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Head-to-head Updated

Michelin Pilot Sport 5 vs Pirelli P Zero (PZ5) — 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 + 4 road tests and 6,510 + 55 owner reviews. How we score

Pilot Sport 5 leads, 86–84 Narrow edge

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Michelin Pilot Sport 5
Tire AMichelin

Pilot Sport 5

Summer

± 4

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!”

Pirelli P Zero (PZ5)
Tire BPirelli

P Zero (PZ5)

Summer

± 6

Tests 81 · 4 tests Owners 89 · 55 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 9 in 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test (wet handling)

Category by category

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

  1. 92

    Dry

    Pilot Sport 5 +3
    89
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Sport 5P Zero (PZ5)
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 23 / 4 tests9387
    Reviews found online9092
    Dry Braking (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–192%97%
    Dry Handling (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–199%100%

    Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 93.2 + 40% × 90.2 = 92

    P Zero (PZ5): 60% × 87.1 + 40% × 91.5 = 89

  2. 94

    Wet

    Pilot Sport 5 +5
    89
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Sport 5P Zero (PZ5)
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 23 / 4 tests9486
    Reviews found online9393
    Curved Aquaplaning (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–0100%92%
    Straight Aquaplaning (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–0100%96%
    Wet Braking (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–195%97%
    Wet Circle (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–199%100%
    Wet Handling (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–199%100%

    Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 93.7 + 40% × 93.3 = 94

    P Zero (PZ5): 60% × 86.1 + 40% × 93.3 = 89

  3. 78

    Comfort

    Pilot Sport 5 +5
    73
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Sport 5P Zero (PZ5)
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 9 / 2 tests7155
    Reviews found online8385

    Pilot Sport 5: 40% × 70.9 + 60% × 83.4 = 78

    P Zero (PZ5): 40% × 54.7 + 60% × 84.8 = 73

  4. 47

    Noise

    P Zero (PZ5) +22
    69
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Sport 5P Zero (PZ5)
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 15 / 3 tests3371
    Reviews found online≈ 66 (est.)≈ 66 (est.)
    Noise (tester's mark) (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–187%93%

    Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 33.3 + 40% × 66.4 (est.) = 47

    P Zero (PZ5): 60% × 71 + 40% × 66.4 (est.) = 69

    No owner ratings of noise for Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ5). 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.

  5. 86

    Treadwear

    Pilot Sport 5 +9
    77
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Sport 5P Zero (PZ5)
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 6 / – tests92≈ 73 (est.)
    Reviews found online7884

    Pilot Sport 5: 60% × 92 + 40% × 77.9 = 86

    P Zero (PZ5): 60% × 72.9 (est.) + 40% × 84.2 = 77

    No road tests of treadwear for P Zero (PZ5). The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).

  6. 89

    Handling (owners)

    P Zero (PZ5) +2
    91
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Sport 5P Zero (PZ5)
    Reviews found online8991
  7. 63

    Efficiency

    Pilot Sport 5 +10
    53
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Sport 5P Zero (PZ5)
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 17 / 4 tests6353
    Rolling Resistance (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–094%88%
Scores at a glance
CategoryMichelin Pilot Sport 5Pirelli P Zero (PZ5)
Relative Score 86 84
Dry 92 89
Wet 94 89
Comfort 78 73
Noise 47 69
Treadwear 86 77
Handling (owners) 89 91
Efficiency 63 53

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.

Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Not important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Recomputed
Headline score
± 4

Pilot Sport 5

± 6

P Zero (PZ5)

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 1 tests that ran both, Michelin Pilot Sport 5 finished ahead 0 times and Pirelli P Zero (PZ5) 1 times.

