Noisy Michelin Pilot Sport AS3

[Fourcircle]

Just installed a new set of Michelin PS AS3s on my brand new 13 A5 with 19s.

Driving the car, I am surprised at how noisy the tires are with a wop-wop-wop at high speed 70+ as if I can hear one or some (?) of the tires as they make a rotation. Not noticing much vibration in the steering wheel, however. Asked installer about this and he assures me they road force balanced out very well and all four were "in the single digits", whatever that means.

Reading online, these tires are supposed to be the bomb, but I'm not feelin' the love. Only have about 100 miles on these so far. Will these improve? Have heard a tire is at it's best brand new so I'm thinking these may be out of round or in need of rebalancing. Should I drive more or go ahead and demand rebalancing? Need some expertise here, please.


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[VMRWheels]

If all four were Roadforced and under 10 pounds, that's very good news. Basically a machine identifies tire and wheel uniformity, and allows the tire to be rotated around the wheel for the most round assembly, if that makes sense. If you're in the single digits, that means you're not going to experience vibrations from the tires.

If you've only driven 100 miles on them, I would continue driving a bit more to see how they turn out. They still are new, and haven't really been broken in. If the noise levels are still high after maybe 500 miles of driving or so, perhaps check with your installer to see what type of warranties or customer service guarantees Michelin offers.

[litigator]

Keep us posted I am interested in these tires but not interested in excessive road noise...

[Fourcircle]

Ok, update after 600 miles. Had installer check the balance and after moving some weights around, he produced a printout showing the 4 wheels are at 20, 23, 24, and 26 lbs respectively. Told me this was as good as it was going to get and the wop-wop sound I was hearing/feeling was noise produced by the tread. I could have asked about their earlier statement that "they spun up beautifully and everything was in the single digits" but thought better of becoming contentious.

Called TireRack and reported these figures. Their technical guys told my customer rep that the two at 24 and 26 were out of round and would have to be warrantied. Called a friend who knows tires and he says the best running tire in his experience in terms of quiet, comfort, performance and service was the Bridgestone Potenza RE970 AS Pole Position (who comes up with these names, anyway?). So I'm getting TR to ship me out a set of the Bridgestones and they are taking the Michelins back.

Afraid I cannot give the Michelins a full review. They seemed to handle every bit as good as the Dunlop summers they replaced, but the ride quality and noise was unacceptable, due in large part to being out of round. Funny, the installer said "I have never seen an out of round Michelin in my entire career", yet somehow 2 of 4 in my order show up. I wonder if TR has a discounted line that are deemed marginal and that is what I got? These were warranty replacements (flat spots on OEMs) paid for by my dealer. Anyone know?

Now I have to find a reputable, and trustworthy installer to put on the Bridgestones!


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[VMRWheels]

Honestly, those Road Force numbers are still pretty low. I think Tirerack has a pretty high standards if they're considering two of those out of round.

[Fourcircle]

Kevin, you are a good man to offer me your expertise. I can definitely feel and hear one if not two out of round tires, so they must have a low threshold. Might just be the size 255/35/19. My concern is if I can hear/feel an out of round at 26 lbs, might I also be concerned about the 23 lb one too, or for that matter the 20 as well? TireRack offered to replace the two bad Michelins or simply ship me a new set of Bridgestones (RE970s). Which tire would be your recommendation? I'm wanting quiet and comfort.

[ritesh]

Just any FYI to this thread. I have the as3 tires and am having the same noise issue. I was told that my tires are out of round. Going to have them warrantied as well but my PSS, and dws we're not an issue. The noise is unreal from these tires!

[Fourcircle]

Ritesh, thanks for your refresh. To follow up, I went with a set of Super Sports. Have to say all the glowing reports are true. The supers are very comfortable, whisper quiet and handle extremely well. All Michelin has to do now is figure out how to wring 50,000 miles out of them and every other tire company will be out of business.


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[ibarazi]

Hi there,

Its time for me to get new tires on my 2012 A4.
After reading your thread, I guess I wont consider the AS3 anymore.
Did you end up using the Pilot Super Sport or the Potenza RE970AS Pole Position?

[djfrestyl]

I just put on a full set of AS3 - 255/35/19. Slightly noisier/less comfortable than the PSS they were replacing. I've got a few hundred miles on them now, and they are FAR from unbearable. Still very comfortable and quiet. No complaints.

Just my $0.02.