Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ - Winter Performance

[illest.villain]

Hey everyone,

I just purchased a 2015 S4 and it came with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires. On all of my previous cars, I've had dedicated winters and summers. However, given that these tires came with the car, I'm wondering how these will perform in winter.

The tires have about 7-8/32nd's left on the tread (tire rack says 10/32 new).

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with these. Canadian winters can get pretty intense so i'm wondering if i can use these as winters and get a nice summer set. then when these run out i'll replace them with "real" winters.

EDIT: My plan is, if possible, to use these as winters until they're worn out and then get a proper set of winter tires. That would allow me to get a nice set of summer tires next year.

[PopTart]

I don't know about your specific tires, but the consensus on Audizine is:
Best All-Season: Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06
Best Winter: Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4

[hilmar2k]

They are going to be my next set of tires. I don't have any experience with them, but the reviews are really good. One review even said they outperform dedicated summers on dry pavement. Crazy. But then again, I don't live in Canada, so our winters aren't quite as severe.

[illest.villain]

I don't know about your specific tires, but the consensus on Audizine is:
Best All-Season: Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06
Best Winter: Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4

Thanks for the response. My plan is, if possible, to use these as winters until they're worn out and then get a proper set of winter tires. Then i can get a nice set of summer tires next year.

They are going to be my next set of tires. I don't have any experience with them, but the reviews are really good. One review even said they outperform dedicated summers on dry pavement. Crazy. But then again, I don't live in Canada, so our winters aren't quite as severe.

Thanks for the response. From what i've read, they're good in dry, wet and "light snow" but we get some pretty deep snow up here at times and times where the snow plows can't work fast enough so i'm not sure if they will work out for me.

[mys4.org]

I hate all season tires. I wish they would call them Tri-Season as we all know no all season tire is good in the snow or ice. Really, all season tires are the band-aid approach for lazy consumers that don't want to switch out their tires for true summer and winter tires. That said, get a set of winter tires. You will be one less people stuck on those winter roads because they "wished" they had winter. Meaning less traffic for people that are actually prepared.

....This is coming from a person that live in Seattle where we get maybe 1-3 days of snow in the winter, but at least I know I can get around no problem, because I am prepared.

[jimrobbington]

Imo, keep them on your stock wheels till they wear out, but pick up a cheap set of Alzor 18" wheels on ECS and grab dedicated snows for that set of wheels. No A/S is great in snow. When they wear out, grab some Pilot PS4S for the rest of the year.

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[illest.villain]

I hate all season tires. I wish they would call them Tri-Season as we all know no all season tire is good in the snow or ice. Really, all season tires are the band-aid approach for lazy consumers that don't want to switch out their tires for true summer and winter tires. That said, get a set of winter tires. You will be one less people stuck on those winter roads because they "wished" they had winter. Meaning less traffic for people that are actually prepared.

....This is coming from a person that live in Seattle where we get maybe 1-3 days of snow in the winter, but at least I know I can get around no problem, because I am prepared.

I totally agree all season tires are not great. They're basically mediocre at everything but from what i've read these are actually decent in summer. Unfortunately I didn't inspect the tires enough when I purchased the vehicle last week and I actually thought the car had summer tires on it. So I was planning to purchase winter tires but then when i was checking the size today, i noticed it said A/S and M+S on it so that made me think about alternative solutions (basically getting a nice summer set next year lol).

I think given the Canadian winters, it's likely a better idea to get a set of winter tires this year and use these as summers.

[JettaGetUpandGo]

I remember looking at the sidewall of a Toyo Proxes 4 many years ago and seeing the M+S label on the sidewall. Despite it's ultra-high performance all season rating it's clearly not designed for any amount of snow.

The Michelin is likely better suited for light snow, but the rating means very little. If you only saw a few light snowfalls each year I would run them. In Canada there's no way.

[bhvrdr]

According to popular internet lore the as3+ is a great spring, summer and fall tire and a mediocre winter tire. The dws06 is a great fall, winter, spring tire and a mediocre summer tire


Mike

[audigsr]

I have these tires, absolutely love them for daily driving. I did go through some snow with them last winter, although we didn't get much here in the NW (5-7"). It held up fine in the snow and it got me where I needed to go with big hills along the way. Only all seasons I could compare them to are the Bridgestone Potenza RE960s (on my STI), and the AS3+ blows it out of the water in weather all conditions, granted it's a different car and AWD system. Not sure what snow conditions you have up there, but if you're over a foot of snow, I'd probably recommend a dedicated snow tire as I wouldn't feel safe with any all seasons at that point.

[Sukks2bu]

Bring a fellow Canadian, I would recommend using the tires you have as summers and get yourself a set of winters . I have the nokian Hakka r2,
Amazing winter tire.

