Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 Reviews - Page 2

These tires have proven to be one of the best things I ever put on my car. I've had this Mazda 3 for many years and have kept its mechanical condition as close to perfect as possible, but the tire type has changed routinely depending on where I live and how I was doing financially - from cheap tires, to standard touring tires, studless snow tires, and these Pilot All Season tires. They are not the most comfortable tires nor the quietest, I'll say that - you'll get better and FAR quieter ride quality out of many other types of tire, but they also aren't inherently uncomfortable. The biggest annoyance factor you may take into consideration is the large amount of road noise.

The handling with these tires, however, is something I can only describe as magical - this may seem quite specific, but the initial turn-in when going around a curve, especially at speed, is considerably more responsive and provides you greater confidence than any other tire I've personally experienced. This also includes Pirelli's direct competitor, the P-Zero All Season. You feel absolutely everything in the road and have no trouble whatsoever determining your car's limits in more aggressive driving. Even in wet driving, that confidence largely remains intact - something I very much did not expect in a performance all season tire despite the 'all season' moniker.

Temperature plays a huge role however - when the outside air gets colder, the tires do not grip as well. Winter time here never fully reaches below freezing temperatures, but even so the tires would begin to noticeably feel less capable in low temps. These tires love heat and if your journeys are typically shorter, slower, or in colder climates, you may not be able to heat the tires properly to experience them as they should be felt. It can even reach the point of danger as I found out, as a project car I'm working on has some cheap budget tires on it and can come to a stop very quickly even in cold temperatures as the cheap all seasons on it do not require as much heat to effectively grip - meanwhile, the Pilots almost sent me into a car that decided to suddenly cross multiple lanes of traffic at slow speeds on a 50mph road when they could not grip during cold, dry weather braking.

The tires have also noticeably worn after around 10,000 miles. This hasn't affected their driving feel, but their specifications listing around a 40k+ mile tread life are flat out not true. I expect these to wear out and need replacement within another 10,000 miles or so, and the Pilots are quite pricey compared even to other similar tire types from competing brands. These tires should be seen as a treat for you as a driver and for your car - something that you will greatly enjoy, but not something you should expect to last a long time or be kind to your wallet.

Dangerous and excessive wear. Go read other 1 star reviews and you'll see that very accelerated wear is common, especially with Pilot Sport A/S tires installed over the past 6 months. (Maybe a production problem or a Costco problem.) Loved the tires when I first got them in October 2021 and I did a lot of driving on winding mountain roads. 3,000 miles later and the tires are completely bald on the rear -- and this is being blamed on my alignment. So, I went to have my alignment checked and no adjustments were needed, so it's not the alignment. Based on several reviews I've found online, tires purchased at Costco tend to have wear problems. Oh, and I only realized they were bald because it was the first snow of the season and the backend of my car lost grip. After looking at the tires, I found both were bald and one is so worn that the wires are sticking out of the tire. Unbelievable that a tire could last 3,000 miles even if I was driving my car sideways or backwards.