Michelin Primacy Tour AS Review
A premium tire for discerning drivers, the Michelin Primacy Tour AS delivers an impressive package of performance and ride quality, although it’s not perfect.
PROS
- Extremely comfortable
- Excellent driving dynamics
- Solid all-season capability
CONS
- Tread life could be better
- Some road noise
Visually there isn’t anything that really jumps out at you with this tire. It makes use of a conventional five-row tread pattern with four circumferential grooves to easily evacuate water and prevent hydroplaning. Slits in the tread are angled to further help channel water away from the contact patch.
Handling is impressive and this tire has excellent agility for its class. The outboard tread blocks are particularly wide to help with grip during cornering. As well, the tread blocks just inside from there are actually all connected to the other blocks in that row, resulting in the tire being able to better withstand hard cornering. It also makes for a more responsive tire, with more predictable grip.
Siping on the middle and inboard tread blocks gives this tire some mild winter capability. It’s no winter tire, but independent tests have shown its on par with rivals and actually does quite well in winter braking tests.
Grand Touring tires like this are held to a high standard when it comes to delivering a premium ride quality and here it really does excel. It’s extremely comfortable and owners rave about how it has transformed many vehicles (especially modern ones with low profile tires) into a much more comfortable experience.
We will note, however, that in terms of road noise it is slightly louder than we’d expect.
If there’s any other drawback from this tire it’s the tread life. Ranging from 45,000 to 55,000 miles it’s not setting any records in its class. We’d expect 60,000 mile or more for a tire in this class, especially from a Michelin. Still, if you don’t mind that slightly shorter life, you certainly won’t be disappointed for all the miles in between.
Michelin Primacy Tour AS Price
Pricing for the Michelin Primacy Tour AS ranges from around $180 per tire for the smallest 17-inch fitment and goes up to roughly $330 for the largest 22-inch size.
Michelin Primacy Tour AS Warranty
Michelin backs the Primacy Tour AS with a tread life warranty based on the speed rating of the specific fitment. Tires with a W-Speed rating get a 45,000 mile warranty while H- and V-speed rated tires get a 55,000 mile warranty. And like all Michelin tires they also come with a standard limited warranty that covers defects in materials and workmanship. Any tire found to be defective int he first 2/32-inch of tread life will be replaced free of charge, while any tire found to have a defect after that point (and down to the final 232-inch of tread wear) will be replaced on a pro-rated basis.
Michelin Primacy Tour AS Sizes
17-inch sizes
215/55R17
225/50R17
235/45R17
235/55R17
245/40R17
245/45R17
245/65R17
18-inch sizes
225/45R18
225/55R18
225/55R18
225/60R18
225/60R18
235/40R18
235/45R18
235/45R18
235/45R18
235/50R18
235/50R18
235/60R18
235/65R18
245/45R18
245/45R18
245/50R18
245/50R18
245/60R18
255/55R18
19-inch sizes
225/40R19
225/45R19
225/55R19
235/50R19
245/45R19
245/45R19
255/35R19
255/40R19
255/50R19
255/50R19
275/40R19
20-inch sizes
235/55R20
245/40R20
245/45R20
245/50R20
255/45R20
255/50R20
265/50R20
275/50R20
21-inch sizes
255/40R21
275/45R21
275/45R21
315/40R21
315/40R21
22-inch sizes
265/40R22
Is the Michelin Primacy Tour AS Good in Snow?
Thanks to some siping on the three inboard tread blocks the Michelin Primacy Tour AS has some minimal grip in snow and on ice, though we wouldn’t recommend it for winter use. (We almost always recommend proper winter tires if you live somewhere with snow).For an all-season tire it offers average grip in snow and ice, though it does offer slightly higher braking performance on ice than rivals (according to independent testing). If you’re looking for a premium tire that can handle winter, we suggested the CrossClimate 2.