The weight is an interesting viewpoint, I haven't seen figures like that published often, I would guess the Michelin with its more square and tall side walls will account for weight gains over the Pirelli.

Pirelli however in my experience are so far off Michelin in terms of performance that the weight wouldn't bother me, but interesting none the less!

Speaking of acoustic versions I heard of this only recently when getting tyres sorted for our Land Rover Discovery, I wonder how much difference they actually make db wise and what sort of weight that adds. Yet another complexity!

The RS6 came with the Pirelli Acoustic and due to the problems. These were replaced with non-acoustic Michelin Pilot 4 and I cannot say the sound was dramatic for noise, it was for improved feel and grip

thank you Peter & Alistair

- I didn't know that the P4S Acoustic existed - I'm sold!
The P4S acoustic isn't available in factory-fit sizes (a notably skinny front tyre!), but the chap who develops i8s for track & performance indicates that there are P4S acoustic sizes that'll fit :-)

- invaluable to have real world experience of both tyres in the same car Alistair - thank you for the feedback. :-)

Will

I've had Pilot Sport 4 tyres on my Aero for 6months now and I've been very impressed with them from a grip perspective in all conditions and they are definitely quieter then the previous Avons. I certainly didn't specify a particular "Acoustic" version and Michelin's website doesn't mention an "Acoustic" version of either the Sport 4 or Sport 4s so can only assume that these are generally getting good reviews on tyre noise compared with their competitors.

So, an update. The PS4 tyres on the 18" rims have been a significant improvement over the 8/9 year old Avon ZV5 that the car came with. Quieter, much more grip and better feeling on the "Dead ahead". I've recently acquired some additional 18" "Speedster" wheels (thanks Peter J) and these are currently being refurbed and painted in Santorini Gloss Black (a metallic Ranger Rover colour). Having been reading lots of reviews and tests and as I generally only take the Aero out in the dry I have decided to get a latest Avon ZV7 Tyres fitted to be able to compare directly to the Michelin PS4.

The consistent theme is that the Avons are a little better grip-wise and quieter on the road in the dry with better corner stability and shorter braking distances compared to the Michelins, although they are not as good as the Michelins in the wet and have longer braking distance and greater appetite for aquaplaning.

Like all things I guess some of the results are down to individual feel and preferences as well as which company is paying which tester! It will be good to see how two well-rated tyres, by lots or ordinary users, perform and whether I can, in all honesty, tell any difference. The Avons are definitely much cheaper at the moment at £360 fitted for a set of 4, whereas the Michelins were coming our at £460. Whilst £100 is not a huge sum it is quite a big percentage difference on the cost and will I notice that much of a percentage difference in performance? Let's hope not otherwise I've just spent £360 on some tyres to do donuts with

Paul,

has anyone demonstrated the ability of an Aero to do donuts???

Hi Peter,

I've never seen a video of such antics however with the lightweight, power, rear drive and position of the seat so far back in the chassis I suspect that donuts and drifting generally would be relatively straightforward (sideways obviously) and a great deal of fun! If the Avons turn out to be rubbish I'll see if I can oblige!

Might have....just a rumour.....no pictures were taken.

S2 manual, old and worn tyres it arrived on and so wanted to have a laugh before changing them. It was a cool dry day. It felt quite brutal but it lit up quite well and stayed spinning in second for a moment. Not done it again since or in the Coupe.

Oh and with the single sidepipes on the S2 it was darn noisy.