Installed - Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3

Just got these installed today. Obviously they're not broken in just yet, but first impression is great. Lots of wet spots from melting snow, felt just like the dry spots. Handling is very tight, steering is direct and responsive, feels a little better than the Dunlops it came with. Ride feels a little harder, I should probably check the tire pressure, but I can live with it, it's an incremental difference.

Now I kind of hope it snows some so I can try them out in weather.

One downside of these tires it that they look fairly mild-mannered while on the car. Not exactly an in-your-face aggressive tread pattern. But how much of that can you really see most of the time anyway? :)
 
Nice I was thinking to get those too but they were a bit out of my budget at the time =/ Maybe the ride will get softer after break in period? My MXM4 were stiff when I first got them and now they're smooth and very quiet. BTW, did you get the $70 rebate? Michelin's having a promotion for when you purchase 4 new tires in November and December or something like that. When I bought my Michelin's last month the shop didn't tell me about this rebate but I found out online and filled out the form and they'll send a $70 Visa card :D Give it a shot if you haven't already done so.
 
You folks really find that much wrong with the stock tires? I drove 30 miles to work in a snowstorm last Wed or Thurs, and I had no issues at all. Roads were not completely cleared, yet I covered it in 40-45 minutes. I thought about getting snows, but can't see wasting the $ only to have the stock tires sit and go bad (I'll have summer tires put on my Motegis in the spring)
 
The rebate ended in October as far as I knew. Got the link?


Yeah, I had a lot of trouble with the stocks the one time I tried to drive on them in the snow, they really didn't grip well on wet roads, much less slush and snow. Plus when they're cold they also don't grip well either. Probably the compound. They're fairly cheap Dunlops with a fairly basic rubber formulation and tread pattern, not one of the more advanced designs with exotic rubber compounds and fancy tread-within-tread designed to grab snow or whatever. To be honest, they're like most of the all-season tires out there outside of the top 5.

Frankly, there's very few "all season" tires that are truly 4-season and should be used in snow. I'm hoping these Michelins will be one of them, though given how sharp their handling is so far, they're probably not going to be wonderful in the snow. I'm looking for "tolerable" though, not "wonderful." :) But outside of these, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS (Mushier, pretty good in snow, tends to flat-spot), the Nokian WR (even more mushy, basically a winter tire beefed up to survive the rest of the year), and maybe the Pirelli P Zero Nero and Bridgestone G019 GRID, if it says "all season" it means "all seasons not named 'winter.'" And frankly, those last two are pushing it, though they're at least acceptable in snow. So many "all season" tires aren't even "acceptable." The OEM Dunlops are one such tire.
 
Incidentally, I got the V-rated one, not the Y-rated one. Apparently the Y-rated one is getting really bad reviews for snow performance on Tire Rack, bu the V-rated version is getting better snow-performance. Which is just really really interesting. I wonder if the different speed rating denotes a different tread compound formulation. Also interesting that TireRack declared the V-rated tire "High Performance" and the Y-rated tire "Ultra High Performance." Not sure why. They've only tested the Y-rated one though.

Y-rated: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...Model=Pilot+Sport+A/S+3+(W-+or+Y-Speed+Rated)
V-rated: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...Model=Pilot+Sport+A/S+3+(H-+or+V-Speed+Rated)
 
There are two kind of stock tires: Dunlop for the 18", and Yokohama for the 16".
(correct me if I am wrong here).
The Dunlops (that I got on mine) are not impressive. They are noisy.
 
I'm finally found the right tire for the way I drive my 2011 2.5 L MZ3 - Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 V rated. The OEM Yokahamas were fine dry weather tire but in rain yuck, and snow just awful. I Switched them out after after 11k and put on Goodyear Triple Tred which provided better wet weather handling at the expense of dry weather handling and were fair for light snow so then they were replaced at 11k. I read many reviews and it came down to Contis DWS or Michelin PS-AS3. These two tires appeared to handle the seasonal changes very well. After 5k on them and two snow falls I'll be buying them again when needed since they inspire confidence in snow,wet or dry. When we have those freak 12 to 24 inch snowfalls I'll put on a pair of snow tires on the front wheels.
 
