Best Reviewed
Tires
- Best all-season tires Goodyear Assurance TripleTred *Est. $140
- Budget all-season tires Hankook Optimo H727 *Est. $90
- All-season tires for performance cars Continental ExtremeContact DWS *Est. $155
- Budget high-performance all-season tires Sumitomo HTR A/S P01 *Est. $115
- Max-performance summer tires Continental ExtremeContact DW *Est. $160
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A summer-performance favorite, but expensive and wears fast
- Superb handling
- Excellent wet and dry traction
- Quiet for a max-performance tire
- Expensive
- For summer driving only
- Poor tread life
Once the most recommended summer tire for high-performance sedans and sports cars, the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 still holds some advantages over the new top-rated Continental ExtremeContact DW (*Est. $160). The Pilot Sport PS2 is classified as a maximum-performance tire for high-speed stability and traction, and reviews rank it highly on both counts. It's the most responsive tire in TireRack.com's high-performance test, and owners say it's unsurpassed on dry roads. The Continental gets better wet traction, though, experts and users say -- and it costs far less.
These tires are meant for warm-weather use only; they'd be useless on snow and ice. They also aren't designed for durability. The Pilot Sport PS2 carries a 20,000-mile tread-life warranty, but it scores poorly in one expert tread-wear test. This is typical of max-performance tires, though. The Pilot Sport PS2's main drawback is price, especially with the cheaper Continental performing just as well or better in tests.
ConsumerReports.org, Car and Driver and TireRack.com all test the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 head-to-head against other high-performance summer tires. We also found a high-quality professional test of this tire at Motor Trend, and while write-ups at the Canadian Automobile Protection Association are brief, they are based on expert analysis. Other review sources include the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website, where consumers can look up government tire ratings, and TireRack.com, which features ratings of the Pilot Sport PS2 by more than 1,000 owners.
Continental ExtremeContact DW All-Season Tire - 245/40R18 93ZR
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Our Sources
1. ConsumerReports.orgDetails/Subscribe
ConsumerReports.org compares the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 with 20 other ultra-high-performance summer tires. Editors test the tires' performance on wet and dry roads, as well as their rolling resistance, comfort and tread life, and rank them from best to worst.
Review: Ultra-High-Performance Summer Tire Ratings, Editors of ConsumerReports.org
2. Car and DriverDetails/Subscribe
Car and Driver testers set the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 as the benchmark performance tire to beat, pushing nine cheaper high-performance summer tires to the limit against their favorite Michelin. But the Michelin doesn't win the test -- the cheaper Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec does.
Review: Tire Test: Nine Affordable Summer Tires Take On the Michelin PS2 -- Comparison Tests, Dave Vanderwerp, July 2009
3. Tire Rack
Once TireRack.com's top pick, the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 loses this test to the Continental ExtremeContact DW. Experts here still prefer the Michelin's steering response and dry grip, but the Continental beats it for wet-road traction and ride comfort.
Review: Testing Max Performance Summer Tires, Editors of TireRack.com, Oct. 6, 2010
4. Automobile Protection Association
This Canadian review (posted under "Consumer Info" on the site's home page) compares the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 with 17 other high-performance tires. Write-ups here are very short, but the PS2 gets praise for its high performance and improved manufacturing.
Review: High Performance Tires, Editors of the Automobile Protection Association
5. Tire Rack
More than 1,000 customers at this retail site review the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, ranking it against its max-performance summer tire rivals in a linked chart. As in TireRack.com's expert tests, owners rank the Pilot Sport PS2 highly -- but they like the Continental ExtremeContact DW best.
Review: Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, Contributors to TireRack.com
6. Motor TrendDetails/Subscribe
Motor Trend evaluates two new high-performance tires from Michelin -- including the Pilot Sport PS2 ZP, designed specifically for the Chevrolet Corvette -- at a manufacturer-hosted press event. The ZP feels "quite good" on a Corvette Z06 and better than the car's original Goodyear Eagle F1 tires, this review says.
Review: Burning Michelin Rubber in Ron Fellows' Corvettes, Editors of Motor Trend, Aug. 2009
7. SaferCar.gov
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires manufacturers to test their tires for tread wear, traction and heat resistance, and to label the tires with these ratings. The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 gets the highest ratings for heat resistance and traction on wet pavement. Its tread-wear rating is relatively low, however, but that's common for a summer-only sport tire.
Review: Tire Rating Lookup, Editors of SaferCar.gov
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