Michelin Pilot Sport 4 Zero Pressure

This is actually a review for Michelin Pilot Sport 4 Zero Pressure. They don't come up as an option anywhere that I can find on this site, so Super Sports are probably the nearest equivalent.

Also, my car has staggered sizes, so this is also a review for the fronts which are 205/50 17. BTW, my car is a Japanese import, hence the 17" size (standard 130i M Sport issue. It was bling obsessive UK market that had 18s as standard on 130i).

Having owned a UK 130i some years ago, and ditching the runflats on those only to regret it, I decided to do it differently this time and retain the use of runflats. Why? Because, when I ditched them last time, it introduced additional body movement that's not supposed to be there, In other words, BMW tuned the suspension to work with runflats. (They actually designed the 130i M Sport to handle as intended with 17" runflats, not the 18s that UK cars have as standard). So, if you ditch the runflats, the car will have less body control than intended. Is running the 130i on runflats ideal? No. Nobody really 'likes' the feel of runflats. They're just not as good. But as I found out last time, the alternative, for me, was a car that moves around too much, and that was even more undesirable. So, I'm living with it.

What are the tires like? The Pilot Sport 4 ZP is a third generation runflat, and a premium sports one at that. All first generation runflats were awful. Then the second generation was brought out some time ago, and that was a bit of an improvement but not by much (I experienced some on my old 130i before ditching them). Then, more recently the third generation runflat was introduced. From what I can tell from reviews, this third generation, across the board by all premium manufacturers, was a bigger step forward and has improved much more this time. Enough to match a 'normal' tire? No, not even close. But they're not as totally evil as they used to be. The feel is quite a bit different and you have to get used to that. But, once you do, they're actually alright. They don't have as much grip as a 'normal' tire of equivalent size, and what strange feel they do have comes to you a little more slowly through the seat of the pants, via the chassis, rather than more immediately through the steering. You just have to get used to this and learn to read the signals. Wet weather braking is just as good as any 'normal' premium tires I've ever had on any of my other vehicles.

I bought these because they were best in reviews I could find that fits both my front and rear sizes. I will therefore probably buy them again.