DisciplineCategoryPilot Sport 5P Zero (PZ5)ΔHead-to-head
Dry Braking Dry 92% 97% −4.2 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Dry Handling Dry 99% 100% −1.3 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Curved Aquaplaning Wet 100% 92% +8.2 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Straight Aquaplaning Wet 100% 96% +4.0 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Wet Braking Wet 95% 97% −2.5 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Wet Circle Wet 99% 100% −0.7 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Wet Handling Wet 99% 100% −1.2 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Noise (tester's mark) Noise 87% 93% −6.0 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Rolling Resistance Efficiency 94% 88% +6.4 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 225/40 R18
Also published by the testers (not in the score)
Overall Ranking Overall #4/9 #1/9 – 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 Auto Express Summer Tyre Test · 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
All owner themes in the Pilot Sport 5 review

Tire B P Zero (PZ5)

Pros

  • Exceptional dry and wet grip with high cornering stability
  • Superior ride comfort and compliance over small bumps compared to rivals
  • Responsive, precise steering and excellent road feedback

Cons

  • Slightly more subdued, touring-oriented road feel compared to the go-kart-like crispness of some competitors
  • Occasional mild howling noise reported at specific highway speeds (80-90 km/h)
  • Isolated reports of reduced wet confidence compared specifically to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
All owner themes in the P Zero (PZ5) review

What real owners are saying

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

Tire A

Michelin Pilot Sport 5

Positive

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/AudiA5 ·1 upvote ·2026-04-30

“I had PS5’s on they were great literally all the grip you could ever want (not a very powerful car) and they have an incredibly long life span, I didn’t find them loud at all and i also now have an Audi a5 coupe and the car itself blocks out most noise especially if you have music on so it’s not something you should worry about, I know the Asym6 have more grip but it’s marginal I’d personally get the ps5’s just because of the beautiful side wall!”
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.”
r/TeslaUK ·3 upvotes ·2026-03-27

“Pilot sport 5? Hi, after replacement tyres for M3. Just touched 30k miles and all 4 need doing. Michelin 235/45 ZR18 (98Y) XL TL PILOT SPORT 5 I was looking at these 154 pounds from Costco. Only they’re not T rated. Was comparing them with the original 235/45 ZR 18 PILOT SPORT 4 XL TO TESLA these are 204 pounds at Costco. Thoughts on whether the PS5 will be ok please? Visited a couple of independent tyre shops yesterday, 1 quoted budget 100 each through to PS4s at 230 each. The second wouldn’t quote on non Tesla approved, so just quoted the PS4 T0s at 203 each. Cheers”
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

Pirelli P Zero (PZ5)

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

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Michelin Pilot Sport 5 B · Pirelli P Zero (PZ5)
CategorySummerSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available66193
Rim diameters16″ – 22″17″ – 24″
Tread depth—10/32″
UTQG320 - 340 A - B A300 A A
Sidewall—Blackwall
Max pressure—50 psi
Sizes in common5252

Which one should you actually buy?

Michelin Pilot Sport 5

Pirelli P Zero (PZ5)

Narrow edge: Michelin Pilot Sport 5 — better efficiency, treadwear and wet. Pick the Pirelli P Zero (PZ5) if noise matters most to you.

Pick tire B You want a quieter cabin

Pirelli P Zero (PZ5) scores 69 vs 47 on noise.

Pick tire A You want lower fuel or energy use

Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 63 vs 53 on efficiency.

Pick tire A You want the longest tread life

Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 86 vs 77 on treadwear.

Pick tire A Your priority is wet-weather safety

Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scores 94 vs 89 on wet.

Tire A · Michelin Pilot Sport 5
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Tire B · Pirelli P Zero (PZ5)
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Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ5)?

Which is better in the wet, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ5)?

Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 94 vs 89 on our wet score.

Which grips better on dry roads, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ5)?

Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 92 vs 89 on our dry score.

Which is quieter, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ5)?

Pirelli P Zero (PZ5), 69 vs 47 on our noise score.

Which is more comfortable, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ5)?

Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 78 vs 73 on our comfort score.

Which lasts longer, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ5)?

Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 86 vs 77 on our treadwear score.

Which rolls more easily, Pilot Sport 5 or P Zero (PZ5)?

Michelin Pilot Sport 5, 63 vs 53 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