gmanusmc

You are correct lesz - the MXM4 is what came with our ES. He asked about the availability of MXV4s - based on available articles and what I was told by the tire guys when I went shopping for MXV4s for my other car, they were replaced by the Premier. When we got our 2013 ES, I immediately had the Bridgestones changed over to MXV4s and it made a world of difference in the ride comfort. Wish they still made them but I guess old stuff has to make way for new stuff.

lesz

One of the reasons why I mentioned the MXM4 tires is that the MXM4 should have ride quality more similar to the MXV4 than would the Premiere tires. Also, the MXM4 is, like the MXV4, rated as a low rolling resistance tire, and the Premiere is not. As a low rolling resistance tire, the MXM4 should do a bit better with mpg than the Premiere. The chief selling point of the Premiere tires is that, as the tire wears, it is supposed to do a better job of retaining shorter braking distances, but the trade-off is a marginally noisier ride and the aforementioned marginally lower fuel economy.

While I've been reading, for at least 4 or 5 years, that Michelin has discontinued the MXV4 tires, Michelin, on their website, still shows them as a "current" tire model. I believe that they are no longer being made in some tire sizes, but they are still available in many tire sizes, and they are still available in many sizes from both national and local retailers. I just checked the sites of a couple of local tire retailers, and they still have the MXV4 tires available for the ES with both 17 inch and 18 inch wheels. TireRack shows them available in the size for the 17 inch wheels but not the 18 inch wheels. So, I would guess that, for anyone who really wants them, with some looking around, they can still be found. For what it is worth, though, I don't see much difference in ride quality, noise, or any other metric between the MXV4 tires that I had on my 2013 ES and the MXM4 tires that I have on my 2017 ES.

gmanusmc

Agree with everything you say - I wasn't trying to promote the Premiers -just passing on what I've read and been told. We've had several sets of the MXV4s with great results and my wife loves how her new ES rides with the MXM4s. I haven't really gone looking for MXV4s recently so am not sure of what the current availability is. But like you, I think the MXM4 is pretty comparable.

lesz

Just to be clear, my posts were not intended to disagree with any of the useful information that you provided. Instead, they were intended to add information to what you said.