling resistance between the two (same size)? Thank you in advance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michelin’s response: We would like to thank you for contacting us! We would recommend that Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires for your luxury SUV. The Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires are going to be quieter, due to the tread grooves been closer. Also, the rolling resistance will be a little better. The Michelin Agilis Cross Climate is an excellent tire that serves well for all weather performance and built with a little more strength for more heavier larger vehicles, like 2500 or 3500 trucks.”

“Looking to replace my summer tires for my work van. I carry about 2,000 lbs of cargo and have another set of wheels&tires for snow. These would just be for pavement/highway use. Im looking for quiet ride and longevity. Factory size is LT225/75R16 which id like to stick to. Ive worn out some Michelin Agilis Cross Climate in about 60,000 miles. It looks like Michelin now calls the Agilis Cross Climate which i currently have the Cross Climate2. Looking for something similar. The Michelins are spendy, wondering if ill be happy with something different. Was looking at Firestone Transforce as a possibility. Open to any ideas and the collective experience of those here.”

“Yup. I currently have CrossClimate Load E on the front, and CrossClimate C-type on the rear. The van has never had a better ride. (Note to readers who are less familiar with different Interstate model years - mine is not a dually. I only have two tires to carry the butt-heavy rear, so the load rating consideration takes on an outsized importance). Price is the same, to within about ten bucks. C-type is not more expensive. The published disadvantage is a stiffer ride. But the ride is harsh anyway - we have discussed that ad nauseam on this forum. I don’t find that to be a deal-breaker for a tire with a larger load-carrying capacity. Especially given the still-unexplained blow-out I had with the lower-capacity tire. Back in the Catastrophic blowout thread, I mentioned that the C-type CrossClimate is not advertised. I had to have a Discount Tire CSR point me to their page for it. There’s a screengrab of it on that thread.”

“I replaced the factory Continentals at 9,258 miles at the end of August 2023 with the stock size 225/65R17 Michelin CrossClimate 2's. I waited until the local tire shop had a sale and had these mounted/balanced for under $800. 348 days, 10,004 miles and 4 seasons have passed since then. I spend much of my time around "town" with speed limits under 55 while also having a handful of longer highway drives. These are the closest thing to a "no-compromise" all season tire that I can imagine. They are smooth, quiet and have incredible grip in all weather conditions. Snow, rain, etc. Admittedly, I have not taken my FWD Maverick through any meaningful amount of mud. Maybe there is a tire better suited to this. There are also certainly performance oriented tires that will outperform this tire when it is hot and dry. Last, and certainly not least - there does not seem to be any fuel economy change. I have tracked every tank before and after these tires. Both my best (48.5MPG) and worst (27MPG) full tanks have happened since these were installed. 38.8 overall.”

“I have had the Cross Climate 2 tires on my VW All Track now for about a year and thought I would share some findings about them. 1. They are QUIET on the road. Looking at the tread, you might think they are noisy but they are not! Run as quiet as a normal tire. 2. They give excellent traction and handling on dry, wet and snowy roads. This past winter, I had two occasions to drive on roads covered with 6-10" of snow. Excellent traction. 3. They wear very well! After about 12,000 miles, they hardly show any wear. I expect to get about 50,000-60,000 miles out of these tires. 4. They do exact a mileage penalty. I lost about 2 mpg overall since putting on these tires. However, I do not mind that considering the excellent traction I get from them. 5. They tend to pick up stones in the tread, particularly after the great state of Pennsylvania in its wisdom covers the roads before, during and after a snowstorm with gravel. Overall, this tire is a winner. Handling is excellent as is wear and traction. I would recommend this tire to anyone who wants these features and wants to leave a set of tires on their car year around.”

“Michelin CrossClimate 2 after 31.000 kilometers I have those Michelin CrossClimate 2 (EU version, made in Spain) for 26 months now and 31.000 kilometers on a heavy Mercedes EQE, the rears are still good but the front tyres are starting to give up on the shoulders. Usual tyre pressure is 2.8 bars, there is still some good tread left on the middle of the tyre. Steering feeling on the snow is also not as good as it used to be. Overall very happy with those tyres, I’ll have to decide between the Continental AllSeasonContact 2 or the CrossClimate 3 Sport (sadly the 3 isn’t available in 255/45 R19) to replace them this year. We have the Pirelli Scorpion SF3 on our second car. Given the car and my usage, I give priority to snow braking, rolling resistance, silence and longevity. I lost a bit of range, comfort and steering engagement when I swapped the factory Bridgestone Turanza T005 for the CrossClimate 2, but in general nothing to call-out.”