[Snowmonkey]

They came on my 2013 when I bougjt it used. They had put a new set on when they took the trade in. First drive, it handled well on slush and snowy roads. I plan do to the exact same thing with mine, wait until i can afford dedicated sets of summers and winters, and use these until then, or maybe even just stick with these as winters. Kansas doesn't usually get too bad so they'd probably be fine

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[waxxonMTL]

It is beyond me that a Canadian could think of driving a car WITHOUT a proper dedicated set of winter tires... Even more when we're talking about S4 owner ; Maybe this car is too expensive for your lifestyle. Safety first man.

[wangshuo1989]

I hate all season tires. I wish they would call them Tri-Season as we all know no all season tire is good in the snow or ice. Really, all season tires are the band-aid approach for lazy consumers that don't want to switch out their tires for true summer and winter tires. That said, get a set of winter tires. You will be one less people stuck on those winter roads because they "wished" they had winter. Meaning less traffic for people that are actually prepared.

....This is coming from a person that live in Seattle where we get maybe 1-3 days of snow in the winter, but at least I know I can get around no problem, because I am prepared.

To be honest I see no need for winter tires in Seattle unless you go ski. I live in Somerset and in the past few winters I can climb steepest hill that covered with snow using my all season tire with no problem

[Spacegrau]

I'm going to guess those are sports winter tires in the same style as Sottozeros and those are useless in the snow.

[Phil.Lmbrt]

Get yourself a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8's or 9's and nothing else. Canadian winters are rough, and you are quite up north. you won't regret it ! Get them studded if you drive on ice even if it's just once in a while.

I have Hakka 9's with studs on my winter car and I am not getting anything else ever

[MrFunk]

Give em a try if you want...
But if it were me - easy decision - Buy snow tires, sell the all seasons.
You will easily be able to sell them on Craigslist for several hundred given the tread left and brand/size.
Why compromise if you don't have to?

[Johnnycash]

I have 3 sets of wheels/tires for my car.
pss for summer
r2s for winter
as3+ for fall/spring when I want my winters off but if i get caught in inclement weather I am not that guy driving around on hockey pucks ie summers.

the as3+ is great everywhere except snow/slush, they are barely serviceable, dedicated winters all day. spend the extra money its worth it:)

They are going to be my next set of tires. I don't have any experience with them, but the reviews are really good. One review even said they outperform dedicated summers on dry pavement. Crazy. But then again, I don't live in Canada, so our winters aren't quite as severe.

pss>as3+ not even really close tbh.

[BDP]

I can't comment on winter performance as I just bought my current A/S 3+ 's a few months ago. However, I can't imagine them being any worse than the Goodyear Eagle Sport's that came with my S4 when I bought it used. I will say they absolute clobber the Goodyear's I had in the rain and even more so on dry pavement. I could hardly use launch control on my car with Goodyear's and with the Michelin's the car just grips and goes.

[Cisco Kidd]

I don't know about your specific tires, but the consensus on Audizine is:
Best All-Season: Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06
Best Winter: Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4

For AS I would also toss the Pirelli P Zero Nero AS Plus in there as equal imho to the Conti for an AS tire, having had 2 sets of Conti DWS on a 15 WRX Stage 2+ and TL Type S as well as my 12 S4 and the Pirelli on the WRX as well. Now I just installed the Yoko Advan Sport Plus V405's already I like them better than the Conti/Pirelli because sidewall is much stiffer and they are quiet but will give up winter traction from everything I read

Being in Calgary I would say get yourself a dedicated winter tire. I am in BC lower mainland and use my AS tires year round but wifes C350 & sons 09 GTI have dedicated winter set when we need to travel the mountain passes, Whistler etc. I need the funds to go for a tune so I just went with a new AS set this week. I would like dedicated winters though and we get hit with snow over say a two week period and temps on average hover just at the point where AS tire performance starts to deteriorate vs true winters

[Crucible35]

LOL....apparently Canadians DO live in igloos after all.

[Tangerined]

As a fellow Calgarian, I'd say definitely get a set of dedicated winters. Use the all seasons as summers until they wear out and replace them with proper summer tires.

[D's Avant]

I used these for one winter and got a dedicated winter tire mid-winter. These are a great three season tire. Really close to a performance summer tire. Real close...


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[chilort]

I had them through a winter in N. MS. Yes, we do get snow here (an inch for a few days once a year). They were fine. I think they'd be fine for that type of winter just about anywhere.

[illest.villain]

Thanks for "most" of the replies.

I totally understand that there is no substitute for having a dedicated winter tire set and given the comments here and the reviews i've read, these tires may struggle with the Calgary winter.

