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Michelin CrossClimate+

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I've only driven about 100 miles on these tires now, so these are really early impressions. It was sunny today, so these are only dry conditions.

The big discussion I often see is road noise because the OEM stock MXM4's have this dumb strip of foam which is supposed to quieten the ride and most other tires do not. I can say after initially driving on the CC+ that I don't notice any difference in volume of road noise between the MXM4's and the CC+. I think the CC+ sound "different" than the MXM4's because they have a different "note" when driven at any speed for lack of a better term. The MXM4's had this kind of muffled roar, the CC+ have a sort of hum. But one is not quieter or louder than the other to my ears.

What I noticed immediately is the difference in steering and handling. The CC+ are much, much more precise in handling. The MXM4's were always a bit vague and unresponsive, you would point the car where you think it should go and maybe you'll go there and maybe you'll go a couple feet to the right or left or where you wanted. The CC+ have a superior accuracy in steering response, I point the car where I want it to go and that is where it goes. Dry traction is worlds better, taking curves at speed on the MXM4's was always an exercise in wondering if I'll break traction and will the car start to drift and oh God driving on these tires feels like a suicide run sometimes. I can't wait to run these tires in the wet and snow and compare that to the MXM4's.

I want to comment on efficiency but I've only done a single round trip to work and back and I haven't been able to look at this in any detail yet. If I notice anything significantly different I will mention it after more time spent driving around.

The ride is definitely firmer on the CC+. I can feel road bumps more readily on the CC+ and in general the feeling on my butt is bumpier. The reviews are accurate there, these tires ride and feel firm. The 3 is already a car with a suspension tuned for a sporty feeling and these tires only magnify that feeling compared to the MXM4's. They are not tires for people who don't like feeling the road, I would suggest tires that feel softer like the Pirellis if you are not into the sporty feel. Note that I always kept the MXM4's at around 44 psi and the CC+ are currently around 41 psi and even with the inflation difference the CC+ feel noticeably firmer.

I find it hilarious that Costco quoted me a price of $1100 to replace MXM4's with another identical OEM stock set but only $850 to get me this set of CC+ when the CC+ are so clearly superior. That stupid strip of foam is apparently worth $300 and reduced performance in all road conditions. Michelin is ripping Tesla off here big time.

OEM tires are always more expensive, doesn't matter if they are actually good or not.
 
Adding a data point ... My MXM4 were ready for replacement after 32k miles and it was a tossup whether or not I'd pass inspection this year. Plus I always thought the MXM4 got a little squirrelly in the rain.

After some research, I set my sights on the crossclimate+. Costco said they were out of stock nationally for at least 8 weeks. So I had them shipped from tire rack and installed today. The shop guy said he'd never seen them before. I didn't realize these are newish to the USA.

Anyway, I took some decibel readings using an app. I know some people have said the CC+ are louder, but I didn't notice anything of note.

Conditions: LR RWD, radio off, aeros on, sunny, dry, same stretch of asphalt, A/C preconditioned and set to 74..so not much fan noise either time.

Stock MXM4 18"
40 mph - 75 dB
70 mph - 83 dB

CC+ 18"
40 mph - 75 dB
70 mph - 81 dB

So it's essentially the same. If there is a difference in the hum or whir, I couldn't tell.

I didn't take precise notes on efficiency, but with the new CC+ my 30 mile 2/3 highway, 1/3 city drive used 213 Wh/mile. So that seems pretty reasonable to me.

I haven't had many miles to really dig deep or play in the rain, but I'm thinking these new tires will work just fine.
 
To be a little pedantic, it appears the MX4Ms were well worn and the CC+ tires were brand new for this testing. Tires get louder with age. A new set of MX4Ms would likely be quieter than the CC+ tires.

I didn't know that, but it makes sense I suppose. Alas, I had to use what I had at hand. If the MX4Ms did get louder over the years, I didn't notice. The wind noise from the door and window seals is a bigger problem :D

We need someone with relatively new stock tires to take some dB readings in similar circumstances and compare and contrast.
 
1 month update:

I've logged about 2000 miles on the CC+'s on a variety of roads and conditions. Normal driving in other words.

I've seen about a 3% decrease in efficiency so no real complaints there. I don't notice the hum others have reported at various speeds . I do notice more road noise when turning the wheel at all speeds, like they scrub more the the stock tires did. Not sure if that will affect wear over time. The shop said the car didn't need alignment when they put the tires on.

Overall very pleased with them. Will see how they perform come winter time.
 
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My CC+ make a weird hum around 50-55mph. Otherwise they are fairly quiet.

I have had my CC+ mounted for about 9 months now. They had the same weird hum until I had driven about 300 miles - then it gradually disappeared. My guess is that it has to do with the way the threads are oriented (almost perpendicular to the travel direction on the outer rim). So they make kind of a "card shuffling noice" until they edge is worn a bit.

So far I am really pleased with the tires. Consumption wise they are almost as good as the original Pilot Sport tires and they have great grip even on wet roads in the summer (which was my main concern).
 
