Head-to-head Updated

Michelin Pilot Super Sport vs Bridgestone Potenza S-02 — Compared

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

Pilot Super Sport is ahead, 75–65

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Tests 75 · 1 test Owners 79 · 1,506 reviews

“12k on two consecutive sets of PSS. Stage 2 MK6 (285whp/325wtq), drive fairly aggressively, an odd track day or two here and there, full suspension but run aggressive alignment settings. No abnormaly quick wear in any one spot, they just look like racing slicks when I’m done. If you can afford it, they are well worth the $$. Other tires may come close in performance, but for daily use, can’t beat the comfort of the PSS”

Category by category

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

  1. 81

    Dry

    Pilot Super Sport +11
    70
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Super SportPotenza S-02
    Professional tests (TWG score)77–
    Reviews found online8771
  2. 76

    Wet

    Pilot Super Sport +10
    66
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Super SportPotenza S-02
    Professional tests (TWG score)73–
    Reviews found online8065
  3. –

    Snow

    No comparison
    61
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Super SportPotenza S-02
    Reviews found online–55
  4. 72

    Comfort

    Pilot Super Sport +9
    63
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Super SportPotenza S-02
    Reviews found online7557
  5. 70

    Noise

    Pilot Super Sport +7
    63
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Super SportPotenza S-02
    Reviews found online7557
  6. 68

    Treadwear

    Pilot Super Sport +11
    57
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Super SportPotenza S-02
    Reviews found online7051
  7. 81

    Handling

    Pilot Super Sport +9
    72
    Why this score
    SourcePilot Super SportPotenza S-02
    Reviews found online8172
Scores at a glance
Michelin Pilot Super Sport vs Bridgestone Potenza S-02: scores by category (0–100)
CategoryMichelin Pilot Super SportBridgestone Potenza S-02
Relative Score 75 65
Dry 81 70
Wet 76 66
Snow – 61
Comfort 72 63
Noise 70 63
Treadwear 68 57
Handling 81 72

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

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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.

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Recomputed
Headline score

Pilot Super Sport

Potenza S-02

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 Pilot Super Sport

Pros

  • Phenomenal dry grip and cornering stability
  • Precise steering response and excellent road feedback
  • Better-than-expected tread wear and mileage for a performance tire

Cons

  • Reduced grip and traction in cold weather (below 15°C)
  • Mediocre performance and tendency to aquaplane when tread wears down in heavy rain
  • High price point compared to some alternatives
All owner themes in the Pilot Super Sport review

Tire B Potenza S-02

Pros

  • Exceptional dry grip and superior cornering performance
  • Outstanding steering feedback, communication, and progressiveness
  • Faithful reproduction of original equipment (OE) handling characteristics for sports cars like the Honda S2000

Cons

  • Very rapid and sometimes extreme tread wear
  • Poor performance and loss of traction in cold weather or below certain temperatures
  • High noise levels and stiff ride compromising comfort
All owner themes in the Potenza S-02 review

What real owners are saying

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

Tire A

Michelin Pilot Super Sport

Positive

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport is widely praised by the community as a benchmark high-performance street tire offering outstanding dry grip, sharp cornering capability, and decent ride comfort for daily driving. Many drivers note that its successor, the Pilot Sport 4S, improves upon it—especially in cold and wet conditions—while several users highlight downsides such as poor winter/snow capability, premium pricing, and eventual rubber degradation or tread cracking as the tires age.

corvetteforum.com

“Our 2017 Z51 has about 18k miles on the AS3+ ZP, and 10k miles on the factory PSS ZP, we switch out every Fall/Spring with a second set of wheels/sensors. I've done hours of really hard driving on back roads in Texas and New Mexico with the AS3+, if you need the little extra grip of the PSS on public roads, you're driving like an idiot. I only keep the PSS because I do some autocrossing each summer and small increases in grip can be the difference between good times and mediocre times. Also, the PSS will stand up to the heat of competition driving better, but that shouldn't be an issue on the street. The PSS cost about 10% less and last about 50% longer, so your tire-cost-per-mile gets cut in half. Below about 50'-60', the AS3+ grip as well or better. I just tested them in 3 1/2" of snow on my driveway, worked pretty well. The AS3+ should be the standard factory tire, with the PSS only as an option.”

myg37.com

“Pilot super sports. I had the Dunlop Star Specs, they where a excellent handling tire but lasted only 24K miles. Currently running the Pilot super sports, they are outstanding and I have 26K miles on them. They are the best tires for the G37 in my opinion.They look like they will go another 10K. Recently I ran a road corse for 30 miles following my friends Lambrogini Gilargo, speeds where 60-85 miles per hour and the turns sineage was 35- 45 mph. We where both able to run the 35 mph turns at 70mph and the 45mph turns at 85 mph. I used the paddle shifters in 3rd and 4th gears. With the suspension mods and the Michlien PSS on my G I was able the keep up with the Lambo, needless to say my friend who is an avid high performance driver was serouisly impressed with my Infiniti especially 50 K for the G vs 230K for the Lambo.”

z4-forum.com ·2013-10-18

“I use mine all year round, and it's only in snow that they come unstuck - although I've never actually been driving in enough snow to need to break out my sno-socks. I've done wet 'Ring laps on mine, below zero Welsh hoons etc. They take about 10 miles to warm up enough to push on, but you probably shouldn't be pushing on in the first 10 minutes of a sub-zero day anyway!”

Top themes
#Dry grip and cornering#Comparison to PS4S#Poor snow performance#Tread life and wear#High purchase price#Age and cracking issues#Daily driving comfort

Based on 364 community posts

Tire B

Bridgestone Potenza S-02

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

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Michelin Pilot Super Sport B · Bridgestone Potenza S-02
CategorySummerSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available50—
Rim diameters17″ – 23″—
Tread depth—10/32″
UTQG—140 A A
Sidewall—Blackwall

Which one should you actually buy?

Michelin Pilot Super Sport

Bridgestone Potenza S-02

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

Pick tire A You want the most grip on dry roads

Michelin Pilot Super Sport scores 81 vs 70 on dry.

Pick tire A You want the longest tread life

Michelin Pilot Super Sport scores 68 vs 57 on treadwear.

Pick tire A Your priority is wet-weather safety

Michelin Pilot Super Sport scores 76 vs 66 on wet.

Pick tire A You want the most comfortable ride

Michelin Pilot Super Sport scores 72 vs 63 on comfort.

Tire A · Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Tire B · Bridgestone Potenza S-02

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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.

75

Leads

Pilot Super Sport

Amazon