I say again that if you believe that all season tires do nothing well...
You haven't driven a Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3.

I read the tests, the reviews, and maybe every post about them, but I still wasn't prepared for these over the top, out of the box all season tires.

I have a 2014 Roadster S. I have been driving since 1962 and autocrossing with success since 1995. I have driven on extreme performance tires, r-compound tires, and racing slicks, both dry and wet. Yesterday I brought home a set of 205/50-16 A/S 3's in the rain.

Today it rained harder and I found the standing water puddle on my most driven back road. I heard the right front tire violently cutting through the water at 60 mph but it didn't even tug on the tire nor slow the car as that friendly puddle has always done before.

The steering is light. Partly due to 10.5mm of tread and partly due to surprisingly low rolling resistance. Turn in is immediate. Well, surely there must be an actual delay but it is too small for me to perceive. Grip is somewhere well beyond the level I am willing to risk on a public road. I must take them to an autocross to determine how they handle at the limit of adhesion. They just simply track no matter how fast I dare corner with them at gendarme and bad karma attracting speeds. For reference, the car on OEM Continental ContiProContact runflats understeered if I tried to have much of any fun cornering. That is, the tires lost grip and the car ran wide which is especially unnerving in a right hand turn with oncoming traffic.

The sidewalls are stiff. Yes, they ride way better than a runflat but they are no Continental Extreme Contact DWS's. I can still feel every bump with my sport suspension; just not as much as my Hankook R-S3's or Star Spec I's. Nor painful like the runflats. These are serious performance tires oh so well suited to a MINI driven in all weathers except snow blizzards and subzero temperatures.

Dry grip? MPG? Treadwear? Don't know but expecting good things based on my impressions so far.

I do have a regret. I should have gotten the 205/55-16 for a slightly better ride along with stupid levels of fun.

As always, your mileage may vary.

 

Good review! I don't like the size they come in for 15", but I think I'm going back to 16" in the Spring. I was quite happy with the stance of my car on 205/50/16 so this could be a good choice.

 

Note that Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 come in two versions.

In Ultra High Performance All Season

Pilot Sport A/S 3 (W or Y speed rated)
205/55-16 $131 special, 5 rib design, Y speed rated, SL load rated, 23 lbs
215/45-17 $144 special, 5 rib design, W speed rated, XL load rated, 23 lbs
205/40-18 $163 special, 5 rib design, W speed rated, XL load rated, 21 lbs
215/40-18 $177 special, 5 rib design, Y speed rated, SL load rated, 22 lbs

In High Performance All Season

Pilot Sport A/S 3 (H or V speed rated) 500 treadwear
175/65-15 $91 each, 4 rib design, H speed rated, XL load rated, 18 lbs
195/55-16 $116 each, 4 rib design, V speed rated, SL load rated, 21 lbs
206/60-16 $123 each, 5 rib design, V speed rated, SL load rated, 21 lbs
205/55-16 $123 each, 5 rib design, H speed rated, SL load rated, 23 lbs
205/55-16 $122 each, 5 rib design, V speed rated, SL load rated, 23 lbs
205/45-17 $138 each, 5 rib design, V speed rated, SL load rated, 20 lbs
215/45-17 $127 each, 5 rib design, V speed rated, SL load rated, 23 lbs

SL is standard load and XL is a little stiffer sidewall extra load.

Key point is that these tires come in sizes that fit OEM MINI wheels very well.
Although every tire is a compromise you can get quite a bit out of these tires on the street for the average MINI owner no matter which model.

 

They are a very good tire.

I picked up a set at Costco for my Wife's car.

Very happy with them.

 

Couldn't agree more!!

 

I'm glad you found street tires you really like, and Michelin A/S 3's are a good tire.

But as all of us non-Cali folks learn first hand - rain is not really a season!


alex

...on WS80 Blizzaks for New England winters for all my cars
PSS's for the street (rain or shine)
RS3's for autoX (now gone, will re-evaluate for 2015)

 

You did read the last sentence you "quoted" didn't you? I grew up in Ohio.

 

Indeed, but it's a slow day

Thus, how does a Cali resident, for whom a "season" is a highly theoretical concept, justify pursuing an "all-season" equipment ?

Surely, full threaded Michelin PSS would provide equally incredible rain traction with superior dry traction and longer tread wear.
That's based on 1st hand experience, as well as TR's survey results:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/index.jsp

a

 

Point Reyes (Pacific Ocean) to Lake Tahoe (Sierra Nevada Mountains) is 200 miles. An annual average of 61.4 inches of snow falls 40 miles east of me. There is a lot more to California that a couple of cities by the sea.

PSS only comes in 17" or larger diameter, and I wouldn't trust them first thing in the morning after a freeze which is already occurring here. The A/S 3 is quicker than the Conti Extreme Contact DW (yes, summer DW) on a dry autocross course and is warranted for 50% more tread wear than the PSS.

 

nice tire, but a lot of $$

 

Same as the car.

 

Coming from the motorcycle/biking world, tires isn't something I would want to skimp on anyways. I'd gladly pay a little extra for a reputable, long lasting, grippy/safe tire.

Good review. It'll probably be my next set as I'm running the previous iteration of the tire.

 

i actually do like all seasons a lot. commuter tire which saves the summer tires strictly for autox.. i just dont know if THESE all seasons are worth it over another. i don't need massive dry grip, just good wet grip and decent in the snow.

i'm running 3 different all seasons on each car right now: conti purecontact ecoplus on the mini, general rt-43 on the corolla, and hankook s1 noble2s on the evo. very happy with all of them, though no snow testing yet. not sure if the michelins would be worth the premium over these tires

 

I recommended the A/S 3 as a "serious performance tire." Commuting and snow are not their strong points.

 

"Rain" is an entire season here in the Pacific NW - the only other one, actually. These things work great in rain, puddles and standing water.

I find them to track better than the previous generation on rutted roads and they stick very well, so far.

 

Agree with your review!

I have the "Y" rated AS3 on my GP2 for winter months, and was amazed at how good these tires are. Very little compromise when compared to the PSS that are on the car for the other three seasons.

 

I had Goodyear Eagle GT's in my 10s and really liked them, so I was bummed when they were discontinued. I switched to the Michelin as3's and haven't looked back

 

I remember reading a tire test article awhile back in one of the major motor mag's and they had Randy Pobst in a few cars testing tires at the track ( Willow Springs ?) .

I was totally surprised how quick the Pilot Sport A/S 3's were compared to a full on track biased DOT tire with 200 tread wear rating.

I think it was only off 1sec or so ! It was hard to believe so i need to go find that article just to be sure now...

 

Found it and a video no less!

Of course, if a car is setup for the track biased tire it'll do better for sure but it's still damn impressive showing for an all season tire....Michelins were tested on the Mustang 305hp V6 in the video.

http://www.automobilemag.com/feature...e-test-246535/

 

Update after 2900 miles:

MPG is good at 32.5. The OEM all-season Conti runflats got 32.8 on 2300 break-in miles. My Hankook R-S3 autocross tires have averaged 31.4 with 4900 miles of street use and 42 autocross runs.

As for autocross performance, I've posted this elsewhere as well. At the limit of adhesion they still grip but become a bit less precise. I was hitting the edges of cones on occasion instead of missing them by an intended inch or two. Braking suffered significantly, not having the absolute stickiness of the Hankook extreme summer tire. The difference in stopping distance is likely only a few feet but in autocrossing that puts you late into a turn and kills a bit of speed. I have no trouble believing they beat the Continental Extreme Contact DW on dry pavement at the product release events.

Unfortunately they discontinued the 175/65-15 size due to low demand.