Michelin Primacy 4 Reviews - Page 15

This are actually the most unimpressive tires I ever had if I have to honest.
They are replacing the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 which were the best ever, but for the first 10k miles only then the driving experience was declining with every months. Before the PS4 I had PS3 and before that Bridgestone – the OEM.
I decided to give the Primacy 4 a chance as they were highly rated as very good all-rounder, but on the higher price range due to the constant performance for the duration of their life. When installed I felt no different compared to my winter tires, and nothing like the PS4. Handling is normal, grip is ok, noise is ok, braking is good, and they feel a bit soft in the corners – everything you expect form a nonperformance tire.
They bring no emotion at all – just average. Now I'll be waiting to see if they will last 10k miles longer compared to others as promised.

My recommendation: if you bet on Michelin – go with the PS4 for about 20% more $.
If not get something cheaper – I just dot see the value for money in Primacy 4 just yet.

It is an old car but in excellent condition with brand new Michelin Primacy 4, same standard size as always.
Good grip dry and wet and good braking dry and wet, surprisingly only acceptable comfort and noise level, reasonable handling and feel, there's a little numbness and weird instability with these tires as with the Primacy 3 but in general the P4 are good tires.
They are better than Primacy 3 which I really did not like, but my previous old favorite tire Michelin Pilot Exalto which I had for many years suited me better, better feel and better control, very stable and grippy, not perfect comfort but good enough, I just liked them old tires better.
My Dunlop Winter Contact 4 D for winter driving has better comfort and noise level, very stable and controllable, very suitable tires for this comfort car, the Michelin Primacy 4 not so much, it is not bad tires but nothing special and I prefer the old tires I had before.
I have made another review about Nexen N Blue HD Plus.

It is the same standard size as I always have used.
For many years I have used Uniroyal MS Plus 66 on this well maintained car and nothing ells, very comfortable on any type of road and very quiet, also very stable in straights, although slightly slippery and soft in fast turns I felt good control and confidence in them, the grip was good enough for this car and very easy to control.
The grip with the harder, less comfortable and noisier, brand new Primacy 4 in turns are of course indeed faster, firmer, sharper and better, but on the limits they are chewing their way until they sometimes abruptly slip, especially on poor roads.
The Michelin's do have more feel to the road, the reaction and handling is faster, the Michelin's communicate better but it is surprisingly not a huge difference and no reason to be overexcited about, I had expected a more upgraded handling vs the Uniroyal's.
Better braking dry and wet, but again surprisingly not a huge difference.
In straights, while the soft Uniroyal's are completely planted on the road, the harder and firmer Michelin's are a little spongy and unstable, I do not understand why, it should normally be otherwise.
The Michelin's give me the impression that they roll easier, probably less resistance and consequently probably less fuel consumption.
Good in rain, maybe the Uniroyal's were slightly better in deep water-puddles.
Michelin's benefits are not worth the disadvantages on this car, in fact that is why I stayed on the Uniroyal's for so many years after I had Michelin HP's, I wish I had remembered that before I bought the Primacy 4.
With the exception of driving on poor roads, the Michelin's are not bad in any way, they are actually pretty good and better than the mediocre Primacy 3 but they do not suit this car and what I want.

2016 BMW 320i 225/50/17
2014 VW GOLF 205/55/16
After the initial minutes of euphoria having the latest Michelin's on both of our cars I am now more doubtful about these tires.
We have only driven ca 2200 km with the BMW and ca 1800 km with the VW, not much distance but on very various roads in just a few days and enough to have a good impression, it is similar impression with both cars.
It's rather good tires on good roads, good grip in turns wet and dry, acceptable/good comfort on good roads, relatively low noise although there is an unusual, but modest, mechanical or metallic sound from these tires, it is not loud but a little unpleasant.
The steering feel and handling is not quite as precis as I got used to with the other tire-brands, not at all a huge difference but I miss that little extra sense of road-feel and response.
As soon as I left the tire dealer with the new Michelin's I noticed a little slippery unstable feeling basically at all the time at any speed and road surface, wet or dry on both cars.
This little slippery feeling has not disappeared on any of the cars.
It is difficult to explain, it must be experienced, it is as if there is a little wax or oil on these tires, it is very little and hardly noticeable, not a huge problem but it is always there and it's slightly annoying.
Even on completely straight driving on highways there is this little sliding feeling, basically at any speed, it's very little but it's there, it's like the cars somehow are floating a little bit and never lands, the cars never really feel completely solid planted on the roads like with the other previous tire-brands.
I never really drive the cars over the limits in turns but very near the limits, the grip is good with the Michelin's on good roads, it is possible to go fast in turns, but on both cars there is this for me an unusual little slippery unstable shaky or vibrating feeling near the limits, not much, but still, I never felt that with the other tire-brands near the limits and I felt that I had more control with those other brands, although the grip is good it makes me drive these Michelin's a little bit slower in turns even on good roads than with the other tire-brands.
And on bad roads I have to slow down quite a bit with the Michelin's compared to my old tires, not so much a problem with the VW but still noticeable and unwanted, the BMW however is really bouncing around on bad roads with the Michelin's, it is uncomfortable and unstable, it does not feel safe at all.
I can not explain this, if it had been a different tire dimension and bigger wheels then I could understand the bouncing but it is the same roads and the same cars with the same wheels and tire-sizes that I have driven with other tire-brands.
The Michelin's are significantly more expensive than most other brands, I can not say anything about the wear because they are brand new, they do however in my opinion not excel at anything and their behavior on bad roads are not good.
In general the Michelin's are good tires but they do not handle quite as good as my previous tires, very small differences but in favor of previous tires.
My previous tires was Continental on BMW and Dunlop Sport BlueResponse on VW, good and stable tires with no particular fault except very high wear, I would still prefer any of them over the Michelin's.