Michelin Premier A/S Tire Review

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About the Michelin Premier A/S

Michelin is renowned for manufacturing tires that deliver unmatched performance, a comfortable driving experience, and long-lasting tread life. And the Michelin Premier A/S is equally impressive.

Specifically produced for sedans, minivans and coupes, the Michelin Premier A/S will replace the Primacy MXV4, which is being phased out.

The Michelin Premier A/S aims to provide high safety levels, outstanding performance on different surfaces, extended tread life as well as exceptional comfort.

While designing the Premier A/S, Michelin’s engineers mainly focused on improving wet traction, since a significant number of car-related accidents tend to happen during rainy conditions.

To this end, Michelin has equipped this tire with several key features, designed to enhance its performance, especially on wet surfaces while extending its wear-life.

Overall, this tire delivers excellent driving control as well as great stopping power in a wide range of weather conditions and surfaces. Let’s have a closer look at this all-season tire.

What are the Key Features of the Michelin Premier A/S?

The Michelin Premier A/S is outfitted with several features and technologies, designed to enhance its performance, whether you are driving on dry roads, wet and slippery surfaces or icy and snowy roads.

One of the most notable features of this tire is its unique tread compound, which is a blend of sunflower oil and extreme silica. According to Michelin, this combination results in enhanced traction and grip, especially in cold temperatures and on wet pavements.

Michelin has further molded the tread compound, giving it a symmetric tread pattern, designed to enhance steering responsiveness, and straight-line tracing, for improved handling on dry pavements.

Michelin has also equipped this tire with its exclusive EverGrip technology, featuring emerging grooves across its shoulders and expanding rain grooves around its circumference.

According to Michelin, this tread design enables the Michelin Premier A/S to maintain traction and grip throughout its entire life.

The Michelin Premier A/S also features low-rolling-resistance technology, which helps to minimize the amount of energy a vehicle needs to roll the wheels, leading to better fuel economy.

Inside the Premier A/S are twin steel belts, enhanced with a polyester cord body. This combination gives this tire stability and sturdiness, which ensures great handling, a comfortable ride, as well as durability.

How Does the Michelin Premier A/S Perform on Dry Tarmac?

Similar to other all-season tires from this brand, the Premier A/S handles dry tarmac quite well.

With a set of the Premier A/S, your sedan, coupe, or minivan will feel more responsive, the vehicle will ride smoothly and the steering will be equally great.

Its traction on dry pavement is reliable and its stopping grip will always be there, even when the tires have lost some of their tread.

And this can be attributed to the EverGrip technology, which was mentioned earlier. This technology features hidden grooves, which emerge as the Premier A/S wears.

The Premier A/S also provides superior cornering while its stopping is fast and precise. Overall, its performance on dry pavement is one of the best in the all-season grand-touring category.

How Does the Michelin Premier A/S Perform on Wet and Slippery Roads?

When it comes to dry pavements, the Premier A/S may have some competition. However, its performance on wet and slippery surfaces is one of the best in the class.

In fact, it beats some of its competitors by a huge margin. It delivers superb traction and grip in wet conditions and slippery roads.

Its outstanding wet performance can be attributed to the EverGrip technology, which comes with two main features:

Expanding and Emerging Rain Grooves

The Premier A/S comes with hidden grooves, which emerge as its tread wears out. According to Michelin, this tire has been outfitted with more than 150 hidden rain grooves, which emerge as it wears.

Therefore, it will maintain its superb traction on wet surfaces throughout its entire life, thanks to these hidden rain grooves.

The expanding grooves, on the other hand, are positioned around the tire’s circumference.

These grooves have a unique geometric shape, whereby they become wider or expand, as the tread wires. As a result, the tire will continue shedding water even as its grooves lose depth, meaning it will not lose traction.

Unique Rubber Compound

As noted earlier, the Premier A/S rubber compound features a combination of sunflower oil and extreme silica. And with this combination, you can expect nothing less than top-notch flexibility and strength.

