A tire for all seasons: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3

Dec. 13, 2012

Michelin North America has unveiled the latest in its Pilot family of tires, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3.

"As an all-weather, all-season tire, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 marries performance and practicality," says Doug Brown, ultra-high performance category manager at Michelin North America. “This tire is ideal for someone who wants to optimize the performance of his or her vehicle and drive with confidence year-round.”

Specific technology benefits of the new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 include:

* Variable Contact Patch 2.0 combined with an aggressive asymmetric tread pattern inspired by the Michelin Pilot Super Sport (introduced last March) to deliver “breakthrough levels of dry grip,” the company says.

* Extreme amounts of silica in the tread compound combined with Variable Thickness Sipes and large circumferential grooves to offer wet grip and resistance to hydroplaning regardless of the road surface.

* Michelin’s Helio Compound combined with Variable Thickness Sipes and biting edges in the tread grooves to deliver cold weather mobility for true all-season performance.

3-D Variable Thickness Sipe Technology (VTS) allows the use of more sipes for adverse road conditions (wet and snow) without giving up handling and wear performance. The self-supporting construction provides biting edges when traction is needed most and locks together under stress for greater tread block rigidity. This is the first application of the technology in an all-season Michelin UHP tire, the company notes.

The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tire is designed, engineered and manufactured in North America. It will be available in 65 sizes ranging from 175/65/R15 to 285/35/ZR20. The tire is backed by the Michelin Promise Plan tire service package.

“During the development of this tire, we were intensely focused on providing a total performance package that would deliver superior handling and wet/dry braking in all seasons,” says Steve Calder, ultra-high performance technical manager for Michelin North America.

For more information, see http://www.michelinman.com/pilotsportas3.