Then I would definitely be looking into the Falken Wildpeak AT Trail. You can get them in your stock tire size, but considering you're in Philly and I know how great your roads are, I would be increasing the sidewall of my tires and adding some width. You can take your stock wheels and throw on 255/65/18 tires. It adds a little width and a little more sidewall, increasing the comfort of the ride. With the Falken Wildpeak AT Trails, you'll have comfort and snow capability. They'll weigh a little more than your stock tire, but you'll have the benefit of a more durable tire with the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol on it. Apples to apples at the 255/65/18 size, they weigh only 7 lbs more per tire than a Defender2 which is not snow rated.
Stock size Wildpeak AT trail says discontinued at TR. I have them on my FIL's Jeep Renegade. They are wearing even and have not been noisy. Much better than the stock Wildpeak it came with and the Pirelli Scorpion AT we replaced them with. Many really like them for light off road also. That said as he does all around town, all of his tires on that vehicle are done by 30k. I need something new for winter. He "needs" to have that aggressive sidewall look for the Jeep image
. Only off-road he sees is when he drives over my Belgium block and lawn. My Accord sees more mud/gravel but that's another story. They were acceptable in winter, he was happy, he refuses to get winter tires.
According to TireRack, the OEM tire was the Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport AS.
Wife almost wrecked Pilot after a couple days having it in the snow. She wanted to bring it back because of the tires and her experience compared to her winter tire equipped Sequoia. Absolutely horrible in snow and very noisy IMO. The winter tires we put on a week later were quieter and now she is happy in winter (but still misses Sequoia).
Defender LTX was stopped a few years ago and replaced with Defender 2. I will be replacing my Defender LTX with Defender 2 soon. My tire guy is trying to talk me into the Michelin CrossClimate but I've had a great experience with my Defenders on all my vehicles.
The Defender 2 as I read and look at tread is very close to the old Defender T&H. Competent in dry, pretty good wet, quiet, winter eh. That was on 2 CRV's. On my daughters CRV I replaced them with older model Pirelli Scorpion AS+2. She only uses 3 season though and has dedicated winter as all my cars do. I'd have no issue putting the Pirelli AS3 on my Pilot or her CRV but again I run full winter tires.
My issue with the all weather tires is that many seem to forget physics. Once the tread gets down to about 6/32" they will lose a lot of winter grip, just like dedicated winter tires. Most winter tires have a wear bar at 6/32". As long as that corresponds to your wear conditions than ok but many can't see replacing tires at that point for their daily driver. Most of the all weather tires also are directional so you can only do front/rear rotations, no cross rotating to even out wear if needed like with asymmetrical versions.
I think on my search the current closest replacement to the Michelin Defender LTX M/S for
me would be the
Continental TerrainContact HT which gets good ratings for dry/wet and light snow. Tread pattern looks a lot like the LTX. The
Conti CrossContact LX25 also gets good ratings the same way from many but to me more toward just highway.
Michelin CrossClimate 2- multiple friends and family have them and really like them. Some have decided not to get winter tires any more around them due to the lack of winters we have been having. One complained about some lost MPG and a bit louder than what they had BUT said acceptable for the much better grip in all conditions trade off. (The AW comments apply).
Nokian Remedy WRG5- original all weather tire brand. These are asymmetrical and nicely siped for winter. I had many Nokians over the years, mostly dedicated winter. I did have a set of WRG2 on my Corolla as my winter tires and they were very good. That was when we used to get snow also. 4-5/32" they got questionable in winter back then but were 5 seasons old. I replaced with new dedicated winter Nokians but did use the WRG2 as my 3 season until the next fall.
Pirelli AS3 - Everyone needs a nice set of Italian shoes. Based on the Pirelli Scorpion AS+2 on my daughters CRV and the P7 Cinturato AS+2 on my Accord, I'd have no issue getting the AS3 depending sales etc. They were and still are very quiet on both vehicles making for nice highway drives while being good in wet and good handling that I have tried.
Black Friday is coming so will the sales. Last year Continental had a $110 off a set of 4 all month. If you used the
Conti Credit card through Synchrony Bank they doubled that to $220 as a rebate. I was able to use it at my local tire shop and bought 4 Conti's for my sons car (TrueContact Tour) from them. Supports local shop I use frequently and was actually cheaper than the ship from TireRack and have installed even with rebate. I paid the balance the next month to avoid interest. My Pirellis I got at Sam's Club as they had a really good promotion going at the time.
Best winter focused as a 1 tires solution IMO that I would get - 1) Nokian WRG5. 2) Michelin CC2. 3) Continental TerrainContact HT.
3 season focus - 1) Pirelli AS3. 2) Conti CrossContact LX25, 3) TerrainContact HT
light off road (beach/dirt/gravel) and Daily drive - TerrainContact HT or TerrainContact AT if a bit more focused for off road.
Not listed above but also options that are all weather and asymmetrical - General Altimax 365AW, Toyo Celsius
I haven't tried and Firestones in many years but the Destination LE2 or 3 get good reviews- Like a Camry or Accord, probably can't go wrong with them and will get you there safely.
My Goodyear experiences have not been great over many years on multiple vehicles so not my preferred buy unless nothing else available.
