Primacy HP vs Premier A/S

[RWD fun]

I'm looking at new tires, I picked Costco because they have good prices and service. I'm considering the michelin premier A/S. My budget is $600-800 but they must be daily driving tires and handle occasional rain. If there is another must have tire that meets these requirements let me know and thank you.

[542RS2]

I run the Premiers on my my wife's Highlander. Excellent tires. However, for my FRS, I recently purchased the Pilot Sport AS3+

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by RWD fun

I'm looking at new tires, I picked Costco because they have good prices and service. I'm considering the michelin premier A/S. My budget is $600-800 but they must be daily driving tires and handle occasional rain. If there is another must have tire that meets these requirements let me know and thank you.

These should serve you well:
Michelin - Pilot Sport 4 S OR Bridgestone - POTENZA S-04 PP

[QHawk]

I ran Pilot Sport AS3+s (from Costco) on my FR-S for three years and never had reason to regret the choice. Rolling resistance was just slightly greater than with the original tires, but that was the only downside I noticed with the type of driving I do. I'd buy them again if I needed new tires.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by QHawk

I ran Pilot Sport AS3+s (from Costco) on my FR-S for three years and never had reason to regret the choice. Rolling resistance was just slightly greater than with the original tires, but that was the only downside I noticed with the type of driving I do. I'd buy them again if I needed new tires.

In Mass, definitely. In California, if you're in an area where it doesn't really get cold, you'd be better off with a summer tire.

[RWD fun]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

These should serve you well:
Michelin - Pilot Sport 4 S OR Bridgestone - POTENZA S-04 PP

Time to track down some pilot sports

[RWD fun]

How are the pilot sport a/s3? My dad insisted on buying me tires (I'm a college student) and he keeps coming back to the AS3. Just wondering.

[sato]

Originally Posted by 542RS2

I run the Premiers on my my wife's Highlander. Excellent tires. However, for my FRS, I recently purchased the Pilot Sport AS3+

I also picked the AS3+, but more specifically the 87 load rating ones for my FR-S (Traction AA rating); if you go up to 225, they have some XL rated tires (possily stiffer that 87Vs). However, I have the Premier on my older car and they are fine. Do note that the Wet Traction is reduced compared to other models (they are still Traction A rating like the Primacy HP though).

[radroach]

@RWD fun

What part of California are you in? I can drive year-round on my Indy 500's except on days when its below freezing / icing over. I drove on stock tires for 5 years before trying a set of max-performance summer tires, and doing so was one of the best changes I made on the car. I don't drive in enough icy weather to justify using an all season tire, that would be too much of a compromise to prepare for a situation I'm driving in less than 1% of the time.

The Primacy HP is a very nice tire but they are expensive, they don't reach the performance maxims of the platform, and do not last very long with spirited driving. What they are good at is making a lot of fun smoke and noise and are gentle to peel out on. They're terrible in that they'll cost you $500 a year to replace the rears after you burn them off.

I buy my tires based on the value I'll get out of them. Firestone tires cost almost half as much as Michelins but get you 95% of the same performance and longevity out of them. This speaking as a novice, not a pro driver. If I was super particular about my handling and had suspension mods and stuff, I could justify the extra cost on a Pilot Sport 4. But riding by the seat of my pants on stock suspension with affordable Indy 500's works great.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by radroach

@RWD fun I drove on stock tires for 5 years before moving trying a summer tire.

The primacy HP is a summer tire

[radroach]

@Yoshoobaroo of course, I know that. It's also not a very good one! You know what I mean! Read the rest of my post. (I edited it you pedantic -0--0000)

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by radroach

@Yoshoobaroo of course, I know that. It's also not a very good one! You know what I mean! Read the rest of my post. (I edited it you pedantic -0--0000)

Hehehe, your mistake is forever etched in the quote in my post! MUHAHAHAHAHA.

Seriously though, in the past I have been on a set of primacies for almost 2 years (~12k/year back then) and 3 autocross events and they still had tread.

[542RS2]

Originally Posted by RWD fun

How are the pilot sport a/s3? My dad insisted on buying me tires (I'm a college student) and he keeps coming back to the AS3. Just wondering.

They are very grippy. I just got them installed today and noticed how much more traction they have. It could be that I’m also running a wider tire (245/35/18) since I got new wheels as well.

[HaXx]

seems like OP got new tires, but for future readers:
do not get the primacy HP tires!!

for some strange reason if you sort tires by size in the stock 215/45/17 on tirerack.com, the primacy HP is the literal most expensive tire they carry. it is somehow more expensive than the Michelin Cup2, which is pretty much the pinnacle of tire technology today. it comes factory on the porcshe 918 Spyder, you know, the one that competes with the LaFerrari and Mclaren P1? while the primacy HP is a completely average tire,
its a fine tire, not good, not bad, for the love of god do not waste you money buying primacy HP again because there are so money other "fine" tires that cost half as much and will save you hundreds.