Michelin Pilot Tires

Initial Review, 23,000 Miles on Tires
April 28, 2013

I have gotten 20K miles on these tires over 3.5 years and am down to the wear bars in the middle. Some of this wear is due to running too high pressure and wearing the middle out somewhat prematurely. Tires performed very well, some corners that I've taken were impressive. Driving was mostly city and congested freeway, but have made several trips up to the mountains where I was able to have a little fun in the TLS. The tires have been pretty noisy on some surfaces for the last year. This is probably too much tire for my driving habits.

Initial Review, 3,500 Miles on Tires
April 20, 2013

Have 215/45/17 Michelin Pilot Super Sports on front of my '05 Honda S2000 and 245/40/17 PSS on the rear with about 3,500 miles on tires since new. Ordinary highway driving yields low noise levels with firm, but not quite punishing, ride in what is a firm riding car.

Tires respond immediately to steering inputs and have very tight "on-center" feel. Wet performance (Florida thunderstorms) is very good and wet and dry braking are among best I've experienced in almost 60 years of driving. Kuhmhos that were on car when I bought it were more comfortable but absolutely not the tire for hard driving in comparison to Michelin PSSs.

Just drove the "Tail OF THE DRAGON" in North Carolina (318 curves in 11 miles!) for 3 days in company of over 100 Honda S2000s during annual meeting of S2000 group S2KI. Very spirited and competitive driving - 20++ MPH over posted speeds in corners posted at 10-20 MPH. PSSs exhibited phenomenal grip on damp surface 1st day and dry the remainder. Early braking for corners followed by strong acceleration produced sensations of rear tires grabbing pavement and powering car out of corner under heavy throttle, closing gap with car ahead. Eyeball-crossing "G" sensations with no howling or indications of being anywhere near limits of this tire at 40 in 20 MPH curves. 50 MPH in 20 MPH curves would produce plenty of warning through slight slip angles with excellent steering control feel and sensations of "hooking up again" part way through corner while applying strong acceleration.

Conclusions: 1)I'll never drive the S2000 as fast as this tire allows, 2) Pilot Super Sports deserve #1 ranking, and, 3) worth the premium price if you drive hard, want a tire with no nasty surprise traits during hard driving, and want better than average tire life (for max performance type tires) nonetheless.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 23, 2013

These tires replaced a set of half-worn Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 tires (I picked up a puncture in one of the PA3s and couldn't find a replacement, hence the half-worn). Compared to the PA3s, the Xi3s have similar wet weather grip and noticeably lower (but still acceptable for this type of tire) dry grip. Unfortunately, I can't comment on snow or ice performance because I never had a chance to try the Xi3s in the snow. The biggest difference was in dry weather feel - feedback was significantly muted with the Xi3s and there is also significant 'tread squirm' with the Xi3s. If I had to give each a subjective score relative to a summer tire (using a Goodyear Asymmetric as the reference summer tire), I would give the PA3s an 8 and the Xi3s a 4 - there really is a huge difference between the two. Ride comfort and noise levels are quite good with the Xi3s - a little better than the PA3s.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
April 27, 2013

This Tire, compared to the Pilot HX MXM4 this car came with is Fantastic. The car almost rides like a Cadillac should, close to Novocain Numb. Mind you there is a very small, and I mean very small, loss of steering response. Gas mileage in town is up about 2 mpg. Going from a 50 series to a 55 series with a 1/2 inch increase of sidewall hright probably helps a bit too.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 29, 2013

Replaced factory Pirelli PZeros which came OE for this vehicle. The Michelin PSS has outperformed the PZeros in all respects; traction is noticeably improved in straight line acceleration. Rears need replacing now at 10k which is typical for this car. Fronts have about another 1/2 life so I expect I will need all 4 tires in another 10k miles.

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
April 01, 2013

I am a BMW Tech and have driven every tire currently out. Hands down best summer tire and longest lasting. Michelin tires are the best for BMW's low road noise, good sidewalls, fantastic wet traction. I will only buy Michelin for my own cars. Yes they are expensive but think about it... it is the ONLY thing that holds your car to the road. I always say tires and brakes are not the place to save money.

When the outside air pressure is equal to inside tire air pressure you should have bought tires a long time ago!

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
April 01, 2013

This tire is a on powerful heavy car and it is the best set I have ever owned. The wet traction is astonishing. The mileage not so sure about that but they have 30,000 warranty, so we shall see how close they get to that.

Initial Review, 50 Miles on Tires
April 06, 2013

Initial review-
Amazing grip, don't have to brake on on/off-ramps, these beat the Nitto 555's and Sumitomo HTZ3 by a wide margin. Added 275-35-18 tires and GT500 SVT rims to a stock GT Mustang, simply amazing tire in the dry. Have not driven in rain yet so will update down the road.
Tire rack confirmed these were date stamped late last fall, shipping in 4 days and balanced very well. Money well spent!! Running at 37 psi currently. These do seem to pick up small rocks and sand and shed it just as fast, no biggie its a max summer tire!

