Michelin Primacy HP vs Michelin Pilot Sport 4 — Compared

“You will notice the difference, but if you don't track, autocross, or canyon carve, I wouldn't bother. You don't have to stick with Primacy but it's not worth the PSS. The only reason I would go PSS in that instance, is if the price is similar to Primacy HP (it might actually be similar). If you drive in snow at all I would not go with PSS. Do not go with anything more aggressive than PSS for day to day street driving. There are people who daily drive more aggressive RS3s, RE-71s, ZII Star Specs, etc. but they track/autocross, know the limits, and take it easy around standing water.”

“I noticed these cracks at around spring this year. The car experiences frequent moments of hard driving so I'm thinking of replacing the tires next spring when the car comes out of hibernation as I'm a little worried about how they're going to hold up despite there still being plenty of thread left. The tires are original to the car (2016 Scion FRS). Date code of this one is 4215, but they're all within a couple of weeks or so and they're all in the same condition. Tires and car have 25,000km on them.”

“So long as you’ve got some tread, the stock Primacy HP tires are plenty safe for Bay Area weather all year ‘round. Just don’t drive anywhere that gets real winter weather or freezing temps. I’d avoid trips up to Tahoe in January. And don’t climb Mt. Diablo or Mt. Hamilton when they get their occasional dusting of snow. (I live in upstate NY now, so I’m familiar with tires & winter conditions …but I’m also a Bay Area native.)”

“Wow! You burn rubber. I totally appreciate what you’ve said and on my old e60 I ran both contis D06 and Michelins ps4 for 3 sets each. Both different feel and wear. Contis lasted longer but didn’t feel as nice as PS4. Now I’m in another BMW and cannot rotate the same way with a staggered wheel size. I’m in NC, when I drove PS4, in cold weather, they wore out quickly. They are a summer tire for sure, but I will use a slightly higher pressure to lengthen service life. That camber is rough on the inner tire shoulder / tread and the all season contains held up better there.”

“Reminder: Tires are the key to this car Just replaced my Michelin Pilot Sport 4 AS tires with a new set ahead of the rainy season. Lasted 36K miles. It was the best mod to the car and a fresh set reminded just how good a brand new set is. The car is glued to the road, riding wonderfully smooth and quiet. Spend the money, get the best tires for you. The tune can wait. And it will need it.”

“Quote: Originally Posted by weston.__ I will be going down the non-rft route, Pilot Sport 4. You're not the only one to say the ride quality with non-rft is a massive improvement and this is the reason why I will change once the time comes. I went from Bridgestone S001 RFT to 'go-flats' and have found the suppleness an obvious difference. Since I put the pressure to the mid point between the low and high load plated pressures I have yet to have any of the heartstopping thumps come through the suspension that the Bridgestone seemed prone to.”