It’s no secret that the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S has a huge and loyal following. If you haven’t been living under a rock, the 4 S has been on the market for six years, and it is still going strong as one of the best high-performance tyres you can buy off the shelf.

Naturally, Michelin wanted to ensure that its replacement will live up to the hype while also improving overall performance. Well, with a sneak peek from a video review uploaded by Tyre Reviews, it looks like Michelin has even exceeded its own expectations.

So what’s new?

The Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 is mostly inspired by the existing Pilot 4 S, but it evolves further to support the latest high-performance cars and their ever-increasing demands. With acoustic foam embedded in the treads to lower internal cabin noise, the S 5 will be a tyre that EV owners will appreciate.

Connected sensors and built-in RFID tags and also included as standard, and the tyres are specifically designed to handle higher loads placed on them by heavier, more powerful hybrid and electric vehicles. Notable examples include the Ferrari 296 GTB, Audi e-tron GT and BMW XM. 

Other enhancements

The new Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 brings a lot to the table, and it’s poised to be a go-to option for future performance hybrid and EV owners. A new wavy summit helps stiffens the tread pattern, inducing more precise handling. This is done by controlling the undulation of the steel belts underneath the tread blocks. New bead design architecture further improves steering response and handling, perfect for wringing cars around demanding race tracks.

The racing-derived treads are also an updated asymmetric dual-sport design, and a large portion of the outside tread features dedicated rigid blocks for enhanced lateral dry grip and steering response. For increased wet-weather durability and traction, the inside of the tyre features large, longitudinal grooves to flush away water.

Additionally, the Pilot Sport S 5 features Michelin’s next-generation of sidewall design for higher contrast, allowing the tyre to look as good as it performs.

Name change

If the order of Michelin’s new tyre sounds off, that’s because Michelin also revised its naming convention with the Pilot Sport S 5. Instead of calling it the “Sport 5 S” as we were all predicting it to be, the revised naming format better highlights – in order – the brand, product name, performance subgroup, and generation.

This separates this new tyre from the existing Pilot Sport 5, with the ‘S’ denoting it is more performance-oriented.

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