Firestone Firehawk Sport vs Michelin Pilot Sport 5
Across five shared professional tests (Auto Bild, Auto Bild Sportscars, ADAC and two large braking/shootout datasets), the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 is consistently the higher-performing tyre overall-often by meaningful margins in wet safety metrics-while the Firestone tends to trade some wet precision and longevity for lower noise, lower rolling resistance and a lower up-front purchase price.
Test Results
Independent comparison tyre tests are the best source of data to get tyre information from, and the good news is there have been five tests which compare both tyres directly!
| Tyre | Test Wins | Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Michelin Pilot Sport 5 | five |
While it might look like the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 is better than the Firestone Firehawk Sport purely based on the higher number of test wins, tyres are very complicated objects which means where one tyre is better than the other can be more important in real world use.
Let's look at how the two tyres compare across multiple tyre test categories.
Key Strengths
- Lower rolling resistance / better efficiency (e.g., 7.62 vs 8.94 kg/t in Auto Bild 2025; 7.05 vs 8.62 kg/t in Auto Bild Sportscars 2023)
- Typically quieter in measured noise across tests (wins noise in 3/3 reported comparisons)
- Lower purchase price where measured (e.g., 365 vs 500 in 2023 test)
- Generally competent dry-road performance for the money (close but consistently behind PS5 in dry braking/handling)
- Consistently shorter braking distances in dry and especially wet (wins 5/5 in both dry and wet braking)
- Stronger wet handling and higher safety reserves, including aquaplaning performance (wins straight + curved aquaplaning where reported)
- Much better tread life / projected mileage (e.g., +81% in Auto Bild 2025; +63% in ADAC 2025)
- More complete premium all-rounder: precise steering, stable cornering, good comfort; repeatedly rated highly (e.g., “exemplary”)
Dry Braking
Looking at data from five tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during five dry braking tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 stopped the vehicle in 2.5% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Dry Braking: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Dry Braking winner was calculated >>
Dry Handling [Km/H]
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during two dry handling [km/h] tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was 1.66% faster around a lap than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Dry Handling [Km/H]: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking
Looking at data from five tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during five wet braking tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 stopped the vehicle in 8.7% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Braking: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Wet Braking winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking - Concrete
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during one wet braking - concrete tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 stopped the vehicle in 7.11% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Braking - Concrete: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Wet Braking - Concrete winner was calculated >>
Wet Handling [Km/H]
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during two wet handling [km/h] tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was 3.29% faster around a wet lap than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Handling [Km/H]: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Circle
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during two wet circle tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was 1.22% faster around a wet circle than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Circle: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Wet Circle winner was calculated >>
Straight Aqua
Looking at data from three tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during three straight aqua tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 floated at a 2.72% higher speed than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Straight Aqua: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Straight Aqua winner was calculated >>
Curved Aquaplaning
Looking at data from three tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during three curved aquaplaning tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 slipped out at a 9.45% higher speed than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Curved Aquaplaning: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Curved Aquaplaning winner was calculated >>
Subj. Comfort
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during one subj. comfort tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 scored 14% more points than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Subj. Comfort: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Subj. Comfort winner was calculated >>
Noise
Looking at data from three tyre tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during three noise tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport measured 1.29% quieter than the Michelin Pilot Sport 5.
Best In Noise: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Noise winner was calculated >>
Wear
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during two wear tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 is predicted to cover 41.64% miles before reaching 1.6mm than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wear: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Wear winner was calculated >>
Value
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during two value tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 proved to have a 21.72% better value based on price/1000km than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Value: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Value winner was calculated >>
Price
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during one price tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport cost 27% less than the Michelin Pilot Sport 5.
Best In Price: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Price winner was calculated >>
Rolling Resistance
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during two rolling resistance tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport had a 16.4% lower rolling resistance than the Michelin Pilot Sport 5.
Best In Rolling Resistance: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Rolling Resistance winner was calculated >>
Fuel Consumption
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during one fuel consumption tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport used 1.79% less fuel than the Michelin Pilot Sport 5.
Best In Fuel Consumption: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Fuel Consumption winner was calculated >>
Abrasion
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 was better during one abrasion tests. On average the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 emitted 30.83% less particle wear matter than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Abrasion: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
See how the Abrasion winner was calculated >>
Real World Driver Reviews
Tyre Reviews also collects real world driver reviews for the Firestone Firehawk Sport and Michelin Pilot Sport 5.
In total the Firestone Firehawk Sport has been reviewed 6 times and drivers have given the tyre 76% overall.
The Michelin Pilot Sport 5 has been reviewed 103 times and drivers have given the tyre 85% overall.
This means in real world driving, people prefer the Michelin Pilot Sport 5.
Conclusion
The Michelin also makes a strong long-term value case despite its higher price. Wear/mileage projections are dramatically better (e.g., 52,170 km vs 28,860 km in Auto Bild 2025; 56,400 km vs 34,500 km in ADAC 2025), and its cost-per-distance “value” scores beat the Firestone in the tests that measured it. The Firestone Firehawk Sport still has a role: it's typically quieter and clearly more energy-efficient (lower rolling resistance and slightly better fuel consumption), and it undercuts Michelin on purchase price. The practical takeaway: if you want the best blend of grip, wet safety, and lifespan, buy the Pilot Sport 5; if you're cost-sensitive up front and prioritise efficiency/quietness over ultimate wet performance and tread life, the Firehawk Sport is the compromise.
Key Differences
- Wet braking is the biggest safety separator: PS5 is typically ~5-11% shorter (e.g., 43.2 m vs 48.7 m in Auto Bild 2025).
- Overall ranking consistency strongly favors Michelin: PS5 placed 1st/3rd/2nd/3rd/9th in the shared tests, while Firestone ranged from mid-pack to near-bottom (including 20th/21 in Auto Bild 2025).
- Wear/longevity heavily favors Michelin: ~52k-56k km for PS5 vs ~29k-35k km for Firestone in the tests that measured mileage.
- Efficiency favors Firestone: lower rolling resistance and slightly better fuel consumption (e.g., 5.5 vs 5.6 l/100 km in ADAC 2025).
- Noise comfort tends to favor Firestone on measured dB, even when Michelin scores well for subjective comfort in some tests.
- Value over tyre life favors Michelin despite higher purchase price: cost-per-1000 km metrics (“value”) are better for PS5 in both Auto Bild 2025 and ADAC 2025.
Overall Winner: Michelin Pilot Sport 5
Based on the tyre test data and user reviews we have in our database, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 has demonstrated better overall performance in this comparison. However, as you can see from the spider diagram above, each tyre has its own strengths which should be considered in your final tyre buying choice.Similar Comparisons
Looking for more tyre comparisons? Here are other direct comparisons involving these tyres:
Footnote
This page has been developed using tyre industry testing best practices. This means we are only comparing tests which have had both tyres in the same test.
Why is this important? Tyre testing is heavily affected by things like surface grip levels and surface temperature, which means you can only compare values from the same day. During a tyre test external condition changes are calculated into the overall results, but it is not possible to calculate this between tyre tests performed on different days or at different locations.
As a result you will see other tests on Tyre Reviews which feature both the %s and %s, but as they weren't conducted on the same day, the results are not comparable.
Lots of other websites do this sort of tyre comparison, Tyre Reviews doesn't.
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