Let me just share my experience so far with the Michelin Pilot Sport 3s. These are, by far, the best rubbers I've ever shod on a car.


Michelin's tires have never been cheap and until recently they weren't known for great treadwear either. Not too long ago their local tire lineup was rated 240 for treadwear across the board. In the Philippines, where the quest to stretch the motoring peso is the ever present motivator, Michelin is a niche brand. Not many tire shops keep stocks and they're usually only available on order basis, which requires a downpayment.

When Bridgestone, Yokohama and Goodyear on the high end, and Kumho, Nankang and Federal at the low end, offer such a popular selection of tires, there aren't a lot of people who know about Michelin's award-winning Pilot Sport line - unless said Pinoy people read foreign car magazines. I decided to give them a try when my Kumho Ecsta SPTs were worn to the point of aquaplaning with brake lockup on a wet stretch of road. My SSR Type M wheels were soon shod in Michelin's Pilot Sport 3 radials.

You may know that after the Pilot Sport 2, Michelin actually "split" the succession. The Pilot Sport 3s are not exactly the successors of the highly regarded PS2s; that honor went to the Pilot Super Sport tires. Despite the name, the PS3s are more of a successor to the Pilot Preceda.

I decided to give them the sternest test at the very beginning: time attack at Clark International Speedway full course. Here the SPTs suffered terminal understeer everywhere. The PS3s just gamely held on, succumbing to inevitable understeer far later and enabling my low-powered GD1 to keep momentum through the turns. Braking performance was a lot better, too. This side of a Bridgestone RE-11 or Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08, the PS3s are right up there with the grippiest street-legal tires available.

After that trackday I've spent two months with the PS3s on the street. In that span of time my set has seen a full-lockup panic braking maneuver for crash avoidance; lots of rain; several second- and third-gear pulls close to redline; and a lot of highway use. It doesn't look like the non-directional, asymmetrical tread has any downsides in the wet, even in torrential downpours. Despite a lot of smoke at that instant where I had to brake to avoid crashing into a suddenly stopping truck in the dry, the PS3s just soldiered on as if nothing happened.

The only real chink in the Pilot Sport 3's armor is a high amount of road noise beginning at 55 mph. For a new tire this is pretty unexpected. However, this seems to be a fair tradeoff for all the braking and cornering performance, the relatively high 320 treadwear rating, and a pliant enough ride quality even at 35-37 psi.

In the US the Pilot Sport 3 isn't available in my size - 195/50 R15. That's a minor shame. Although pricey, all its performance makes up for it, and I can certainly rank it as one of the best-balanced summer performance tires for the money. It certainly doesn't demean the much-lauded Pilot Sport brand.

I will try to post updates as I keep on using the tires on my GD1.

 

Not available here.

 

Hi Type100,
I have a Michelin Pilot Super Sport installed in my car,
and just like your experience with Pilot Sport 3,
my Super Sport is also noisy tire.
but that also might be because I use a 225/40ZR18 size,
since the 225 size had more surface and surely will cause more noise...

I will have to start sound deadening my car soon...
I have the CLD tiles but I still need to buy MLV material before I can start
sound deadening my car... so now, my car is really noisy especially
on freeway with concrete surface...

the performance, well, I had not really test it and I don't plan to go on the track,
but for comfort, this Super Sport tire is VERY COMFORTABLE,
as comfortable as the stock Dunlop tire with much higher side wall profile !

 

very good tire, just a more expensive compared to the Re-11 or star specs II. Atleast here in the states.