docboy

Looks like Michelin has finally come out with their Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires this month in July.

Has anyone purchased these tires yet? Any thoughts on traction (wet and dry) and if possible, snow performance? Early testings and reports suggest the A/S 3 tires have the grip of a summer tire, improved wet braking distance, and enhanced snow traction. I'm due for new tires soon, and am thinking of getting A/S 3.

I currently have the A/S+, and at 40k they have served me well in the dry and the snow

Devil Dog 21

I'm pulling the trigger on new tires in the next few weeks and may end up purchasing these. If I do I'll let you know what I think.

vivmike

boot^^

Devil Dog 21

Thanks for the thoughtful insight.....care to give a reason why you're not a fan?

Mr Marco

Last model wore so fast on hard cornering I can't recommend them. We shall see how the #3 is. Have had the A/S Plus on the RDX for 6 months now...already seeing the outside tread-block start to thin out.



Note the fast wearing outside edge and the feathering that has already started. 45K my ass.

slick316

I replaced the OEM tires at 22k miles because I hated them and then ended up getting two flats (one of the tires wasn't repairable).

So I ended up getting the Pilot Sport A/S Plus. I really liked the tire in the beginning. The traction and handling were fantastic and I was surprised with how quiet they were. Now I'm tired of the stiff sidewall on them and at 19k miles, I see a lot of wear on the outside edge of the tread. I can't see these tires lasting more than 25k before the edge is completely gone.

I had the Primacy MXV4 on my Accord, I think I might to get Discount Tire to help me out by taking my A/S Plus back and giving me some credit towards the Primacy MXM4.

I do like that the A/S 3 have a bi-directional tread, but I don't think I need to put a performance tire like that on my TL again.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

sub'd

Devil Dog 21

I ordered the A/S3's and I'll post a review in a few weeks, then more importantly in a year.

Mr Marco

Looking forward to your review ^


Correction, I only have 5 months and 4K miles on the older model A/S Plus tires.

docboy

I look forward to your review as well. My A/S+ are at almost 41k and the outer edges are shot and look like crap. I'm trying to hang on as long as I can. I'm also considering the Continental DWS. Neither are cheap here in the Seattle area. Cheapest price I could find are at Discount Tires: Conts are $1100 installed with free lifetime rotations. P/S 3+ are $1250.

Devil Dog 21

I'll watch the wear very closely, and appreciate the heads up. I typically drive about 200 miles a week 90% highway and 10% city.

I ordered mine from Costco for just under $1000 with lifetime rotation, balance, repairs, tread life warranty, and a few other things that weren't important.

There are a million people who offer reviews and guidance and tires so take this next comment with a grain of salt....I'll never own another Continental product again in my life. I've had the DWS' on my wife's 05 TSX and the tread wear, and performance have been abysmal at best. One blew out the sidewall for seemingly no reason and I replaced 2 early because of cupping.

Devil Dog 21

Just picked up my ride with the new A/S3's installed. Only drove it home in rainy rush hour traffic. Hope to have some good drive time soon to give you guys a review. Right now all I can say is that they are much better than tires with 48,000 miles on them.

docboy

How are the AS3's so far?

I went to Costco in the Seattle area for a quote, and they are actually cheaper than Discount Tires: $1190 for a set of 4 at Costco, comes with lifetime balance/rotation/nitrogen/flat repair.

Any idea on thread life, dry, wet performance? I'm also interested in snow performance, but considering its June, doubtful

Edward'TLS

Try to drive slow and be patience with all new tires. They will feel slippery initially.

The rubber spikes and molding sips on the surface of the brand new tires prevent the full flat surface of the tire face from getting full contact with the road surfaces.

Wait till the spikes and sips have all worn down, then the tires can achieve optimal adhesion.

Devil Dog 21

I'm going to give it a little time before I write a full review. I can tell you that my stock tires had some pretty bad wear so these feel like a dream in comparison. So far the ride is great, handling is untested as I want to get more miles on them before I really test them, and the road noise is way quieter than stock tires.

I did a lot of shopping around and Costco was the best deal I could find anywhere.

Appreciate the info.

docboy

/\ DevilDog21. I'm tempted to pull the trigger on the AS3 and go with Costco. Seems like tire prices, just like automobiles/gas are more $$ here in the PNW than in other areas. (I blame the Democratic govt and the area's cost of living). The price you got <$1000 for a set of 4's on the AS3 is a great price. What tires did you have before the AS3s?

