Owners broadly agree the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S delivers standout dry and wet grip, with over half mentioning strong dry traction and nearly half praising its wet confidence. Comfort is also a common plus for a max-performance tyre, though noise is more mixed, with a noticeable minority finding it loud. Longevity gets a more divided reception: many report solid tread life, but around one in eight complain about faster wear or uneven wear, and a smaller group say performance drops off as it wears. A further recurring criticism is a soft sidewall feel, with around one in ten owners reporting less support or precision than expected.
What owners mention most counted across 154 reviews
Really like the PS4S. For backroad spirited driving, they've been absolutely fantastic. I don't find them noisy, and wear on them has been quite reasonable. I used them for a day of open lapping at one point too, and they did really well on track.
Last year, I decided to try the Firestone Indy 500 (aka Bridgestone Potenza RE003) because they're significantly cheaper, but they sucked in comparison and I swapped back to PS4S within a couple of weeks.
A great tyre. They replaced the Michelin Pilot Super Sport on my E46 M3, which were also fantastic.
I hope the PS5s come out soon.
My tyre sizes were 255/35/r19 and 224/40/r19
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Ive had Hankook and Falken top tier tires and they were good.
Hankook better than Falken but essentially I needed a better application for the type of power I have driving and also I would go to Canyons quite a bit so I needed something with more grip and where I felt confident.
Michelin Pilot Super Sport and Pilot Sport 4s did it. The difference I felt almost immediately, the level of handling I felt like I could handle now and just the drive, I will absolutely buy again. The price will have me wait till I need to replace them, but you absolutely get what you paid for.
This is an initial impression of the tire as I am finally happy to obtain these tires especially when switching from 16 inch wheels to 19 inch wheels so this should provide an excellent take. With reading some reviews about PS4S having marginal to no differences to PS4 I opted out for PS4S BMW star spec for improved subjective feel as I found regular PS4 lack in feedback under load and inert feel at yaw changes. Dry grip was exhilirating as hell. I am under impression this is a semi-slick tire with more tread! It bites onto the tarmac harder than PS4 ever could which is also heavily influenced by 255 width vs 205 width. Braking feels like having swapped 2 piston calipers with 6 piston calipers which felt similar with the way PS4 was but this tire transmits you every little detail of what you do with the car on the road leading it to inclusive fun as well as having the advantage of a wide tire. Wet wasn't as bad as I had expected, barely any slip unless really hooning it but that is mainly due to lack of heat during the single rainy day however it has so much stick I never felt nervous even when braking. I expected wet braking to be bad but it wasn't, only slightly worse than PS4! Handling is definitely the best I had experienced! It's all I ever seeked of and it really DOES feel like a SEMI-SLICK. While PS4 reduced body roll moderately the PS4S * reduced body roll significantly. It fears no corners at any speeds. The most flat experience I ever had in a car as it has no roll like a go-kart, completely surprised me and it feels so tight on the road. Dry handling is full neutral and can rotate to oversteer if you over-rev and break the balancing in corners. You're never reaching the limits of this tire in the streets ever. It killed the nose heaviness Audis are known for - push to understeer at adhesion is absolutely eliminated and rotates without hesitation whereas PS4 near the limit liked to push the understeer from neutral handling. Wet handling was neutral to oversteer but I hope to experience wet performance more. It was a lot more fun to throw my car around the wet roads but I believe PS4 is better in this field as the oversteer was a lot more controlled and allowed to mash the throttle at wet roads without any slip. Road feedback...like what the hell this is the best tire for it ever! The only tire that ever got a 10 from me. Previous highly scored tires in this category are PS4 and Blizzak DMV2 on another car which got an 8 and the current winter tires WinterContact TS870 P would get only a 7 much like Turanza T001 instead of a 5 this time around. This has all of it! It is so heavy even when variable steering overboosts the assist at low speeds it feels great and makes it fun to drive. On lower levels of assist it feels as heavy as or heavier than the steering I tried on E90 BMW 3 series. The inputs are sharp but quite progressive so it doesn't feel too darty but enough to drive like a maniac. You feel the road perfectly - all that force feedback, yaw changes, braking, slip angle, load up etc. The stiffening of the compound and strenghtening of the sidewalls is a definitive plus for this tire and vastly improved something that was missing in the regular PS4! Regular PS4 had decent heft but it was so lackadaisical it wasn't always fun to drive even if it inspired you to drive spirited. They simply were plagued by the sidewalls and only under limit they felt blissful. This tire massively begs to be pushed and communicates with the driver like