Can’t seem to find Michelin tyres in correct size?

[tom-4hcey]

Just looking at replacing the tyres on my V8 Vantage S. are Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S the best to go for? My fronts are 245/40/19 and the rears are 285/35/19. I can find the rear tyres but the fronts only seem to be available in Mercedes M01 Fitment? I know these will fit but doesn’t seem right? What have you guys fitted?

I have Continental Sport Contact 7 on my other car and they seem good although it’s not a drivers car. Theses are available in the correct Aston Martin Vantage S sizes. What’s your thoughts?

[Davil]

Bridgestone Potenza Sport. I have them on my VH AMR. Wonderful tyres, they have lovely feel. PS4S are very good tyres but steering feel isn’t so good as they roll more.

[V8V Pete]

My slightly extreme solution to this problem was to buy a couple of sets of V12V rims for my V8S. The PS4S (and PS Cup2) are available in V12V sizes so the problem goes away. I'm not sure wheels for the VH Vantage are as freely available now as they once were though. I've not used the current Contis or Bridgestones but hear good things about them but just don't get the old RE050 Bridgestones which are woeful. https://www.tyrereviews.com website/YouTube very good source of info.

[AMV8Stuart]

Hi Tom, yours are the same size as mine, I'll be putting P4S on shortly. I haven't found any issues with finding the right sizes in non-OEM spec, ATS, National and Just Tyres have them as do a local specialist who I will be using. All about the same price, but my local takes care and also does alignment so worth the extra couple £.

[LTP]

Unless the situation has changed in the last 6 months you can't get a full set of PS4S tyres for the Vantage S (or non-S from 2012.5 MY) in Europe. You either have to change away from the recommended size (going up or down 10mm in width) on the front axle or fit a "PS4 + PS4S" combination.

You can get PS4S all round for the earlier, pre-S Vantage which rides on narrower tyres.

More information in this thread, along with some options.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

(There's a chart in my post on 1st October 2024 in there)

p.s.
You can get PS4S all round for a Vantage S in the US and some other overseas territories - Michelin just never homologated the fronts in the EU

[AMV8Stuart]

Just did a quick check as I have been known to get things wrong, unless I've missed something they seem to be available. Screenshot from National Tyres

[LTP]

AMV8Stuart said:

Just did a quick check as I have been known to get things wrong, unless I've missed something they seem to be available. Screenshot from National Tyres

That's interesting.

I did a quick check too, as I doubt Michelin would be homologating an old tyre for Europe now (I actually spoke to them about this a few years ago as they sell the 245/40 ZR 19 XL in the US). They don't list the 245/40 ZR 19 XL on their website here
https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/browse-tyres/by-di...

The PS4S in their list of 7 tyres is actually a 255/35 ZR 19 XL

It makes me curious exactly what National are selling, but I'd be inclined to double-check before they actually fit in case it's actually a PS4 not a PS4S. But if you can get the correct E-marked size in the UK then happy days for my next tyre change as I was going for Contis (again)

And Camskill don't list it either
https://www.camskill.co.uk/m55b0s326p0/Car_Tyres_-...

Edited by LTP on Thursday 27th February 09:50

[BiggaJ]

Has anyone fitted the latest Continental Sport Contact 7's to their AM? They seem to be getting great reviews and are a newer tyre than the PS4S.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Compare/SportContact-7...

Edited by BiggaJ on Thursday 27th February 12:39

[johns355]

I had the same issue with my ‘s’ about 20 months ago- couldn’t get PS4S tyres for it so got conti sport contact 7 tyres for it. Apparently the only set in the country then! Didn’t like them the first 500 odd miles until they properly scrubbed in, since then have been great, very confident in the wet too. I still would’ve preferred the Michelin ( had them on my previous V8vr) but they never made the size so I’d say the conti’s are a very very close second imho.

[cypriot]

BiggaJ said:

Has anyone fitted the latest Continental Sport Contact 7's to their AM? They seem to be getting great reviews and are a newer tyre than the PS4S.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Compare/SportContact-7...

Edited by BiggaJ on Thursday 27th February 12:39

I had the Conti SC7 fitted to my vantage earlier this year. Had the SC6 before them. I cannot comment on how they compare to the PS4S as they have never been available in the correct sizes. The SC7 tyres are very nice. I drove through a rain storm and can confirm that the test results do translate to the real world in that the car felt far more planted in the wet than the SC6, and therefore I would safely assume the same benefit would also be realised when comparing to the PS4S.

[paulrog1]

tom-4hcey said:

Just looking at replacing the tyres on my V8 Vantage S. are Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S the best to go for? My fronts are 245/40/19 and the rears are 285/35/19. I can find the rear tyres but the fronts only seem to be available in Mercedes M01 Fitment? I know these will fit but doesn’t seem right? What have you guys fitted?

I have Continental Sport Contact 7 on my other car and they seem good although it’s not a drivers car. Theses are available in the correct Aston Martin Vantage S sizes. What’s your thoughts?

I've just fitted a new set of Michelin PS4S on my DB9, same sizes as you (245/40/19 front, 285/35/19 rear) I found the rears cheaper at Camskill and the fronts from Blackcircles, the front have a mercedes fitment but i don't think that matters.

Both have a sale on with 10-15% off plus if you get them delivered to your house then take the wheels to a local tyre fitter it'll be cheaper.

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m55b0s474p148505/Michel...

https://www.blackcircles.com/brands/michelin/pilot...

Edited by paulrog1 on Friday 28th February 15:28

[Go60 Jay]

Sorry I’m late to the party but RAC tyres sell them fitted for £205. If you buy 2 tyres now, you’ll get a £40 Amazon voucher too.

I hope this helps,
John

[tom-4hcey]

Thanks for all your replies. Tempted to go with the Continental sort contact 7

[Nbgring]

Go60 Jay said:

Sorry I’m late to the party but RAC tyres sell them fitted for £205. If you buy 2 tyres now, you’ll get a £40 Amazon voucher too.

I hope this helps,
John

This would be unfortunate.
The tyre is a Michelin Pilot Sport 4S MO1 XL. The "MO1" indicates that it is an tyre specifically designed for specific Mercedes car, possibly AMG A-class? It may have a strongly different construction compared to the non-MO1 standard tyre. It is certainly not designed for a perfectly weight balanced transaxle car like the Vantage. I am almost sure that you will not find a matching MO1-rear tyre. You should not mix this tyre with the standard Pilot Sport 4S.
It had been mentioned before: Michelin is producing the correct size for the V8S Vantage in the US - but selling it only there. There is no reasonable economic way to get them here in Europe.
Therefore the decision to buy the Continental SportContact 7 is clearly the best way to go, since this tyre is a younger generation and is a class superior to the Michelin PS 4S.

[paulrog1]

The M01 tyre has been optimised for the set up of cars engineered by AMG.

So weighing it all up I decided it would be OK, I don't drive my car like Lewis Hamilton plus they are way better than my old Bridgestone's

[Panamax]

Many more large size tyres are fitted to SUVs than to sports cars and that's why the available tyres tend to have an "XL" code. Why this needs to be something additional to the "load rating" figure I have no idea but I can tell you from personal experience that PS4S "XL" has a stiff sidewall which results in a firm ride. Grip is great but the ride is more like a good runflat than a conventional tyre.

If you look at side-by-side comparison tests of PS4S and PS4 there wasn't much difference in performance between them so a "non-S" Michelin might open up better availability for you. Yes, I'm a fan of Michelin tyres on performance cars. They are costly but you get what you're paying for.

[Davil]

Nbgring said:

This would be unfortunate.
The tyre is a Michelin Pilot Sport 4S MO1 XL. The "MO1" indicates that it is an tyre specifically designed for specific Mercedes car, possibly AMG A-class? It may have a strongly different construction compared to the non-MO1 standard tyre. It is certainly not designed for a perfectly weight balanced transaxle car like the Vantage. I am almost sure that you will not find a matching MO1-rear tyre. You should not mix this tyre with the standard Pilot Sport 4S.
It had been mentioned before: Michelin is producing the correct size for the V8S Vantage in the US - but selling it only there. There is no reasonable economic way to get them here in Europe.
Therefore the decision to buy the Continental SportContact 7 is clearly the best way to go, since this tyre is a younger generation and is a class superior to the Michelin PS 4S.

Exactly right. I cannot for the life me understand the obsession with fitting an old tyre like 4S which was never a great _driver’s_ tyre anyway. Especially when you are fitting different types that will feel unbalanced when doing anything other than driving to the shops.

There are two excellent choices in the correct size. Both considerably better than the 4S. Bridgestone Potenza Sport and Continental Sport Contact 7. Until the new Michelin S5 arrives (who knows when that will be) these should be the only options considered.

[Go60 Jay]

Well without it being a peeing contest, I went for the PS4S on the front, despite it being the MO1. I did speak to the specialist garage where my cars have always been serviced previously, and who come from and are still heavily involved in the race circuit. They had no concerns with fast road use in Europe and some track use while I’m away. They did also say if the tyre is specific to a model of AMG and not to be used on other cars, it wouldn’t be financially viable unless the cost was eye wateringly expensive. Which kinda makes sense. Whereas I had them supplied and fitted for exactly £400. Happy days.

The ride is sooo much better and extremely grippy. I had the Bridgestones previously and I hated them. I found them to be really harsh and traction off the line wasn’t great, especially in the wet. I find the Michelin tyres are far better, which is why I swapped out the Bridgestones very early.

I’m not a tyre expert or a regular track driver but the car absolutely feels better to me. In my opinion I think the PS4S tyres are way better. I can’t comment on the Continental tyres, so maybe I’m missing a trick. But you can’t miss what you never had and I’m happy with what I have.

As long as you guys are happy with your choices like I am with mine, that’s all that matters.

John

[Wafu7]

John, my understanding is that MO1 indicates that the tyre meets the minimum requirements / specifications that Mercedes have specified for their cars with that tyre size … not that it was designed / made / intended for Mercs alone.

[LTP]

Wafu7 said:

John, my understanding is that MO1 indicates that the tyre meets the minimum requirements / specifications that Mercedes have specified for their cars with that tyre size … not that it was designed / made / intended for Mercs alone.

My understanding is slightly different after watching this