Michelin Primacy AS Review
A solid all-season tire for a wide selection of vehicles, the Michelin Primacy AS delivers most of what you’d want in tire but with one more significant drawback.
PROS
- Solid driving dynamics
- Decent wet and dry performance
- Quiet and comfortable
CONS
- Limited sizes
- Tread life could be longer
- Limited winter grip
In one sense there isn’t a lot that’s special about these tires. They offer a conventional tread pattern with five rows of treads with four circumferential grooves to help evacuate water. Each tread section is divided into many sub-sections giving plenty of grip in the wet. This might just be its best feature.
Despite the grip in wet conditions, winter driving is not a highlight for this tire. Consumers report being particularly disappointed by grip in the snow, although as we always recommend winter tires, we don’t count this drawback as a big one.
Dry handling is decent, though not impressive by any means. The tire is designed more for year-round functionality than performance driving and the slits in the tread blocks mean it flexes somewhat – though no less than a typical tire in this class.
The tread compound is reasonably sticky and so it does offer some natural grip. However, this also leads to the tire’s biggest drawback: tread life. It’s hardly bad, but most other tires deliver more than the 55,000 mile tread life warranty Michelin gives here.
The computer aided design means the tread cancels out road noise and is quiet silent around town and on the highway. It rides comfortably as well.
Overall, there aren’t many reasons to not buy this tire, but that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement. Even the price is reasonable, which isn’t always the case with Michelins.
That said, we’d encourage anyone shopping for this tire to check out the Michelin Primacy Tour AS as it offers an even more comfortable ride with a longer tread life, for slightly more money.
Michelin Primacy AS Price
Pricing for the Michelin Primacy AS ranges from roughly $150 per tire to just under $200 per tire.
Michelin Primacy AS Warranty
Michelin backs the Primacy AS with a 55,000 mile read life warranty. In addition, like all Michelin tires it comes with a standard limited warranty that protects the buyer against defects in materials and workmanship. If a tire is deemed defective in the first 2/32-inch of treadwear Michelin will replace it free of charge. After that point and down until the final 2/32-inch of tread, Michelin will replace defective tires on a pro-rated basis, depending on the quantity of tread left.
Michelin Primacy AS Sizes
15-inch sizes
195/65R15
17-inch sizes
215/50R17
215/55R17
225/60R17
225/65R17
225/65R17
225/65R17
18-inch sizes
225/40R18
225/60R18
225/60R18
225/60R18
19-inch sizes
225/55R19
235/55R19
255/40R19
20-inch sizes
235/50R20
255/55R20
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Michelin Primacy AS Good in Snow?
While designed with the latest all-season compound and plentiful siping, the Primacy AS comes up a bit short in true winter grip. We don’t expect a lot from all-season tires in winter, but even then these tires fall short.
Is the Michelin Primacy AS a Quiet Tire?
With a computer optimized tread compound, the Primacy AS is effectively silent when running both around town and at highway speeds.
Is the Michelin Primacy AS Available as a Run Flat?
No run flat option is available for the Primacy AS. However, if you look slightly up-market in Michelin’s lineup, the Primacy Tour model can be had with run-flat technology. Be sure to look for the ZP label on the tires indicating they are run flats. These tires can operate for up to 50 miles at speeds of 50 miles per hour, after a puncture.
Michelin Primacy AS vs Premier AS
With a confusingly similar naming convention, its easy to mix up the Primacy AS and the Premier AS. On paper, some of their key attributes aren’t that different either, with the Primacy AS having a 55,000 mile tread life warranty compared to a slightly longer 60,000 mile warranty for the Premier AS.
The Primacy AS is a rather conventional tire with average performance and was designed to be a factory-equipped tire on numerous vehicles. As a result, it does all things reasonably well, but makes sacrifices. And as mentioned above, winter grip seems to be lacking quite a bit.
The Premier AS, however, is a grand touring tire with increased levels of comfort and a slight up-tick in performance. The biggest improvement, however, is in wet grip, even over the life of the tire. The tire features “Expanding Rain Grooves” that widen and the tire wears down, ensuring that it maintains its ability to evacuate water from the contact patch. At the same time, small lateral “Emerging Grooves” on the tread shoulders also appear as the tire wears.
All a part of Michelin’s Total Performance package, it’s a commitment to build tires that perform at or near their “when new” level, even after years on the road.