no other, it gets me excited! It truly complements my upgraded sport suspension as if they were made for these tires. Can't comment on wear yet but comfort surprised me. For such a chatty tire, feeling so tight and heavy on the steering and with sheer amounts of grip it is shockingly comfortable. Noise is pretty low, I personally felt that regular PS4 tires were a little louder. Rides and drives smooth rounding up the bumps quite well for a 19 inch tire. I really expected worse from this profile of the tire but it does feel due to compound of the BMW star spec tire like you would have highly uprated springs on your car. I suspect PS4 on 19 inch feels exactly the same or similar but without the tight feel because I barely noticed any differences so no issues with comfort even on a wild tire like this! Overall this is the best tire I have ever owned and having the star spec allows it to be on its own level. This is the real deal it feels like a semi-slick even more than regular PS4. I rated it quite low than expected before so regular PS4 tire would get somewhere nearly a 9 from me this time around as it really was a fun tire with tremendous grip especially in the wet but it lacked ultimate handling and feedback due to their touring level sidewalls. This one is a perfect 100% for the time being as it deals with all the tasks and commands I throw at it. It eats the roads like no tire ever and the dynamics of it improved my car to levels I have never thought they were possible. BMW definitely knows how to tune their stuff. Came in with a moderate expectations ended up being highly optimistic. This will be educational for me to find out how they will last over long term because I really see no competition that can beat this tire. It really is a tire that has all-in-one deal and although I want to try other tires, ultimately Michelin has been consistently the best brand for me. Can't wait to find out how mindblowing the PS5S are going to be in the near future.
The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S came standard with my car, which is a daily driver car. I mostly drive on maintained paved road, and never took my car to a track. Being a summer tire, it is grippy enough that it gives me confidence that I will not lose traction on turns, specially if I'm travelling a little faster than I'm suppose to be. I have driven my car on wet and/or cold condition as well, and predictably, I had to be extra careful, specially on turns, for this tire can easily slip on a wet or cold surface. Overall, I am happy with this tire, but will I buy it again? Most probably no. Like I said earlier, I do not track my car. I would gladly swap the extra grip provided by this tire, for something that I can use on all weather, plus gives a longer tread life.
Amazing tyre, done 5 trackdays in 3 months/8,000km over 9 months. Only half worn after all the hard driving.
The grip on track is unreal in the dry and wet. Great feedback also. Going to try Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport next to compare.
Found PS4s to be an overall good tyre but they can be quite dull on road feedback wich I absolutely hate. Compered with PSS which will stick the performance GTI like glue on dry (although not so great in weat), PS4s will lose greap when pushed at limit when cornering.
By far the best tyre I've ever had on any car. Grip on dry, wet, steering response, the car feels planted. The tyre largely outperforms my car, it's the first time I feel like I can throw anything at it and it still grips and feels super safe. I sometimes drive like a madman and these tyres just feel right at home when driving fast and taking corners at high speed. Highly recommend. Oh and they don't wear at all. Still got 3.5mm left after about 30000 miles.
This review is so accurate in testing the MICHELIN Pilot Sport 4 S.
I experienced the same difficulty in the snow back in February 2021 in driving my car in the snow. my tyres back in February had very good tread depth and still do. My car is four-wheel drive with 285/35/22 and I literally couldn't get off my drive up a very tiny slope and almost ended up putting my car through my wall in trying to get off my drive.
I had to put sand down in my tyre tracks on my drive to put my car back about 10-ft to park it back where it first was in the morning.
please do not attempt to drive with these tires in the snow because it is literally impossible even with four-wheel drive to drive in the snow with these tires on your car. ❄ ❄ ❄
But in the summer and in wet conditions these tyres are absolutely brilliant and i cannot recommend them highly enough for these conditions
These came fitted to the car when i bought it 2nd hand with about 2,000 miles done on them already. My previous car had the OE spec Dunlop Sports Maxx and these are a complete revelation. took me a good 200 miles to trust the grip they offered in the damp over the Dunlops which had me driving very cautiously ...not a bad thing but also not relaxing.
The PS4s just does things without any hint of understeer or sudden tail slides under power.
Ride comfort is better even when the car has stiffer suspension than the previous car and cabin noise is down a bit as well.
Only negative i've sensed was a little tramlining under heavy breaking and a much smaller rim protector.
They aren't a cheap tyre but for high power cars i can definitely understand the reputation these have gained.
550hp has never felt so easy to get down .
