Review: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ Size: 255/40ZR19
 

So I planned to replace my current set of tires (Continental DWS06 size 255/40/19) by the end of the fall as they were nearing the end of the service life that I would feel good about going into another winter with. At 26,000 miles on them, they still had 5/32nd of tread left so I thought replacing them when I planned to would be fine. As it would work out, driving in the Bronx yesterday was not a good choice as there was glass and garbage all over the streets and as a result I picked up all kinds of things in the tires that required repair. Instead of repairing, I just replaced them sooner than expected. Water under the bridge.

This is my third set of tires and they seem to be very impressive. Turn in with the Conti tires was softer, but these have much firmer sidewalls so the turn in now is very sharp. However, because of the rubber compound, they ride better, smoother and quieter than either the OEM or the Conti tires. Based on the reviews I expect them to be great in rain, light snow and the dry. They look very meaty and the rim protector is perfect. The tire installer used a tire balancing machine I never saw before. It was able to account for rim imperfections and tire imperfections so that the tire would be mounted on the correct place of the rim and balanced accordingly so that the driving experience would be the smoothest possible. It even put a 1,400 lbs load on the tires while in the balancing process. Interesting. The result is a perfect tire/balance installation.

I'm heading out next week for a 750 mile trip so it will be interesting to see if there are any mpg differences or any additional impressions. If you are considering new tires, definitely check these out.

I had the A/S 3 on a TSX and was very please with the handling, especially wet. Looking fwd to your review after your trip.

I took it for a short spin on the highway. Smooth a silk, no vibrations and VERY quiet. Excellent addition if anyone is in the market for tires. Again it was a short run, but a long trip will be better for an assessment.

I bought a set of Continental DWS06 last fall for my stock wheels as my winter set up based on your initial DWS06 review - and I'm now looking to replace the OEM rubber I put on my Rotiform summer set up from my previous P-AWS.

I will be considering these Michelins for sure as I thought the Conti's performed quite well and felt good on the SH compared to the OEM rubber which feel horrible and have performed poorly in recent wet weather (they have roughly 60,000km on them now - so past they shelf life).

Believe me I was very satisfied withe the Conti tires. I wanted to try the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ for comparative reasons. I am a real fan of the Conti tires for sure. They did a great job. I felt that if I could get 35,000 miles out of them before the winter set in, that would have been fine. If I lived in a warmer climate where snow would not be an issue, or had a dedicated set of winter tires like pgeorg does, then I would have kept them longer. I just felt that investing a couple of hundred dollars to repair the tires from the debris I picked up with them did not make sense just to get another few months with them. Not that I have to justify my purchase decision, it just made more sense to do it now and try the new brand/model tires. They look great! In my last post I meant to say "smooth as silk". Typo got me.

^^
It must have been a Hunter balance machine, the best out there!

Wheel & Tire Balancer | Road Force Touch® Wheel Balancing Machine | Hunter Engineering

Yes that is what the machine looked like. It says that it puts 1,250 lbs of pressure according to the brochure. Maybe I heard it wrong from the tech that he put 1,400 lbs of pressure on it. Either way it is great! Nice find my friend!

It's funny you post this. I'm already thinking about replacing the Michelin Primacy MXM4s on my new TLX with A/S 3+s.

Question for you: If you are leasing, why would you do that? On the surface without context it seems like a waste of money to replace the new tires on a new car so soon. Not that you should feel the need to justify your comment, but what is the reasoning? Considering your weather which is similar to mine in the winter, why not just get a dedicated set of winter tires to install (just the tires not including rims)? Are the Primacy MXM4 tires that bad? What do you not like about them?

It is raining again here today so I will see how the new tires do in downpours and report back.

The tires are excellent in the heavy rain. No hydroplaning even at 80 mph (traffic flow), very quiet and very smooth. Zero vibrations of any kind.

You ask a fair question, my friend. I'm considering how to maximize the handling performance. This little car is a nice handler as is, and then Acura goes and puts touring tires on it. The MXM4s are really not bad tires at all so far, though. Haven't made a decision, just thinking out loud. :thumbsup:

Even 26K miles seems low to me. I had 44K on my OEM PAWS tires. Got an unfixable flat, so I bought 4 new, but could have got to 50K on those tires

Certainly one of the strengths of the OEM Michelins is durability/treadwear. Along with decreased rolling resistance for better mileage (theoretically) and smoothness of the ride, that is likely why they were chosen by Acura over other options which potentially could offer better "at the max" perfomance.

The 50+ target buyer for the RLX would likely scream bloody murder if they had to replace the Ultra High Perfomance tires on their RLX after 15 - 20,000 miles, even if they offered amazing handling.

