dong888

iTrader: (1)

Hi,

I am deciding between 18" michelin ps2 and the a/s plus for my 2007 is350. I am pretty much set on either 1 of those 2 to be purchased at costco, so please whoever owned those sets before, let me know what you think. I have read all the posts here before and still could not make up my mind.

Facts:
Price: ps2 is only slightly more expensive than a/s (less than 5%).
Treadwear: ps2 is 220 and a/s is 500.

My questions:
Since the cost is about is the same, it really comes down to performance and durability. For street driving (no race tracks), is it true that ps2 can only last about 20~30K miles and a/s can go between 40K to 50K miles. How much of perfermance difference are we talking about (10%, 20%, 50%,etc). Once again, this is for street driving.

Also, when I check on costco's website, even within ps2, there are difference type (eg: load difference, etc) and the price range can be as much as 50% difference. Can someone explain why? Can I assume to get the cheaper ps2?

Please try to refrain from talking about other brands of tires since I am only interested in michelin (sold in costco).

Your help/comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

mikes rx

iTrader: (14)

I've had both....the A/S''s on my mustang, and the PS2s on my IS350.

The MAIN difference is that the A/S's are all season, whereas the PS2s are summer only.

The A/S's were very good on my 300hp mustang GT.....MUCH better than the factory Pirelli's, EXTREMELY good tread life, and had good grip wet and dry

The PS2's are VERY good on my IS350. Great grip wet and dry. Doesn't do quite as well once the temps drop below bout 40, but still fine for a car that's driven in normal circumstances.

Both have good grip wet and dry, both are quiet, neither sacrifices on comfort.


In the end, I'd say to evaluate how the car is driven, and how many miles a year. But, either is a GREAT tire, just gotta determine if you want all-season with better tread life or summer-only with less tread life.


With regard to the different load ranges/etc. It's probably due to the fact that the PS2s are OEM for mercedes, porsche, and other manufacturers. So, there may be *slight* differences for that. I know that when I was looking for my 19" PS2s, the porsche oem tires (designated N0 or N1) had a different load rating than the oem michelins.

There's a LOT more I can help you with in regard to these tires....writing it would be difficult, so PM me with your ph # if you want to discuss further.

Copper_Hed

Hi
Just put the Pilot Sport A/S Plus on the front of my 18" 2007.
I chose these over the Pilot Sport PS2 because they cost a little less and have a mileage warranty.

Very happy so far. They are way quieter than the OEM Bridgestones, so much so that the OEM rears now make more noise than the fronts.
The rolling resistance feels to be significantly less and the steering feels a bit lighter.
No handling problems or no discernible loss of cornering performance from the Bridgestones.

dong888

iTrader: (1)

Mike, thanks for the post. I live in the sunny california, bay area specificially so we hardly get below 40 here. And I will not take the car to Tahoe area for snowboarding either. My main concern was $$. If A/S can perform close to ps2, why would I spend twice as much (price is the same but treadware is 2x difference)?

mikes rx

iTrader: (14)

Just to add: My review is based on replacing good tires (meaning good tread life still) with both PS2s or A/S.

Not to dismiss copper hed's post, but just understand that almost every tire review out there will be based on someone replacing their old, worn tires with brand new ones.....

Again, not dismissing other posts, just making sure that you understand that when you read reviews on tirerack/etc.

mikes rx

iTrader: (14)

Well, it's hard for me to compare apples to apples since they were on different cars, but I was VERY impressed with the A/S's, and even considered them on my IS350 sedan (now sold) when I had put my g-spiders on.

In the end, I'm glad I went with the PS2s instead. I don't do much mileage on my IS (it's not my daily driver), so that wasn't a huge concern.

I drove my sedan in 30-40 degree weather, and although I could tell that they weren't quite the same as at 80 degrees, they weren't OMG I can't drive cause it's cold either . It's just that I could personally tell a little decrease in grip until the tires got warm.

