The front two tires on my 2009 Fit Sport are crying for a change. The rear's seem to be pretty all right, so I could keep them if I so choose.

The car has the 205/50 R16 Falken Ziex ZE 612 all around (I had bought the car used a few months back).

The tires seem pretty OK for noise, and fine in the dry, but winter grip on snow/ice is a real challenge.

After some research, I am inclined to choose between the following:
1) 195/55 R16 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S - $450 before tax and installation at Costco
2) 195/55 R16 Michelin Premier A/S - $490 before tax and installation at Costco

or

3) Change only the fronts - with 205/50 R16 Falkens ZE 612 - $170 before tax and installation at Discount Tire.

I can't find any concrete information about the Premier A/S - but I see that the Pilot Sport A/S is a top rated tire all around. Some reviewers have dinged it for winter grip, and even Michelin admits that it is only a 3 season tire - meaning not for winter.

Does anyone here have any feedback on the Premier A/S - and if it is better in the winter conditions?

So, over to the best and brightest - and thanks for your input in advance!

 

Ditch the Falkens if you're dealing with weather. Even with full tread they don't deal with rain well, and snow, I can only imagine.

Pilot Sport is an excellent all season by all accounts I've read. I've never used them myself, I'm just posting to tell you not to bother with the Falkens

 

I will second the pilot sports. They are really good tires. I have no problems with rollover at stock pressures which although have 20% less grip then my Autocross tires, but the rollover puts my Autocross tires to shame lol. Probably because they are softer and they grip well in the snow and rain. They make anything like the stock dunlops look like junk lol. I had trouble using my brakes in the snow with the stock dunlops but now with racing pads the michelins don't slip under braking comparatively.

Spending 5 minutes looking up the premiers sounds like they are more cushy and less performance.

 

honestly fit doesnt need michelins...?
other brands like kumho,hankook work just fine...

 

vb6172: I can't answer your specific question BUT I did replace my stock Dunlops with A/S3 Pilot Sports (175/65/15), Michelins rated at 50k miles, $530 for 4 tires, out the door.
They are very good tires. I don't worry about my tires when I push the car around a bit or drive it hot, long, and hard. I live in SoCal and bought the tires at a small independent shop.

 

I eventually ended up with the Michelin Premiers - the tread pattern promises more grip for the Chicago winters, and the tire sales person also said that these would be better than the Pilot Sports in the winter.

So far, I have put more than 500 miles and I am loving these. These are so much quieter, that I am only now realizing just how bad the Falkens were. And the grip over ice/snow is pretty decent.

The ride is quite a bit softer, so some may not like that the steering is not as crisp. But overall, for the pot hole ridden Chicago streets, a softer ride is proving to be preferable.

 

So how's the road performance of the Premie's? I'm thinking of getting this tire on my next change.

 

sorry vb, but as the biggest Michelin supporter on the planet, I must say to your inquiry: why buy them when there are several excellent alternatives. I use the word several, because most tires are pretty poor, making Michelins look that much better. However, there have been some excellent tires which are MUCH less expensive to come out over the past year that you should consider. Go to tirerack.com and do the research for yourself. Having had nothing but Michelins on my cars for years, I now have NO Michelin tires on my three cars. I currently have, and very highly recommend: Pirelli Cinturato P7 Plus; Hankook H727, and General Altimax RT43. The Generals are on my Fit because I wrote the Pirelli reps and asked whether they had plans to come out with a P7 Plus in the Fit's size, but they will not. I only included the Pirelli in my recommendation in case you have other cars that the P7 Plus will fit on. Good luck with your decision. If you go with the Michelin, stick with the Premier.
OOOPs: I see I'm too late for you vb. I'll suffer through the embarrassment and leave my post up for others who may require tires in the near future.

 

@ mtheo31 -
The Premier A/S is not the sportiest tire. But it certainly is a very comfortable one. Also - it promises better traction than the Pilot Sport A/S in ice/snow conditions - but I see that you are in Florida, so that should not be a factor for you. Perhaps, if I were in Florida, I would prefer the Pilot Sport?
The Premier is certainly a bit squishy - but most of my driving is in the City of Chicago - where I seldom exceed 40-45 mph in local driving, and rarely go above 60 mph on the freeway, traffic being what it is. So - the squishy bothers me less. On the flip side, I get a tire that is comfortable over potholes and rutted roads.
Also, the long tread life of the Premier was a factor for me over the Pilot Sport - but a smaller factor. My goal was to get a top tire that would work for me in almost all conditions. And by all accounts - reviews on tirerack - and testing by Consumer Reports show that both the Michelins under consideration were ranked towards the top.

