Both tires have their merits, with the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 standing out for its dynamic handling and winter performance, and the Primacy Tour AS excelling in comfort and noise reduction. Let’s find a better fit for you here.
Table of Contents
Main Highlights
So overall, the Michelin PSAS4 excels in:
- Faster handling and responsive steering due to its enhanced stability.
- Superior wet performance with its dense siping.
- Noteworthy winter traction, thanks to its effective snow-to-snow contact formation.
Detailed Discussion of Pilot Sport AS4: https://tiredriver.com/michelin-pilot-sport-all-season-4-review/
Whereas the Primacy Tour A/S takes the lead in:
- Ride comfort, owing to its pliable rubber and deeper tread.
- Noise reduction, with its intricate tread design creating variable tones.
- Hydroplaning resistance, with its interconnected grooves and greater tread depth.
- Slightly better fuel efficiency due to its lighter construction reducing rolling resistance.
Detailed Discussion of Primacy Tire: https://tiredriver.com/michelin-primacy-tour-a-s-review/
Sizes Specs
| Specification | Primacy Tour A/S | Pilot Sport AS 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Rim Sizes | 17 to 22 inches | 16 to 22 inches |
| Speed Ratings | H and V | Y (on all) |
| Load Ratings | SL and XL | SL and XL |
| Tread Depth | 7 to 11/32″ | 10/32″ (on all) |
| Weight Range | 25 to 37 lbs | 19 to 35 lbs |
| Miles Warranty | 55k miles (H and V) 45k miles (W rated) | 45k miles |
| UTQG Rating | 540 A A | 540 AA A |
Dry Performance
We’re focusing on evaluating the grip (both linear and lateral) and steering response of tires in dry conditions. Let’s break it down.
Overall Handling
The overall handling of a tire is influenced by the synergy between its lateral traction and steering response.
Now in terms of lateral traction, both tires amazingly provide very similar traction values, as seen by their lateral g forces on my comparative tests.
Though overall, the Michelin PSAS4 distinguishes itself with its swifter handling attributed to its more responsive steering, so its able to provide you with a whole second faster handling times, on lap tests.
This advantage stems from the tire’s enhanced stability, thanks to its internally housed more stable internal cap ply and polyester casing.
Moreover, the tire also features a relatively shallower tread depth, and a comparatively lighter weight.
Both of these aspects effectively help in reducing the flexing and bending of the lugs (on the tread), as the tire maneuvers aggressively.
Now, this detail is crucial. Why? Well because when lugs aren’t prone to a lot of flexing, the tread quickly rebounds to its original shape, optimizing the tire’s balance during dynamic maneuvers such as understeering and oversteering.
Directional Grip
Directional grip is a critical measure of a tire’s braking efficiency, predominantly determined by its contact with the road and its weight.
When examining these elements, it’s evident why the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 surpasses its brother here, by offering marginally better braking performance (showcasing 2 feet shorter stopping distance, when stopped from 60 mph, on my averaged tests).
In fact, the tire actually offers the best braking in its ultra-high performance all-season category. Check my list of top UHPAS tires here: https://tiredriver.com/best-ultra-high-performance-all-season-tires/
So, what accounts for this edge? well, the reasons are twofold, predominately:
Firstly, the Michelin PSAS4 features a simpler tread design, allowing for more uninterrupted rubber-to-road contact. In essence, fewer tread features mean a more direct connection with the pavement.
Secondly, its lighter construction means reduced inertia during braking, which significantly enhances its stopping capability, or in other words, its easier to stop, with smaller momentum.
On the other side, the Primacy Tour A/S, is by no means inferior. Its unique angular notches, or in-groove biters, provide ample directional grip. It’s just that, when it comes to this specific performance metric, it falls slightly short compared to a UHPAS tire.
Wet Performance
Alright, let’s talk about how tires deal with water.
The success of a tire on wet roads is determined by its capacity to evacuate water from the tread, impacting both traction and hydroplaning resistance. Let’s check out these aspects separately.
Wet Grip
Now, water evacuation is done by sipes and grooves.
Think of grooves as the heavy lifters, pushing most of the water out of the way. Then sipes come in as the cleanup crew, handling any water that’s left.
They’re like tiny water vacuums, flexing and creating suction to pull in water, allowing rubber to meet with the road properly, enhancing wet traction.
But the thing is, the more flexible they are, the better they work.
Now, when it comes to this, the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 is a bit of a superstar, especially in terms of braking, where it consistently stops over 1.5 feet shorter than the Michelin Primacy Tour AS in tests.
So, what’s its secret? Well, it’s got a denser siping pattern with sipes going in multiple directions, with varying thickness, widths, and shapes, all catering to moisture elimination, from all angles.
The Michelin Tour AS, on the other hand, has sipes that are more linear and laterally arranged, so it doesn’t have that all-around grip.
And yes, the tire also need some improvements in the steering feedback department, where its prone to little understeering.
But hey, don’t get me wrong. I mean its still one of the best performing wet tire for its category, its just that it can’t compete a premium ultra-high performance tire, you know, coming in the category of SUV Touring.
Hydroplaning Resistance
Hydroplaning is what happens when your tire just can’t kick the water out fast enough and instead of gripping the road, it ends up gliding right over the top of the water.
Now, this is handled in tires by grooves, which actually decide how fast a tire can move before it starts to glide or hydroplane.
Now, this is where the Michelin Primacy Tour AS really steps up its game, where it’s got these linked-up grooves going all around and a relatively greater tread depth, taking out more water at a given time.
So yes, although the tire isn’t able to beat PSAS4 in overall wet traction, it still does slightly better in terms of aquaplaning resistance.
MPG Efficiency
Several elements play a role in fuel economy, with some key factors being the tire’s weight, tread depth, and composition, as these directly influence its rolling resistance.
And here, the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4, with its firmer rubber mix, coupled with an ideal tread depth and additional support for all lugs, experiences minimal lug flexing.
Since lug flexing requires energy to reshape the tread, the tire efficiently directs its energy towards driving the car forward, resulting in impressive fuel efficiency.
However, its overall fuel economy is slightly lower compared to Michelin Tour A/S.
This is mainly because of Primacy’s less stickier rubber. Meaning, although it lacks in providing as much grip as the high performance Pilot Sport tire, this is where it pays off.
Winter Traction
Winter tire performance really comes down to three big things: how well they brake on snow and ice, how they handle, and how quickly they can get you moving.
Now, the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 might not have that fancy 3-peak mountain snowflake rating some others come with, but don’t let that fool you, it’s actually one of the best UHP, outperforming nearly all in its group.
But what makes this tire better? Well, it’s all about making sure the tire can grab and hang onto snow. You see, snow sticking to snow is the real MVP because it’s way better than trying to cling onto just rubber or tread.
“MVP” stands for “Most Valuable Player.”
This tire is a bit of a snow magnet, as it’s got loads of siping (those tiny cuts), deep slits on the sides, and these nifty things called snow vices (sharp saw toothed edges, see the tread image).
All of these elements give it an impressive grip in all directions, even on those slippery, icy roads.
Now, the Michelin Primacy Tour AS is no slouch, and it’s definitely got some game in the snow traction department, especially when it comes to getting moving.
But overall, it just doesn’t quite keep up in comparison here. I mean the tire is jack of all trades here, but master of none, lacking behind the PSAS4 a little bit in all winter performance metrics.
Its lateral biters do a decent job, but without those multi-angled grips, it’s missing out on maximizing performance in other key winter areas.
However, it’s got this updated rubber mix that’s better at staying flexible when the mercury drops, so its biters are less likely to turn into tiny ice sculptures. So, props where props are due!
Ride Comfort
For a comfortable drive, two things matter: the amount of noise from the tire tread and the tire’s capacity to cushion road bumps. Let’s explore these crucial elements thoroughly.
Impact Performance
The smoothness of your ride heavily relies on how well a tire can soak up the bumps and jitters from the road, and this is directly linked to what the tire is made of and the material of the tread.
In this respect, the Michelin Primacy Tour AS takes the lead, according to subjective assessments.
Its edge in delivering a more comfortable ride comes from its somewhat softer rubber and deeper tread, which together act as a buffer between the car and the road’s rough spots.
Noise
The pattern of a tire’s tread plays a significant role in how much noise it makes when rolling. This noise mainly comes from air particles smacking into the tire’s surface.
Typically, air slips into the tread via shoulder voids, and as these particles hit, they create noise that bounces around inside the tread grooves, something we call in-groove resonance.
In this arena, the Michelin Primacy Tour AS really shines with its exceptional ability to keep things quiet, largely thanks to its intricately designed tread pattern that produces a variety of tones. Here’s the deal:
Its tread is crafted so that when air particles hit different spots, they create a mix of tones and frequencies. These varying sounds interact in a way that they cancel each other out, significantly reducing that in-groove resonance.
On the flip side, the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 isn’t quite as stealthy. It generates several tones which, although not extremely loud, are more noticeable by comparison.
This leads to higher decibel readings in tests, marking it as the noisier option of the two.
Wrapping Up
In assessing dry performance, both Michelin boys show remarkable lateral traction, where the PSAS4 takes the lead with faster handling and superior stability due to its enhanced internal structure and reduced lug flexing.
And while the Primacy Tour AS performs well in noise reduction and ride comfort, thanks to its intricate tread and pliable rubber, the Pilot Sport excels in wet conditions with its dense siping and multi-directional grip.
Other than this, both tires offer comparable fuel efficiency, although their approaches differ.
And in winter conditions, the PSAS4’s snow-to-snow contact and comprehensive siping give it an edge, while the Primacy remains a strong contender with its flexibility and versatile traction.
