About 2 weeks ago I got my new tires mounted. I went with Michelin Pilot Super Sports. I have been waiting for several weeks for the tires to come in. A little info about my impression of the tires.

Previous tires were Bridgestone RE-760's. The 760's are the baseline. These tires had tread left but were almost 5 years old so the rubber has aged. This probably negatively impacted the performance of the 760's.

I have logged about 1200 miles on the new tires so far. It has been a mix of Interstate, backroads, also including a little run on the Tail of the Dragon.

The PSS's sound a little quieter on the open road. I have not put the hardtop on so it is hard to tell at this point if they are indeed quieter.

Wet traction - The worn 760's were getting a little exiting in the rain due to lower tread. The PSS's did well in the wet during my trip to Alabama.

Efficiency - I have not seen any difference in mpg on the PSS compared to the 760's.

In the turns - I ran the Tail of the Dragon last year on the 760's - these protested 3-4 times on the Dragon. This year I ran the Dragon at the same pace and they made no protest and felt as if there was plenty of grip left to utilize.

Image of tire.


Tires on, cleaned and whiskers removed.


The mud traction is poor but that is expected in a performance summer tire

 

Nice, thanks for the write up! Been wanting some of these, but I have nearly brand new Hankook Ventus V2 Concept2's that came with my car and have PLENTY of tread. Sadly I will prolly have to stick with all seasons throughout the summer just to save a bit of money but PSS's are definitely on my wishlist. Especially since the ones I currently have are really loud too!

 

Good review G, now let's take it to the track

 

I got my SS's installed yesterday. My previous tires were Toyo Proxes 4S which I thought were excellent tires and lasted 24,000 miles.

The SS are just as quiet, the ride has improved, steering precision improved and the handling.. wow. I'm really looking forward to taking it for a weekend jaunt.

I got them for $670 including installation.

 

The toyo proxes 4s is has to be the worse handling tire ive ever tried on the s2k. I ran them for 3 weeks and just couldn’t take it any more and returned them. Just crossing lanes at freeway speed was a white knuckle experience. The sidewalls were mush and grip sucked. The rear floated all over and felt like it could come around on me at any moment. Worse experience ever with tires on this car. Trying to go on a budget and local convenience is not a good formula for tire shopping with this particular car. I learned this lesson a long time ago. Thanks Proxes!

 

PSS is a great tire. I have ZIIs on my S2k and I forced my parents to put PSS on their S2k.


They are the only direct comparison I can make. ZIIs great dry traction with a lot of road noise, the PSS are so much quieter with a little less absolute at the limit traction, and softer sidewalls but not mushy soft.


Very nice tire for the road.

 

Choices:
a. Since my rear tires will last through the summer, wait until before/after winter and get tires, but since I'm going to KY, that changes the time frame since I don't mind buying a little early to have fresh rears. A practical approach.
b. Since my front A/S are good (left one is brand new due this summer to replacement b/c of bulge in the sidewall), just replace the rears with another A/S so as to take advantage of the fronts being in good shape, maximizing my $/mile tire expense. Logical, but boring, less of a fun factor, since I was up for trying out summers and wanted them for KY.
c. Grow some cojones and get a summer tire now, which means replacing all 4. Exciting, emotional approach, which will hurt now $$ (b/c of nearly $3000 of unexpected expenses last week with the house and other things), but in the long run, won't matter.
d. Get a 300+ UTQG summer
e. Get a 200ish UTQG summer

I checked my tires closely when I got home from work Friday to see if that would push me in one direction or the other, but, since I lead such a boring life, I just might give myself permission not be practical this one time in my life, and go for the "new" and different approach (for me), and get some summers now, all b/c of the KY trip, which, I was warned me, not to think it'll change everything since I'll be in the "leaf peeping" group anyway, and the ultimate grip will be wasted on me. (the last part was the inference I took, not his words).
At this point, it's a flip of the coin. I've got 3 weeks to come to a make up my mind.

I even thought of an "outlier," but if I mention what it is, I'll get blasted, but I have a used set of HRT ZIII available to me. (Just kidding about that approach.)

 

I would not put much emphasis on the tread wear numbers. If you go with a summer performance tire they will not last as long as an all season tire. While the Super Sport may last a little longer than some performance tires it will not be by much. What you will get is the best combination of wet and dry handling on the market.
If I can help let me know.

 

Thanks for the info.
I enjoyed talking with you on the phone the other day, I was the guy from Indy.
Your grasp of my driving habits and the best tire options was dead on from the hours and hours of research I did; should have called you right first.

 

I personally find it extremely disappointing that they're asymmetrical.

WTB tires of this caliber / purpose that are "flippable"