Tires MICHELIN or PHANTOM

I have Michelin defenders on my RAV4. They're loud but go like hell in the snow

I only put Michelin defenders on my Highlander and 4runner and we use the 4runner to go to the Hunt land, gravel roads going into rutted dirt roads, forest service roads when going fishing, no issues at all.

After all my research I settled on Michelin X ICE Snow SUV. I went with 18" wheels and the ride is smooth, with a slight hum from the winter threads. Overall very quiet.

I’ve had the Michelin CC2’s for about 30k + miles and they still perform amazing in the Snow. Was up around Breck the opening weekend and had no problems.

I'm in the same boat as you are. 2022 AWD and I'm looking at the Michelin crossclimate 2 or the Yokohama yk-ctx.

We have Michelin defender2 on the alltrack for the past 20K and they are nice and quiet, no signs of cupping so far.

I have Defender 2s and still have 7mm of tread left after 80,000 miles. They've been great so far.

Something like the Michelin Defender is a safe bet and I've run those on Rav4's before.

I have them on my Lexus ES300h and drove with them coast-to-coast across the entirety of Canada in the dead of winter, then back again in the summer. I found them to be really great performers in winter, even in nearly tire-high snow, and I never had a moment where I was worried about slipping or sliding, even through the Rockies in white-out conditions. HOWEVER... I find them to be too noisy in the summer. I can see the fuel efficiency drop on road trips in the summer as well, and I'm not sure I'd run them year-round again knowing what I know now.

The Michelins that came with the 18s and the pro contacts with the 19s were some of the worst handling tires I’ve owned especially in the rain. I’ve never hydroplaned as much as on those tires on any of my previous cars. I wouldn’t want anybody I care about or myself driving on those in the rain. But if it doesn’t rain where you live, they’re pretty nice thanks to the foam.