SQuaLZ

Hey all. So I put about 100 miles on my new tires and wanted to give a quick review for anybody that was considering these tires.

Just hit 51K on my Z, and this is my 5th set of tires.

My previous tire sets were:
Bridgestone Potenza RE050
Bridgestone Potenza RE040
BF Goodrich G-Force KDW2 (2X)

I first want to mention that both of my Potenza sets were horrible. Overpriced, lacked grip, terrible tread wear, and overall did not give me any confidence in pushing the car.

Then I got the BF Goodrich. I loved those tires. They were relatively cheap, had good grip in dry and wet weather, good tread wear, and gave confidence when pushing, not to mention they look so cool. My only gripe with them was that they were very noisy. But the price and grip made it worth it.

Fast forward to a month ago, I started shopping for new tires. The KDW2's were discontinued by BF Goodrich and replaced by the Sport Comp 2. Did some research and it seemed like the consensus was that the new tires were more daily friendly but in doing that sacrificed the performance.

So it was either shell out $600 for tires that I may not be totally satisfied with, or spend $950 and get the tires that seems like God would use on his car.

Did not see a single negative review on the Michelin Pilot Super Sports, so I figured why not, the car is a weekend car now so I don't have to worry about going through tires driving everyday.

Mounted them on Friday, and my buddy's shop is located off a side road with a bunch of twists and turns, so of course I put them to the test right away.

Mind you, I LOVED my G-Force tires, but these tires are on a whole different level. The car feels like it is glued to the road. It brings out the real performance of the car. Then I got on the highway heading home, and I noticed the tires are dead quiet. Awesome performance AND comfort! In just a few days I am totally sold on these tires.

I figured I would give scores out of 10 for the visual:

Price - 8/10 These tires are expensive, but in my opinion worth the money. You gotta pay to play!

Performance - 10/10 The grip feels unreal. They do not feel like a street tire, they feel like a competition tire.

Comfort - 9/10 Can't give a performance tire a 10/10 on comfort but these are super quiet and very forgiving on the road, especially in the Bronx with all the potholes.

Looks - 9/10 I don't think they look as cool as my BF Goodrich tires did, but the sidewalls look pretty sexy, sexy enough where my Dad made a comment to me about how nice they look, and he NEVER compliments my car.

Tread wear - N/A They are still brand new so I can't give a rating on the tread wear; however, almost every review mentioned how good the wear is on these tires.

Would I buy these again? 10/10 I found my new tire. Yes they are expensive compared to some of the competition, but in my eyes the extra price is shown on the performance of the tire.

Pengu

iTrader: (9)

Can't speak for a car, but I have Pilot Sorts on my CBR and they're fantastic. Had them on my last bike as well.

Thanks for the review, I'll keep these in consideration when I get my new wheels .

abarclay

iTrader: (41)

Good stuff SQuaLZ

I love my Pilot Super Sports too, and that's after a set of RE-11's.

MicVelo

Great review, SQuaLZ. Good info. I concur for the most part and ESPECIALLY about the BFGs. Bought my Track 1 wheels (to replace Touring 1s with Michelin PS coincidentally, ha ha) with a set of those already mounted, about 50% tread remaining.

Oh my gawd.... they were SO loud with such HIGH NVH that I had 'em off the car and new ones installed within 2 days of installing them. Oy....

Thanks for the review!

Mic

dcains

iTrader: (15)

I've got the Pilot Sports on my BMW 635 CSi and have been very pleased with them, but on the Z I've got the Hankook V12's, which I also really like. Can't compare across cars, though, but they're both top-end tires.

BigBlue

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the good info SQuaLZ!

savedbygrace

iTrader: (4)

I'll add my thanks for the review as well....they're my "want" set of tires, but Ventus V12 keeps me pretty happy for a lot less money.

Have never heard anything negative about Super Sports, other than their price.

For the RE11 to Super Sport person (abarclay).....how would you describe the differences between the two in other characteristics....noise, comfort level, tread wear, rain, etc....I was half thinking of planning RE11's for my next set, but they wear pretty fast I hear...awesme stickness...but not so awesome life...a grand goes by in a year...which is too rich for me. I know Tire Rack says the RE11 are about the stickiest compound short of a full race tire, so I'm curious on your perspective between the RE11 and the SS? (I'm assuming you're a close to stock engine?)

Saved

abarclay

iTrader: (41)

^ You pretty much hit the nail on the head.

They felt a bit stickier than the SS, but their noise level was a little louder too. Comfort, I'd probably give the SS the edge. I tend not to push the Z in the rain, but both gave me confidence. I had the SS on when it rained non-stop at ZdayZ 2 years ago and I felt pretty comfortable while driving around up there (mostly after it rained and when the roads were still damp). SQuaLZ is spot on in his review though, I love my Pilot SS.

Hope this helps

Andy

SQuaLZ

I would never get the RE11 just because of my experience with my 2 sets of Potenzas. I understand the tires I had were a lower level, but still they were expensive for what they were. My biggest issue with them was the life. Both sets didn't even last me a set each year. Way too much money for that. And as you said, I read people complaining about the tire wear on the RE11 so between my experience and that, Bridgestone will never be an option for me again.

This is my fourth set of Michelin tires, although first on my Z, and all 4 sets I owned (1 on my TL and 2 on my Civic) were great. Most importantly, the tire wear on all of them were amazing.

Michelin won my heart all over again.

Phenom

iTrader: (4)

Nice review. These were a HUGE improvement over my Toyo T1Rs. I love everything about them and I'd be more than willing to shell out the $1200 for a new set when my current set needs replacing. It's a nice feeling when you know all of your other performance parts (and driving abilities) aren't being gimped by your tires.