Choosing the right tires is one way of ensuring your safety and the passengers who are with you. However, you have one big problem in this aspect: there are tons of brands and tire types available.
The Yokohama YK740 GTX and Michelin Defender are two of the most popular passenger and all-season tires and are personally our favorites.
Bottom Line Up Front: Tire Rack has some of the best selection of tires on the planet. They offer a more seamless, low stress buying experience and offer some of the best customer support we’ve seen. And since they are an online-only shop, Tire Rack can deliver a better quality product at a lower price compared to other name brands.
What Is Yokohama YK740 GTX?
Since 1917, Yokohama has been a leading provider of premium and reliable tires globally. It caters to light trucks, passenger vehicles, commercial cars, and off-road automobiles. One of its new additions in its touring lineup is the YK740 GTX, which is suitable for performance cars, minivans, crossovers, and SUVs.
It promises a comfortable and quiet ride all year due to its newly innovated tread design that improves its traction and grip on any surface. It has an overall diameter of 24.1 inches, and the tread’s depth is 12 inches. More importantly, it is an all-season tire, so you would expect it to survive dry, wet, and icy pavements.
Yokohama YK740 GTX prides on some of its best features, including triple 3D snipes, asymmetric groove arrangement, special pitch variation, adaptive shoulder block, ELS orange change oil compound, and the 60,000-mile treadwear warranty.
The tire is available in H- and V-speed rating, and its variety run from 185/55R15 to 255/55R20. With its wide range of choices, you will probably find one of these all-season performance touring passenger car tires suitable for your car at home.
What Is Michelin Defender?
Michelin is another trusted brand in the automotive industry, and the Defender is its all-season touring tire lineup that can stand along with Yokohama’s YK740 GTX. Right now, it has two variants: Michelin Defender LTX M/S and Michelin Defender T + H. Both are designed to perform in any weather condition and ensure a longer tread life.
The Michelin Defender is quite known for having one of the longest mileage warranties to reach up to 90,000 miles. Moreover, it also aims to provide eco-friendly tires to its users with its low rolling resistance feature, Green X technology, and fewer waste products.
Apart from the ultimate tread life, all-season safety, and a quiet ride, it also comes with an IntelliSipe technology that makes accelerating, braking, and cornering a lot easier. With their enhanced lateral and circumferential grooves, the tires are reliable on any surface features and temperature.
It is suitable for sedans, crossovers, and minivans, and it is available from 175/70R13 to 235/55R17.
What Are the Pros of Yokohama YK740 GTX?
- Tire Tread Technology
- Crisp and Steady Handling Functionality
- Great on Snow
The Yokohama YK740 GTX has a reputation of being an exemplary all-season and road touring tire because of its positive features. The tire’s tread technology has impressed most of its users as the asymmetric pattern and End-Locked Silica (ELS) orange tread compound improved traction. The ELS also makes the tire pliable despite the temperature’s extremities. That is why it has an efficient contact on dry and wet roads.
Steering and stability are two other factors that make the YK740 GTX a standout. It has a crisp and steady handling functionality that you do not need to worry about if you need to make a sudden brake or cornering. However, it is a little less reliable at a higher speed as it is not a racing car.
The freezing weather in some areas is another challenge for touring tires, but this variant is also great on snow. The teeth of its triple 3D snipe make it capable of driving through low to moderate snow without a problem. As a result, this product is a bit dependable during winter, but sliding is still possible with icy roads.
Overall, the Yokohama YK740 GTX lives up to its promise of being a trustworthy all-season tire. As an icing to the cake, it also has lesser tread noise at a moderate speed that will make you enjoy the ride a lot better.
What Are the Pros of Michelin Defender?
- Unrivaled Traction
- Stable Cornering Capacity
- Low Rolling Resistance
There is a reason why the Michelin Defender ranked first in the Standard All-Season Tire class. First of all, this variety works best when it comes to traction. Thanks to its IntelliSipe technology, the tires have a better grip on dry, wet, and even icy road conditions. They prevent your car from hydroplaning as the tread splashes water away as soon as the tires get in contact with it.