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I couldn't find a lot of info on CC+, but what I found noted they were great tires with little increase in noise. However, with my set of CC+, I found the noise is actually quite loud to me. It's louder than stock starting at 35 and gets louder at 75+. There is a howl to them and after 75+ the wind gets pushed up under the tire well. Sounds like I'm in an airplane by 80 mph. The air flow around the tires is different than stock. Probably because the tires sticks out wider over the rim than stock, even though it's still 235mm. The thread probably has something to do with the air flow as well. I'm not happy with the noise increase so far.

I got CC+ because I planned on a few trips this winter into heavy snow areas, but otherwise it's a huge mistake to get these tires in SoCal. I would probably swap these out for stock after this set is done. The stock tires were fine during the snow last year on the grapevine. I went through areas where only F150s and WRX were going. Everyone else pulled over before the freeway closed during last Thanksgiving. I think there were only 2 to 3 inches of snow on freeway at that time and doing 15 mph was okay on stock tires. The rear only slipped once when going from a stop.

So far, besides noise, the tires has more grip than stock. Cornering is very tight, but I feel uncomfortable testing at high speeds because I think it'll bite me hard if it slips. I'm taking turns at the same speed where new stock tires would slip at 57-58mph, and CC+ is still sticking at 60mph with ease. I don't want to test the limit on public roads, but it's acting like performance tires. Huge plus here.

Efficiency is a tad lower so far, and I need to drive more to compare. I'm planning to report back at 10,000 miles on efficiency. Stock tires went 41k miles at 244 Wh/mi which is about the same as it was at 10k miles.
 
After 3,000 miles I am very pleased with my decision to go with the CC+. Have not noticed an increase in noise level from OEMs, but it is different in frequency and tone. Very significant improvement in ride and handling over the MXM4s, but I so hated those tires anything would seem like an improvement. I have AS Pilot Sports on my other car and would probably go with those on the M3 if I lived in a more temperate climate, but the CC+ should do well in our Maine winter compared to the Pilot Sports.
 
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These are great tires for the price, but personally these tires are very loud to me. Here is a video at 65mph. Windows were closed. Air is hitting up on the wheel wells. Wife also complained about the noise. There is a howl to them too.

Dropbox - 20201124_114603.mp4 - Simplify your life

My stock Wh/mi is 244. Right now CC+ is way higher, but expect to drop a little as it breaks in, however I don't think it will drop by much. If anyone is interested, I can post a screenshot of CC+ consumption later. I'm not in the car now.

20201126_073747-02.jpeg
20201126_071528-01.jpeg
 
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I've been reading up on a few of the crossclimate and other tire threads here and have seen a bit of mixed results but nothing really as high as my wh/mi with my tires.
I'm getting around 300-330 wh/mi on my crossclimate+ tires with the aero caps removed. I've driven across the country with these tires so I'm at about 5k miles. Is this something that's normal? If not do you guys have any suggestions?

Car is an early 2020 m3 dual motor.
 
(moderator note: in performing form moderation and moving this thread to the driving dynamics forum, it appears these responses were posted at the same time I was moving the post. for some reason I cant find the original first post (which is not @mattnis post). I am currently looking for it so I can put these with it, then merge them into one of the many "crossclimate+ threads", but wanted to update for now what happened to prevent confusion for @mattnis and @Phlier about this thread)

Edit: OPs post found and merged into an existing thread on crossclimate+
 
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Exactly.

To see the huge effect speed has on energy usage, drive one mile at 30 mph. Look how much energy it took. Now do the same at 60, and one last time at 80.

Comparing wh/mile of one tire to another is pointless if you don't know the speeds at which the tires were run at.
Driving speed is around 60-70 highway in 50-70f weather. Prior to getting these tires my wh/mi was around 220-250.
 
Driving speed is around 60-70 highway in 50-70f weather. Prior to getting these tires my wh/mi was around 220-250.
Ah, there we go. As long as your speed(s) and temp(s) were comparable, then yes, you can say that your new tire is definitely costing you some efficiency.

As a general rule, the higher the tire pressure you run, the better your efficiency will be, with a small hit to riding comfort. Look at your tire's specs, and run the tire pressure (safely) toward the top end of the spec. That should get you about as good of efficiency as that tire is going to give you.
 
Ah, there we go. As long as your speed(s) and temp(s) were comparable, then yes, you can say that your new tire is definitely costing you some efficiency.

As a general rule, the higher the tire pressure you run, the better your efficiency will be, with a small hit to riding comfort. Look at your tire's specs, and run the tire pressure (safely) toward the top end of the spec. That should get you about as good of efficiency as that tire is going to give you.
I did see that mentioned before, I have them at a higher pressure that I had with the stock tires. Stock were about ,39 cold, these are at 42-44 cold 46-48 warm. I've seen others having their wh/mi listed at around 250-280 with these and I'm just trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong here. I didn't think that these tires would cause an over 30% range hit