Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus???

ArkansasMystic

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Feb 16, 2007
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I'm just curious if anyone has any experience with these tires? I use my 96 Cobra year round (my only vehicle) and need a good tire. I don't see much snow (maybe 1-2 times a year at most), but need something that'll do good on wet/dry and in hot/cold weather. From what I can tell, an all season tire is the way to go. I have some Hankook A/S tires right now and they seem to do well. Before someone says get 2 sets of tires, a summer and winter, I just don't drive enough in the snow to justify it. I've got 17x9 wheels, I'm probably gonna go 255/40 front and 275/40 on the rear. The biggest thing about the Michelin's is that they have a 500 treadwear rating and a 45k mile warranty. So, even though they are more expensive, they'll last longer and give more bang for the buck. My concern is that with such a hard compound that traction will suffer (although they have excellent reviews). I do go to the drag strip occasionally, but with only a few bolt on's I'm not looking for excellent times but would at least like to be able to hook up. So, any opinions on these? At about $200 each, I wanna make sure they are what I need. Thanks!
 
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Tire warrantys are crap and high treadwear will last but the summer performance just isnt there. If you NEVER see snow get KDW2s or something like that. They are amazing in dry and wet conditions.:nice:

I've had a set of regular Pilot Sports before (275s all round), and I was generally unimpressed. They were very expensive and you had to get them really hot for them to stick well. They weren't good daily driver tires at all.:bs:

Personally, I do buy snow tires for my winter cars. There is no such thing as a tire that's good for both summer and winter. You have to sacrifice a lot to get an intermediate tire.
 
I work at Americas Tire some may know it as Discount tire and i love the pilot sport a/s sell it all day! if its your daily driver it would be a real good way to go, but soo are the kdw nt's if you dont mind road noise. one other i would look into is the goodyear eagle gt ive seen some people get decent mileage out of those to. what you ought to do is same size all around if your looking for mileage. I have the nitto invos and a staggered set up and have about 22k and there still hanging in there.
 
Here's the deal: the two tires on the front of my car (Hankook h105's) are at about 60% tread, it's just the rears that need replacing. I'll have mismatched tires front/rear for a while, and then since I'm just buying 2 at a time, being able to rotate really doesn't matter cause I'd always want the newest on the front. I'm mostly satisfied with the performance of my Hankooks (only had them since January, they were on the wheels when I bought them). I was dead set on the KDW2's, but I can only get them in a 255/40 and I want a 275/40 or 285/40 out back. It snows here once or twice a year, and usually a max of 2-3 inches. This past winter even though it snowed, I was able to borrow my dad's truck and never had to drive in it. The car is my daily driver, I put about 15k a year on it. The way I figured it the Michelins would pay for themselves because they'll last longer. Plus, they have excellent ratings. I was looking at other all seasons, all seem to have mixed reviews. I made it through most of the winter last year on Nitto 555's. I really liked them, but didn't like the performance in wet weather (245/45's liked to hydroplane and wouldn't hook up). I don't mind some noise, I just wanna be able to hook. As stated, my Hankooks do well, so I'm sure the better Michelins would impress me. I'm not looking for great times. I was cutting 2.1 60 ft's with the Hankooks. I still have my stock rims, one of these days I may throw some drag radials on there for the strip (probably not soon, don't run enough). I just want to hook on the street and enjoy my chrome wheels year round, not have to swap out (I know I could run summer tires on the 04's, winter tires on the stockers but our winters are pretty mild, just don't see the need for true winter tires). I really appreciate the opinions guys (and any more would be great!).
 
well do the michelins then do you have a discount tire where you are??? doesnt really matter but just soo you know michelin has a 30 day ride guarantee on there product soo put em on and if they dont perform to your liking then take em off and do something else.
 
The nearest one is a good 3 hour drive from me. I was actually looking at buying from discounttiredirect.com. I just want to be able to hook well in all conditions (although great in none). The biggest thing (other than positive reviews) for the Michelin's in the tire life, if I can get anywhere close to 40k miles that'd be great.
 
ill be honest man if you truely are gonna do a stagger sizing you wont get 40k but if you do 275s all around then i dont see why you wont get 30 to 40 out of em. i dont think they will do so well launching though, ive driven on these tires at a bridgestone ride and learn and they did really well but from a dig up they spun but it wasnt a 275 or even a 255 soo not really sure how they would have done if they were wider. i say do the michelins and if you dont like em call michelin get authorization and go to the nearest dealership :D
 
All I know is the Michelin's are suppose to be great. If my Hankooks hook well enough for me, surely the Michelin's will. So, if I'm not happy within 30 days it's that easy (even if I buy online and not through the local dealer)? Any other suggestions for me? I would like 275's all around but with my current setup it pulls way too much (follows the ruts in the roads), the narrower tires will make the car handle much better. Plus, I can save close to $100 by going with a 255 front instead of a 275. Thanks!
 
yes if you buy them online from discounttiredirect.com you can either go to a discount tire store (call them first) or just do it all over the phone with a michelin rep and they will give you an authorization number, you should be able to do it all in store but if its 3 hours away it might cause a problem. what shops are around you??
 
We've got quite a few locally owned shops, but no major chains that I'm aware of. I'm pretty sure there is a Michelin dealer nearby, I'm gonna call them to get pricing but will probably end up ordering from dtd. My concern is can a tire with a harder compound hook as well as one with a much softer (Michelin's 500 treadwear versus 300 for other tires I'm considering). Reviews say yes, but I'm skeptical (and there's a lot of money on the line here). Thanks!
 
they wont hook quite as good from a dig any way, but its all in the technology of the tire if you look at the tire you have to look for contact patch the more contact patch you have the better it will hook up but the more sipes and grooves a tire has the less dry traction it will have because its a void in the contact patch BUT youll get better wet handling because its a biting edge and more mileage because it can cool faster and wont leave as much tire on the ground. so your gonna have to sacrifice something mileage or hook up. I think if your not boostin and pushin gobs of horsepower youll be fine you may just have to feather the clutch alil ;D
 
Sounds good. My plan is to buy the two fronts right now. I'll actually run them on the back for a week or so to get a feel for them. I know they'll make a great set of tires for the front, so I'll end up keeping them either way. Then in a few months when I have to buy rears, I may go with something different if I'm not satisfied. One more question for you. With my 275 Hankooks, it follows the ruts in the road something terrible. I've been told this is partly due to size and partly due to the tire design. I have no problem going 275 up front, but I want it to handle better. Do you think the Michelin's would have less pull, or is it gonna be about the same because both are 275's? That's the main reason I want 255's, because I'm not positive I'll be able to rotate anyway. Thanks a lot!
 
its partly the width but its mostly the tread design im running 255/40/18 nitto invos on my car and they pull when i hit a rut in the road (its called tracking) the reason why a tire will do it is more is if it has a solid center rib which the hankook does where as the michelin has grooves in the center rib which will help out with the tracking problem. i had 195/50/15 yokohama es100's on my integra and they tracked soooooo bad god it was almost a lane change! and that was on a 195 so i think the michelin wont do it to bad. Your welcome bro!
 
I'm undecided. I can deal with the tracking, but it'd be nice to eliminate it (can be done with 03 cobra control arms but that's like a $400 mod I'm not ready to do). The 255's should really help (all I have to compare is to the 245/45/17 555's on my stock wheels). I'm also considering 285/40's for the rear, so I'd still be left without being able to rotate. I want a good handling car, so I think I'll stick with the 255 front and 275 or 285 rear. I'm gonna try to make it 2-3 more months before buying them, so I may be able to do something different size wise, but it looks like I've made up my mind on which tires to get. I appreciate you explaining what causes the tracking, I never realized that. Thanks!
 
Heres what you should do by some 17x10.5 bruh replicas mount up some 285's for the rear and i would stick with a 255 or 275 then set your camber alittle more negative up front and youll be in it to win it!! haha. Your welcome man anything i can do to help!
 
Much appreciated! I think I'm going with the original game plan, 255/40 front and 275/40 rear. I'm considering a pair of 17x10.5 reps with 315/35 555's for summer use as well, just not sure. Either way, first step is getting the Michelins and see how that goes. Thanks!!