We're taking a look at the Michelin Pilot Sport 4, which is a replacement for the Michelin Pilot Sport 3. The Pilot Sport 4 tyre is a mix between a touring tyre with a dash of performance driving thrown in. Let's have closer look!
Full Transcript:
- G'day. Today, in our warehouse, we've got the Michelin Pilot Sport 4. So today in the warehouse, we've got the Michelin Pilot Sport 4, which actually replaces the Pilot Sport 3, and probably replaced it about a year and so ago now. So, this tyre is their road oriented tyre, from their more sportier range. So there's the Pilot Sport 4, which this one is, and there's the Pilot Sport 4S, which is sort of the next level up, then there's the PS Cup or Pilot Sport Cup.
So, basically this one is your more road oriented tourer which maybe you can get high-spirited with. And then the 4S is going to be a little bit more aggressive again and then the Cup is more your track tyre that you can drive to track and drive home again but you probably wouldn't want to be driving on a day-to-day. So it's that fast road tyre that's a comfortable tourer, but have let's a closer look at what actually makes this an interesting tyre. So, any tyre in this category is going to have to fight that balance between being a comfortable and safe road tyre with being a fun and spirited, not quite track tyre, but something you can give it some whirling on the road.
So they have to balance this with the compound that they use, the siping that the tyre has, and the stiffness of the carcass. So this tyre is supposed to be for performance driving, so one of the first that I noticed about it did seem, in comparison with your regular passenger tyres is that the compound is really quite a sticky sort of compound. So I don't know if you can hear that, but it's so sticky. And then also, you see these big, deep sipes here that run through the whole tyre, which are going to be good for evacuating all of that water that you might come across in the wet. And then also, you see these three strong stinter ribs? They go all the way around the tyre, so there's no breaks in those.
So that's going to really give you that durability for when, or the strength for when you're putting the pedal to the ground. One thing you'll notice, though, that's a little bit different between this and perhaps a more sport oriented tyre, it's that the shoulders are not as solid as perhaps a more performance oriented tyre. Because again, that's trying to get that water out there, so it's balancing off between evacuating the water and having the strength here to allow you to corner faster. So this perhaps won't let you corner as fast as a more track oriented tyre, but it's going to be a heck of a lot safer in the wet for your regular passenger cars.
So Michelin says that this tyre offers excellent steering control and a high level of reactivity, which means it's going to be able to be a bit more fun for when you're trying to make your passengers take in the twisties. And they also reckon it offers a high level of safety on the wet roads, so that means that hopefully they found that balance between it being a fun touring tyre and the wet weather performance as well. So one thing to know is this is an asymmetric tyre.
So this is actually the inside of the tyre, and this is the outside of the tyre, and you can see, as we cross the tyre, the siping, the channelling, gets deeper also, it's deeper on the inside and shallower or narrower on the outside, which means that this shoulder, outside shoulder is going to be stiffer for that cornering capacity. But you've still got the channels on the inside here to get rid of the majority of the water out the back.
So the PS 4 from Michelin covers quite a wide range of sizes. It goes from say, your hatchback sort of size through to your full-size sedan sort of size, so that's 205/50-16 all the way through to 325/30-21, so that's quite a narrow profile tyre. This particular set of tyres is actually going on our long-term test vehicle, it's a Renault Megane Cup, so sporty hatch. We'll be putting it on the track, as well as seeing how it goes over the next 10,000 kms just for day-to-day life. So tune back in in 10,000 kms and make sure you hit that subscribe button and the little bell button for notifications for whenever we post a video next.
So thank you, and see you next time.
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Our long term reviews are conducted by everyday people, using the tyres as they would every day, just with a more critical eye for the individual tyres performance. The long term tests are offered for informational purposes only, and you should always draw your own conclusions for what are the best tyres for you from broad research - read the consumer reviews, read our long term reviews, and check with your tyre shop when actually purchasing the new tyres.
