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Head-to-head Updated

Hankook Ventus RS2 Z212 vs Michelin Pilot Sport 5 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): 60% professional tests, 40% owner reviews.

Pilot Sport 5 is ahead, 85–67

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Tire BMichelin

Pilot Sport 5

Summer

Tests 84 · 23 tests Owners 82 · 6,414 reviews

“Might be a little late to the party but here are my 2 cents: I’ve used 3 sets of PS4S, 1 set of F1A6 and am currently a few hundred km into the PZ5. The PZ5 is by far the best tyre I’ve had on my A4 B9. The turn-in is less sharp than the PS4S, but both the PZ5 and F1A6 have way better comfort than the PS4S because the PS4S has a vertical sidewall with basically 0 curve to it. Comparing all the tyres in their new states, the F1A6 handles water better than the PS4S, and the PZ5 handles water even better than the F1A6. The treadwear rating for all 3 are the same, and the PS4S + F1A6 had no issues lasting 40k+ km with occasional spirited driving. The PS5 is a segment lower in basically every metric except wear. It is also less comfortable.”

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 71

    Dry

    Pilot Sport 5 +17
    88
    Why this score
    SourceVentus RS2 Z212Pilot Sport 5
    Professional tests (TWG score)–90
    Reviews found online7384
  2. 63

    Wet

    Pilot Sport 5 +27
    90
    Why this score
    SourceVentus RS2 Z212Pilot Sport 5
    Professional tests (TWG score)–92
    Reviews found online6187
  3. 65

    Comfort

    Pilot Sport 5 +10
    75
    Why this score
    SourceVentus RS2 Z212Pilot Sport 5
    Professional tests (TWG score)–71
    Reviews found online6280
  4. –

    Noise

    No comparison
    46
    Why this score
    SourceVentus RS2 Z212Pilot Sport 5
    Professional tests (TWG score)–32
  5. 64

    Treadwear

    Pilot Sport 5 +18
    82
    Why this score
    SourceVentus RS2 Z212Pilot Sport 5
    Professional tests (TWG score)–87
    Reviews found online6375
  6. 70

    Handling

    Pilot Sport 5 +13
    83
    Why this score
    SourceVentus RS2 Z212Pilot Sport 5
    Reviews found online7083
Scores at a glance
CategoryHankook Ventus RS2 Z212Michelin Pilot Sport 5
Relative Score 67 85
Dry 71 88
Wet 63 90
Comfort 65 75
Noise – 46
Treadwear 64 82
Handling 70 83

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip and treadwear start at “Important” — the two things buyers rank highest. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

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Neither tire has a score here yet, so this weight changes nothing.

Important
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Neutral
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Recomputed
Headline score

Ventus RS2 Z212

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 Ventus RS2 Z212

Pros

  • Exceptional dry pavement grip and cornering stability
  • High value-for-money ratio compared to dedicated track tires
  • Stiff sidewalls providing excellent steering feedback

Cons

  • Significant lack of traction and hydroplaning risk in wet conditions
  • High levels of road noise and reduced ride comfort
  • Rapid tread wear, particularly under aggressive driving
All owner themes in the Ventus RS2 Z212 review

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
All owner themes in the Pilot Sport 5 review

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Hankook Ventus RS2 Z212

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Tire B

Michelin Pilot Sport 5

Positive

The Michelin Pilot Sport 5 is widely praised as an exceptional daily-driver tire, offering impressive wet grip, low road noise, and remarkable longevity compared to predecessors and rivals. While some enthusiast drivers find the sidewalls a bit soft or note less extreme track performance compared to dedicated track or 4S tires, community consensus highlights it as a top-tier, well-balanced choice for spirited street driving and commuting.

r/Miata ·2 upvotes ·2026-05-13

“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 :(”
r/ft86 ·2 upvotes ·2026-07-21

“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.”
r/CarsAustralia ·8 upvotes ·2025-09-10

“In my experience they are quite long wearing tires and well worth the cost. I used to get around 40k out of most tyres. My first set of ps4’s lasted 55k and now the ps5’s are trending to beat it. I'm a pretty spirited driver around the roundabouts of Canberra too, though I only have a hatch so experiences may vary. As to performance I've driven them on my i30 n-line and other people’s i30N, BRZ, tesla 3, and stinger and the tyres have more grip than I have guts to push them on public roads. In both wet and dry they are very confidence inspiring and a hell of a lot of fun.”
Top themes
#Wet grip and safety#Road noise and comfort#Tread life and durability#Daily driving vs track performance#Comparison with PS4 and PS4S#Value and pricing

Based on 134 community posts

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Hankook Ventus RS2 Z212 B · Michelin Pilot Sport 5
CategorySummerSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available—66
Rim diameters—16″ – 22″

Which one should you actually buy?

Hankook Ventus RS2 Z212

Michelin Pilot Sport 5

Winner: Michelin Pilot Sport 5 — better wet, treadwear and dry. It leads or ties in every category we score.

Pick tire B Your priority is wet-weather safety

Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 90 vs 63 on wet.

Pick tire B You want the longest tread life

Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 82 vs 64 on treadwear.

Pick tire B You want the most grip on dry roads

Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 88 vs 71 on dry.

Pick tire B You enjoy sharp, responsive handling

Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 83 vs 70 on handling.

Tire A · Hankook Ventus RS2 Z212
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Tire B · Michelin Pilot Sport 5
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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.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score.

85

Leads

Pilot Sport 5

Amazon