Michelin Pilot Sport 4S Quick Review

As some of you know, I solicited advice on a set of new tires in a separate thread. I ended up deciding on the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S to replace my worn Kumho Ecsta PA31 installed by the previous owner. I waited a few days before giving any feedback, because I didn't want to just take it around the block and write something up. Well now, a few days and a couple hundred miles later, I think I can give a qualified answer. So, first things first, any comparisons I make to the Kumhos should be taken with a grain of salt, as I am comparing 4 year old, worn tires to brand new Michelins with all the latest tech. I don't know what new Kumhos in the new model PA91 would feel like. They might feel just as good or better, for all I know. That said, the new Michelin PS4S are an outstanding tire, and I now am looking for reasons to drive even when I have no real task to accomplish. My car was previously very crashy and bumpy and felt like it was riding on very hard tire. To be fair, the tire pressure was too high, IMO and I noticed some harshness from the Michelins when I took possession of the car. I promptly lowered the tire pressure from the 44 PSI in the rear to about 38 PSI and down from 36 PSI to 33 PSI. It still felt very harsh over road imperfections, so I raised the FEAL coilover dampers from full soft to 20 clicks out of 30. Ok, now we are in business. Full soft-underdamped suspension is just as bad as overdamped. You need to hit that sweet spot. I can't tell you how much that fixed the driving experience. My first time on the highway, I was disappointed, because the Michelins still felt floaty and somewhat unstable. Once I got the tire pressures and coilover dampers set up this car became one of the best driving cars I've ever owned. Road compliance is great now. I can go over some pretty nasty stuff and the car stays planted and doesn't get unsettled. I've been purposely going over the bad parts of the road just to see how the car reacts. Look... it's not buttery smooth like my Lexus over bumps... but for a sports car, it's very compliant. Cornering is much improved. Having previously owned a 997.2 4s, I never understood why people fawned over the C2. I thought it was just a bunch of people making a big deal over nothing. I'm not 100% sure I am in the C2 is better than C4 camp, but I do see what people were talking about now. when you take a corner, the front turns in sharply and precisely, and that rear gives you this unexpected grip you don't experience in a front-engined car. Tire noise is much reduced. Still somewhat noisy from wind at speed, but that's not the tires fault. Braking is great, but it was great on the old Kumhos too. Not much to say about that. Haven't driven in the rain yet, so I can't comment on this capability, which apparently is one of the tires main competitive advantages over others in its class. So in short, if you are on the fence, I'd strongly recommend the Michelin PS4S. I can't say it's better than other options, though, as I haven't tested them. They are definitely better than the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A N1 tires I put on my 997, though. Much, much better. I did not like those at all. A good deal of the improvement came down to tire pressure and coilover damping, so as I said earlier, please judge that improvement in the appropriate context. For my purposes of daily driving and spirited runs, I may have been just as happy with the Sumitomos or other brand, but I needed to see personally what the hype was over these tires. I think their reputation is well deserved!

There's a good reason why they're expensive and at or near the top of "the best of the best" max performance summer tire. FWIW - 44 psi is the proper spec for the rear tires and 36 psi for the fronts. (18"wheels - 17's are lower pressure).

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Yeah, I agree... great tires for sure. From what I understand there was a TSB with lower tire pressure ranges for a car that isn't fully loaded. I have not seen said TSB, but others have had success with the lower pressures, so I thought I'd give it a try. After messing with different damper settings at these lower tire pressures and experiencing how much different it makes the car feel, I plan inflate the tires back to 36/44 and see if I can get the same compliance. Quite a bit of trial and error, but I'm enjoying getting used to the new capabilities of the adjustable suspension. I will say from my experience on both my 997 and 996, I never really liked the tire feel at the recommended tire pressures. I'll probably try it out the higher pressures tomorrow and see what happens. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Yup - you are correct... max load pressure. I run my PSS at 40r 32f

I really wish we had more tire options for 996s... seems like it's ps2 or bust unless you go to 19s. What sizes are you running? A lot of people are running lower tire pressures. I also run 33/38 on my c4s with no issues... toronto roads are crap

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I'm running stock size: 225 /40 R18 92Y XL BSW 265 /35 R18 97Y XL BSW Personally, I think there are a lot of tire options out there. I have the MPS4, not the PS2.

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Makes sense. My car takes a 295/30/18 rear which is apparently uncommon. Only "name brand" modern street options I can see are bridgestone, pzeros or mich ps2. IMO the ps2 is the best of those 3. Really wish michelin would manufacture that sizing in ps4s or even supersport!

Do those tire pressure apply to all 18� rims or just the Michelin PS. On my 4s I have crappy tires but they are new, came with car. I run 35psi all around and it has more road noise than my Boxster had on Firestone Indy 500�s. That had 17�s.

^^^ All 18� tires👍

Thanks. Sumitomo HTR ZIII are the tires I have which I am pretty sure are bottom of the barrel. Maybe going from 35 to 44 in the rear will help the ride. Thanks.

I�m not sure what it will do for road-noise but it should get a little firmer feel wise. Higher pressure should get you a little less friction/resistance, so maybe a little less road-noise as well. I�d start with 40r and 32f - see if you can feel/hear a difference. Good luck

Thank you sir.

YOU are welcome sir!

Anyone have experience with General G-Max RS tires? Saw them on TireRack. I've got 295/30 19s and 235/35 19s that need replaced. Fearful the Michelins are a little wider, since tire dimensions vary regardless of size. Currently running Contis. Thoughts?

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Can't speak on 19s or General G-Max, but I can say that the Michelins have much more rim protection than the equivalent size Kumhos. So, in my case they were a little bit wider.

Must say, put in 44 at the rear and 36 in the front. Much better. A cheap fix, who'd a thought. Thanks guys.

I'm putting Michelins on the 996 and the GT3 the next time they need new shoes.

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You will love them.

Thought I would chime in on this as I was in a similar spot to the OP inheriting a less than ideal tire setup with the car, Sumi HTR ZIII that were old and tired. Truth be told, I thought on the road they made the car pretty playful, mostly because they had **** for grip. I spent the winter making improvements to the car and topped it off with PS4S in 225/40/18 and 285/35/18. Fit - Fit my stock 18's well, the Michelin 285 is slightly wider than the Sumi that came off and paired with the taller tire did a lot for my wheel fitment game. Car is lowered on �hlins and I have an 11MM spacer in the Front and a 15MM spacer in the rear. RIde - No more playful sliding around, just go. After a couple hard drives grip is very impressive and I am really impressed with the overall performance of the tire / �hlins setup on the road. Front end understeer is reduced and I would need a lot more horse power to outmatch the 285 grip in the back. Pressures are 35F and 40R. Ohlins are set 6 clicks from softest both F and R, the car is corner balanced and weighs about 3K even. I had debated between the PS4S and the Cup 2, my car only gets driven in the dry and rarely at leisurely paces. In the end I decided for the cost I would try the PS4S and get some more useful life out of them. For the few track days I will do this year, I think these are a very viable compromise. Thanks to the OP for his review, I enjoyed the read and found it helpful.

I couldn’t take the 44 psi in rears. I’m running 33/39. Concrete roads around here are kidney killers when running 44 psi.

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Here�s my General GMax RS review from another thread: �I�m not one to openly give out my opinion and negative reviews, but I had the General GMax RS�s on my 996 C4S for 2k miles and I had to take them off. The tires are very cushy and comfortable and are great for daily driving, but any time they were pushed in the twisties, they fall just fell apart (not literally) and their cheapness showed (and also probably their high treadwear rating). I had Sumitomo HTR ZIII�s on the car for 10k miles from the previous owner before these and I was more than happy with them on spirited drives, but I think the GMaxs just have too soft of sidewalls (hence the cushy ride over rough pavement). Steering was very numb and you could feel them �fold over� and understeer and turn to mush on turn in. The car didn�t rotate and you could hear the tires �scrub� when cornering. I was constantly making back and forth steering corrections mid corner and it got to the point that I had no confidence in them when pushed in corners. I just felt like I really had no idea what the front end was doing. I really wanted to like them, which is why I gave them 2k miles, even though they felt bad from the start. I ended up doing what I was trying to avoid in the first place, and purchased the old and twice as expensive Michelin PS2s. I hate to admit it, but the PS2s are night and day over the Generals. Yes, at twice the price, I expected some differences, but they really are twice the tire. I�m still bitter at Michelin for making me fork out that much money on old tire technology though. Please, Michelin, make the PSS or PS4S in Turbo/C4S sizes!!!� To sum it up, the General GMax RS�s are fine for casual driving and commuter miles. I just can�t recommend them for any type of performance related driving, even at their incredible price.