New Tyres: Michelin PS2

Hi All,

Just thought I would post an early review of my new tyres for those that are interested. I think I have run them in now wth around 200kms since yesterday over several separate trips including some higher speed runs and some twisty stuff.

I have a 2006 R32 5 door DSG and as of yesterday morning my stock Continental Sport Contact 2s have been replaced by Michelin Pilot Sport 2s.

After some extensive research I narrowed my choice down to:

• The new Conti CS3s - Didnt want to be a guinea pig so chickened out.
• Goodyear GSD3s - Drove 2 cars with these and liked them but WAYYY to loud and suffered from the same skipping as the CS2s.
• Michelin's - Too damn expensive but no one had anything bad to say about them.

I got 46,000kms out of the Contis which I am still quite surprised about given my "keen" driving style.

I thought they were a pretty good tyre overall but I felt they were lacking in the following areas:

• Wet traction (acceleration, braking and cornering were all mediocre)
• Comfort.
• Were unsettled by mid corner bumps.

I suspect 2 and 3 are due to the relatively stiff sidewalls on the 225/40/18 92Y (which are reinforced due to the R32 being a relatively heavy beast)

I found them to be excellent for:

• Dry stopping distance.
• Evenness of wear and lifespan.
• Steering responsiveness.
• Quietness.

Again, I think the third point comes from the relatively stiff sidewalls.

Now, as for the new Michelin's my early impressions are:
Strengths:

• Awesome traction in the dry and wet. Both way better than the Contis. Grip levels seem verging on the ridiculous.
• Even quieter than the Contis.
• Much more comfortable/softer ride over undulations/bumps even still as a reinforced 225/40/18 92Y
• Far less mid-corner skipping.
• They were really light! I compared them to a GSD3 and it was chalk and cheese.

Weaknesses:

• Not as responsive to steering. Needs more steering angle before it starts to change direction.
• How can I forget the price at $680 each - but I never worry about this with tyres. Too important to me.

It seems the Michelins have a softer sidewall from what I can tell but have way more traction available. It will be interesting to see how this translates into wear.

Overall extremely happy and would highly recommend to someone who can accept the compromise of high price and slower steering response for a vastly superior tyre.

Just my 2c worth :wink:

Cheers,
Alex.

nice write up Alex.
interesting to find out that you too have found the Contis to be pretty overrated. dont get me wrong theyre a great tyre but they dont justify the price. unfortunately for me im too bum ass to splash out and get those Michelins. instead i opted for the Yokohama Advan Sport V103s and im bloody happy with them. they cost around $310 each and i think theyre better than the CS2s in almost every way. the most noticeable area is hard tight cornering, not only are they grippyer with better turn in but at the limit theyre very quiet. i cant recommend them any more. ive driven my sisters GTI with her CS2s and mine with the V103s and the results speak for them selves.

oh and you did well to get 46k out of yours.. VERY well! i got 22,000 and they were bald... woops :yikes:

I've been trying to justify the cost of the PS2's all week, and haven't been able too...

Fantastic right up mate, and now I think some more.....

Read this thread and download the EVO Tyre test article:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3533310

CSC3's vs PS2 among others.

I haven't tried the PS2's yet, but the CS3 are certainly a cut above the CS2 tyres. The wear rate isn't so crash hot though.

Alex,

I take it you mean by 'skipping' that the car does not quite go exactly where you point it?

Have you had shark toothed wear before?

Regards,
Simon

Great find. Thats made my mind up about the KU31's then.
Anyone got anything good to say about Falken FK452's?

Ice Halo said:

Read this thread and download the EVO Tyre test article:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3533310

CSC3's vs PS2 among others.

Click to expand...

Thanks Ice,

I had read that test but there are three problems with it:
1) GTI and not R32 - weight, AWD vs FWD etc.
2) 17" and not 18" tested.
3) The PS2s they tested are non-reinforced ie 91Y sidewall tyres when the others were 94Y with much stiffer sidewalls. Actually does make a very big difference.

Not that helpful to us R32 owners unfortunately apart from some general info.

simrich said:

Alex,

I take it you mean by 'skipping' that the car does not quite go exactly where you point it?

Have you had shark toothed wear before?

Regards,
Simon

Click to expand...

Hey Simon,

No shark-toothed wear.
Was referring to the tendency to be lose lateral grip if encountering a bump mid-corner like a join in the road or a pothole or something.
Basically the CS2s lost traction instead of absorbing the bump better.

Alex,

Thanks for the response.

Curious, did you ever consider running an R-Spec tyre?

Simon

simrich said:

Alex,

Thanks for the response.

Curious, did you ever consider running an R-Spec tyre?

Simon

Click to expand...

Hey Simon,

Sure did, but up here in Brisbane it rains a fair bit (like it is right now actually) and R-specs can be really scary. Perhaps its worth getting a second set for track work if I get serious. What're your thoughts on them?

Alex,

Before i got the GTI, i had a 99-Rex.
I did similar to what you did tyre wise once and brought the best tyre i could find in the size i required. Then they were Pirelli P-Zero Assimetricos! (Pilot sports were my first choice but not available! )
Cost was $1500 including balancing and fitting around 4 years ago.
When they were up for replacement i had a discussion with a very knowledgeable tyre and suspension guy here in Melbourne and thoroughly looked at all angles.
The long and short of it is i had the same wet weather concerns as you have mentioned with running R-Spec rubber but the conclusion was that wet grip regardless of tyre is a bit of a myth as all tyres will aquaplane if there is enough water around plus i do not hoon in the wet. (Too many power poles on Aussie roads)
As far as a cost factor went, with 2 sets over about 2.5 years, i was up on klms and cash.
Had alignment checks, balance and rotations every 6 months and they served me well!

They have very stiff side walls which going on what you said earlier you may not like as it will also make your ride harsher.
But in all honesty you run 40 series tyres, softer walls will lead to wheel damage.

The final thing to look for with R-Specs is you need the harder compounds otherwise you will be lucky if you get 5000klms out of them and as a legality issue they still must have tread wear indicators.

I hope you find this help.:smile:

Regards,
Simon

$680 each, eeek....

REDMKVGTI said:

$680 each, eeek....

Click to expand...

Exactly farkn! :mad0259:

Mind, the Michelin PS1s that came on the TT wheels I bought for my old Mk4 GTI really were first class when new-ish. Once worn they became a bit noisy and crappy, which is to be expected I guess, but they were more crappy than other tyres I've had once worn.

Thanks for the review. :w00t:

i have definitely found the CS2s poor on grip, wet and dry. wheel spins on the GTI quiet easily if you drive it spiritedly

as i had no experience with CS2s before, it didn't occur to me to do a trade in when new and swap them for the PS2s. I have always thought of them to be the best for a hot hatch. Any idea on prices for 17in? could be more in line with the CS2.

Also, did anyone consider the Dunlop Sport Maxx SP?

don't think i'll be lucky enough to change the tyres on the car tho, i'm afraid i'll be tempted enough to change cars before the tyres wear out (bring me an R36 or an S3 powered 4 motion GTI!)