Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 vs Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 — Compared (September 2026)

“Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Tire Review After my stock rubber wore down I decided to look into other (cheaper) options for this summer. I landed on getting a set of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 205/40/17 tires and have been on them for about a week now in both rain and dry. The TLDR of this would be buy these tires! The longer version of it is that these tires to me at least feel much more comfortable than the stock tires both in terms of ride comfort and road noise. On top of that the grip in the wet is impressive to say the least! I got a lot of rain here in Oregon so wet performance was really important to me. On the stock tires I always left my TC on and was careful going around turns especially as the tires wore down further and further. These Indy 500 just keep on gripping in the wet and I haven't had any problems at all. The first day I had them out in the dry I would have sworn my car was actually faster accelerating! Probably because there was less wheel hopping or it simply just grabbed the road better. I haven't tried a launch on them yet but hope to do some auto-crossing and such in the Spring. If you have any questions about these things fire away. Read more”

“Firehawk Indy 500s As promised, some initial thoughts. These are extremely comfortable. They honestly made it hard to understand how fast I was going because I've come to gauge my speed based on how much I'm being jostled around. I felt almost nothing with these, and there's so much construction on my way to work from the tire place, including a road that hasn't been surfaced properly yet. Perfect testing run for comfort. In terms of performance these bite the road a lot better and it's a lot easier for me to get moving again. Granted, my run flats were almost bald and that's my most recent memory of how they performed, but it's shocking how much I can take a turn or even just accelerate without any risk of sliding or slipping. It feels like a completely different car honestly, and people aren't kidding when they say "just get better tires" on some of these posts asking about mods. It's not as sexy as a new intake, but it makes a much bigger difference. I mean I feel like I was missing out on at least half of my roadster's potential here. So yeah I definitely like them. I don't mean to insult the tire guys' ability to apply tire shine, but I need to redo that disaster when I'm home. I only have detailing spray right now.”

“Will I regret buying Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s? I have a stock '21 GT Premium convertible with the black appearance package. It came with the upgraded Pirelli P Zero 255/40-19 tires, but with 35,000 miles, they are really worn, and I need new tires. I live in North Florida. We don't have a lot of cold weather (I missed the snow last month), but I do get a lot of rain. I don't track the car, and mostly drive on country roads and the interstate. The Pirelli's have treated me well as far as traction, dry and wet. I like the aggressive look of the Firehawks, but I am concerned about wet weather traction. Will the Firehawks be at least comparable to the Pirelli's for wet weather and general handling? If not, it sounds like the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4 is the way to go. Also, the car is all black, with black rims, and the tires look wimpy. I'm not up for new rims this go-round, and I won't lower it because I like the clearance for potholes, etc., that I see a lot of in my area. I'm hoping the tires will help the look a little bit. Read more”

“Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 reviews Hi all! First post here on Reddit for S2K. I have a 2002 with 80k (130 km's) that is 100% stock. I recently purchased some new tires moving from a Potenza RE-71 (rear) Potenza RE760 (front) I bought the Indy 500 Firehawk since a lot of S2K owners say they are an excellent tire, perfect for the S2K with a ton of great qualities. So far I am thinking a little bit of a mixxed bag. The tires are not as responsive as I thought and don't inspire the same level of cornering confidence. The seem a little mushy/soft and my rear end thus far doesn't seem as firmly planted as I would like. Almost kind of wobbly? Alignment is fine, tires are brand new with less than 100 miles on them and tire pressure is factory spec within 1 psi. The DOT code for the tires is late 2024 so brand new. I don't track the car and these days just baby it around town mostly so the tires use should fine for my use. Thanks! Leer más”

“Replaced tires with Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4, ride significantly improved My 2021 MYLR with 19" Gemini wheels ran over a screw in the tire sidewall and I had to replace the tire. I decided to replace all four tires since the tread was low anyway. I ended up replacing with the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4. I was happy to find that the ride quality significantly improved after this. Just wanted to let folks know. Others have pointed out that there's a slight range efficiency hit and the tires don't reach all the way to the Gemini rims like the stock Continentals do. I find I don't care about these things and enjoy the ride quality improvement a lot. If I put the car in Chill mode now and drive others around, it's a much better ride experience for them on residential streets. The tires were a bit expensive, $1700 to replace all four including labor (in the SF Bay, a HCOL area) but I had to replace the tires anyway and the benefits were worth it to me.”

“Michelin PSAS4 vs Conti DWS06+ Recently did a change-up, went from a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus (driven 17,000 miles / 27,360 kilometres) to a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4. I drive a VW GTI and live in Southern Oregon with a 75-mile (120-km) roundtrip commute everyday and here are my observations: the Michelins are a touch quieter and dare I say offer a more ‘refined’ ride the Contis felt stiffer (subjective) but has better cornering without a doubt. Ran both sets at 39 psi (269 kPa) for the 225/40-18 size. the Contis definitely brake better under cool rainy conditions (ambient temp was about 13°C) the Contis perform very, very well in snowy conditions but I’ve yet to test out the Michelins in the same environment. I drove the Continentals on more than 10,000 miles of snow just last winter. the Michelins quickly lose grip when I dump the clutch in first gear, compared to the Continentals. The ESC on my GTI turns on more often with the Michelins as well. the Michelins are ever so slightly more fuel efficient but only a 1-3 mpg difference at best, I found Overall, if you’re looking for a more performance-focused (and light snow-biased) UHPAS tire definitely go for the DWS06 Plus. As for me I’m delighted with the PSAS4 overall, but it’s also because I’m highly biased on Michelins as a brand. Read more”

“I use these on my F80 M3 competition with the 666M wheels for the winter. I had Continental DWS 06 Plus on my E90 M3. The PSAS4 have stiffer side wall than the DWS06 Plus, so the ride will feel more sporty if that's what you're after. PSAS4 also have slightly more dry pavement grip and tad more steering feel than the DWS. The DWS is a tad bit quieter and softer sidewall. Superior to the PSAS4 in light snow. Dry pavement grip is still amazing. I have 2 sets of 666m wheels for my F80 comp. One set outfitted with Pilot sport all season 4 and the other set outfitted with Pilot sport 4s.”

“As someone who just bought a dedicated winter tire because my Pilot Sport AS4s don’t do well in just cold, let alone the snow, I’d go for the cross climates. In my experience, around 36° F the Pilot Sport AS4 start to get stiff and lose traction. Add cold with rain or snow/ice, they are outright squirrelly.”