Many of my friends have the Conti DSW. It seems to have serve them well FWIW.

I'm personally a fan of Michelin, so I'm a little weary of switching to the Contis.

I have had my PS+ since I bought my TL new, and at 41k miles, the Costco tire rep was shocked I got 41K out of those tires. It's been great in the dry, wet rain, and snow overall. Overall traction though, is going downhill as they are about to go bald.

Devil Dog 21

Prior to putting on the AS3's I had the stock Michelin's on my TL. I had the DSW's on my wife's TSX and they were terrible. Squishy feeling to them, bad wear issues, and multiple blown tires. Part of it could be my wife's driving, but any tire that can't handle my wife and an 05 TSX damn sure won't be on my SH-AWD TL.

I pretty much decided to try the AS3's based on my bad experience with Continental and that was the main tire recommended. The fact that the stock Michelins got mediocre reviews on all the tire sites and on Acurazine, and the AS3's are a new design with glowing reviews on every source I could find. I might be rolling the dice by trying them early, but someone has to be the lab rat.

jim_c

I have read this at a reliable source but it does agree with my experience.
The tires installed at the factory are not formulated the same as the tires you can buy as replacement tires, even if they are the same brand and the same type. Tires are built so that the cars will achieve maximum fuel economy since these ratings are very important to the manufacturers. (There has been a big issue with Hyundai having admitted "cheating" on fuel economy claims, but I digress.) The tires you buy aftermarket are better all around tires and they are not as hard as OEM tires. I have had Michelins as original tires on a new car and I thought they were awful. I have had several sets of Michelins on various vehicles and usually liked them and found them to wear well. My experience is also that A/S tires are usually not very good in the wet. fwiw
I have also read that it is not necessary to inflate tires to a pressure beyond the manual's specification and probably not even nec to meet the spec if it is over 30 psi. Tire sidewalls are very stiff now and will not "roll over" like older tires used to. And finally, :-) paying extra for nitrogen is a complete waste of money. The only benefit to using N2 is that it is probably dry, wheras air may contain a high water vapour content.

PeterPort

I don't know if you know this, but Michelins do not have rubber spikes.

Devil Dog 21

Driving into the office this morning there was a pretty good rain so I got to test a little bit of wet traction. To give you an idea of my office commute, it's about 5 miles city, then 20 miles suburb highway (no windy roads), and another 3 miles city.

During the city and highway portion I noticed substantially better handling than with the stock Michelins. The OEM tires seems to easily lose traction if I were to accelerate around a corner when there was any kind of hard rain. The A/S3's stuck to the road in the same scenario way better. The highway handling was also much better although I was hesitant to test the tires true abilities as new tires + rain + unfamiliar with how they will respond = unsafe. As I break them in more I'll continue to give you guys updates with how they perform. This coming weekend I'll probably give them some good dry pavement cornering tests so I can pass along more info, but so far they are way better than anything else I've driven on.

Edward'TLS

I have gone through so many different brands and models of tires that it's hard for me to remember which tire has what and which tire not has what.

Some have rubber spikes, some have rubber molding sips, and the rest have both.

Either way, no genuine brand-new tire will have a perfectly smooth rubber contact face that is ready for seriously action, unless it has been prepped and shaved beforehand.

Mr Marco

BS. Been using it since I first found out about the product in 1999. Much more stable in temp swings.

Devil Dog 21

Who needs to pay extra when Costco includes it in every tire purchase at a price cheaper than anywhere else?

jim_c

PV=nRT

Ring a bell anyone?
Mr Marco?

Packagingpro

I had my crap Falken 452's replaced under warranty at 4K. I had to go with Cooper Zeon RS-A against my will, because that's all they had in stock. It turns out they are a great tire for the money. Ultra High Performance, All Season, rated at 500 AA A. Very quite, would recommend for an All Season, normally like Summer Tires on my ride. They claim it some new tread compound. 2K miles on them now.

Braz5152

I got the Michellin A/S tires in March and really like them. However, I have noticed about a 2 mpg decrease in my mileage. I keep the tire pressure up and don't drive any differently. Anyone notice this when getting new tires? I had Pirelli's on previously.

vivmike

What happen to the Falken 452's buddy?