I will tell you that I still can't get all the power down in the rear, even with the PS2s....and I think that the A/S's may have *slightly* less traction. I even went to 265's in the rear with my new wheels to try increasing grip, and they still spin if I try accelerating too fast with the wheel turned at a stop


But, if $$$ is your main factor between the two, then I'd say that the $$ difference of A/S : PS2 is better than the performance difference of A/S : PS2

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

If you're not into competition, I'd get the A/S. I have them in a 245/40/17 on the wife's Scion. They work great, and they have a mileage warranty to 45,000 miles which the PS2s do not have. They're 97% the tire the PS2 is on the track, and 100% the tire the PS2 is on the street. Save your money, get better mileage, and still have excellent performance with the A/S.

The only reason I'll put PS2s on the F is because I expect at some point I'll have it out on the track again and I want the advantage the IS-F specific PS2 brings to the game.

mikes rx

iTrader: (14)

^ I agree....although you said it better.

Well, this leads me to what I eluded to before: what's so specific about the Lexus-spec PS2s. I'm 99% sure they're the same tread design as the regular PS2s. So, are they just specific for load rating or something?

An example: My rear PS2s are Porsche spec (N0). I know that they also make a N1 designation......I honestly don't know what the difference would be between those two.

I know that there are different load ratings for the same size tire (265/35/19) depending on the manufacturer's oem-spec. However, I also know that my N0 PS2s are the same tread design as my "off the shelf" PS2s that I had on my old wheels.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I talked to the lead engineer for the IS-F specific PS2s at the Taste of Lexus Driving Academy. He said they'd modified the belts so when the tire was under lateral load, all the gaps between the outer treadblocks close and the tire behaves as if it were a slick.

Tread pattern only means something in the rain. In the dry it's just an annoying heat generator. Having it collapse under load is just about as smart as they come for working around a compromise (wet traction).

PhatManXP

mikesrx, great review on Michelin ps2 vs a/s plus! I currently still have oem bridgestone Turanza on my is350 sedan, and am considering to purchase Michelin tires soon.

I gotta say I'm very happy with my oem tires so far (20k), somehow this contradicts to all the negative reviews that i've read. Anyhow, I'm just not sure how one would compare oem Turanza tires to Michelin ps2 or a/s plus tires?

I consider myself one average driver, with no serious track driving needs.

Any comments are welcomed. Thanks!

g_abac

For my opinions, I would go with PS2

Now I currently using GOODYEAR RS-SPORT

A/C

Michelin Pilot sport ps2 are overall very good tires. Very good grip, but they are damn noisy. Also be careful with road bumps because those tires are likely to get bubbles on the sidewall

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Just as another perspective, I was dead set on buying the PS2s when my OEM tires wore out, but have since decided I'm likely going with the Hankook V12 Evos... I'd seen quite a few positive reviews, and then I saw this:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...12_evo_page_10

Car and Driver compares the PS2 to 9 other, much less expensive, summer performance tires.

The Hankooks beat the PS2s in dry autocross, barely behind in wet autocross (0.3 seconds).. they are about dead even on the skidpad (0.1 better dry, 0.1 behind wet)...and the biggie to me, they stop almost 2 feet shorter in wet and almost a foot shorter in dry.

All in a tire that's also quieter than the PS2s, has a higher treadwear rating, and cost about half the price.

CRB

The Pilot Sport all seasons are a much more practical tire, less cost, better than twice the predicted thread life, I'd recommend that you buy those.

dong888

iTrader: (1)

If anyone cares, I did decide to go with a/s plus. Many thanks to Mikes_rx, lobuxracer and others for their comments.

I had almost 30K on the Turanza. The difference between those 2 sets are huge. Much better cornering experience now (street driving, no race tracks). However, I had 30K on Turanza so comparison is not entirely fair. I am happy with a/s plus so far since it is more practical for everyday drive and good perfomance that has 45K miles warranty. The whole set is about $1000 before tax at costco. If you do decide to buy at costco, remember to book an appointment with them. The tech said these tires requires more time so appointment is needed.