It is beyond me that a Canadian could think of driving a car WITHOUT a proper dedicated set of winter tires... Even more when we're talking about S4 owner ; Maybe this car is too expensive for your lifestyle. Safety first man.

At no point did I say I couldn't afford winter tires. My question was how do these perform in winter. Please don't patronize me with comments like "maybe this car is too expensive for your lifestyle" and "safety first."

As I stated in my original post, I have always had dedicated winter's and summers but this car came with All-Seasons so I am asking for people's experience with these tires. If you didn't have anything constructive to say, you could have moved on from this thread.

[illest.villain]

I have 3 sets of wheels/tires for my car.
pss for summer
r2s for winter
as3+ for fall/spring when I want my winters off but if i get caught in inclement weather I am not that guy driving around on hockey pucks ie summers.

the as3+ is great everywhere except snow/slush, they are barely serviceable, dedicated winters all day. spend the extra money its worth it:)

If i had a house and some storage space, this is exactly what i would do.

[hilmar2k]

Other than tracking your car, I just can't imagine needing more traction that I am getting out of my Toyo Proxes 4 PLus all season tires, and the A/S 3+ will be even better. As for snow... Maybe I have more experience driving in snow? I never put snows on my cars, and have exactly zero issues. And I live on the top of a serious hill and with Quattro go right up it. To be fair, I have an 8 mile commute and my wife has an Acura RDX that is about to get Vredestein Quatrac 5's, and those are as close to snows as you can get and not be a snow tire. I'll just take that in the really bad stuff.

So I just don't see the need for two sets (let alone 3, holy crap). Maybe if I auto-crossed it, or lived near the arctic circle, but I drive pretty aggressively and have made my tires angry exactly once, and that was due to going way too hard into a corner (didn't know it was that tight, oops). That said, if you have the wherewithal, and the storage space, for multiple sets, obviously that is a better solution.

[ThorMjolnir]

I had Michelin pilot alpins, 245/40R18, and they were okay in the snow at ~50% tread life. I wasn't that impressed with the Alpins in deep snow compared to Hankook Ventus V12 "max performance summer tires".

Feb 2018, I had an accident where I hit black ice on my winter tire setup. I cracked 3 of the 4 wheels when I lost control, slid into a ditch on a corner, and hit a concrete culvert. I was traveling at ~20 mph in a 30 mph zone and the car just kept going straight. Absolutely no traction at all... and the black ice melted by time I was towed out of the ditch. That sucked for such a tiny amount of black ice, the Pilot Alpins sucked. My car was in the shop for 2 months and $21k in repairs later, I got her back in April. I had the shop put my summer tires on since spring was so close and I wasn't going to drop $1200+ for tires since spring was so close!

So... of course we get a snow storm with about 8" of snow. I was on 19x8.5 replica wheels with 265/30R19 Hankook Ventus V12 tires and the car did absolutely fine in the snow. And I drive 1.5 hours, one way, to get to school.

Comparing dedicated winters to max performance summers, both at ~50% tread life, I noticed no real difference at all. Honestly, with the slow speed accident on winter tires, yes... I know it was black ice and slid like a hickey puck, that was the first time it ever happened to me and the worst feeling ever... that "dedicated winter tires" didn't do shit. Reading the reviews as I write this message about how great the Pilot Alpins are on """" ICE AND SNOW""" .... I think that is highly subjective!

I know people here in New England with other performance sedans (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus) who use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ all year round and have no complaints. They all have similar driving styles like myself and swear by the A/S 3+ tires for year round use.

Yes, they have a lot more money then me and can not only afford winter tires for their cars, they can also afford dedicated winter cars! I plan on going to Pilot Sport A/S 3+ next month. I still have about 9/32's tread left on my Hankooks after about 35,000 miles of "S4" style driving. Oh yeah... both tires Alpin and Ventus V12 suck in the rain!

The theory of dedicated summer/winter wheels is great if that is your style ... but personally I think it is a waste unless you actually track your car or drive like a tosser 24/7.

[wangshuo1989]

I had Michelin pilot alpins, 245/40R18, and they were okay in the snow at ~50% tread life. I wasn't that impressed with the Alpins in deep snow compared to Hankook Ventus V12 "max performance summer tires".

Feb 2018, I had an accident where I hit black ice on my winter tire setup. I cracked 3 of the 4 wheels when I lost control, slid into a ditch on a corner, and hit a concrete culvert. I was traveling at ~20 mph in a 30 mph zone and the car just kept going straight. Absolutely no traction at all... and the black ice melted by time I was towed out of the ditch. That sucked for such a tiny amount of black ice, the Pilot Alpins sucked. My car was in the shop for 2 months and $21k in repairs later, I got her back in April. I had the shop put my summer tires on since spring was so close and I wasn't going to drop $1200+ for tires since spring was so close!