I can say that so far the PS-AS3 is better on dry and wet roads than the OEM Dunlop SP Sport 5000s. They're also better than the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. They also definitely ride harder, but that's a tradeoff I can live with. Going to take a while before I find out if they flat-spot like the DWS tires did. And it was almost 70 degrees today, which just figures, right? Anyway, no snow to test them with. But so far they're a better tire than the Dunlops in every way. And they really can't be much worse in the snow than the Dunlops were.
 
I almost got the Continental DWS but the tire shop told me they've had a lot of people changing them out with bulges on the sidewall after hitting a pot hole due to their soft sidewalls. He had a bunch of them, within the past couple weeks, in the back room that he showed me. He also told me that because of their soft sidewalls the ride's handling won't be as responsive and I'll most likely won't be happy with them on the mazda 3. Plus, it doesn't snow here so don't need those. My family's been going to this place for 20+ years so I'm pretty sure he won't give me bad advice.
 
With the Contis DWS I've read that individuals up their PSI pressure to 38 to stiffen the sidewall and improve handling. On my Michelin PS-AS3 I run them at 36 PSI while my dooor sill plate recommends 32 PSI. I've hit a smsll pot hole with them ...jarring but no damage to the tire running 225/45/17 tires on 2011 MZ3 2.5L.
 
Yeah, juicing up the PSI helps a little, but it's not just the sidewall, the tread pattern and compound also contribute to the looser handling, particularly those big diamond tread blocks with all the voids. Those are part of what give it such good snow traction though, so it's a trade-off some people are willing to make. Especially people in an area that gets blizzards and 70 degree days within a week of each other in December. ;)

My dealer actually recommended the DWS, and I get why, but the things also have flatspotting issues. Which I experienced first-hand, not fun. Actually didn't notice any sidewall bulges, but in some ways the flatspotting was worse, it really harshens the ride when your tires are out of round and just won't balance.
 
Ok, took my Michelin A/S 3 tires out to play the last couple of days, had some serious snow to put them into. They're definitely decent, good enough to get you out of trouble if you need to drive in the snow. They take longer to dig through loose snow than Contis, but they have fewer biting edges, so I expected that. Once you're going, you're going to track pretty straight so long as you're taking it reasonably easy, unlike the Dunlops, which got squirrly very easily. Overall, not the best all season tire in the winter (that's still the Contis) but they're better in dry and wet weather than the ContiExtreme DWS, which was the exact tradeoff I wanted.

They're better in all ways than the OEM Dunlops, and I went and told Mazda in one of their surveys that they should drop the Dunops and offer these Michelins as OEM tires.
 
If you don't push your car to the edge, the Dunlops are just fine.

Umm, this is a Mazda3. It's designed to be pushed to the edge. ;) Coming with tires that can't handle being pushed to the edge is a faux pas. Then again, it's one that most carmakers commit, so it's a little understandable. SO I'm hoping you meant "pushed to the edge in snow."

I'm glad you're happy with the Dunlops, but their wet performance wasn't all that hot, and frankly they had almost no snow grip. I lost control on an amount of snow that was barely more than a dusting, something like an eighth of an inch. And the car was a month old, the tires had less than 5k miles on them, so it's not like they were worn out.

Anyway my advice to people buying cars is to plan to buy tires for them anyway.
 
Anyway my advice to people buying cars is to plan to buy tires for them anyway.

That's what I do lol My previous car I changed out the crappy stock tires within the first few weeks. Same with my 3. With the tires still being pretty new and very low miles, I am able to trade them in and use the credit towards the new tires :)
 
Can you comment on road noise with these tires vs. dunlops?

I get a headache from the dunlops on concrete highways and am just wondering if it's the tires or the car.
 
Back