Toyo NanoEnergy R38 looks discontinued: no new owner reviews or road tests in five years and no current EU tyre label.
Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews. Based on 21 + 0 road tests and 12,691 + 8 owner reviews. How we score
Pilot Sport 4 is ahead, 82–70
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Tests 84 · 21 tests Owners 74 · 12,691 reviews
Best test result: #1 of 45 in 2019 Summer 53 Tyre Braking Shootout (dry braking)
“Those are Pilot sport 4 (all season). If it had s after the 4 it would be the summer high performance version. I put the pilot sport 4 on wife's GTI autobahn 2016. Great handling tire, stiff side walls, not the smoothest ride but best overall.”
Tests – · none yet Owners 70 · 8 reviews
Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.
| Source | Pilot Sport 4 | NanoEnergy R38 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · 20 / – tests | 89 | ≈ 70 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 81 | 72 |
Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 88.5 + 40% × 81.1 = 86
NanoEnergy R38: 60% × 69.5 (est.) + 40% × 72.2 = 71
No road tests of dry for NanoEnergy R38. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.40).
| Source | Pilot Sport 4 | NanoEnergy R38 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · 20 / – tests | 92 | ≈ 72 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 81 | 73 |
Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 91.5 + 40% × 80.5 = 87
NanoEnergy R38: 60% × 71.7 (est.) + 40% × 73.2 = 72
No road tests of wet for NanoEnergy R38. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.56).
| Source | Pilot Sport 4 | NanoEnergy R38 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · 6 / – tests | 83 | ≈ 69 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 71 | 69 |
Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 83.2 + 40% × 71.3 = 78
NanoEnergy R38: 60% × 69.1 (est.) + 40% × 69.1 = 69
No road tests of comfort for NanoEnergy R38. The test half is the tested tires’ average (69): owners’ comfort ratings barely follow the road tests.
| Source | Pilot Sport 4 | NanoEnergy R38 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · 13 / – tests | 73 | – |
| Reviews found online | 73 | – |
Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 73.2 + 40% × 72.8 = 73
| Source | Pilot Sport 4 | NanoEnergy R38 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · 3 / – tests | 76 | ≈ 65 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 61 | 65 |
Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 76.3 + 40% × 61 = 70
NanoEnergy R38: 60% × 65.3 (est.) + 40% × 64.6 = 65
No road tests of treadwear for NanoEnergy R38. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.31).
| Source | Pilot Sport 4 | NanoEnergy R38 |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews found online | 78 | 71 |
| Category | Michelin Pilot Sport 4 | Toyo NanoEnergy R38 |
|---|---|---|
| Relative Score | 82 | 70 |
| Dry | 86 | 71 |
| Wet | 87 | 72 |
| Comfort | 78 | 69 |
| Noise | 73 | – |
| Treadwear | 70 | 65 |
| Handling (owners) | 78 | 71 |
Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.
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.
Pilot Sport 4
NanoEnergy R38
Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.
Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.
From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score
The community widely regards the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 line as a premium upgrade offering exceptional dry and wet grip, precise handling, and superior ride comfort compared to OEM or run-flat tires. While celebrated for performance, users frequently discuss its high price tag, faster treadwear, and noticeable drop in EV efficiency. Some drivers also note increased road noise and reduced traction when temperatures drop near freezing.
“The Pilot Sport 4's are great tires for dual duty use. You'll want to keep hot pressures below 37-38 PSI. Anything above that they get very greasy, very fast. In the cars I've driven with them (a few BMW M cars, a 911 I think if I remember), you'll usually set your best laps in the first 4-5 laps of a session depending on temps. Once they over heat heat, as with any street tire, you have to park them for an hour to get the temps down again (downside to steel radials). I'd also recommend Hankook RS4s if you want a more durable track tire. That's what I run. Very long lasting, but not as great in the wet as the PS4s would be. Road noise would also be an issue for street use.”
“Those are Pilot sport 4 (all season). If it had s after the 4 it would be the summer high performance version. I put the pilot sport 4 on wife's GTI autobahn 2016. Great handling tire, stiff side walls, not the smoothest ride but best overall.”
“Stock run flats are stiff ,went 555g2 in 285/30/20 & 305/30/20 on mrrs for 1,200 miles on recommendation of friend with a gen 5. I thought they were noisy & less grip & little rough, tire shop bought them back as take offs. After researching between ps4 & cont. extreme contact sports, went with continental and love them. A friend went with the ps4 and they are pretty equal in ride comfort,grip and noise. All personal preference, but Id go continental or ps4.”
Based on 246 community posts
We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.
| Attribute | A · Michelin Pilot Sport 4 | B · Toyo NanoEnergy R38 |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Summer | Summer |
| Vehicle type | Passenger Car / Crossover | Passenger Car / Crossover |
| Sizes available | 62 | — |
| Rim diameters | 16″ – 20″ | — |
Michelin Pilot Sport 4
Toyo NanoEnergy R38
Winner: Michelin Pilot Sport 4 — better dry, wet and comfort. It leads or ties in every category we score. Toyo NanoEnergy R38 rests on little evidence so far (0 tests, 8 reviews), so read this result as provisional.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 scores 86 vs 71 on dry.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 scores 87 vs 72 on wet.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 scores 78 vs 69 on comfort.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 scores 78 vs 71 on handling.
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Michelin Pilot Sport 4, 87 vs 72 on our wet score.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4, 86 vs 71 on our dry score.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4, 78 vs 69 on our comfort score.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4, 70 vs 65 on our treadwear score.
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
