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Michelin Pilot Sport Three (PS3) 225/40/18 92Y Extra Load : Review

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robern2:
Michelin are now saying they will produce Pilot Supersport in 225/40/18 88 Y tyres but not not in 92Y XL format.

stubert:
Thought i'd add to this thread as apposed to starting a new one with essentially the same topic.

First off i thought i'd start by saying i only purchased my Golf GTI about 5 weeks ago.  I'm an enthusiastic driver with quite a bit of track day experience and have also competed in the Scottish Hillclimb championship.  I bought the Golf to drive it 'properly' and needed a tyre to suit.

At this time i'll point out that my tyres are 225/45 17's on standard Monza's.

On collection the car had barely legal Michelin Pilot Primacy HPs up front, and 3mm Yokohama Advan Sports out back.  I have never, and will never, run a car with different tyre brands on it.  So i shopped around for replacements.  I looked at changing the front 2 Michelins to match up with the rear Yokohamas, but i have never got on well with Japanese tyres (apart from 888's/A048's etc).  On previous cars i've tried Toyo T1R's and Yokohama Parada spec 2's and A539's. That was enough for me.......

I used to work for Costco Wholesale as a supervisor in their Aberdeen tyre bay.  I do have Michelin blinkers, but i think it's for good reason. 
On my Honda Integra i opted for Bridgestone RE010's when i bought it, as these were the OEM tyre when the car was produced in the early 90's.  I quickly decided that they were very dated and not at all suited to the Scottish roads, where a more supple tyre is essential.  I also tried 888's on the road, Parada Spec 2's but finally changed to Michelin Pilot Exalto 2's. 
For road driving they were by far the best suited tyre.

Because of my experience with the Integra, Pilot Sports were by far the top of my list of tyres to shod the Golf with.  With that in mind, i still considered plenty of other tyre brands, including odd balls like the Hankook V12 Ventus option, which has been given great reviews, along with Continental Sport Contact 3's.  I recently put a pair of these on my girlfriends GT TDI 140 and they are fantastic.  Previous experience of the Continentals were that they were a little less confidence inspiring in the wet than the Exaltos.

Anyway, i went back to my previous place of work and threw on 4 Michelin Pilot Sport 3's. 

Like the OP said, they seemed ok off the shelf but really came to life after 100 miles or so.  My first proper drive on the Michelins was also the first proper drive i'd had in the Golf, which was a 180 mile trip over the A93 towards Glenshee.  I had a totally standard Civic EK9 in toe, piloted by a good friend of mine who is a very competent driver.  The civic was running Yokohama Advan AD08 tyres.

We were driving in mixed conditions, dry, cold roads and then freezing conditions with slush at the side of the road, rain and snow storms.

The PS3 is the first tyre, after the Exalto, that has been truly confidence inspiring in all conditions.  We drove through plenty of high speed sweeping corners that were dry on entry, wet/greasy at apex and exit, then back to dry again.  The PS3's never let the car go light and you could still input the slightest of steering adjustments. 
Higher speed corners are definitely the PS3's strong point.  Despite having a noticeably softer tread compound over the PS2 (to the touch), they seem to take quite a bit of "loading up" to start providing stronger levels of grip.  They lose out to the Exalto in low speed, sharp turning corners.  This is the only place where they have a slightly "slushy" feel.  They do, however respond well to a punch of throttle to pull you away from any low speed understeer.

On Friday night i had some spare time in the evening, so went out on my "local route".  It was raining, so most of the roads were pretty saturated, with some big puddles at the side of the road.  I went out with the intention of just getting to know the Golf in these conditions.  After 10 miles or so, when i got onto familiar bends, i found myself travelling at speeds that i'd only have ever considered in the dry in the Integra.  On straights (where i never drive much above the speed limit, regardless of weather), i intentionally drove through puddles at the side at varying speeds.  Only at roughly 50-60mph did the Golf start to feel unsettled.  In saying that i drove on the A90 yesterday in terrible conditions and at the speed limit with moderate levels of water on the road the steering was still weighted at all times.

After visiting Doune Hillclimb yesterday, i went back over the same route i had travelled on Friday night, this time in the dry and moderately warm conditions.
I had a friend with me who owns a Clio 182.  He was always impressed with the Exaltos on it, and has recently been struggling to enjoy the Pirelli P-Zero's he fitted to it, and also the Hankook V12's that he fitted last week.  He agreed with me that the PS3's were on a different level to the Exaltos.

I've possibly covered 1000 miles on the PS3's now and looking forward to seeing how they will progress.  I intend on trying the Golf on track but don't imagine the Golf will ever become a track based car for myself.
I will always struggle to find reason to change to another brand of tyre after such great impressions.  It's an expensive experiment to have to put up with for ~15k miles if i made the wrong decision.  So with that said, anyone who drives their GTI with passion, i'd fully recommend the Michelin PS3.

Summary

Dry Grip - Fantastic from the off and continue to work right up the limit of road driving.
Wet Grip - In my opinion, the best "sports" tyre i've used in the wet.  They displace water fantastically and maintain great levels of grip on greasy roads.
Comfort - No complaints.  Like i mentioned earlier in this post, the local roads really require a supple tyre.  Japanese tyres seem to all have firmer sidewalls and cause cars with firmer suspension feel skitty and un-compliant.
Noise - Not a huge amount to compare it to on the Golf, but are quieter than Continental Sport Contact 3's which are on my girlfriends GT TDI 140.
Usability - Something a lot of people don't consider.  Some tyres require a lot of work to get going.  Michelins have always been really user friendly.  They don't seem to ever screech around a corner, but if you are using that as a marker of the limit of grip, you're possibly not driving within your capabilities.
Price - ~£125 a corner, fitted.  Definitely one of the most expensive tyres available.  One of very few downsides to this tyre.

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