Tests – · none yet Owners 67 · 7 reviews
Dunlop Direzza DZ03 looks discontinued: no new owner reviews or road tests in five years and no current EU tyre label.
Dunlop Direzza DZ03 vs Michelin Pilot Sport 5 — Compared
Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 0 + 23 road tests and 7 + 6,510 owner reviews. How we score
Pilot Sport 5 is ahead, 90–68
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Tests 86 · 23 tests Owners 87 · 6,510 reviews
Best test result: #1 of 20 in 2026 Autobild Summer Tyre Test (dry handling (tester's mark))
“Put some 235/45 R17 ps5’s on my 9-5 They fill up the arches quite nice!”
Category by category
Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.
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73
Dry
Pilot Sport 5 +1992Why this score
Source Direzza DZ03 Pilot Sport 5 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 23 tests ≈ 71 (est.) 93 Reviews found online 75 90 Direzza DZ03: 60% × 70.9 (est.) + 40% × 75.1 = 73
Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 93.2 + 40% × 90.2 = 92
No road tests of dry for Direzza DZ03. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.41).
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68
Wet
Pilot Sport 5 +2694Why this score
Source Direzza DZ03 Pilot Sport 5 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 23 tests ≈ 68 (est.) 94 Reviews found online 67 93 Direzza DZ03: 60% × 68.4 (est.) + 40% × 66.5 = 68
Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 93.7 + 40% × 93.3 = 94
No road tests of wet for Direzza DZ03. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).
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57
Comfort
Pilot Sport 5 +2178Why this score
Source Direzza DZ03 Pilot Sport 5 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 9 tests ≈ 65 (est.) 71 Reviews found online 51 83 Direzza DZ03: 40% × 65.2 (est.) + 60% × 51.3 = 57
Pilot Sport 5: 40% × 70.9 + 60% × 83.4 = 78
No road tests of comfort for Direzza DZ03. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.20).
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–
Noise
No comparison47Why this score
Source Direzza DZ03 Pilot Sport 5 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 15 tests – 33 Reviews found online – ≈ 66 (est.) Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 33.3 + 40% × 66.4 (est.) = 47
No owner ratings of noise for Pilot Sport 5. The owner half is the owners’ average (66): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests, so the tests say nothing about how owners would rate it.
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64
Treadwear
Pilot Sport 5 +2286Why this score
Source Direzza DZ03 Pilot Sport 5 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 6 tests ≈ 65 (est.) 92 Reviews found online 62 78 Direzza DZ03: 60% × 64.9 (est.) + 40% × 62.1 = 64
Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 92 + 40% × 77.9 = 86
No road tests of treadwear for Direzza DZ03. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).
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74
Handling (owners)
Pilot Sport 5 +1589Why this score
Source Direzza DZ03 Pilot Sport 5 Reviews found online 74 89 -
–
Efficiency
No comparison63Why this score
Source Direzza DZ03 Pilot Sport 5 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 17 tests – 63
Scores at a glance
| Category | Dunlop Direzza DZ03 | Michelin Pilot Sport 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Relative Score | 68 | 90 |
| Dry | 73 | 92 |
| Wet | 68 | 94 |
| Comfort | 57 | 78 |
| Noise | – | 47 |
| Treadwear | 64 | 86 |
| Handling (owners) | 74 | 89 |
| Efficiency | – | 63 |
Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.
Weight the categories that matter to you
Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.
Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.
Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.
Direzza DZ03
Pilot Sport 5
Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.
Pros, cons & observations
Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.
Tire A Direzza DZ03
Pros
- Exceptional dry grip and cornering confidence
- Significant lap time improvements compared to entry-level semi-slicks
- High durability and consistent performance under intense heat cycles
Cons
- Extremely high road noise, often compared to failing wheel bearings
- Rapid tread wear and short lifespan
- Poor performance in standing water with high risk of aquaplaning
Tire B Pilot Sport 5
Pros
- Outstanding wet and dry traction with high resistance to aquaplaning
- Superior tread life and longevity compared to competitors and previous generations
- Noticeable improvements in ride comfort and a quieter cabin over rough road surfaces
Cons
- Softer sidewalls can lead to initial steering vagueness or understeer during hard cornering
- Higher price point compared to some tier-one competitors
- Performance and grip degrade significantly under intense track heat or heavy circuit use
What real owners are saying
From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score
Dunlop Direzza DZ03
We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.