My highway mileage dropped 1 to 2 mpg after I got the new tires - not Michelin

I too was recently forced to replace the tires and went with the same. Looking forward to the driving experience now as the previous tires on the front were needing to be replaced bad but, the rears were new. Didn't want 2 different types of tires on the car but, caught a nail in the sidewall in the driver's rear. They let me keep the passenger rear.

I'm still on my originals. Probably close to 60,000 right now.

And they weren't necessarily easy miles either. :-)

I will not want to go into colder weather with these, so I will be replacing them soon.

I have been thinking about these, so I appreciate your comments. Thanks.

Question: How far off is the HUD mph display with the plus-zero size tyre?

I suppose that what I want to know is whether the analogue speedometer and the HUD digital speedometer use the same sensor, or if they are separate. :-)

So while out and about I came across a state trooper who was set up to catch speeders not too far from my home. I pulled over and asked him if I could approach him at 30 mph on cruise control (speed limit for that road) and could he tell me what his radar gun showed. He obliged. The HUD, the speedometer and his radar gun showed 30 mph. So I assume this sort of answers your question GK.

It answers the question, but it doesn't make sense. :-)

Thanks very much for doing that.

Must have been a slow day at the old speed trap!

I wonder if the speed was too slow to capture enough of a difference. I think the speed difference is like .4 mph at 60mph so at 30mph it is possible that the radar gun did not show that micro difference?

The cop was just sitting there so I figured what the hell, I might as well ask. He was very nice. Most cops are very nice from my experience, even when they pull you over.

I just put a set of 245/40/19 Pirelli PZero All Season Plus on the RLX factory wheels. Initial impressions are quite good. The ride seems quiet and more supple yet responsive. This is quite good, since I changed from a set of 245/45/18 Michelin Premier A/S to these. And, the tire store pumped them up to 40psi, and they were at that pressure for the initial drive/checkout.
Tire Rack reviews point to a more 'balanced' set of characteristics compared to other tires in this class, and the initial impression agrees.. so far.

Still have not decided to sell the 18 inch set of factory wheels or keep them for winter tires.

766 miles on the new tires. Result: Excellent, Excellent, Excellent! Very smooth, very quiet, excellent handling on ramps and curvy roads in general. I am running them at 38 lbs all around when they are hot. I saw an overall 32.6 mpg for the trip which is very typical so I can't say there was an difference in mpg with the new tires. I drove mostly at 70-80 mph when on the highway.

Forgive me for the slight thread hijack - what is the smallest size winter wheel/tire combination for the 2016 RXL SH-AWD? TireRack is showing 235/55R17 along with a 17x8 rim that "will" work.

I tried my old 17 inch winter rims and tires from my '05 RL on my RLX and they did fit albeit pretty tight to the rotors. I ended up getting a new set of 18's and new winter tires because the dealership gave me an outstanding deal on a winter package and I ended up selling the old set to the guy who bought my RL from the dealership.

Just FYI.

RLX-Sport Hybrid, have you tried running different pressure levels or have you been at 38 all around (hot) since new?

Yes I have tried different pressures. I can't say that I can sense a big difference between different pressures between 35-38. I typically keep the pressure at 38 all around when the tires are hot to protect them from the road imperfections.

I'm 36 psi COLD all the way around.

This means that I'll very often be at 41 or 42 in hot weather.

Interesting, that's much higher then I was thinking. Thank you both for your insight.

Down here in south TX during the summer I have only seen my psi go up by 3 lbs max.

I believe the "rule of thumb" is that tire pressure will change by 1 psi for every 10 degrees (F) in temperature change. Of course, road temperature and air temperature can differ greatly, air cooling based on your speed can vary, tire heating from rolling resistance and tire deformation can vary with speed...so variation in tire pressures are to be expected and the "rule of thumb" is not hard and fast.

Just my two cents.

If correct, I think there is a consistent 3-4 lbs pressure difference between cold and hot temps in passenger cars. I wonder what the difference is in race cars? Must be a larger difference I assume.

Oh, hell, yes.

If I hit the typical 2.5 - 3.5 mile road course with 36 psi cold, I'd melt them. :-)

I would like to see what you can do with our car on a track! That sounds like an awesome day. Sign me up!

I just changed to these today after dealing with 12,000 miles of fishtailing through turns in the rain with the OEM tires. They felt better on the ride home in the rain. Hope this can be the case for the next 40,000 miles or so.

255/40/19 size?

It's a very big, heavy car.

I'm sure you'd have fun but it's not like you'll be setting any lap times.

Smoothness is the key.

I've put up a YouTube video a few times of a professional Japanese driver on a road course. You can tell that, although it's interesting and dramatic, it's still not a very fast lap time. :-)

No, stayed with the OEM size.