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!”
Head-to-head
Updated
Michelin Pilot Sport 5 vs Pirelli P Zero (PZ4) — 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 23 + 33 road tests and 6,510 + 2,625 owner reviews. How we score
Pilot Sport 5 is ahead, 86–66
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Tests 68 · 33 tests Owners 62 · 2,625 reviews
Best test result: #1 of 20 in 2023 AutoBild UHP Summer Tyre Test (wet handling)
“Pirelli P Zero Tyres But if a rant. Brought my i4 edrive 40 about 14 months ago from a main dealer here in the UK. The front tyres (Hankook) had decent tread, obviously the rears did not, so the dealer swapped them for brand new Pirelli PZero (PZ4) tyres at the rear. Honest to god I have never driven tyres so dam trash in my life. Anything other than a perfect warm dry day, there is little to no grip and car struggles to put its power down. I assume the Zero in P Zero refers to the grip levels. Just wondered if anyone else had any experience with Pirelli’s? Read more”
Category by category
Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.
Key facts
- In 8 tests that measured dry braking for both, Pilot Sport 5 won 4 and P Zero (PZ4) won 4 (average 97% vs 96% of the best).
- In 8 tests that measured wet braking for both, Pilot Sport 5 won 5 and P Zero (PZ4) won 3 (average 97% vs 93% of the best).
- In 6 tests that measured dry handling for both, Pilot Sport 5 won 1 and P Zero (PZ4) won 3 (average 98% vs 98% of the best).
- In 6 tests that measured straight aquaplaning for both, Pilot Sport 5 won 5 and P Zero (PZ4) won 1 (average 96% vs 94% of the best).
- In 6 tests that measured wet handling for both, Pilot Sport 5 won 1 and P Zero (PZ4) won 5 (average 95% vs 99% of the best).
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92
Dry
Pilot Sport 5 +983Why this score
Source Pilot Sport 5 P Zero (PZ4) Professional tests (TWG score) · 23 / 30 tests 93 89 Reviews found online 90 73 Dry Braking (% of best) · 8 shared tests · wins 4–4 97% 96% Dry Handling (% of best) · 6 shared tests · wins 1–3 98% 98% Dry Handling (tester's mark) (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–0 92% 92% Dry (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 93% 94% Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 93.2 + 40% × 90.2 = 92
P Zero (PZ4): 60% × 89.3 + 40% × 73 = 83
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94
Wet
Pilot Sport 5 +1480Why this score
Source Pilot Sport 5 P Zero (PZ4) Professional tests (TWG score) · 23 / 31 tests 94 87 Reviews found online 93 70 Curved Aquaplaning (% of best) · 2 shared tests · wins 2–0 97% 73% Straight Aquaplaning (% of best) · 6 shared tests · wins 5–1 96% 94% Wet Handling (tester's mark) (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–0 89% 89% Wet (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–0 99% 92% Wet Braking (% of best) · 8 shared tests · wins 5–3 97% 93% Wet Circle (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 1–2 99% 99% Wet Handling (% of best) · 6 shared tests · wins 1–5 95% 99% Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 93.7 + 40% × 93.3 = 94
P Zero (PZ4): 60% × 86.7 + 40% × 69.6 = 80
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78
Comfort
Pilot Sport 5 +1563Why this score
Source Pilot Sport 5 P Zero (PZ4) Professional tests (TWG score) · 9 / 9 tests 71 68 Reviews found online 83 60 Comfort (tester's mark) (% of best) · 2 shared tests · wins 1–0 85% 80% Pilot Sport 5: 40% × 70.9 + 60% × 83.4 = 78
P Zero (PZ4): 40% × 68.5 + 60% × 59.5 = 63
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47
Noise
P Zero (PZ4) +2370Why this score
Source Pilot Sport 5 P Zero (PZ4) Professional tests (TWG score) · 15 / 19 tests 33 72 Reviews found online ≈ 66 (est.) ≈ 66 (est.) Noise (% of best) · 5 shared tests · wins 0–5 96% 97% Exterior Noise (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 71% 86% Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 33.3 + 40% × 66.4 (est.) = 47
P Zero (PZ4): 60% × 71.6 + 40% × 66.4 (est.) = 70
No owner ratings of noise for Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ4). 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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86
Treadwear
Pilot Sport 5 +5333Why this score
Source Pilot Sport 5 P Zero (PZ4) Professional tests (TWG score) · 6 / 5 tests 92 28 Reviews found online 78 42 Abrasion (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–0 100% 60% Wear (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 3–0 92% 56% Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 92 + 40% × 77.9 = 86