Mr Marco

I read that as abbreviation for pervert.

docboy

Devil Dog 21, any updates on the A/S 3s? How is the tread wear thus far? Wet handling?

Devil Dog 21

I've put right at 1000 miles on them and we've been in a pretty bad dry spell here in KC so I don't really have any update on wet handling. As far as treadwear, I'll have to get back with you on that as I don't have a way to measure it right now. In the bone dry heat we've had these tires hug the road better than anything I've ever had on any of my cars. I'll update as soon as we get some weather.

Jeff Aurand

I have been shopping for tires, looked at Nitto Motivos, quoted about $700 at Discount tire, Hankook Ventus S1 Noble quoted about $800 at local dealer Tireman in Toledo, Ohio. Tireman told be about the new Michelin, I just kept telling him they were awful expensive, finally worked hin down to $873. Had another financial issue come up haven't bought anything yet. be interested in the reviews

Devil Dog 21

Here are test results and reviews from other owners on Tirerack. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=177

My experience so far has been great from a performance and traction standpoint and will wait until I get a few more miles on them before I comment on treadwear.

CPR

Sometimes Acura dealers run specials on OEM tires
I have them on on '12 TL SH-AWD/tech, & couldn't be happier

Mr Marco

^There are much better choices in tires than the Pilot HX MXM4.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

I got the RE760AS a while back and they have been nothing shy of spectacular....after reading the post on tirerack posted by NICK, I can only image how good the AS3 are....

Edward'TLS

x2.

docboy

Looks like my A/S+ finally gave out. One of my tire's TPMS sensors went off over the weekend; despite re-inflating that tire with air to recommended settings, it went off again. So I had it looked at by my local DiscountTires store and a guy there thinks there is a slow leak somewhere and the thread has worn down to the belt.

He gave me a quote for 4 A/S 3s for an OTD price of $1,000 including tax/free lifetime balance/rotations/etc, the best price I could find; so I ordered a set of 4. They should be here in a few days directly from Michelin, and I'll have them installed by the end of the week.

The guy at DiscountTires highly recommended the A/S 3s; he called them "the best performance all season tires out there" and praised them over the Continental DSWs, saying the latter suffers from soft sidewalls and high likelihood of thread wear on outer edges.

Given that fall is here and an abundance of rain is here in fabulous sunny Pacific Northwest, I'll post a review of the A/S 3s' wet traction in a coupe of weeks. I'm also anxious to test out the tire's traction in the snow. I'll also keep an eye on threadwear. Given that I've gotten ~43k miles out of the A/S, I'm hoping for similar longevity.

docboy

It took about 1 week for the A/S 3s to arrive from the Michelin factory, but they finally arrived today at Discount Tires and I had them installed this afternoon. Another Discount Tire tech mentioned "you'll really enjoy these tires" and that these tires "have been very popular."

I've only driven on them this afternoon on wet roads in mild/moderate rain and on fairly dry roads as well. But so far they have been awesome.

Traction: tenacious, firm grip. Every turn on wet and dry surfaces is grippy and solid. Impressive.

Braking: Solid as well. In mild/moderate rain stopping distance and grip is excellent.

Ride/Noise: I have to say these new A/S 3s have improved the TL's ride quite a bit. The TL SH-AWD has a very firm, jittery ride; when I had my A/S+ the ride was consistently firm, loud, and overly "jumpy" over expansion joints and rough asphalt. With the A/S 3, the ride has softened a bit, road noise is less, and the TL no longer bounces as much over road imperfections.

I realize that my initial impressions are probably skewed b/c my A/S+ were shot and literally worn down to the belt....

I'm eager to test out the TL as we get heavy rain and eventually I'll take the TL up to the mountains to go skiing as winter comes. I'll report more later on ice/snow traction and tread wear as well. I got 43k miles out of the A/S+; if I can get 40k miles out of these A/S 3s, I'll be pretty happy.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

According to Michelin, the A/S-3 is created to replace the aging A/S+, and therefore, the new generation A/S-3 is much improved over the outgoing A/S+ in all ways.

Devil Dog 21

+100 on your review. I've had the same experience but can be hard to tell how good they are when my TL was rolling on exhausted tires. We'll see how winter goes....