Across reviews, the Michelin Primacy 3 is most often described as a safe, comfortable touring tire with strong dry grip and generally confidence-inspiring wet traction, especially for commuting and motorway use. Many drivers report low noise (when new) and good stability, with several high-scoring reviews highlighting impressive longevity and efficiency. However, a meaningful minority report faster-than-expected wear (especially on heavier/torquier cars), some wet/aquaplaning weakness in standing water or as tread gets low, and a softer/vaguer steering feel; price is also a common complaint.
What owners mention most counted across 158 reviews
I fitted these tires to my wife’s Vauxhall Insignia estate 2013 160 BHP. Her car had budget tire on and when we got it I changed them immediately for a complete set of Michelin Primacy 3 tires. These tires transformed the handling of the car. We live in a remote rural area with country roads and the tires perform extremely well in all conditions. They wear very well and I would strongly recommend these tires to anyone considering them. The only downside is they are expensive but I feel that you get what you pay for when it comes to tires.
Very confident when driving in all conditions but a bit shocked that the front tires on my V40 only managed 14000 miles. I do about 6000 miles a year, mostly work and town with a few 150 mile motorway journeys.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
Primacy 3 is a good option for more driving comfort. Not as sporty as Michelin pilot sport 3 that I used before primacy 3 nor as grippy especially cornering at high speed is not good enough to enjoy an ultimate ride but for daily drive particularly in cities, one can go for them.
Good tyers overall,wear is almost non existent but lacks a lot of dry grip, on wet they are just as good as dry, which made me give them a 9, but, the dry grip is not fantastic, i was expecting better (but not by much), luckily they came with my 2018 honda civic 1.5 turbo 182 hp and i did not buy them myself because i would have regretted the decision, if you are not driving very sporty(which i am, sometimes), they should be good enough for you, but if you do, you'll find them not very suitable in sudden direction changes where i feel it becomes a bit unresponsive due to the lack of grip, making the car understeer without even realizing sometimes, you just feel the car's front end going very subtle in an understeer, i had a mini cooper 1.5 diesel and i swear i could go harder on some of my local B roads and i had some petlas velox sport fitted on that, which apart from wet grip and wear, they were fenomenal, good handling for that power range, or maybe it was the chassis's kart like dimensions that helped it, but, sticking to the subject, i feel that these tyers are perfect for what they are advertised and Michelin did not lie, they are very good in wet grip, very good braking distance in wet, although i feel it is not so great on dry, comfort is nice, road feedback is okay unless you floor the pedal, handling could be better, but i really don't have that much experience with competitors, altough i felt my winter goodyear ultra grip performance gen 1 was at least similar in grip and handling, and that is... a winter tire (more or less), buy again is around 7, i would buy them again if i were to have a van and kids inside it, as it provides enough sportiness for that kind of needs, but if you try to race someone with their fancy cheap nankangs, don't, they might beat you even though you go lower on pressure as i do. Also, as a side note, don't try to floor it too much on wet conditions, the wheel tends to hop in these tires.
These tires were original equipment. I have covered 51000km and they are now 1 mm above the TWI. Very impressive wear rate and still grippy in the wet. The rear tires are fine. I don't normally buy expensive tires but these are worth the extra 700so have two on order.
CHR caame fitted with these yres.with the wear, 17k, poor.
On a CHR forum, other users had far better mileage, all I do is drive locally and occasional 200 mile trips, all sensible driving, why the disasrity I have no idea.
Have no idea what to replace them with.
I was goin from a 15" 215/55 winter tire to this on my first car, the first impression was "Wow its a new car, more premium feeling, and more confident driving feeling", newer even when pushing the car hard on the road did the tires slip on dry (But on a closed circut they squealed) i am no racing driver but i am experienced enough not to crash when going fast. In the wet is where they shine the most a a touring/safe tire, it just does not aquaplane or skid when taking a roundabout, of course it does not make the car a super grippy racing car in the rain, but you can do the speed limit everywhere without a worry. But in terms of feel and feedback it is not the best, that also has to do with the fact that it is a 17" and it has 101cm of tire, and it does give way, but that is in the name of comfort and safety so i cant complain, when i choose this over a PS3, ive done around 35k km on these and the front tires are a bit worn but the back tires are still plenty, my dad will get them for his 9-5.
Primacy 3 was chosen to improve comfort and tread life in comparison to factory fitted Toyo Proxes R32. Both were improved but not significantly. Overall I consider Primacy 3 to be one of the best tires I have ever used. After fitting them I was pleasantly surprised by their wet grip. In situations where ABS would kick in on Toyos, Michelins were still gripping the wet surface. The rolling resistance of the Michelins should have been theoretically lower then Toyos (C rating over F rating) but in reality the fuel consumption remained the same. In the dry the handling and stability of Toyos seemed to be slightly better but they suffered from tramlining quite a lot. The tread life of Michelins was better. After 50,000 kms the tread was worn from initial 7 mm to 3 mm. Toyos were approximately 20-25% worse in this aspect. On the other hand the Michelins are more expensive. At 3 mm of remaining tread I have decided to replace the Michelins with new tires as their aquaplaning resistance started to deteriorate and the comming spring often brings heavier rains.
My car came with these tires stock. Loved them and would definitely buy them again however they are a bit pricey. The life span on them is decent but not amazing. They are very soft which tends to mean punctures frequently. The grip on them remains good throughout their life span and only become less sure of handling once the tires are well spent.
Pros:
- Excellent dry conditions grip and handling. Gives confidence when taking corners at speed in a heavy car
- Excellent wet conditions grip and handling. No aquaplaning or sliding out in drenched roads
- Grip remains good throughout the entire life of the tire.
- Soft and comfortable ride.
Cons:
- a lot of road noise comes through when driving at higher speeds
- they tend to puncture easily
- they are a tad pricey
- the wear is average and could be better.
Amazing improve over the old Bridgestone Potenza Runflats I previously had on my car. Comfortable, confidence-inspiring, progressive, loads of wet and dry grip and virtually no wear after almost 5.000 miles of pretty hard use.
My car is currently modded w/ 270hp and 410Nm and the tires, at least on the road, give no sign of struggle handling the power, while the old Potenzas would slip under acceleration even while the car was stock (184hp 270Nm).
The only critique i would make is the vibration they make at low speed, specially while parking, but I think it´s due to the different pattern they have.
All in all, great tires. I would only exchange them for PS4 or Primacy4 Michelins!