P Zero (PZ4): 60% × 27.7 + 40% × 41.7 = 33
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89
Handling (owners)
Pilot Sport 5 +1970Why this score
Source Pilot Sport 5 P Zero (PZ4) Reviews found online 89 70 -
63
Efficiency
Pilot Sport 5 +3528Why this score
Source Pilot Sport 5 P Zero (PZ4) Professional tests (TWG score) · 17 / 21 tests 63 28 Rolling Resistance (% of best) · 6 shared tests · wins 4–2 87% 82%
Scores at a glance
| Category | Michelin Pilot Sport 5 | Pirelli P Zero (PZ4) |
|---|---|---|
| Relative Score | 86 | 66 |
| Dry | 92 | 83 |
| Wet | 94 | 80 |
| Comfort | 78 | 63 |
| Noise | 47 | 70 |
| Treadwear | 86 | 33 |
| Handling (owners) | 89 | 70 |
| Efficiency | 63 | 28 |
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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Recomputed
Headline score
86
/ 100
Pilot Sport 5
66
/ 100
P Zero (PZ4)
The professional test results behind the scores
Per discipline: the average % of the best tire over every test both tires were in, and how many of those tests each one won. “Different tests” rows compare results from separate tests.
In the overall rankings of 8 tests that ran both, Michelin Pilot Sport 5 finished ahead 6 times and Pirelli P Zero (PZ4) 2 times.
| Discipline | Category | Pilot Sport 5 | P Zero (PZ4) | Δ | Head-to-head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry | Dry | 93% | 94% | −1.8 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 · 245/45R18 |
| Dry Braking | Dry | 97% | 96% | +0.5 | 4–4 in 8 shared tests Newest: 2025 Summer Tyre Test Shootout · 225/40 R18 |
| Dry Handling | Dry | 98% | 98% | −0.4 | 1–3 in 6 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Dry Handling (tester's mark) | Dry | 92% | 92% | 0.0 | 0–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 · 245/45R18 |
| Curved Aquaplaning | Wet | 97% | 73% | +23.8 | 2–0 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2025 Auto Bild Summer Performance Tyre Test · 225/40 R18 |
| Straight Aquaplaning | Wet | 96% | 94% | +2.5 | 5–1 in 6 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Wet | Wet | 99% | 92% | +7.0 | 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 · 245/45R18 |
| Wet Braking | Wet | 97% | 93% | +3.7 | 5–3 in 8 shared tests Newest: 2025 Summer Tyre Test Shootout · 225/40 R18 |
| Wet Circle | Wet | 99% | 99% | −0.2 | 1–2 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Wet Handling | Wet | 95% | 99% | −4.0 | 1–5 in 6 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Wet Handling (tester's mark) | Wet | 89% | 89% | 0.0 | 0–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 · 245/45R18 |
| Comfort (tester's mark) | Comfort | 85% | 80% | +5.0 | 1–0 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Exterior Noise | Noise | 71% | 86% | −14.3 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 · 245/45R18 |
| Interior Noise | Noise | 95% #3/8 · 2024 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test | 90% #2/10 · 2023 AUTO Straßenverkehr 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 | – | Different tests |
| Noise | Noise | 96% | 97% | −1.6 | 0–5 in 5 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Noise (tester's mark) | Noise | 87% #8/9 · 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test | 96% #3/7 · 2024 EVO Summer Tyre Test | – | Different tests |
| Abrasion | Treadwear | 100% | 60% | +40.0 | 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Wear | Treadwear | 92% | 56% | +35.2 | 3–0 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Rolling Resistance | Efficiency | 87% | 82% | +4.1 | 4–2 in 6 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Also published by the testers (not in the score) | |||||
| Price | Cost | 60% | 67% | −6.8 | 0–3 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 AutoBild Sports Car Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18 |
| Total Cost of Ownership | Cost | #5/10 | #9/10 | – | 3–0 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Value | Cost | 75% | 50% | +25.7 | 3–0 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2025 AZ Summer Tyre Test · 225/45 R18 |
| Overall Ranking | Overall | #2/52 | #20/52 | – | 6–2 in 8 shared tests Newest: 2025 Summer Tyre Test Shootout · 225/40 R18 |
Pros, cons & observations
Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.
