Falken Wildpeak or Michelin Defender for 20” Limited?

My wife has a 2017 Limited with the standard 20” wheels. She needs new tires and I’d like to get something more appropriate for going off road.

When I drive the 4Runner I am usually taking it on “sand trails” near us which is a combination of sandy roads and straight up beach driving on fresh sand. So far, I’ve done fine with the stock tires and wheels but now that I need new tires anyways I figure I should “upgrade”.

I’d love to swap to 17” wheels but the wife isn’t interested and it’s her truck so I’m just making the best of what my options are. I’ve narrowed the tires down to the two I attached here and I am wondering pros and cons?

From what I’ve read, they are both good tires. The Falkens should be better in the winter and the Michelins should get better mileage and maybe be quieter on the highway. Am I on target here? Anything I’m not considering?

Thank you everyone!

 

Tough call. On the one hand, Michelin makes superb tires.

But on paper the Falkens beat the Michelins. The Falkens have the “three peak mountain snowflake” rating and the warranty is 65k miles compared to 50k for the Michelin’s.

I wonder if anyone has had real world experience with both.

 

The snowflake rating is partly why I am leaning towards the Falkens. I live in New England and some years we have no snow (last year) but some years it’s snow storm after snow storm.

Thank you for your opinion!

 

The Limited is Fulltime 4WD. It will compensate the Falkens during inclement weather. However for Part-Time T4R, I would have probably gone with Michelins LTX. The reviews on Tire racks speak for itself. Just my 2C

 

We just got new tires--Michelin Defenders (stock size) on my wife's 2018 Limited 4Runner this weekend and I'm very pleased with them. This isn't our first set of Defenders--had them previously on a Honda Pilot and they performed exceptionally well in both Colorado and Montana winters. Honestly they felt almost as good as Blizaks that I've had on a previous vehicle.

 

Between the 2 my vote for Falkens. With 3PMSF rating vs not its like hearing people say my Rav4 AWD is good as 4runner 4WD in a snow storm.

 

We have Defenders on my wife’s 2018 Expedtion that’s 4WD. They have been fantastic. Smooth and extremely quiet on road, and they handle our dirt roads on the ranch great when wet. They also have been really good in wet weather. They aren’t an “off road” tire and I’d likely avoid deep mud, but overall they’ve been great and when this set retires, if we still have this car, we’ll replace with another set. I should add we live in south/central Texas so we don’t get annual snow (obviously). However, it’s been on numerous ski trips in Colorado and handled some nasty snow better than I expected.

I don’t have experience with the Falkens, unfortunately, so I don’t have any real world comparison/experience. Seeing how similar they are in specs, warranty and price, it seems like you’ve got two really good options and regardless of which you choose, you should be good to go.

 

I agree about the Defenders- they are wonderful for everything but wet offroad conditions. In a 20" they would be perfect for a road driven 4R Limited, but on a lifted 4R they look like you skipped leg day. Maybe find a cheap set of 17's to put actual snow tires on as well?

 

Thanks everyone! I ordered 5 defenders today... decided to swap my full size spare out as well because it's the original and I figure why not. Ultimately the risk of road noise is what deterred me from the Falkens.

 

You won’t be disappointed. Good call. I had them on my Honda Pilot and Acura MDX and had zero complaints and they really last

 

Im running 275 55 20 Michelin defenders on my ‘23 limited and love the first 2k miles. Quiet and surefooted on sofla heavy rain. No off road to speak of yet. No rub in any configuration with oem susp. Look good too. Would get them again.

 

I have the Michelin Defenders on my 4Runner ORP (285/70/17) and my Tacoma (285/75/16). I would not buy anything else. Great ride quality. Quiet. Long lasting. I don’t do a lot of serious off roading but what I have done, they performed well.

 

I purchased the Falkens a couple months ago and have been very happy with them all around so far. I have not noticed any additional road noise over the stock tires I have for the first 1200 miles I had my 2023 Limited.

 

Eh
Don Corleone
Thatsa lotsa mozzarella