| Tyre upgrade to Michelin Pilot Sport 4
Ever since the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 was launched in India, I had my eyes on them. But my current wheels were 15" and my 195/55 r15 Yoko S drives had 10k life left. So i was waiting for the opportunity for this upgrade.
Upgraded to 16" inch OE wheels and 205/50/R16 Michelin Pilot Sport (PS4) last month. Have driven it for 1100 km under various conditions and this is my review.
One fine day Riyaz bhai and I landed in BM Lal in the late morn. And we got some French and Italian goodies on our German and American steeds respectively
Price: Price is slightly on the higher ride. But a similarly sized Yoko S drive is within stones throw of this. Given it belongs to 1 or even 2 categories higher than the Yoko's, it's a great deal actually.
Looks: Looks amazing. The velvet kind of finish on the sidewall with the letterings in contrast texture, the checkered flag symbols, give it a very sporty look
Ride quality: Even though it is a sports tyre belonging to the Max Performance category, it has that signature luxurious and premium Michelin ride. Soaks up bumps decently even though it is a 50% profile tyre. Road noise is also a bit lesser than Yokos. In fact on soft bumps and undulations its ride is better than the higher profiles Yokos. On very sharp bumps though you need to remember its sidewall height and you need to slow down a bit.
Stability:
That is on another level now. The tram-lining that Yokos had is completely gone. Its dead stable in straight line, you can accelerate away with your hands touching the steering only for formality. It truly follows Newtons 1st law. The Yokos were twitchy with lot of tram lining, a moment of lack of focus and it tries to hit the median. One might be tempted to say the straight-line stability increased due to the size and not the tyre. But my 185 section Apollo had lesser tram-lining than Yokos, so the tyre does it play its role.
The faster you go the more it gets into its elements, proving that is in indeed W rated (270 kph). The car just holds on the road like a leech in higher speeds. My car had a floaty ride with a bit of steering vagueness and movement at speeds >140 kph. All that is history now
Cornering: Have n't done too many extreme cornering maneuvers, but with the few high speed and medium speed cornerings that I have done, it disposes off corners with ease.
Braking: Braking is improved with the better grips. Very difficult to trigger ABS now. The very 1st day while coming back from the tyre shot, a Sump tried a Scandinavian flick to take a turning and ended up in my path. The way the car shed speed was much better than I had gone to expect. But the new tyres have exposed the car's weak-link. The actual brakes themselves. Have to upgrade them.
Acceleration: Wheel spins and ESP lights are a thing of the past. The Yokos reduced the wheel spins and ESP lights by say 30% from the stock. The PS4s have reduced this again by say 30%. The car grips and then catapults itself.
Wet weather: Have n't had extensive test yet. With whatever trickles of rain that Chennai got in June, I would say it has got good wet weather performance.
All in all it lives up to its moniker of Total Performance
Last edited by rageshgr : 1st July 2019 at 18:21.
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1st July 2019, 18:06
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