Tire A 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
Tire B P Zero (PZ4)
Pros
- Outstanding dry grip and handling performance
- Precise steering feedback and agile cornering stability
- Low road noise and high comfort on smooth tarmac
Cons
- Rapid tread wear, especially on performance or rear-wheel-drive vehicles
- Subpar performance and susceptibility to aquaplaning in cold or heavy wet weather
- Stiff ride quality that can transmit harsh impacts on rough roads
What real owners are saying
From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score
Tire A
Positive
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.
r/i20n
·17 upvotes ·2025-07-21
“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”
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/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 :(”
Top themes
#wet grip performance#tread life longevity#daily driving comfort#track heat delamination#premium pricing comparisons#road noise levels#steering feel feedback
Based on 173 community posts
Tire B
Negative
Pirelli P Zero (PZ4)
Community sentiment regarding the Pirelli P Zero (PZ4) is largely critical, with users reporting extremely rapid tread wear and severe grip issues outside of warm, dry conditions. While some drivers consider them for OEM run-flat availability, multiple posts highlight concerns over poor longevity and lackluster wet and cold weather performance compared to competitors like Michelin.
Top themes
#rapid tread wear#cold and wet grip#run flat availability#comparison to Michelin#OEM tire lifespan#luxury versus sport variants
Based on 7 community posts
Specs side by side
| Attribute | A · Michelin Pilot Sport 5 | B · Pirelli P Zero (PZ4) |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Summer | Summer |
| Vehicle type | Passenger Car / Crossover | Passenger Car / Crossover |
| Sizes available | 66 | 193 |
| Rim diameters | 16″ – 22″ | 17″ – 24″ |
| UTQG | 320 - 340 A - B A | — |
| Sizes in common | 52 | 52 |
Which one should you actually buy?
86
/ 100
Michelin Pilot Sport 5
66
/ 100
Pirelli P Zero (PZ4)
Winner: Michelin Pilot Sport 5 — better treadwear, efficiency and handling. Pick the Pirelli P Zero (PZ4) if noise matters most to you.
Pick tire A
You want the longest tread life
Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 86 vs 33 on treadwear.
Pick tire A
You want lower fuel or energy use
Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 63 vs 28 on efficiency.
Pick tire B
You want a quieter cabin
Pirelli P Zero (PZ4) scores 70 vs 47 on noise.
Pick tire A
You enjoy sharp, responsive handling
Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 89 vs 70 on handling.
Tire A · Michelin Pilot Sport 5
Tire B · Pirelli P Zero (PZ4)
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Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ4)?
Which is better in the wet, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ4)?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 94 vs 80 on our wet score.
Which grips better on dry roads, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ4)?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 92 vs 83 on our dry score.
Which is quieter, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ4)?
Pirelli P Zero (PZ4), 70 vs 47 on our noise score.
Which is more comfortable, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ4)?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 78 vs 63 on our comfort score.
Which lasts longer, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ4)?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 86 vs 33 on our treadwear score.
Which rolls more easily, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ4)?
Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 63 vs 28 on our efficiency 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