 

@BurntZ -
My reason for buying the Michelin tire were very simple. I wanted the convenience of buying from Costco, a local retailer - vs ordering online, and going to an installer, and Costco only had Michelins or Bridgestones. Costco were also offering $70 off a set, making the price very competitive with my other choice, the Pirelli Cinturato P7.

I am aware that the P7 is the top rated tire on Tire Rack, but so is the Michelin, ranking just behind the Pirelli, and not by much. On the other hand - Consumer Reports - a source that I trust (others have their issues, but I find their methods to be sound), ranks the Michelins highly, and found the tread life on the Pirellis to be poor. So, I am not sure why the rant against Michelin.

P.S. - I have bought tires from Tire Rack earlier, and its fine as a source. But I found Costco more convenient - because I go there on a weekly basis anyway...

 

@BurntZ

Also, the Pirelli P7 are available in 205/50 and 195/55 on Tire Rack. So - there are sizes available for the Fit.
I bought the car used, and it came with 205/50 Falken Ziex 612 - these may be the worst tire for any kind of wet weather condition, but the tire was very sporty in the dry. And extremely noisy in comparison to the newer ones.
I switched to the 195/55 - a slightly narrower tire - because Costco won't install the 205/50. But in retrospect, the narrower tire may be part of the reason for the reduced noise, and higher sidewall provides more comfort.

 

vb: as I've cautioned others before, the ratings people are looking at for Consumer Reports are old. The Pirelli rating is not for the P7 Plus. It is for the P7, a totally different tire. I have been buying tires at Costco for 25 years. I decided to go the internet route because while Michelins are a very good value at Costco, the other tires they offer are not all that great; middle of the road at best. Moreover, even though I have a Costco one mile from my house, getting in/out to have my tires rotated and balanced given their large amount of customers became a big pain. If I'm not the first in line, it is an enormous wait. In addition, many people don't know that Costco now offers tire pressure monitor service. The trained idiots at Costco told me that they had the software to install TPMS stems for my Hyundai. The price was great. The problem was that they didn't know what they were talking about and installed the new stems only to have my light come on repeatedly. Funny thing; they lied to me. They didn't have the hyundai software and I caught them in their lie. I then told them to take the two stems back off and return me to rubber stems. I'd rather live with the light on knowing my rubber stems won't break during a curb rash incident. I got my money back and will now use competent installers when ordering my tires at deep discount on the internet. By the way: my P7 Plus tires for my Vibe cost me $75 + $14 to install and balance. The Premiers at Costco were about $140 a tire + the $15 lifetime installation. For the money saved, I can easily put the difference towards balance and rotation. While not a Pirelli expert yet, I can say that I have some confidence that I won't suffer from sidewall dry rot and cracking like I have with the MXV4s and other Michelin models I have owned before. Costco would not do anything for my sidewall cracking Michelins when I brought it to their attention. They know it is par for the course. Are Michelins great tires: yes. Perfect tires: not a chance

 

Yes - Consumer Reports has the older ratings - for the P7 as well as the Michelin, where they have ratings for the older Primacy MXV4... and not the Premier. But as a brand, Michelin stands No. 1 overall for the quality of their tires... whereas Pirelli lies behind Continental and Goodyear... as in No. 4
What Brands Make the Best Tires? - Consumer Reports

So, when you dismiss Michelin overall as a brand, you lose credibility?? Because the statistics on Tire Rack as well as on Consumer Reports say something else. Because in every category, Michelin is among the top, if not the top tire.

Now - the only question is one of price, where Michelin usually suffers. And at the time I was buying, the Michelins were competitively priced because of the discount... but right now, the Pirellis have a discount on Tire Rack - so those look quite attractive.

Overall there are so many variables when making a choice - that you and I can argue over this all day. But that is another discussion. At the moment, I have bought the Premiers - and I can provide feedback on the Premiers. Whereas - you have the Pirellis and you wax eloquent on those!! For me, it was a close choice between the two...

Also, on whether Costco is a good place to shop - various internet articles on the same show that they are one of the top choices, with lots of satisfied customers. In the past, I have used Tire Rack and found them to be satisfactory on some parameters such as price, while lacking in convenience. This time, the price was close enough. I was a little bummed that they would not install 205/50's... but overall I am a satisfied customer. Like they say, YMMV... and really speaking, my mileage may vary too. Because the warranty is 60,000 miles - and I am only about a 1000 in.

 

My 2¢: Just replaced the Dunlops (38,000 miles and shot) on my 2012 Sport with Michelin Premiers. Initial reaction: I realize I'm replacing worn out tires with new ones, but the Michelins are much quieter and "cushier" feeling than the Dunlops, even when they were new. I imagine if you are into a tight/lots of road feel ride, you will not be a fan. However, if you are after a bit more comfort and quite a bit less noise, try the Michelins.