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2013

Installed these on my 08 GT2 recently and am very pleased with them. Grip is amazing and very predictable. A better option than the Michelin Pilot sport Cups in my opinion. Be advised that the tread depth is 8/32 not 10/32. Track guys will love them.

Initial Review, 150 Miles on Tires
April 16, 2013

I have to write this review to talk about these tires. First the Goodyear F1 RFT came stock. They were great in the rain, good dry traction especially on the 1/4 mile track, hooked and leapt off the line, however the ride was horrible. One think I really did like about the Goodyears, they have a protective lip that covers the rims, protects them from curbs. The turn in was terrible. The Goodyears lasted 14,000 miles. The insides wore past the wear bars, on factory alignment.

Now on to the Michelins, unbelievable difference in ride quality and road noise over the Goodyears. These are non-runflats so the side walls actually give. Better ride more compliant over bumps, so far no tramming (live in the D.C. area 495 on and off a lot). The best part is the turn in these tires are so willing to turn and give you so much more confidence than the Goodyears. I cant believe the grip they have, the harder you throw them into a corner the better the grip. Have not got them to squeal yet. That will happen next week at the track. Will update next week after the track. They look a lot more aggressive on my rims as well.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
April 08, 2013

The first summer tire I had on my car was the Conti DW, and I was blown away. They were a bit noisy, but wet or dry, they stuck like glue. Then I decided to go with an A/S tire, the Bridgestone 970 AS Pole Position; after 2100 miles they came off. Great tire, really, but not the tire for my car, not enough grip.

So while I contemplated going for the DW again, I thought I'd splurge and try the PSS. First thoughts, WOW. Quiet, quiet quiet. Shortly after having them installed, took them on a really twisty road or two north of Portland, up hwy 30 a bit. It was raining out a bit, so I thought the perfect time to try them out.

Wet grip? Outstanding. Very predictable, great on-center feel. They feel heavier than the AS tires, but I think that's just the increased level of grip and being so quiet. Dry grip? Got a chance to try that this weekend a bit. Again, outstanding. Did I mention they're quiet? Yeah, my MINI has never had it this good. Dry grip was great, I'd say this compares very well with the DW, but the PSS is quieter by far.

I plan on rotating every 2K to make sure I get the most out of them that I can as I tend to drive pretty aggressively when I do drive =)

Updates to come.

Initial Review, 600 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2013

Just got through the break-in miles, so this is an early review. These replaced Continental DW tires (30,000 miles, over three years) that became very noisy after 15,000 miles. The Bridgestones are incredibly quiet and smooth-riding - much nicer than the OEM Michelins, my prior summer tire, the Conti DW (when new), or my other set of aftermarket rubber, Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 winter tires. Until the mold release compound wore off, they felt uneasy on the highway, but now they're much better at tracking straight at speed. They respond faster to steering corrections than the Conti DW. (The DW in this size are 2009 production, and I didn't want to get old stock.)

Initial Review, 1,050 Miles on Tires
April 18, 2013

Excellent tire! Very much better than the replacement Firestone 500 Police, Kumho's, and particularly, the Goodyear Eagles Z-rated that came on the car. I had a tread separation on one of these at 24,000 miles - inexcusable on a Z rated tire at highway speeds. The Kumho's handled excellently, and probably gave slightly superior dry traction vs. the new Pilots, but were toast in 16M miles, which is ridiculous. Love all aspects of the Pilots to date. Well worth the very premium price.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 17, 2013

Absolutely awesome!

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire transformed my car:

1) Increased ride comfort
2) Reduced road noise
3) Increased responsiveness

I highly recommend these tires! :)




 

Initial Review, 18,000 Miles on Tires
April 14, 2013

Possibly the best all season tire I've owned. Not great for snow, but excellant for rain and superior on dry pavement. The issue that I have with these tires is treadwear. With a softer compound on the outside blocks, it is impossible to wear the tire out FLAT across the tread. The 45K warranty only covers the tire if you wear it out evenly before 45K. Unless you drive like grandma, this warranty is a joke.

Initial Review, 75,000 Miles on Tires
April 15, 2013

I have 205/55R16 size tires on my car. Brand new they're no better in the snow than my 97,000 mile old OEM Michelins that I replaced! Sliding and spinning everywhere no matter how slow you go. I had them "road force balanced" when new and rotated them every 4000 miles along with watching how they were wearing to adjust tire pressure accordingly. Longevity is excellent but they're absolutely terrible in the snow. I now have 75,000 miles on these and they're at 3/32". They handle corners better now that they're almost slicks. I've been driving on these through 2 winters now. Was hoping to get a good compromise between cornering and snow capability. I'll just get a set of performance tires to get me through the next 4-8 seasons. I might as well get the tires I want if all-seasons don't work any better! I'm not about to waste money on winter tires.