So... of course we get a snow storm with about 8" of snow. I was on 19x8.5 replica wheels with 265/30R19 Hankook Ventus V12 tires and the car did absolutely fine in the snow. And I drive 1.5 hours, one way, to get to school.

Comparing dedicated winters to max performance summers, both at ~50% tread life, I noticed no real difference at all. Honestly, with the slow speed accident on winter tires, yes... I know it was black ice and slid like a hickey puck, that was the first time it ever happened to me and the worst feeling ever... that "dedicated winter tires" didn't do shit. Reading the reviews as I write this message about how great the Pilot Alpins are on """" ICE AND SNOW""" .... I think that is highly subjective!

I know people here in New England with other performance sedans (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus) who use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ all year round and have no complaints. They all have similar driving styles like myself and swear by the A/S 3+ tires for year round use.

Yes, they have a lot more money then me and can not only afford winter tires for their cars, they can also afford dedicated winter cars! I plan on going to Pilot Sport A/S 3+ next month. I still have about 9/32's tread left on my Hankooks after about 35,000 miles of "S4" style driving. Oh yeah... both tires Alpin and Ventus V12 suck in the rain!

The theory of dedicated summer/winter wheels is great if that is your style ... but personally I think it is a waste unless you actually track your car or drive like a tosser 24/7.

Agree, as I live in Seattle and only see snow maybe twice a year (and I usually just work from home at those days as traffic is terrible and everyone is driving like a granny), I rather use the garage space for something more useful, like my home lab server.

[Sukks2bu]

I'll lay it out for you my Freind.
These cars are awesome in snow, I drove mine thru Canadian winters with all season tires and had no problem getting off the line and have reasonable handling, the problem is stopping.
When you have a 9" all season tire and try to come to a stop, you might aswell have skis for wheels.

Also, like others have said. The all season tire make a perfectly acceptable summer tire for the majority of us that don't drive like we are in a race constantly.

So here is what's going to happen. Your going to use your all season this year, and next winter you will decide to get a set of winters. Then your going to be like wow, I can't believe how well this car handles snow with winters on, I should have gotten them last year.
Point is, enjoy your car now... don't wait for next year.

[DOCEVG]

OP:I'll be blunt: the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ suck in the snow no matter how deep or shallow. I have them on an RS4, and I wouldn't take it out in the snow. I have the Conti DWS 06 on my other cars that I don't put snows on (my B8.5 S4 gets the snow tires), and the DWS 06 is worlds better in winter conditions (which we get a lot of), but worse than the A/S 3+ in the summer.

[B8Addict]

We have had some terrible winters the last two seasons here in Vancouver. AS3+ did just fine even in heavy snow. It is the ice that is the problem. I would say use it until you can afford winters. I have run them since 2016 and they are great. Though I think this will be my last season with the tires before I purchase some FF04's with PS4S and some 18's with dedicated winters.

[rj124104]

I've had 5 pair of Conti DWS tires until now and bought dedicated winter tires for each vehicle still. The people who will argue the greatness of DWS in the winter are the same people that run those and summers as their tire rotation and have probably never had real winter tires. I now use A/S 3+ on my S4 and Q5 and I can't see a notable difference between the A/S 3+ and DWS in the winter, both are pretty decent. If you want to have confidence in the winter, buy a set of snow tires - if you didn't know they were going to be that much better you wouldn't be debating it. I have the Alpin and they blow DWS and A/S 3+ all away for the winter. My thoughts are the cost of a pair of tires easily offsets the cost of an accident.

[Low Orbit]

Get 245/40R18 Michelin Alpin PA4 tires

[PopTart]

I've had 5 pair of Conti DWS tires until now and bought dedicated winter tires for each vehicle still. The people who will argue the greatness of DWS in the winter are the same people that run those and summers as their tire rotation and have probably never had real winter tires. I now use A/S 3+ on my S4 and Q5 and I can't see a notable difference between the A/S 3+ and DWS in the winter, both are pretty decent. If you want to have confidence in the winter, buy a set of snow tires - if you didn't know they were going to be that much better you wouldn't be debating it. I have the Alpin and they blow DWS and A/S 3+ all away for the winter. My thoughts are the cost of a pair of tires easily offsets the cost of an accident.

A dedicated winter tire is obviously ideal. But I think Continental DWS + Quattro is a great combo. Living in Illinois the weather is unpredictable. One day is a blizzard, and the next day is 60 degrees. This will be problematic for a Winter tire.