I need your advice on tires.....

[Mark_T]

I have the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires. This is the 5th season they have been on the car and although there is still lots of tread left, I've noticed that towards the end of last season, and definitely this season, they've turned into hockey pucks. They have about 30k km on them now.

For the first 3-4 years they were plenty sticky enough for my limited skills, but this year I have found I can break them loose and slide the car around with little effort. I actually have to think about my speed going into corners now. I came out the top of a cloverleaf the other day at about 95 kph, got on the throttle a bit too soon and rather suddenly found myself pointing perpendicular to my direction of travel. It didn't end badly, but it was definitely an adrenaline rush for sure. Wouldn't have happened earlier in their life.

I would have to say that they lasted longer than I expected them to and, although not as good as summer performance tires in the hot weather, they really performed well in the shoulder seasons. I bought them because I had just got the car, the existing tires were crap, and I wasn't sure how far into the fall I would be using the car.

It is my plan to replace them next spring with some Hankook V12's as I've heard lots of good things about them and I really don't drive the car early enough in the spring or late enough in the fall to warrant all season tires this time around.

As Winnipeg and Edmonton have somewhat similar climates, I hope this info will be useful to you.