I noticed on Michelin's online catalog last night that the 215/45R17 size I'm running has been discontinued. My R53 is not even close to be a daily driver (despite my buddy and I driving both ours 190 miles on a fun loop yesterday) with less than 4k miles on those at this point. With consideration that a road hazard could ruin one, requiring complete replacement for a matched set, I'm contemplating buying an unmounted spare at the lowest shipped price found online, with many of those suppliers already showing my size discontinued with reduced pricing on limited remaining inventory. Just a heads-up for anyone with the same performance compound Summer tires...

Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S

 

Yes, I noticed this too, and has been a background "concern" of mine, maybe two years away from needing resolution.

If you are on 215/45R17, perhaps the Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect is a good substitution:
https://www.michelinman.com/auto/tir...-cup-2-connect
https://www.thedrive.com/guides-and-...re-review-test

In my case, there isn't an exact size replacement there. I'm not sure I'm willing to depart from 205/45R17- everything is working well together at this size.

The NAM community has to lobby Michelin for performance-oriented summer tires in 'normal' sizes!

(It's possible I'm being unnecessarily Michelin-centric. This alternative just came up on theDrive last week:
https://www.thedrive.com/news/bfgood...om-tire-review
https://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/auto...rce-phenom-t-a

 

Looks like the Conti
ExtremeContactSport 02
would be a good substitute
for now (the Cup 2 would be
good for dry, but not so great
on wet roads).

The Pilot Sport 5 looks like a
half a step down in performance
from the 4S.
Maybe if they come out with the
S 5 in 205 or 215/45/17, Michelin
could have another clear winner
for a summertire for our MINIs.

 

Thanks again for highlighting the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 tire.

Here is a pertinent 'Engineering Explained' (Continental sponsored) video comparing this contemporary tire against a predecessor (18 minutes):