Michelin Pilot 4 S

[Ggeezer]

Michelin announced the replacement to the Michelin Pilot Super Sport at the Paris Auto show!

Supposedly it's better than the PSS in every category and supposed to last longer too. Let's hope it's not on par with PS2 prices.

Look out for deals on PSS around March

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...lot-sport-4-s/

[///Mobbin]

Laser-etched velvet sidewall lettering, just like the Cup 2's!

[dparm]

Weird, the tread pattern looks more like the old PS2 than the PSS.

[SYT_Shadow]

It's exciting Michelin took what was by far the best street sport tire and made it even better

The sidewalls are a nice side benefit as well

[Richbot]

There's a thread on this in the General forum. Michelin has been interviewed on this; long story short is PS4 is not a direct replacement for PSS, it's a compromise tire moving the ball toward wear and better wet traction at the expense of ultimate dry track grip. Apparently the PS4S is the successor tire which will outperform PSS? PSC2 apparently will also get a bunch more sizes soon, which is good news for us in here, especially if it means PSC2 prices drop

Here's the PS4, looks identical to PS4S:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Mi...port-4-PS4.jpg

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by Richbot

There's a thread on this in the General forum. Michelin has been interviewed on this; long story short is PS4 is not a direct replacement for PSS, it's a compromise tire moving the ball toward wear and better wet traction at the expense of ultimate grip. PSS will get a successor tire which will outperform it, but it's not out yet, and might only be available in limited sizes compared to the existing nearly-full-range PSS size choices. PSC2 will also get a bunch more sizes soon, which is good news for us in here, especially if it means PSC2 prices drop

You're mistaking this tire, the PS4S, for the PS4 which is a European only successor to the PS3 for this tire (and was discussed in the other thread). That PS4 was announced back in January and has been available in Europe since then. This successor to the PSS, the PS4S, won't be available until March 2017.

This tire referenced in this thread and announced at the Paris Auto Show is the successor to the PSS. It's called the Pilot Sport 4S, or PS4S. It's a totally different tire than the PS4 with better performance capability in all categories. Michelin marketing is doing a horrible job naming these tires.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by CSBM5

Michelin marketing is doing a horrible job naming these tires.

Agreed, why not just call it the PSS2? Or were they worried it would be confused with the old PS2?

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by dparm

Agreed, why not just call it the PSS2? Or were they worried it would be confused with the old PS2?

...of just stick with a given name for your ultimate summer tire perhaps. I can remember buying Bridgestone RE-71s back in 1986.

They should have a name for the top summer tire and just stick with it. Consumers of high end products aren't stupid enough to not understand they're continually updated with new generations through time.

[Richbot]

Originally Posted by CSBM5

You're mistaking this tire, the PS4S, for the PS4 which is a European only successor to the PS3 for this tire (and was discussed in the other thread). That PS4 was announced back in January and has been available in Europe since then. This successor to the PSS, the PS4S, won't be available until March 2017.

This tire referenced in this thread and announced at the Paris Auto Show is the successor to the PSS. It's called the Pilot Sport 4S, or PS4S. It's a totally different tire than the PS4 with better performance capability in all categories. Michelin marketing is doing a horrible job naming these tires.

Shit. My ninja edit was too late.

Agree this is confusing as hell

There's a .pdf with their presser info from the Paris show at the bottom of this page:

http://www.michelin.com/eng/media-ro...otor-Show-2016

I note in their testing the Goodyear F1 3 assymmetric is very close, and they do not include benchmarks against the PSS. They did for PS2 officially IIRC. EEnteresting

[CSBM5]

I suppose the best convention to adopt is to refer to the new tire as the PS4S.

If they had simply kept the name Pilot Super Sport which has a lot of customer good will attached to it, Michelin would have been far, far better off. 99% of customers would not only "understand" there could actually be such a thing as a "new version" of the PSS, but they would actively flock to it. Now, Michelin has simply created marketplace confusion and opened an opportunity for competitor's marketing operations to exploit somewhat. By establishing an incredibly popular brand name, the Pilot Super Sport, which has achieved what EVERY market planning operation can only dream of for a new product, and then casting all that aside is a phenomenal mistake imo. This goes down as a "what were they thinking" type of action. Insane.

It's been many years since I was involved in product planning for a large multi-national corporation, but a mistake like this one is obvious to an outsider in my opinion. I'm guessing 1000s of man-hours were spent arguing over the naming convention along with many meetings and hand-wringing. Common-sensible voices were likely drowned out it appears and some sort of group-think prevailed.

[Richbot]

Yep. Blunderful.

Bet somebody sold it as a cost savings/green initiative. Guys we'll only have to put 12 letters on the sidewall instead of 16! Think of the frickin' laser savings!

[SYT_Shadow]

The PSS really has an incredible place in history. Almost every single performance car runs these tires!

Totally agree they should have gone with PSS+ or PSS2

[Ggeezer]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

The PSS really has an incredible place in history. Almost every single performance car runs these tires!

Totally agree they should have gone with PSS+ or PSS2

Imagine the confusion that would have caused with the PS2!

[CSBM5]

Just noticed from their press release: "The new MICHELIN PILOT SPORT 4 S will be available from January 2017 in Europe and from early March in the United States. It will be available in 34 sizes, in 19 and 20 inch diameters, covering 92% of the market."

That last part is a marketing/planning department mumbo-jumbo speak as it is using some internally derived meaning of the word "market."

I can only assume they are going to eventually cover the actual market like the PSS has done with 17" and 18" sizes; if not, Michelin is seriously blundering even more so than I eluded to in my post above.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by CSBM5

Just noticed from their press release: "The new MICHELIN PILOT SPORT 4 S will be available from January 2017 in Europe and from early March in the United States. It will be available in 34 sizes, in 19 and 20 inch diameters, covering 92% of the market."

That last part is a marketing/planning department mumbo-jumbo speak as it is using some internally derived meaning of the word "market."

I can only assume they are going to eventually cover the actual market like the PSS has done with 17" and 18" sizes; if not, Michelin is seriously blundering even more so than I eluded to in my post above.

I'm not sure they'll release smaller sizes, although it would seem like the smart thing to do

Michelin also has the PA4 which owns the performance winter tire market. They refuse to build it under the 18 sizes, and that's a winter tire!!

[///Mobbin]

Maybe the reason for the name change is so that the PSS can weather on as the 17" 18" tire of choice w/o being called the "old" PSS compound. I still agree with all of the above though and think they should have gone PSS2 here. Would line up nicely with Cup -> Cup 2. Maybe they are saving "PSS2" for a bigger update though ...

[CSBM5]

The C&D article does state: "The PS4S doesn’t go on sale in the United States until March, initially in 34 sizes to fit 19- and 20-inch wheels. Eventually, the PS4S will completely supplant the familiar Super Sport."

Hence it appears that the initial sizes in March will be 19" & 20", but it will end up covering the rest of the PSS size range at some point next year.

[M3 Number 86]

Wouldn't they suck on track anyways? Lol

[///Mobbin]

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

Wouldn't they suck on track anyways? Lol

Perhaps we are talking street-sets for track folks here

[Signature Wheel BMW]

I hope this means MPSS will go on sale so I can stock up.