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Head-to-head Updated

Bridgestone Turanza EL440 vs Michelin Defender T+H — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): 60% professional tests, 40% owner reviews.

Defender T+H is ahead, 72–41

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Tire BMichelin

Defender T+H

Premium Touring All Season tire

Tests – · 1 test Owners 72 · 1 review

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 39

    Dry

    Defender T+H +34
    73
    Why this score
    SourceTuranza EL440Defender T+H
    Reviews found online2475
  2. 42

    Wet

    Defender T+H +31
    73
    Why this score
    SourceTuranza EL440Defender T+H
    Reviews found online3274
  3. 47

    Snow

    Defender T+H +20
    67
    Why this score
    SourceTuranza EL440Defender T+H
    Reviews found online3164
  4. 46

    Comfort

    Defender T+H +24
    70
    Why this score
    SourceTuranza EL440Defender T+H
    Reviews found online2470
  5. 53

    Noise

    Defender T+H +15
    68
    Why this score
    SourceTuranza EL440Defender T+H
    Reviews found online3270
  6. 40

    Treadwear

    Defender T+H +34
    74
    Why this score
    SourceTuranza EL440Defender T+H
    Professional tests (TWG score)–77
    Reviews found online2171
  7. 29

    Handling

    Defender T+H +43
    72
    Why this score
    SourceTuranza EL440Defender T+H
    Reviews found online2972
Scores at a glance
CategoryBridgestone Turanza EL440Michelin Defender T+H
Relative Score 41 72
Dry 39 73
Wet 42 73
Snow 47 67
Comfort 46 70
Noise 53 68
Treadwear 40 74
Handling 29 72

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

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Wet grip and treadwear start at “Important” — the two things buyers rank highest. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

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Recomputed
Headline score

Turanza EL440

Defender T+H

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Turanza EL440

Pros

  • Acceptable steering precision on dry pavement
  • Solid construction durability against road hazards like potholes
  • Adequate dry-weather grip for conservative, daily commuting

Cons

  • Extremely rapid tread wear, often requiring replacement before 30,000 miles
  • Significant increase in road noise and cabin drone as the tread wears down
  • Poor wet-weather traction and confidence, leading to understeer
All owner themes in the Turanza EL440 review

Tire B Defender T+H

Not enough owner reviews yet to extract themes.

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Bridgestone Turanza EL440 B · Michelin Defender T+H
CategorySummerPremium Touring All Season tire
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverSUV and 4x4
Sizes available9—
Rim diameters16″ – 19″—
Tread depth10/32″—
UTQG480 A A—
Treadwear warranty50,000 mi—
SidewallBlackwall—
Max pressure51 psi—

Which one should you actually buy?

Bridgestone Turanza EL440

Michelin Defender T+H

Winner: Michelin Defender T+H — better handling, dry and treadwear. It leads or ties in every category we score.

Pick tire B You enjoy sharp, responsive handling

Michelin Defender T+H scores 72 vs 29 on handling.

Pick tire B You want the most grip on dry roads

Michelin Defender T+H scores 73 vs 39 on dry.

Pick tire B You want the longest tread life

Michelin Defender T+H scores 74 vs 40 on treadwear.

Pick tire B Your priority is wet-weather safety

Michelin Defender T+H scores 73 vs 42 on wet.

Tire A · Bridgestone Turanza EL440
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Tire B · Michelin Defender T+H
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How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score.

72

Leads

Defender T+H

Amazon