Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S review

kindai

kindai

kindai

Sgarrista
System Admin
Joined
9 Aug 2013
Posts
10,957
Location
Bromsgrove
So time to eat my words about pzeros.... kind of :D

I took my friends car out today which had four MPS4S fitted last week, he has since put ~800 miles on them.

Conditions were dry but damp and cold. No standing water but the roads hasn't dried.

Grip: Is through the roof, as you would expect with any high performance tyre. I entered corners confident the front end was going to stick as it did. I always felt the pzero was a stickier tyre personally and this equals if not beats it in that regard. Tight corners turned with great accuracy, and long sweeping corners gave me no cause for concern as I pushed the speed up as much as I could before running out of road.

Feedback: The stiffer sidewall is evident, feedback was quite pronounced. Better than both Pzero and MPSS.

Ride quality: Despite the increased stiffness, ride quality didn't seem much effected. Granted I wasn't really paying attention to the ride quality over the drive itself, but it's not like moving to runflats that's for sure.

Will be getting mine fitted soon as I get the alloys refurbed and C5'ed, at 200 a corner, its an incredible tyre at a fantastic price, given how cold it is currently also, I think once it warms up they will be a mind blowingly good set of boots.

If anyone wants these tyres, the guy who sorts mine out is currently ~£50-75 a tyre cheaper on the MPS4S than black circles if you order a full set (at least for my sizes), so hit me up if you want some sorted and I can get a price for you.


*edit, just found this posted yesterday

http://www.automobilemag.com/news/michelins-new-pilot-sport-4s-better-pilot-super-sport/

Is Michelins New Pilot Sport 4S Better Than the Pilot Super Sport?


We had some pretty demanding requests from product marketing (for the PS4S); said Carl Driver, senior product development engineer at Michelin ;They wanted better dry/wet braking, lap times and rolling resistance. They also wanted to maintain wear ; the 30,000-mile warranty. Take everything we had with the PSS and expand it for the PS4S

Only two of the original 3000 compounds made it into the dual-compound PS4S. 60% of the compounds tested were for the inner portion of the tire; primarily for wet weather. New functional elastomers (rubber) are utilized, which are patented and manufactured in-house by Michelin. The outer portion of the tire features carbon black material, increasing dry grip by managing and dissipating heat. A variable contact patch reduces stresses and pressures on the tire, improving grip further.

Our validation took place at The Thermal Club; a private country club track facility just outside picturesque Palm Springs, California. We started on an autocross course; a surprisingly wet autocross course. You can almost guarantee dry conditions in the desert but, surprisingly, the skies opened shortly before our drive. Given that one of Michelins key goals was to expand wet performance beyond the PSS, we wonder if the company made a deal with Mother Nature. Either way, the PS4S did not disappoint.

The rear-wheel drive BMW 340i test vehicle impressively resisted understeer and easily transferred the robust torque of the turbocharged inline-6 into forward motion on the drenched pavement. A direct comparison to the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position revealed that the PS4S carried more grip and outright pace throughout the course.

Further Michelin highlights include overall consistency and confidence, as well as braking performance. We casually measured wet braking from roughly 60 mph on the PS4S versus the Bridgestone and the Michelin came out on top by an average of 12 feet. Michelins more-scientific internal testing reveals the PS4S beats the Potenza by 2.2 meters (7.2 feet) when braking on wet pavement from 80 km/h (just under 50 mph).

A brief run in a BMW M4 on a wet section of the road course at The Thermal Club validated the PS4Ss rain skills. Again, grip was plentiful and, when the limits of adhesion were reached, the Michelin UHP tire gave us plenty of warning, with a progressive drop in its hold on the rain-soaked circuit. Like on the autocross track, the PS4S also allowed brisk acceleration out of slow corners without significantly triggering the traction control. Keep in mind that the BMW M4 is known to overwhelm the rear tires at low speeds, even on dry pavement.

Our final leg of our PS4S review was a road drive through Joshua Tree National Park in a Ferrari California T and Mercedes-AMG GT S. The pace was slow and the loop relatively short, but it allowed us to confirm that the PS4S is a smooth and responsive tire on public roads with no glaring flaws or issues. We found turn-in to be a particular highlight on that portion of the test. Our thoughts on road noise will have to wait until were on more familiar pavement and we'll have to take Michelins word on wear, at least for now.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the review. I'm very tempted by these, the Bridgestone runflats I have currently on my Z4 are so unbelievably pish, especially in this weather.

I'd be very tempted by the offer for the guy who sorted yours - can I contact you via trust? My tyre sizes are 225/35 R19 and 255/30 R19.
 
alx said:
Thanks for the review. I'm very tempted by these, the Bridgestone runflats I have currently on my Z4 are so unbelievably pish, especially in this weather.

I'd be very tempted by the offer for the guy who sorted yours - can I contact you via trust? My tyre sizes are 225/35 R19 and 255/30 R19.
Click to expand...


Go for it, I can't guarantee anything until I call and ask but honestly the price he offers me for mine just undercuts everywhere else.
 
Alex_6n2 said:
To keep things simple

PS4 replaces the PS2 (Properly)

PS4S replaces PSS
Click to expand...

But to make things more complicated, the PS4 also replaces the MPSS on smaller wheels (18" and below iirc)

The only reason the MPSS is staying in production is because of OEM contracts that have to be fulfilled.
 
Alex_6n2 said:
Exactly.

Simple.

Well done Michelin..... haha
Click to expand...


Basically in short:

PS4 S: Best Michelin tyre in dry and wet also longevity as well.
PS4: Beats MPSS in wet, not quite as good on the limit in the dry.
MPSS: Beats PS4 in dry, particular on track and last longer when hot, i.e. track use, weaker in the wet than PS4 though.
PS2: Old but still a decent tyre, better than PS3 in dry, more sporty.
PS3: Great all rounder, better than PS2 in wet and maybe even MPSS.


Thats how I would order their Pilot Sport range now. :)
 
I thought the PS3 wasn't really a performance tyre at all?

To make things even simpler, of course

And the PS4 has a stiffer sidewall than the PSS, which was the main/only complaint of the older tyre.
 
I think on smaller wheel sizes they are. To make things more complicated there appear to be differences in compounds for the different tyre sizes

All I want is the PS4S in 18" please!...
 
alx said:
Thanks for the review. I'm very tempted by these, the Bridgestone runflats I have currently on my Z4 are so unbelievably pish, especially in this weather.

I'd be very tempted by the offer for the guy who sorted yours - can I contact you via trust? My tyre sizes are 225/35 R19 and 255/30 R19.
Click to expand...


Fronts: £177 each
Backs: £205 each
= £764


Blackcircles: Fronts: 197
Blackcircles: Rears: 230
= £854


So cheaper if you were local, I think by the time you added shipping and fitting the price difference would be minimal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom