Michelin Premier A/S vs Pilot Sport A/S 3

[rjundi]

I am looking at these two models to replace well worn tires on my wife's 2005 Legacy turbo wagon with 215/45/17's and 180k on the odometer.

The Premier's cost $630 installed vs Pilot Sport A/S 3 $600 installed locally after a rebate. Premier has longer(warranty) life? at 60k vs 45k on Pilot Sport.

Her requirements really are decent winter traction (for an all-season) and quiet. The car is performance oriented but she drives slightly spirited at best. I think they are two different types of tires so direct comparisons don't exist.

Any direction would be great.

 

[Quattro Pete]

The Premier is less sporty, so I would expect it to provide better winter traction.

Pilot Sport A/S 3 is a UHP all-season tire, and in my experience, tires in this category provide rather poor winter capabilities.

 

[spavel6]

Premier A/S will have better all season performance, and be softer/quieter. This is a "grand touring" tire.

The Pilot Sport A/S is more of a "sport" tire that can also handle occasional inclement weather..

Unless you're looking to maximize performance, I'd go with the Premier, it is the next generation of the MXM4, which was/is a great tire. Performance and winter traction are usually mutually exclusive, IMO.

 

[440Magnum]

I'm running the Pilot Sport A/S3 on my SRT-8. I got sick of the factory "3 season" tires terrible traction below 40 degrees as well as short tread life- I blew through the OEM Goodyear Eagle F1's by 12,000 miles (tread left, but wet traction GONE), and a set of BFG Sport Comp2's by 28,000 miles (much better than the F1s, but noisy and ultimately the cool/wet traction became dangerous before the tread was anywhere near depleted).

I considered the Premier A/S, but ultimately picked the Pilot because I didn't want to take too much of a hit in dry performance compared to a 3-season tire. Overall I'm extremely pleased. Day-to-day manners (quiet, handling, cold/wet traction) are vastly better than either of the 3-season types I tried before. There's a small but noticeable penalty when just throwing the car around on hot/dry pavement, but since its a daily driver its well worth it. I can't comment on snow/ice (we just don't have that but every 5 years and when we do I'll drive the pickup truck anyway). I would assume that the Premier is slightly better at snow/ice than the Pilot, but I wouldn't be too sure nor would I assume that the difference is all that great. The Pilot is a very, very good tire and is as good in the rain and near-freezing wet as any other all-season tire I've had.

 

[brandini]

I have the AS3s on a Mazda3 and I love them, even in light snow.

If you get more than 1 or 2 snows a year and don't have a car that has some zoom-zoom built in, get the more snow-and-wallet-friendly tire and rotate them religiously to keep the warranty intact.

 

[sicko]

You can see some information about the Premier A/S in this thread: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3696468/1

I have them on my Subaru and they are very soft/smooth and quiet on most surfaces. The only time that really changes is when I drive on concrete with horizontal grooves every inch or so. All the grooves cause a very high pitch whining sound.

As for winter traction, I put these tires on my car last October and drove them through the winter. We didn't get much snow this year, but they handled everything very well (snow and ice), and did very good in the one snow storm which had about 8-9 inches of snow. I drove through neighborhood streets that hadn't been plowed or driven on, and my car handled it all great. Definitely a major improvement over the stock tires that came on my Forester.

My biggest complaint about the tires, and I can't explain why this is, but they seem to have slowed my car down. Immediately upon driving the car for the first time, I noticed that more gas was needed to get the car moving, my MPG went down, and since it's not like my non-turbo Subaru had power to spare it feels like my 0-60 time has gone down. On a related note, the car seems to slow down faster by itself after I take my foot off the gas. I don't know if I've gotten used to it, or if it's gone away, but I don't really think about it or notice it any more unless I try to suddenly accelerate from a stop or trying to pass on the highway.

Despite that, you can do much worse than the Premier A/S tire. It's been good in all driving conditions that I've taken it through (dry, wet, slushy, icy, light snow, heavy snow, etc), the handling is good, they're soft and quiet (with rare exception of horizontal grooves), braking is good, etc.

I'm one of the few people who have experienced the tire feeling like it's slowed their vehicle down, so chances are if you get them you won't have the same thing happen to you.

 

[geeman789]

If you get any real winter, avoid the Pilots, period. A friend had them on a new Honda Civic, and in a foot of snow and packed snow / ice, they were almost undriveable... not really a surprise, look at the tread design and dry performance. They do, however, say ALL SEASON on them...

He put on some winter Xi-3's , and could not believe the difference...

Obviously not apples to apples comparison here... but the Pilots were way over on the "barely..." all-season side of the range, at least in severe winter conditions, which they aren't really made for anyway...

 

[chiefsfan1]

I went with the Premiers on my Camry. So far I love them. I need to write a review. I looked at the Pilots but they did not come in my size.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I'd take the Pilot AS3.

The premier only comes with 8.5/32 of tread. The AS3 has the full 10/32 tread.

Therefore, they'll probably last almost the same tread life, plus the Pilot likely has MUCH better handling.

Michelin really made a mistake with the Premier. They'll probably release a premier Plus with the full 10/32 soon enough.

 

[Rand]

The pilot AS/3 isnt even an average winter tire. Its a summer tire that doesn't kill you in the winter.

The premier isnt very sporty.
if only those 2 options.. the premier

 

[Rand]

I think you would be better off with a mild UHP/ strong Grand touring type tire.

if you wanted cheap
Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 (W-Speed Rated) are 68$ each
Kumho Ecsta PA31 are 4 after mir
General AltiMAX RT43 V rated are 330/4 after mir

of course add tax or shipping to those.

Basically nothing wrong with the pilot sport as/3 except they are extremely sporty and you give up alot of winter traction for that .. which you say your wife wouldnt use.

If you were running winter tires I'd say go with the Pilot as/3, but needing these on a daily basis in the winter.. I couldn't recommend them for full 4 season use in your climate.

The general altimax rt43 in V rating fits your critera well, is highly rated and half the price of the michelin tires.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
The premier only comes with 8.5/32 of tread. The AS3 has the full 10/32 tread.

Therefore, they'll probably last almost the same tread life,

Tread depth doesn't mean a whole lot. The two tires are likely using very different rubber compounds, and that's why the Premier has a higher treadwear index and longer treadlife warranty, despite having shallower tread.

Shorter starting tread actually has its benefits - it reduces tread squirm resulting in better steering response. Alas, we are talking about a grand touring A/S tire here, so that probably doesn't matter much.

 

[bourne]

I have PS AS3 on my G as my summer tires, they are fantastic in dry and wet. And this coming from a Goodyear corporate store manager. Cannot say anything about Premier A/s never tried them. I have a set of winter wheels and tires so cannot comment on winter traction as well for the AS3. But generally Ultra High Performance All Season do not have a lot of winter traction. If you want something in that category thats truly all season, then I recommend Continental DWS and Eagle F1 Asym All Season from GY. Both have excellent snow traction but give up a little in dry traction to the Pilot A/S3. Another good alternative is Pirelli Nero All Season which was just launched. Also look into Cooper Zeon RS-3A.

 

[rjundi]

Continental DWS I had before and it was decent enough. However these tires for whatever reason lack the $110/set discount I can get with Michelin so they turn out more expensive installed locally.

I am using a local installer/retailer for less hassle and alignment check is free when you purchase tires which they have checked(report provided) and skipped twice. So I am avoiding mail order and also DTD does not exist here.

Her current barometer is low in my opinion, Yokohama Avid Enveagor(apparently UHAP) which okay to her except winter traction. Winter with them was abysmal from the beginning and down to 4/32" made no real difference in snow. This seems to be the consensus of Tirerack and consumer reports.

This is the shop I use: tires search

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
So I am avoiding mail order and also DTD does not exist here.



DTD is mail order DT is brick and mortar.



3rd down on your list

General: Altimax RT43 H & V-rated

V rated Today's Price
$114.00

456$- 40 instant= 416-50mir= 366$
They will be everything your yokohamas werent in the winter. Great in the rain, good handling but not UHP like. Good over road imperfections

Conti DWS are at least average in the winter, the pilot sport as/3 are "you wont die on 2" of snow"
of course they are also as good as some max performance summers.. in summer weather.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Continental DWS I had before and it was decent enough.

Then expect the Pilot Sport A/S 3 to be worse than them in winter conditions. DWS has a lot more siping.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Continental DWS I had before and it was decent enough.

"If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all"

My thought about DWS: I had it on my S2000 and E430. I am not saying anything about DWS because I have nothing nice to say about it.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Continental DWS I had before and it was decent enough.

"If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all"

My thought about DWS: I had it on my S2000 and E430. I am not saying anything about DWS because I have nothing nice to say about it.


IMO it was more of a grand touring tire. Its really the bottom end of the UHP section.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Rand
Its really the bottom end of the UHP section.

Bottom end of a lot of things, for sure.

 

[rjundi]

The DWS was superior to our current Yoko Avid Envigor in winter traction. However IMHO about the same for everything else.

I found this interesting and useful and makes me shy away from Pilot Sport A/S given winter traction rating nothing else.


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