This Is Why You Should Fit OE Tires To Your Car! [Michelin Pilot Sport 4S vs 4S*]

Any chance you can review the Michelin PS4S Zero Pressure ?.
I have the BMW 330i M Sport Auto fitted with Bridgestone RFT 225/35R Front. 255/30R19 Rear which I`m considering changing to "Standard" tyres or Michelin RFT. Alternatively whats your view on RFT tyres? Is it a good idea to change to standard tyres?

So what other manufacturers put such model specific tires on their mainstream cars? How much of BMW performance superiority is tire design related vs car design related?

Wher do u get the ps4s* from....are they dealer only or any tyre shop

If it’s THAT different why is it called the PS4S. The average joe won’t even know there are two versions of the tyre

Not that I dont trust your opinion, but I am curious how much of this is a legitimate difference, and how much is the placebo effect. If you believe the specs and you know you have the OE tires on the car, maybe subconciously you feel capable of pushing the car slightly harder?

Have you ever done a blind test ? (i.e. get the tires put on the care while you are sat inside so you dont know which ones are on the car)

Very interesting video! There aren't a lot of people/accounts online (that aren't the tire companies themselves) going into this much detail. Between this and the channel about the upcoming PS-S5, you have a subscriber! I am going to dig into some of your video "back catalogue" to see what you have on some other tires I'm interested in.

Shout out to jaguarforums, which is where I was first linked to this video, ironically 😁

Thank you very much for this informative and enlightening video. I am from India and planning to buy a Volvo S90 sedan. Indian roads have high speed breakers and accordingly require higher ground clearance. Stock tyres on the S90 are 245/45R18 with a ground clearance of 152mm. Possible upgrades approved by Volvo are 255/40R19, 255/35R20 and 245/35R21. Upgrades to 19s and 20s are not giving sufficient additional ground clearance ( only about 4mm ) however the 21s - 245/35R21 gives additional ground clearance of 13mm taking overall GC to 165mm. Pirelli Pzero PZ4 PCNS or Continental Ecocontact 6 Silent are offered by Volvo in this size. However, I am being told that 245/35R21 is not a suitable size on Indian roads which have potholes and will soon lead to Alloy Rim damage. In such a scenario, which OEM tyre would you recommend which would resist Rim damage better - Pirelli Pzero PZ4 PCNS or Continental Ecocontact 6 Silent? Thank you very much.

4S * or the new Conti sport contact 7 on the BMW?

I just need a tyre which is long lasting, doesn't split or crack after a few thousand miles and economic under NORMAL conditions. It ain't difficult.

On one drive this style on the roads, if you are you a danger to everyone and should be locked up.

Considering the changes is compound alone, I think it's pretty ridiculous to call this nearly the same tire in marketing (regular PS 4S with a small star). The star variant would deserve a name of its own and the differences in this video should make sense for a lot more cars but BMW alone.

PS4S* vs SportContact 7 ?

Do you know if the PS4S* for the lesser 3 and 4 series is the same compound? I have the staggered set up with that tire on my 330i xDrive with M Sport.

This is a great explanation, Can you tell us more about star marked run flats on the X5, there is a lot of content how non star marked can affect the transfer box.

It would be nice to know the difference between the ordinary 4S and the DT1 version.

Great tires! I have tested the PS4S on my 992 911S and the F1's, the F1's hand down are grippier and have better feeling than the stock PS4S too...and they are cheaper

Anybody know how I can get an oe 4s in a 255/35-18 for my Subaru? Gonna have to be for the future, I got the aftermarket version a few days ago and I’m amazed on how good they are. I was running a toyo r1r so my standards were already high. I felt the pilot 4s was more at home, ofc with a 20 yo Subaru under steer is a problem, just changing to these tires made the steering much more precise. Ride quality and noise is great for such a grippy tire, I’ve yet to attend a Motorsport event with them but I’m looking forward to it

Great video as usual! Don’t know how many times I watched your videos over and over again :) Please keep uploading such videos.

I will buy new tires this week for my BMW M5 F90 and still confused if I should pick the Michelin PS4S (*) or Pirelli PZero(*). They are almost same price for 285/35/20 and 275/35/20. Any help will be highly appreciated!

I'm sure you can buy the OE tire - at a BMW dealership. Likely at a shocking price.

Depends on the car. A high performance spec car like your M series may have a tired designed to match particular handling & speed requirements.
Most passenger car tires are spec'd for quiet, tread life, and minimal performance requirements, and the contract goes to the lowest bidder. So most people are better off shopping for a tire that will generally EXCEED OEM specs and also cost LESS.

I'll just pop down to Kwik Fit for a set of Dunlop 185 55 13s...

My G82 came with Perelli tires. They are definitely not as good looking as the Michelin but they seem to perform just as well.

There is no OE tires for my car. Anybody make Goodyear Gatorbacks?