Moreover, it is hailed as the best tire for having a stable cornering capacity, comfortable ride, and confident dry traction touring. Like other all-season passenger tires, Michelin Defender ensures that it does not produce noise in any road situation.
It also has an internal MaxTouch Construction that complements its two steel belts and polymer features. This combination improves the tire’s stability, speed, and strength.
More customers prefer the Michelin Defender because of its low rolling resistance, making it cost-efficient. It increases fuel efficiency at a lower cost with a more rigid tread block. That is why your gas tank can last longer, and you can save more by using this variety.
If that is not enough, always remember that Michelin is an innovator and a leader of environment-friendly products. With its tire’s longer mileage, the brand produces less waste yearly.
What Are the Main Differences Between Yokohama YK740 GTX and Michelin Defender?
Treadlife Warranty
Winner: Michelin Defender
As you have learned earlier, the Michelin Defender has far better mileage than the Yokohama YK740 GTX. It can reach up to 90,000 miles compared to the latter’s 60,000 miles treadwear warranty. That is why it is also logical to assume that the Defender’s life expectancy is much longer than its competitor.
Michelin’s vision of lessening waste and improving environmental conditions is one reason why it offers varieties that can last a year or more.
Water and Snow Traction
Winner: Michelin Defender
Among the four seasons, winter is the best time to test your tire’s abilities. There are days that the roads are wet, and other times it is filled with snow. Between our two competitors, which should you choose if you are living in an arctic area?
Yokohama YK740 GTX performs well in wet road conditions because of its ESL orange oil and 3D snipe features. However, this strength can be a little questionable if you accelerate the speed. Moreover, it can only survive on light snow, and its tread depth may underperform in this situation.
The Michelin Defender’s ergonomic groove design makes it more suitable on icy roads, although it can only pass up moderate snow conditions. The hard rubber will give you enough control to drive from point A to point B without facing problems on your brakes and handles.
Fairly enough, the two are not specifically made for winter. The extreme cold condition may make the tires freeze.
Off-Road Performance
Winner: Michelin Defender
Since all-season tires are not necessarily compatible with off-road adventures, you might think that none between Yokohama YK740 GTX and Michelin Defender score better. However, the latter has several features that can pass over sandy, dirty, rocky, and muddy roads.
The YK740 GTX’s tread design is less aggressive than its counterpart. It may have an excellent 3D snipe that makes the tire’s traction better, but it cannot survive harsh road conditions than the Defender. It may encounter several problems once it is soaked in mud or poked by sharp objects like rocks and stones.
Fortunately for Michelin Defender, its grooves are wide enough to survive in rough road areas. Its circumference provides better biting performance on tougher pathways, regardless of the weather.
Price
Winner: Michelin Defender
The two tires fall to the same bracket when it comes to pricing. They are a bit more expensive than the rest of the variants, but their excellent qualities make up for the extra dollars you are paying. However, when it comes to the worthiness of your purchase, the Michelin Defender still tops the competition due to its longer tread life and its ability to survive tougher road conditions.
Use Yokohama YK740 GTX If:
- You want to have a relaxed and quiet drive along with the city
- You wish to have a tire with excellent traction on dry pavements
- You prefer a tire that has a good steering and handling performance
Use Michelin Defender If:
- You prioritize an eco-friendly brand
- You want a tire that can last longer in terms of mileage
- You need a valuable and reasonable product for its price and quality
Wrap Up
The Yokohama YK740 GTX and Michelin Defender tires are some of the best varieties in the market today. While both promise to provide you with a smooth, safe, and reliable road touring experience, they still differ in several qualities.
Overall, we find the Michelin Defender a better choice as it strikes a balance between price and quality. However, the YK740 GTX is still a winner for it has advanced and improved features, and other low-budgeted tires cannot accomplish and perform.
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