Pilot Sport or Pilot Sport A/S?

[AZMike]

I've searched through all the other threads, and can not come up with a definate answer.

Sears is having a smokin' sale on Michelins right now, and I want to replace the lousy GY EMTs with Michellins Zero Pressure tires.

Which one is better for my needs - the Pilot Sport, or the Pilot Sport A/S. I can get them from Sears for about $200 less than TireRack.com or Costco.

- I live in Phoenix, so wet handling is not much of a priority (except for the 8 or 9 days a year it actually rains, but I can live with that).

- This is a daily driver that sees a lot of concrete surfaced freeway to and from work - the G/Y's are at 20k miles and just about toast. I'd like to get more than 20k miles out of this set. I don't smoke 'em that often - the fronts are down to 5/32, and the rears down to 3/32 now.

- I want something that handles better and is quieter than the stock EMTs.

- Traction is important too - I'd like tires that handle at least as well as the G/Y's did when they were new - prefereably better. The G/Y's have a lot of bump steer from the super stiff sidewalls.

- The Non A/S ones are a bit cheaper, but only by $60 or so for the set. I like the look of these over the A/S's.


So, which one's should I get?

 

[ezover]

tires

I hate the runcrps also. I hope you get a reply as I have been comptemplating the same swap. By the way, how much are the tires at sears?

Dennis in Scottsdale

 

[cavettefan]

AZMike and ezover, the Pilot Sport is a very good tire. Log on to www.michelinman.com for a comparison of both tires' capabilities. The principal difference is that the A/S has better snow traction than the non-A/S tire. I have the Pilot Sport A/S on my daily driver (a Volvo S60 AWD) and the Pilot Sport was just installed on my 2003 Coupe (I upgraded to the Z06 tires and wheels to accomodate the power upgrades that have been done). I have had one year's worth of experience with the A/S tires on the Volvo (I put the tires on at delivery, rather than suffer through the Pirelli tires that came standard with the car) and would highly recommend the Michelins. If you can get the tires for $200 less than Tire Rack, I doubt that you will find a better deal elsewhere. Just be sure that you stick with the same tire sizes (e.g. 245/45-17 Front and 275/40-18 Rear for the Coupe/Convertible; 265/40-17 Front and 295/35-18 Rear for the Z06) that are standard for the Corvette so that the Active Handling system is not compromised. (If you move to the Z06 tires/wheels, you will need to re-program the EBTCM computer, which is beyond the ability of the Sears tire staff.) Tire life is a direct function of how aggressively the car is driven. I have had other Volvos that had the Pilot Sport tires where I have been able to get 35k to 38K miles before replacement; those cars were primarily driven on the highway and I rotated the tires every 5K miles.

 

[AZMike]

Sears has the Pilot Sports on sale for $1059 a set. Costco has the best deal on the A/S at $1088 a set (Sears wants $1132 for the set).

From what I've seen, it looks like the A/S has a better trad life and can be a bit quieter, but the non A/S grips better and looks really cool. I think I'll go with the non A/S ones since we'll be moving soon and I wont have to deal with 20 miles of concrete freeway every day.

I do plan on going with OEM sizes - I just want a runflat that handles better and runs quieter than the GY's. It takes most of the power of my amp to drown out the whine of the GY's on the freeway.

 

[AZMike]

Well, it seems that the Pilot Sport Zero Pressure tires are discontinued.

I had Sears match Costco's price since Costco does not have the equipment to mount the runflats.

I got a set of PilotSport A/S Zero Pressure for $1169 out the door.

Not too bad I guess.

 

[raycdosu]

DO NOT EVER GET THE PILOT SPORT A/S!!!!!!!!!!!

that's for all corvette owners. i bought a pair to put on the front of my 99 FRC. after installation and alignment, it pulled to the right. i had the vehicle realigned several times, had the tires switched to the opposite sides, had the tires replace, and aligned again several times, always still pulling to the right.

finally, i had them put a pair of the stock goodyears back on and the problem disappeared. obviously, the problem was the tires.

not to mention, they don't look nearly as good as the goodyears.

 

[cavettefan]

AZMike, how has your experience been to date with your Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires? Any pulling to either the right or left? I have not had the A/S tires on my coupe; however, the Pilot Sports that I have had installed do not exhibit any pulling to the right or left.

 

[AZMike]

Well, I just got the new tires on yesterday (6/22), so I've only got about 50 - 60 mils on them. There seems to be out of balance issue right now, but hopefully, that will be fixed after work today. There is no pulling to either side though. Here are my observations so far:

- They are the PilotSport A/S zero pressure

Pros:
- 100 times quieter than the loud GoodYears
- A lot smoother - both on pavement and concrete
- No more bump steer - I have a particualr section of freeway
I need to drive on before I can say this fur sure though.
- They seem to grip better (I've been taking
it easy though to break them in)
- I like the look better then the stock GY's
- The tire extends a bit past the rim - thet will protect the
rim from any more scratches.
- My total price was $1142 out the door!

Cons:
- I have a vibration at 50+ mph, but I assume it's just a
balancing issue. I'll get it looked at after work today.
- I was having a lot of fun this weekend burning the last of
the rubber off of the GY's. Now it's back to normal driving.

 

[cavettefan]

AZMike, like you I have less than 100 miles on my Pilot Sport (non-A/S, non-Zero Pressure) tires in Z06 size. I have not noticed any pulling to the right or left; nor have I had the out of balance item that you noted. I do have approximately 10,000 miles on a set of Pilot Sport A/S on my S60 AWD Volvo daily driver, with no problems at all. Please post whether the balance problem gets sorted out with a re-balancing.

 

[Tuna]

Yea, keep us posted on this.

I have regular Pilot Sports on my C4 and love them. No problems of any kind.
My new 03 is going to have to live with the GY F1's for awhile and I can't complain as the Mag Ride system and the tires really work well together, and they aren't old enough and worn enough to start all that road noise that GY's are known for.

Thanks

 

[AZMike]

Well, it looks like the people at Sears in Chandler were 'challenged' by the balancing machine.

I went to the Sears in P.V. Mall, and they got them balanced nicely. They said they work on Vettes a lot, so they know the ins and outs of them. In fact, there was a C4 there yesterday too.

Anyway, I do have a slightly bent rear right rim (a little run out on the balancer, but not much). At first, I thought it might have been caused by the Sears shop in Chandler, but I'm not sure. I have had a minor 'incursion' with a curb with that same rim.

Anyway, the car now runs as smooth as glass. No vibration even at 100mph (THAT would have been a fun one to explain - "Sorry officer, I was just testing my new tires for proper balance!") I'll drive it for a couple of more days - If I notice any vibration, then I know it was caused by Sears, because it didn't vibrate like that Sunday morning before I got the new tires. The guy at P.V. Mall was nice enough to document the fact that 1) the rim was bent and 2) the Chandler shop did a really, really bad job at balancing.

I also notice that the Michelins give you plenty of warning before breaking loose around a corner. The Good Years just broke loose all of a sudden. Doesn't even really seem like I need the active handling anymore. The car is 10 times more predictable.

I like these tires much, much more than the GYs.

 

[cavettefan]

AZMike, I am glad that you like the Michelins. However, don't go turning off the Active Handling.... You have just added to the margin of safety by switching to a more controllable tire.