I've narrowed the choice down to two different Michelins to replace the stock Dunlops on my Fit base model: plain Energy Saver vs Pilot Sport A/S 3.

Most of my driving is on flat, congested city streets, 30-45mpg, lots of stop-and-go. Much less on highways.
I live in the South, so don't have any need for tires that can handle snow. But we do occasionally get a lot of rain, so I want excellent wet handling. Decent dry handling also important, as it's often necessary to be able to dodge wildly unpredictable moves from the maniacs on the road here.

I would like to have good fuel efficiency and durability, but comfort and lower noise are the greater priorities.

For any who have owned or driven on either of these particular models of tires, what have your impressions been?
I've looked at reviews at tirerack.com and the Michelin website, but most of the reviews on the Pilot Sport focus on handling in snow, which isn't relevant for me.

It's also hard to tell how the tires compare from the info on tirerack.com because they compare within performance categories, rather than across categories, while these two tire models are in different categories.

Michelin's website shows the following:

Energy Saver ("Luxury Performance Touring")
comfort 9
handling 9
braking 9
fuel efficiency 10
wear life 7

Pilot Sport A/S 3 ("Ultra-High Performance Sport")
comfort 10
handling 9
braking 8
fuel efficiency 9
wear life 10

The warranty lengths are a bit confusing. The Michelin website shows 50,000 miles for the Energy Saver and 45,000 miles for the Pilot Sport A/S 3. Yet the wear life rating (shown above) is much higher for the Pilot Sport? Is that because the ratings are based on other tires in the same performance class?

Prices for where I'm looking to buy favor the Pilot Sport A/S 3 - $20 lower per tire.

 

also check out continental DWS.

 

Yeah, I saw that one listed in a tirerack test against the Pilot Sport A/S 3. But the places I am considering buying from don't deal with that model.

 

I have the Energy tires, currently about 35,000 miles.

Compared to the stock Dunlops they perform much better, both dry and wet. I've had the "opportunity" to test them in several emergency stops, and where the ABS would have activated with the old tires, the Michelins stayed stuck and stopped in surprisingly short distance. They were Ok during the ice storms this past winter even though they are expressly summer tires. I haven't autocrossed them so I really can't comment about cornering, but they do seem more "surefooted" than the Dunlops.

MPG increased about 10% over the stock Dunlops but some of this may have been due to an alignment at the time of installation.

It's hard to compare comfort: pretty subjective. I do notice the car doesn't wander like it did when it was new (it acts more like a big car) but this may also be due to the alignment. They absorb bumps about the same as the old tires. Noise level is about the same, perhaps less. There has been no balance issues (I haven't had them balanced since new). Wear is even. More importantly they haven't degraded over this time.

I've made several trips to Key Largo on them. No drama at all (except the speeding tkt in So. GA.).


I noticed the wear life indications vs the warranty too. It's a bit confusing. I think the explanation may be the Energy tires are made/marketed for the European market (they're hard to find here) and the numbers may not be comparable. I'd expect the Energy tires to have harder tread compound for less roll resistance and longer life than the Pilots. Shrug.

Here's what they look like with 35,000 miles on them. The OE Dunlops were worn out at 30,000 miles. I don't think I'll have any problem getting to 60,000 or more.

 

Steve, thanks a lot for that info. VERY helpful, especially the photo.
I had almost decided to go with the Pilot Sports, but now I'm having second thoughts.

 

sorry if it wasn't a question of fuel efficiency I would have gone for the Pilots.

 

he says no snow, so no S needed, maybe the DW instead?
I would also agree Pilot Sport A/S 3 is a good choice. new tire should have all the latest tire improvements

As far as the treadlife rating, i think they are likely comparing only within the tireclass. So my guess is it's a 10 within Ultra high performance sport; but that's not comparable across classes.

 

I don't think they make the DW in that base model size. I have the conti DW and I can't say it help gas milage one bit, I actually lost about 2-3 mpg switching to them. 1) is stickier then the hankook ventus V2 I had and 2) it's 2.3lbs heavier each. Neither helps with gas milage. I can't seem to hit the magic 40mpg any longer since then tire switch but boy do these tires stick a whole lot better.