"Best" tires for an Explorer Interceptor?

[Eric Z]

I have a set on my 2015 PIU and now have about 5k miles on them. Much quieter than the Ultras that were on and handle wet, dry and cold at least as well as the Ultras. Only light snow and ice so far this winter, but handles that better than Ultras. Time will tell as to deep snow and tread life.

Mid Winter now and have traveled thru slush, snow, black ice and subzero temps and the Goodyear Defenders are performing much better than the Ultra's. Happy with the change

 

[peterk9]

Mid Winter now and have traveled thru slush, snow, black ice and subzero temps and the Goodyear Defenders are performing much better than the Ultra's. Happy with the change

Technically we are just short of 2 weeks into Winter with about 11 weeks to go. Glad to hear that the tires are performing well for you. Happy New Year Eric.

Peter

 

[Rob_I]

While I can't comment if these are the BEST tires, I can tell you for certain before winter in New Hampshire, I ditched my "Persuit" tires that came on my PIU for:

245/55ZR-18 CONTINENTAL EXTREMECONTACT DWS 06

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeContact+DWS+06&partnum=455WR8DWS06

Suggested by the very nice people at Tire Rack. I had no preference going into it since I have been a Marauder and Suburban guy. This is my first mid-size SUV.

My impressions thus far. Maybe 5k on them:

Darn good

Solid wet and dry performance. Nice cornering. Low highway noise and pretty smooth ride. It's an SUV not a Town Car so I'm not expecting land yacht comfort.

Had some sporadic snow in NH last month or so. Absolutely no issues humping over 12" up hill out of my driveway and then 100 miles (mix of highway and back roads) to work and back on what the state and towns call "plowed" roads...aka pretty fk'n messy.

I tried to have some fun, and you know what I mean if you live in snow land, but was having some issues. Maybe it was the AWD, maybe the tires, probably both, but I was left day dreaming of epic donuts in my Marauder in open church parking lots. Oh well. I did manage to break free and do some ass sliding, but it took some work. If I didn't know I was in a blizzard and driving normally, I would have said it was dry pavement.

Even my mechanic who mounted them said while he vowed to never mount a Continental tire out of principle (maybe he's a Michelin man?) , he was pleasantly surprised when he test drove it.

All in all, I'd give them 2 thumbs up thus far. But that's me. As always, your mileage may vary.

 

[Mbrooks420]

My next tires will be Michelin CrossClimate 2s. Solid, viable choice for 4 season use, without your typical all season drawbacks.

 

[SamsonX]

General Tires has a "Justice" tire that I recently put on my 2013 PIU. I liked them so much that I swapped them with the RSA's I have on my 2017 PIU. Having a TPMS issue as I just swapped out all the wheels, but, I will deal with that shortly. I don't know about longevity on the General's, but, they were $400 cheaper than the RSA's and more comfortable.