Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 Winter Tyres Review

[geoffbland]

TLDR. The Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 Winter tyres work exactly as you would expect them to. If changing from Cup Sport 2s you should reset the front toe.

I mentioned to someone that I was putting on Winter tyres for upcoming road trip to the north of Scandinavia, they suggested I should write a review. So here it is, probably the most pointless review ever as I don’t think I will be telling anyone anything that they wouldn’t already expect.

I have changed from my Michelin Sport Cup 2s to Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4s on my manual V6 Emira with stock Sports suspension, here’s my impressions after 100 miles of driving; I’m missing the Sport Cup 2s. Compared to the Cup 2s the Alpin PA4s feel “floaty” and nowhere near as “planted” on the road, the feeling of the road surface through the seat and wheel is muted too (it kind of makes it feel like I have the Tour suspension fitted). Steering feels very light initially but when you actually push it into a corner the PA2s do start to grip and feel a lot better. The steering feel was improved considerably when I reset the front toe to that recommended by Lotus (Cup 2s use a toe-out).

The Alpin PA4s cause the ABS to fire much sooner under heavy braking than the Cup 2s even on a damp road; not as much rubber contacting the road so braking is reduced.

So, the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4s feel exactly as you would expect – they aren’t going to be like the near-semi-slick Cup 2s.

Now for the positive. As luck would have it, we had torrential rail in the UK just as I fitted the tyres and again when I had the toe reset. The roads were water-logged and covered in large puddles that would make you think twice with the Cup 2s. But driving through the puddles in the Alpins was just not a problem, you could feel the drag on the wheel but there was no sign of aquaplaning and no bad pulling to one side. This was hitting standing water an inch or so deep at speeds up to 60 mph, no issues.

I have not tested the tyres on snow nor ice yet; the UK is not that cold yet. Admittedly this means this is not a great review without being able to test them in the snow.

Overall, I’m happy with the Pilot Alpin PA4 as winter tyres. I need them for my road trip but will leave them on for the UK winter. I’ll be looking forward to the dry weather starting the UK when I can refit my Cup 2s again.

Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 are “official” winter tyres, stamped with the “3 peaks” symbol – the 3PMSF marking that is often legally required for winter driving in Europe.

Cold tyre pressures on the Alpin PA4 were 37 psi front, 36 psi rear.

Edit: Tyres I fitted were Front 235/35 20 XL, Rear 295/30 20 XL. I got these from mytyres.co.uk - about the only place that had them in stock. They had a few negative reviews but a decent price. I had no problems with them, tyres delivered within a week and good communications from them about the order.

 

[Beachbum]

PSI higher at the front, than the rear ? Thats unual.
Where in Scandinavia re you going? Not jealous at all

 

[geoffbland]

PSI higher at the front, than the rear ? Thats unual.

Just from the owner's manual - feels OK though. They were a lower when fitted - all around 33psi - for a few minutes until I could check them, but they feel better inflated to the correct pressures.

Where in Scandinavia re you going? Not jealous at all

A loop around Norway, up to Narvik, down through Finland and Sweden. See the Northern Lights if we are lucky but will have to leave the car and take the train/plane if we are unlucky and it snows. I spent a week or two driving in Norway about 25 years ago - some of the best driving roads in Europe and very little traffic - I hope it's still the same now.

One day I'll do the Kystriksveien – the coastal route, it's meant to be the most scenic route in Europe but it takes at least 2 weeks to complete and for this trip we don't have the time and we wouldn't want to rush it.

 

[MiamiBlue]

You'll feel the difference when it turns cold. 20C and rain is still Summer tyre territory. You changed them a little early. Those Alpins are not all season tyres, they're firmly Winter tyres. Once we're down to 5-6 degrees in November they'll stop feeling floaty. Once we go into freezing temperatures and see a dusting of Snow they'll come in to their own (and Cup 2's by comparison will be borderline dangerous to drive on).

 

[geoffbland]

You'll feel the difference when it turns cold. 20C and rain is still Summer tyre territory. You changed them a little early. Those Alpins are not all season tyres, they're firmly Winter tyres. Once we're down to 5-6 degrees in November they'll stop feeling floaty. Once we go into freezing temperatures and see a dusting of Snow they'll come in to their own (and Cup 2's by comparison will be borderline dangerous to drive on).

Yeah, I realise they are proper Winter tyres, not just all-season ones, I got 3PMSF deliberately. I just put them on a couple of weeks early to get them scrubbed in - it will be 5-6 degrees for me by then if not lower