Michelin Pilot Sport 5
Community sentiment towards the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 is largely positive, with drivers frequently praising its outstanding wet grip, daily driving comfort, and impressive tread life. While widely recommended as a dependable, premium all-round performance tire, some enthusiasts criticize it for having a slightly numb steering feel, softer sidewalls, and poor heat resistance during track use compared to more aggressive alternatives.
“Tyres: Ps5’s initial impression Tyres seem to be a common question across a few forums so I thought ide share. So after 12 months (27,000kms) with my i20n, I was (over) due to replace my tyres. While I loved the p-zeros, I wasn’t keen on the short life, so went with the pilot sport 5. My impressions as follows: Initial impression: a lot less road noise than the p-zero City drive: no noticeable difference (apart from the reduced noise) Highway drive: handling is not noticeably changed, but the reduced noise is really appreciated here! Twisty’s: the difference here is notable, ps5’s don’t provide quite the same aggressive limitless grip feel as the p-zeros. Still holds the line perfectly but noted a bit of slip on the inside front wheel under heavy throttle. I do approx 100km on back roads commuting to and from work every day, so I’ll update this thread if I find anything worth reporting Read more”
“PS5 is a very good allround, comfortable but grippy tire. PS4S has a stiffer sidewall and is way sportier but harsher. There is to date no successor for the PS4S. I switched from PS4S to PS5 on my mustang and its a way better fit for a daily tire. I would remommend to get PS5 for the rear aswell.”
“Anyone else greatly disappointed with their Michelin Pilot sport 5? My 10th anniversary recently got a set of 16 inch ND wheels (due to better tires being available on 16s) and a set of brand new PS5s. It’s on the original bilstein suspension with H&R sway bars and poly bushings all around. After having driven the PS5s for around 4k km i have to say i really don’t like them most of the time. Pros: They’re numb, which is amazing for highway driving. You really can’t feel anything from the tires and they’re super quiet. Cons: They’re numb. I literally can’t feel what they’re doing, they just don’t give any useable feedback from the road and the main thing i do is spirited driving. They also overheat extremely fast? I take five to six quicker turns and on the next turn in the entire car is just sliding around doing whatever the fuck it wants all while there still being no feedback whatsoever.. I’m frustrated af because i thought i’d treat myself to a good nice quality set of tires for once and thats the result.. I have driven on Kumho PS71s for i think a thousand km’s last year and they were waaay grippier and gave very good feedback. The car just isn’t as fun to drive now and it sucks hard. Rant over, thanks for listening. Tldr: Tyre bad :(”
Based on 173 community posts
Specs side by side
| Attribute | A · Dunlop Direzza DZ03 | B · Michelin Pilot Sport 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Summer | Summer |
| Vehicle type | Passenger Car / Crossover | Passenger Car / Crossover |
| Sizes available | — | 66 |
| Rim diameters | — | 16″ – 22″ |
| UTQG | — | 320 - 340 A - B A |
Which one should you actually buy?
Dunlop Direzza DZ03
Michelin Pilot Sport 5
Winner: Michelin Pilot Sport 5 — better wet, treadwear and comfort. It leads or ties in every category we score. Dunlop Direzza DZ03 rests on little evidence so far (0 tests, 7 reviews), so read this result as provisional.
Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 94 vs 68 on wet.
Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 86 vs 64 on treadwear.
Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 78 vs 57 on comfort.
Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 92 vs 73 on dry.
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Direzza DZ03 or Pilot Sport 5?
Which is better in the wet, Direzza DZ03 or Pilot Sport 5?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 94 vs 68 on our wet score.
Which grips better on dry roads, Direzza DZ03 or Pilot Sport 5?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 92 vs 73 on our dry score.
Which is more comfortable, Direzza DZ03 or Pilot Sport 5?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 78 vs 57 on our comfort score.
Which lasts longer, Direzza DZ03 or Pilot Sport 5?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 86 vs 64 on our treadwear score.
How do we compare tires?
Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.
Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.
Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology