Michelin Pilot Sport 4 review

Elsewhere in this test we’ve seen former winners struggling to repeat their success. That’s emphatically not the case for Michelin, which obviously knows a thing or two about evolving a design through its life to maintain performance. 

The Pilot Sport 4 made its debut in our 2016 test and won it. Since then it’s scored another podium finish, and it’s a well- deserved runner-up this year. It was rarely off the podium across the tests, apart from cabin noise and fuel economy. Long gone, it seems, are the days when the Michelin design philosophy was impressive fuel economy at the expense of wet grip. 

Even ignoring the Bridgestone, the Michelin’s rolling resistance result is a step or two off its rivals and perhaps a sign of its ageing design – it was much more competitive back in 2016. The upside is wet grip, where it gave best only to the Hankook across our tests and was well clear of the next tyre. It particularly impressed when on the power around the handling circuit, pulling our test car through the turns. It was also well balanced front and rear. 

It was less impressive in the dry, where it failed to match the sharpest, but it held on well without needing excessive lock.

We say...

The Pilot Sport 4 shows no sign of losing its impressive ability in both the wet and dry, despite being up against newer designs.

Blackcircles.com says…

This tyre is consistently a firm favourite with customers, with more than 6,300 reviews and an overall score of 4.8/5. Positive reviews have often praised the grip, comfort and handling.

Figures