2019 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test

How on the Earth the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 is the best in comfort?!

Driving exactly the Bridgestone Turanza T005 mentioned in the test. This was my first summer (right now my car has the 16" Dunlop Winter Sport 5 equipped).
So long they have been very efficient (my Fiat has a 6.7 l/100km gasoline usage) compared to the Micheline Premacy 3 it's about 1.2l less every 100km and I manage to drive about 800km with a full tank, which used to be a lot less (~100km difference).
The tyre is a bit noisy, but it's not relevant, I only hear the difference, while driving through a tunnel close to the wall and with my windows opened.
For me with an FF car the wet performance is more relevant and this tyre gives me all I want.
To explain it in short: while I'm driving a street car and not racing, I do not drive close to the limit on a dry surface, but when the road ahead is wet and the conditions change randomly, my cars limit is blurry, so I want a reliable tyre to drive on.

After one season the tyres are down to 5mm (front) and 6mm (rear), which is ok for a summer tyre.

"If you average the dry braking and dry handling results, the Michelin
Pilot Sport 4 is the best dry weather tyre overall, with a huge gap
during the dry braking testing."
Hmmm let me see, the best 34.2, the worst 37.1, that is about an 8% difference for dry braking for the two extremes, and no indication of error bars for accumulated different tests, or were they done once only ? Worse still, for dry handling, that is 115.3 worst versus 118.0 best, and is less than a 2.5% difference between so-called extremes. The graphs and conclusions are grossly misleading.

I have a set of the yokohama V701 Fleva's on my 2015 Golf GTD, Fantastic tire! if you ignorantly power everywhere... of course no grip but that will be the case with every tire! i find if i attack a corner properly and maintain load on the tires, they have tons and tons of grip. wet grip is a good, but obviously don't drive the car the same in the dry as you do in the wet. these tires are also very quiet and seem to be wearing very well at the moment, iv'e had mine on for 6 months now.
Ill definitely be buying more of these tires!

After reading couple of articles about these tyres, it is a bit unclear to me whatever the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 are valid/approved tyres for a BMW F10 530xd 2014 model.
Can anyone confirm this for me?
Thanks.

What is your experience with these test in terms - how applicable these would be to different wheel size/width or even load/speed index for tyre of the same model and make?
Could you possibly make a video, or an article about the above + few more things?
- load index - how would that translate in your view into handling/comfort (assuming you can have exactly the one car manufacturer requires for the vehicle model, or say way higher than needed index)
- speed index - similar to above? How the construction of the tyre changes? is it heavier/better balanced etc?
- thread width - this is something that is not mentioned anywhere, but the actuall thread width is influencing the contact patch with the ground.. yet, same width from different manufacturers differs for that, and it's not even same for different sized of the same tyre model!! so 235/45 can have different thread with than 235/35 and so on.. (the only site where I saw this measured was www.tirerack.com, but those are US market tyres, most differ to what we can get in europe...)
- tyre pressure - what it can influence and how you can "balance" the car by changing the front/back pressure

Would really like to see something like that and learn more.

Thanks, appreciate the great work you are doing!

This page has nowhere written what it means by "comfort" if it is not a noise level.
Fulda and Dunlop which I have have similar noise levels, but different comfort. What do you mean exactly by "comfort" ? Nothing explained. You should have a glossary of terms.

https://www.autobild.de/art...

I'm also surprised Maxxis didn't put the new VS5 (Victra Sport 5) in the test instead of the HP5 as that would be more comparible to the likes of the asymmetric 5 or the PS4 as a uhp tyre where as I was under the impression the HP5 was more like a primacy 4 or effecient grip touring style tyre. It's a shame as I want to see some test for that tyre as they are talking it up.

Glad to see my Sava Intensa 2 getting in the mid field of the test with a good rating overall. So far I have found them to be very good value for money after completing 8k miles so far on the front of my Seat Exeo with 225/40/18. I would have gone for the Fulda of the two Goodyear sub brands but can't find any garages that actually stock them in England. Only seem to be able to get them delivered whereas the Sava is stocked by one major UK chain.

Hello,

I am currently looking for the best premium tyres to suit my needs for my 2015 Volvo V70 T5 (245HP front wheel drive) in the size 235/40 R18. My priorities are above all comfort (damping & noise), as well as fuel consumption. Nevertheless, the tyres should have the best possible grip on wet & dry roads to always have a safe feeling. Since I come from Germany, I sometimes drive at higher speeds, if possible ("German Auobahn").

Unfortunately the new Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymertic 5 are not yet available in size of 235/40R18. That's why I'm currently wavering between the previous GY Eagle F1 Assy3 and the Michelin Pilot Sport 4. Continental tyres are out of the question for personal reasons.

What recommondation would you give me?

Kumho Ecsta PS71 225/45 r17 comes in the 94Y XL version or 91Y without reinforcement? Because there is a major difference between the two variants. 94Y XL has A Brake and C fuel consumption, and 91Y has A brake and E fuel consumption!
The 245/45 r18 XL also comes in A/C and B/C. So it's interesting to consider this aspect.

Auto Bild also do classic tyre tests (almost uniquely). Would it be possible to include your standard test report style summaries of them on TR's menu? (The 2018 test was interesting in showing how relatively well a poor modern tyre, the Maxxis MAP-I, did in comparison to a suite of classic tyres.)

Thanks for posting this review. I'm considering the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 (245/40 R18) but noise and comfort are a top priority for me. Would I be better off with a premium touring tyre instead of a high-performance one?

In that sense it seems surprising that the Continental Premium Contact 6 is not better rated for noise and comfort. What about something like the Michelin Primacy 3, would that fare better than the PS4 in terms of noise and comfort?

Thanks for the great article, once again. I was wondering: we see a lot of summer (dry) tests and winter (snow/ice) tests, but even though the summer tests always include wet braking distances, etc, we never really see a test focused on rain/wet conditions.

Where I live we never get snow or Ice, so what I would like to use is a set of UUHP tyres for the summer (considering mainly semi slicks) and the best possible tyres in the wet for the winter. So even though Michelin Pilot Sport 4 got great results in the wet, I can't help but think there must be a better set of tyres for wet conditions... After all, they're made mainly for dry handling.

Any advice?

I'm surprised with the good wear results of the Michelin Pilot Sport 4.

I've always considered its purchase but was discouraged by several comments in forums about its very quick wear.

Maybe the wear varies depending on size and/or load and speed rate?