twin_snails

iTrader: (2)

Thought I'd post my review of the Pilot Sport A/S3's. On my sedan, I've had the stock Bridgestone on the stock sport wheels. Those tires did not instill confidence and wet traction was lacking. After putting my Hotchkis sways on, these tires wouldn't maintain dry grip on winding, twisty roads and I had the car going sideways at one point, even with the VDC on. I'd steer into the skid and it would break loose in the opposite direction. The VDC had it's work cut out on the Bridgestones.

With each new tire and/or car combination I have, I test the limits of adhesion to dry, wet, snowy and icy conditions to see how the car is going to behave so I know the limits of the handling.

After those wore out, I did a plus one wheel upgrade with TSW Nurburgrings in 19x8.5 front and 19x9.5 rear. Those wheels were shod with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires in 245/40-19 fr and 275/35-19 rr. I got about 52,000 miles out of those tires and the fronts still had more miles in them. These tires were really, really good and the road feel that they gave was very sharp, connected, and crisp but they sacrificed comfort and were a pretty rigid ride at times but no so much so that it was uncomfortable. Dry traction was incredible but these tires were somewhat loud on the highway. In the rain, I could go through a left turn and punch the gas and they would slip to an angle of about 30 degrees before the VDC kicked in and kept the tail in line.

I put my stock sport wheels back on because I'm going to get the 19's powder coated. I got the stock sizes of 225/50-18 W rated and 245/45-18 Y rated. The fronts were not available in Y rated but so far, no problems with the different ratings but I didn't expect there would be as I'm not pushing them hard. They are definitely a softer and more compliant ride than the A/S Plus variety I had on the 19's. These tires are definitely making me miss the 19's for sure, however, these are really excellent tires. They're quiet on the highway due to the asymmetrical tread design. Despite being a softer ride, they handle well and don't feel squishy if you take a corner a bit fast.

The wet traction is where these tires really excel and quite frankly, defy the laws of physics. I've tired the same test going through a left turn in the rain that I did on the 19's. I have tried to get the A/S3's to swing the tail out in the rain but they simply will not budge off of the arc of the turn. I've got about 1500 miles on them so far and they're really great tires.

The tread design isn't as cool looking as the A/S Plus but it's a small price to pay. I've also driven them in the snow and they will spin even at light throttle but once the car is moving, they're fine as long as you don't do anything stupid. I hope the review is insightful and helps some make purchase decisions.

deadlocked

iTrader: (1)

how much MPG would you lose going from stock tire sizes to a 245/275 set up??

twin_snails

iTrader: (2)

In the beginning, I lost maybe 1 mpg. I drove primarily highway miles and was able to consistently knock down 24 mpg highway, and 27 mpg on one tank after using an ethanol fuel treatment. In mixed driving, I got 22-23 mpg pretty much all the time.

When I chose my 19's (TSW Nurburgring) I wanted to keep them light so that helped. I swapped out the heavy stock rotors for two-piece units (primarily due to the issues I was having with the stock units and film build up causing a warped kind of feeling) and that shaved 8lbs off of each front and 4 pounds off of each rear. Probably doesn't make a whole lot of difference but it helped mitigate the slight increase in weight per corner with the new 19's. I weighed the stock wheels and tires and remember the new 19's shod with Michelin's to be about 1.5 pounds heavier on the front and 2 pounds on the rear.

Hope that helps.