zach1328

One of my worst nightmares has officially come true!!
Blew out one of my rear 535i Michelin Pilot Super Sports the other day leaving me needing 4 new tires for my 535i.

After calling every SINGLE local tire shop no one could locate the Michelin PSS' for the rear of my 535i sport. Apparently the 275/35zr18's are on backorder from Michelin until late July.
Anyways, I decided to ditch the Super Sports all around and opt for the less desirable Sport A/S 3 tires. Had them installed earlier today and I have ~50 miles on them so far.

I can't believe I had to go away from the Super Sports! I've sworn by these tires as being the ultimate street performance tire. In my experience they out-perform every other street performance tire in just about every aspect.
Better turn-in, more predictable, better wet/dry traction, better cornering stability, quieter, more comfortable, etc etc. I've never been disappointed with a Michelin tire which is why I opted for the Sport A/S 3's.

So far they're very nice tires and probably have an edge on the Super Sports in the areas of comfort and quietness. The only thing is my steering has softened up way more than I expected. Turn-in and stability don't even compare the the Super Sports - its like they are in a totally different league.
I'm also running Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2's on my 335i which have similarly let me down in the areas of stability and turn-in. The Super Sports are incredibly predictable and will almost never understeer - its scary how much grip is available even when you begin to feel nothing is left. The Hankooks and A/S 3's on the other hand are unpredictable and scare the living sh** out of me when the suddenly break lose in a turn. The Super Sports leave me wanting more and more out of each corner whereas the other 2 make me wonder whether its even safe to push their limits around the corners.

Once I get another couple hundred miles on the A/S 3's I'll add to this thread with a much more in-depth review/comparison of the Super Sports, A/S 3's, and Hankooks. Currently I have ~1500 miles driven on the Hankooks, 35,000 total miles on the Super Sports, and only 50 miles on the Sport A/S 3's. As of right now I think its going to be a blow-out with the Super Sports winning by light years.

P.S - Maybe a bad time to ask after writing this short review. But does anyone want to buy 4 Sport A/S 3 tires? I'll even throw in some cash if someone wants to trade the less expensive Super Sports for these disappointing A/S 3's.

seablue550i

I will admit the PSS tires are great performance tires but I have been running the A/S 3 tires now for about 8k miles and I love them. Quiet, lots of grip and performance. Better than any other A/S tire out there. They hook up better in the rain than the PSS and will last twice as long. I say keep em

umichchris

i have PSS on my E36 M3 sedan (daily driver) and i SWEAR by them. that car handles like its on rails (true of all the E36 Ms) and the tires definitely take it to the next level.

when i hit the canyons of SoCal on the weekend, im pulling harder in the corners than anyone else with 100% grip....beating the pants off my buddies in their cars (E36 Ms, E60 Ms, etc)


sorry for your loss brother haha

zach1328

I agree the A/S 3's are still amazing tires and are 100% better than the crappy run-flats that come stock. I haven't had them in the rain yet, but I highly highly doubt they will out-perform the super sports in the wet.

The super sports are known for their incredible wet grip - I had more confidence on wet roads with Super Sports than I have on dry roads with my Hankook V12 Evo2's. Although the more & more I break in the A/S 3's the better they are getting which is why I'll add to this once I get another 500+ miles on these tires.
The only thing is, my front Super Sports were BALD and still gripped better on turn-in than these brand new A/S 3's.

seablue550i

You really saw that much of a difference? I ran PSS tires on my G37S. When I switched to the E60 I put on the A/S 3s for the better trade life and I have pushed them pretty hard in the corners without much understeer and pretty good response. Maybe I need PSS tires again but on this car to see the difference.

cakes

I'm kind of in the same boat as you, one of my rear OEM continentals on my 550i Msport is leaking from a previous repair and since the tires are about 1/32 from the replacement point on the insides I ordered the PSS--this was almost a month ago, when they were expected in mid june.

My dad and brother have the A/S 3 on their Lexus GS400 and IS300 and while they're great tires I don't think they'll handle the power of the 550i. I loved how I was able drive it hard in the smokey mountains 2 months ago with the tires sticking to the road like glue.

I just add air to the leaking tire once a week and it's fine so far. I think I can wait a couple of more weeks for the PSS and if it rains, I can drive my Legend.