PRIMACY 4

<p>Must admit was not impressed with the Michelins.
They are decent in the dry but sub-par in the wet. Not bad, just very mediocre; This would be acceptable for a mid-range tyre but I expected better from a premium brand tyre.</p><p>They've also worn out faster than I'd hoped, but this is mainly because they start off with a lower tread depth than other tyres.
Michelin claim they engineer their tyres to perform the same right down to the legal limit, but nobody sane runs their tyres down to the legal limit; I always run my tyres down to about 3mm before searching for new tyres, just to give me time to find a good deal, and the Michelins lower starting tread depth just gives them a shorter life than tyres with a deeper tread.</p><p>Rears still at 5mm but fronts are done. The Goodyears I replaced them with have performed much better so far in the wet and their higher starting tread depth will automatically give them an lifetime advantage.</p>

<p>The Michelin Primacy 4 tyre is overall a very good tyre as a consumer product if you are looking for a generally safe and well behaved tyre from the start to the end of its life.
For someone who either really leans hard on their tyres or is sensitive to feel and cabin noise this tyre is both impressive and somewhat average at the same time.</p><p>Initially, when driving on these tyres when new they are fairly quiet in terms of road noise. Road feedback is generally good for a general use orientated tyre. I've driven on sporty and soft tyres and the Primacy 4 sits in a very middle ground - decently firm enough to not feel completely mushy in turns but soft enough to not be trashy over even the smallest of bumps. They can be a bit harsh/crashy on some bumps or speed bumps so they are not entirely comfort focussed.
Grip in all conditions (except ice) is excellent for what is not a performance tyre, and for the car they are on provide ample reserves to manage it's power and braking performance.</p><p>As they age they do get louder - as is the case for all tyres - but it seems to be somewhat more apparent with the Primacy 4 versus other tyres on other cars.</p><p>Grip as they age is consistent in both dry and wet capabilities even when leaning hard on the tyres in corners, roundabouts, etc.
Having covered 40,000 miles on them the fronts have reached under 3mm of tread left which means time to shop for replacements - you could easily get more life out of these tyres if you granny them for their entire life.</p><p>Fuel economy is very good and maintains a high level.</p><p>They've had a good run and, compared to other tyres I've had on other cars as they have aged, have maintained their performance profile very well, but the road noise is off putting. I suspect this is a trade off feature of their construction which helps offer that consistency but means as those rubber blocks wear away to almost nothing that noise energy is absorbed by the underlying rubber grooves.</p><p>Would I have bought them again (not available now as superceded by the 4S and newer 5)? Possibly, the high price is off putting but you do get the milage from them so proportional value is there.
I'd have considered the 4S as a replacement but based on reviews of the newer 5 I'm not sure I'd opt for those.</p><p>Having driven on the original first version Michelin Pilot Primacy tyres some 20 years earlier (on a different car), the Primacy 4 has shown they've evolved the concept well as those were similarly generally ok all round but had a few more negative points in terms of performance and wear characteristics - swapping those for performance tyres felt like a big step up in every way. The Primacy 4 on the other hand (provided they are more than the car needs) are good enough to not necessarily have you wanting to get rid of them as soon as you can for something better - e.g. you could get Pilot Sport / Eagle F1 / other and get better grip at the limit but the Primacy 4 is a lot closer to that limit whilst being a bit better behaved overall.</p>

<p>I have 10 of these tyres on my current car, 4 have been taken off prematurely due to the tyres distorting, so as i always replace tyres in matching pairs these means 8 tyres never served a full life - I would normally change around 2 mm. These were all taken off between 3 - 4 mm. Just a waste and obviously out of shape tyres do not give the best or most comfortable ride. ( I tried to return some to Michelin under complaint through ATS, however Michelin pulled the plig on ATS and my complaint tyres just disappeared) So still running the last pair. Grip is OK noise is fine, but as they age the ride deteriorates and they tend to really accentuate the lovely road noise on the south west M25 concrete section. I won't be buying again because losing 25% of tyre life through structural failure after paying for a top premium tyre does not represent value. I'm switching back to Goodyear which I ran on previous cars for 100s of thousands of miles with no issues.</p>

<p>Very safe tires. Confidence while driving but not sporty. But I have a 2 tonne suv so it's not sporty to begin with.</p>

<p>I’ve been thinking about changing the tyres since 2021; I’m considering switching to all-season tyres as there’s now a drop in braking and road-holding performance.</p>