Michelin PS5 vs PSS, Old vs New rubber

S

Sae

Senior member
Just had a new set of tyres fitted 18's OEM sizes for Z4M, Michelin PS5 replacing PSS (11yrs old - cracks MOT warning.).

All I can say is what a difference, 15miles on return drive on A and motorway roads, the new tyres are much more pliant/dampening, especially on those road gap/joins on bridges, both tyres on same axle going over those would normally results in harsch jolts which you'd normally have to brace for.

The only criticism is not having 265/40/18 for the rear for a more square shoulder, but I don't care because the ride is so much better all round.

I know it's been discussed throughout time, but this does throw up the point, are newer tyres/fresh rubber going to ride better than old tyres, or does the PS5 road tyres actually work better on our UK roads than high performance/track tyres.

In anycase, enjoy the back end of the summer days driving.
 
Even brand new I think I'd pick the PS5 over the PSS.

Although I'm conflicted between the new Continental SportContact 7, Goodyear F1 Asymmetric 6, Michelin Pilot Sport PS5, and Pirelli PZero PZ5...as they are all excellent tyres...but all perform better in certain areas than others.

Alternatively, maybe I'll go for a more extreme tyre like the Goodyear F1 Supersport / Supersport R or Continental ExtremeContact.
 
There was an interesting article contrasting the US Conti Extreme Contact 2 vs the European Conti Sports Contact 7 which suggested apparently very similar tyres are biased (pun) to different needs..so SC7 better in wet, EC2 much better mileage … every design a trade off..

Also same article said how much poorer the PZ Pirelli was in a colder climate than a hot one..

As M5 stated all great tyres…

I know a hard driving Z4M roadster and the PS5 suit it much better than the PSS..
 
My car had MPSS tyres when I bought it and while they were fantastic in the summer, they were always losing traction on damp drizzly days.

I've noticed most G29 owners whose cars came fitted with MPSS replace them with a different brand!
 
I never had a problem with the ‘few’ sets of Supersports I had, be that summer, winter, road or track (my first set was in 2012 IIRC). But whether that’s due to the tyres, or the more compliant B16 suspension and geometry (it’s definitely not because I’m a driving god) ;)

But they just needed careful warming up if you wanted to cane them on a cold, wet track…and then they were fine.

However, I definitely know things have moved on somewhat in the 15 years since the PSS were launched.
 
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mmm-five said:
I never had a problem with the ‘few’ sets of Supersports I had, be that summer, winter, road or track (my first set was in 2012 IIRC). But whether that’s due to the tyres, or the more compliant B16 suspension and geometry (it’s definitely not because I’m a driving god) ;)

But they just needed careful warming up if you wanted to cane them on a cold, wet track…and then they were fine.

However, I definitely know things have moved on somewhat in the 15 years since the PSS were launched.
Click to expand...
That's the one big difference i noticed moving from them to the conti 7's. Very minimal time from cold to grip and you weren't sh!tting yourself fot the first 10 mins waiting for the back to go because they Supersports hadn't heated up enough.

The trade off is the wear levels on the contis are poor, they also start life at 6.8mm.

All that said my factory fitted SS's are on the way out and will be replaced with conti 7's again :thumbsup:
 
For anyone interested in visual comparisons for sidewall profiles/detail, grabbed a pic today and did this montage with old pics.
I still think the PSS 265/40/18 is the right amount of profile/shoulder for the wheel, but the PS5 isn't bad.

- Top pics are: top left pic rear 265/40/18, top right pic front 225/45/18.
- Bottom pics: bottom left pic rear 255/40/18, bottom right pic front 225/45/18.

PSSvsPS5.jpg
 
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