New Michelin all-season tyre for North America

The latest addition to the Michelin Pilot range in North America was introduced yesterday at the NAIAS show in Detroit. The new Pilot Sport All-Season 3+ is an evolution of the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 and is said to transfer “the best of high-performance racing technology into a street tyre made for the roads and highways of North America.”

It’s easy to see why Michelin describes the new tyre as an “evolution” of the Pilot Sport A/S 3. Visually, the Pilot Sport All-Season 3+ is nigh on identical to its predecessor, and an inspection of both tyres’ tread patterns reveals no real differences. Michelin claims a more even distribution of forces and temperatures over the contact patch with its Variable Contact Patch 3.0, which it says was originally developed for Formula 1 endurance racing; the Pilot Sport A/S 3 utilised the 2.0 version. A tweaked compound has been used, with the predecessor’s Helio compound replaced by the Helio+. Together, these seemingly minor changes appear to have worked wonders – Michelin states that the new tyre has 28 per cent better snow traction than the Pilot Sport A/S 3 (based on third-party testing using a size 215/45ZR18 93Y tyre).

According to Michelin, the Pilot Sport All-Season 3+ is designed, engineered and manufactured in North America. A March 2016 market launch is planned for the range, which will eventually be available in 90 sizes from 175/65/R15 to 285/35/ZR20.