Do Michelin PS5 tyres still perform after 18 months or are they ready for the trash? The project Octavia has been running Pilot Sport 5 tyres for 5000KM in the baking Greek sun to the wet and cold of winter. This video is a long-term PS5 review, I’ll recap how the tyres were when they were new and compare them today. Do the PS5 tyres last and do I still think they are worth the money?
The Start
The PS5 tyres were fitted back in the peak of summer 2013. At the time I said they offered great grip in the heat and probably offered all the cornering performance you could want on the public highway. The ride was good, they weren’t noisy and generally they gave the car a modern feel.
I also reviewed them in wet winter weather and said their wet weather performance was excellent and possibly better than all season tyres like the CC2. Very confidence inspiring, high grip limits and almost non existent aquaplaning.
PS5 Review – Revisited
All this sounds excellent but I wanted to revisit the tyres in this long term PS5 review to let you know how I find them now, after 18 months of them being outside 24/7 and having covered 5000KM.
How has their performance been affected and have I changed my mind with regards to recommending them as a summer focussed all season tyre?
Today
As of today, what are the tyres like?
Dry Weather
Starting with their dry weather performance.
The car has gone through some improvements since the tyres were fitted but with that being said, I would say the peak performance of the Pilot Sport 5 tyres now is as good as it was when they were new. I can’t say the levels of grip had declined and if anything the levels have increased. Under-steer is simply not a thing, if you need to corner harder just turn the steering wheel more and the tyres respond. Sure if you get on the power on corner exit, the grip is not great, then it will understeer but I think that is as much down to the torque of the engine and the weight transfer rearwards than the tyres.
Braking and acceleration performance is as good as ever.
Tyre Temps
One area where the tyres might have lost something is there performance when they don’t have much heat in them. I don’t recall the difference between cold and hot temps being so large when the Pilot Sport 5 tyres were new.
I said above that I think the peak grip of the PS5 tyres today is at least as good as when they were new but I don’t remember thinking that there was a big step down in the performance in normal driving. Whereas at the moment I do find myself thinking that. It doesn’t take a long time to put some temperature in the tyres but nevertheless, if you have been driving around town and then you need to corner at speed and accelerate, joining a freeway for example, it feels like the grip isn’t where it should be for a few seconds. But once the heat is there, the tyres are great.
In short, when the tyres are cold, I think their performance now is less vs when they were new.
Wet
In wet weather I honestly can’t say I notice any difference with their performance be the tyres cold or hot. The Pilot Sports still give plenty of confidence and I’m not finding the limits of the tyres in normal/spirited driving. It would be interesting to try them on a wet track to see what happens when they get to the limit in the wet but as it stands at the moment, the speed the tyres can carry in the wet is plenty. If they give up grip abruptly the accident could be quiet big so I’m not risking it. Again, trying them on the track in the wet first I think is essential. At the moment, in the wet, I don’t know if I’m playing with a potential firework or a friendly Labrador.
Whatever the case may be, I don’t notice any drop of in their performance in the wet, be it for grip or aquaplaning.
Miscellaneous
Ride comfort, noise and maintaining pressure.
On the noise and ride comfort front I don’t notice any difference.
When it comes to maintaining pressures I found they can lose some pressure, maybe 5PSI over 12 months. I’d say this is acceptable.
Value
In the first impressions video I said you do get value with the Pilot Sport 5 tyres, yes they are expensive but you do get all-weather performance in return.
Has the last 18 months changed my opinion? No.
Sure I’d like better traction from a standstill and maybe the PS5S would give this but I wonder how they would perform in the wet vs the PS5.
PS5 Review – Still Recommended?
If you need a tyre that performs in the wet and dry, in cold (above freezing) and in heat (40C) I’d say yes.
There are other tyres available, for example for the Continental SportContact 7 but I don’t think you could say it was a mistake to buy the Michelins.
Maybe the PSS5s will be a step forward in the dry over the PS5 but I’m not sure if the difference would be big enough to justify the sacrifice in wet weather.
Comments
Do you have experience of the PS5 tyres?
If so, leave your comments below, what did you think of them, what was good, what wasn’t (and include your general location so we have an idea of the weather you used them in)