I'd buy a Tyre Reviews 4S*

And us as consumers what are we going to do ?

shame you don't do a blind test.

Yeah, they'll charge you an arm and a leg more for that difference. Im Good!

I’ve recently gotten a set of Mercedes Benz spec PS4S for my 2018 Golf R. Should I expect a crazy drop off in performance as the tire ages?

I have a 2017 civic type R....im NOT puting OE tires on it, heck i even changed rims. Do you have any idea how expensive those tires are? 245/30R20? Try $630 per tire, and they last like 6000 miles.....oh yea not all places have the proper tools to mount those tires. The OE are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2. I changed out to 245/40R19 rims, stored the OE rims for when i sell the car.

When my M3 was delivered in february this year, the poor car had... the Pirelli's. Not bad, but having had many km with ps4s and supersport in my previous car, i think Pirellis are not the best. Even compared with non oe PS4S.

Of course I want wet performance. I drive my performance car in the frickin rain, man.

Also in Kürze gesagt, der Reifen muss kompensieren, wo der Fahrzeughersteller beim Fahrwerk versagt hat.

My Subaru Outback came with Bridgestones. Grip was subpar greasy and I had a high speed 75 mph shimmy . Totally fixed by a new set of Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires. Sometimes OE tires suck.

It’s a completely different tyre, so pretty pointless discussion really.

I’m running the Pilot Sport 4S on my 07 Corvette C6 Convertible, after ditching the Run Flats.For everyday driving the Michelins are the Cat’s A*s.
For the occasional fun drive in the Summer I;ll switch to my Hoosiers slicks. Yes, on the Street, country back road twisties.
I know, I know, but it’s a bit of added fun, so hang me!
LOL.

Wow never knew this much work went into designing mainstream OE tyres. I genuinely thought the carmaker simply had a different tread stamped on them and did some basic testing.

Find me some for my '68 Corolla.

I switched from the OE summer tires on my ST to Conti all-seasons. On long journeys here in the US, weather conditions can change drastically in the course of a day due to mileage or altitude. A specialty tire like the GY F1 asymmetric is fine in a narrow environment but doesn’t have the performance range needed on the highway.

The dunlop oe is 220 american for my honda, that is a bit much 😅

So Michelin produces two different tires with the same name, and you need to test them to tell the difference? I always wondered why tyre manufacturors do this? Dunlop does the same, a retailer tried to sell me the cheap Dunlop for thhe peice of the more expensive one. They have the same name, and the same muster. However; I found out immediately - because of the paper label glued onto the tyre. The specifications weren't the ones I paid for, so had them collect the tires again, as they couldn't deliver the expensive one. It is utterly stupid of manufacturers to name different prized tires identically. They (Dunlop) ended up not selling ANYTHING to me, and the seller, a German company, instead had pay the delivery people for fetching the tires at my place again. The whole affaire ended with Dunlop failing to sell 4 tires, the seller to lose money, and me to buy tires of another brand at my own garage. And Michelin does the same. Very unvice, very very.

I only use Continental Contact tires. I don't care what the car came with. In fact, I had a brand new Dodge Charger and Jeep Liberty I had the tires tossed before I even drove them. Ditto my wife's Jeep Renegade. The Liberty came with Good Year Wranglers. 28 dollar garbage tires. And I don't even know what the Charger came with. On the Charger I also tossed the ugly black rims out. Tires? You couldn't GIVE me a Firestone, Good Year, Yokohama, Dunlap, Uniroyal, Cooper, Michelin or a Bridgestone. I've never gotten a good set of any of those brands. Michelin's are useless in snow and I understand it finally caught up with them, they had to recall 6 million of them. No thanks. On the other hand, I've never had a bad set of Continentals and run them on all four of my cars and my two motorcycles. When you see dents in the sidewalls folks, that's slipped cords or a bad vulcanizing joint and the tires aren't even round. If you need more than 3 ounces of weights to balance them; they're garbage and again; the tire isn't even round. Good luck trying to keep them balanced. I've seen name brand tire shops try to push them out with over 8 ounces of weights on them.

I would've been impressed if this was all done withOUT you knowing what tire was on the car at the time.

Why would they call the tire the same name though, that is confusing for literally no reason. So stupid

Most people won’t even notice the difference and in the real world ie everyday driving you won’t even notice it

Ok makes sense for German m cars, but us made cars come with $h|+ tires oem. I’d pretty much guarantee American cars would benefit from quality aftermarket tires.

Manufacturers often fit different makes of tyre to the same type of vehicle. So presumably you have a choice.

I wonder what sort of performance drop-off is experienced below around 7 degrees c? Would be interesting to pitch the OE tyres against a good all seasons alternative at low temps, for people running one set all year round.

Great review and fantastic deep dive on chemistry, construction, and driving characteristics. Just got a G82 M4 and was wondering if the * spec tires were worth it. Your review sealed it!