The extreme silica present in the rubber compound provides an exceptional grip on wet surfaces, resulting in controlled handling. It enables the tire to maintain reliable traction and grip, even when you encounter excessively wet conditions.

On the other hand, the sunflower oil helps the Premier A/S to maintain flexibility and suppleness in lower temperatures, thus increasing its wet grip.

How Does the Michelin Premier A/S Perform on Snowy and Icy Roads?

Snowy and ice can cause the rubber used on conventional tires to harden, leading to loss of traction.

As a result, most all-season tires tend to perform poorly whenever they encounter icy and snowy roads. Simply put, they don’t provide the same level of traction on icy and snowy roads as they do on dry pavement.

However, you will not encounter such challenges with the Premier A/S. While it’s not specifically built as a winter tire, the Premier A/S performs surprisingly well in moderate winter conditions.

It drives comfortably and smoothly, leading to assured vehicle handling. Also, it has great and reliable stopping power on light snow, thanks to the EverGrip technology.

If you look at Premier A/S closely, you will notice that its outer surface features a series of sipes and tread blocks. Both the sipes and the tire blocks work together to act as biting edges, thus helping the tire to cut through snow and ice.

However, you should note that the Michelin Premier A/S is not a designated winter tire. So, if you live in an area that experiences heavy winters frequently, then you should stick to winter tires.  

Comfort and Noise Levels

If you are looking for an all-season tire that is refined and comfortable, then you should check out the Michelin Premier A/S. Its ride quality and comfort are some of the best in the all-season grand-touring category.

Thanks to its uniformly blended materials, unique rubber compounds as well as its external and internal design, this tire delivers a truly comfortable and smooth ride.

Even when you encounter bumps on the road or small potholes, you will barely feel them as long as you are cruising with these tires.

The smooth, comfortable and quiet ride can be attributed to Michelin’s Comfort Control technology, which helps to reduce road vibrations and noise.

Drivers who have already used this tire note that it’s remarkably quiet during its first two years. However, the level of noisiness tends to increase from this point going forward.

Overall, the Premier A/S is quiet and delivers a smooth, comfortable, relaxed and refined ride, as long as you keep your tires properly balanced.

Tread Life and Durability

Michelin offers a tread life warranty of 6 years or 60,000 miles for the Premier A/S. And as noted earlier, its tread is designed to evolve as the tire wears, thus continuing to supply traction and grip.

But according to some drivers, the hidden and emerging tread design is all in theory and not practical. Those who have already used the Premier A/S claim that its tread life is shorter than the promised 60,000 miles.

Furthermore, some of its competitors are providing better treadwear warranties. For instance, the Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack comes with an 80,000-mile treadwear warranty, which is greater by far than what Michelin offers for the Premier A/S.

Which Vehicles Does the Michelin Premier A/S Fit?

The Premier A/S is an all-season tire, designed for minivans, sedans and coupes. Here are some of the vehicles that the Premier A/S will fit:

• Buick Century, Lucerne and Lesabre
• Chevrolet Malibu, Venture, Cavalier and Impala
• Chrysler Country, Town, PT Cruiser and Sebring
• Dodge Neon and Grand Caravan
• Ford Crown Victoria, Ranger, Windstar, Taurus and Mustang
• Hyundai Accent and Sonata
• Mercury Mystique, Grand Marquis and Villager
• KIA Amanti
• Honda CR-V, Odyssey, Accord and Civic
• Nissan Altima, Rogue, Sentra and Maxima
• Toyota Camry, Sienna, Prius, Corolla, Echo and Tacoma
• Pontiac Montana, Vibe, Torrent, Bonneville, Trans Sport, and Grand Am
• Subaru Outback
• Plymouth Voyager
• Saturn SL2,  and LW1

Sizes and Specs

Considering that the Premier A/S is such a popular tire, finding the right size for your vehicle shouldn’t be hard. Tire sizes range from 15 inches to 19 inches. Some of the available sizes include:

15 Inch

• 185 /65 R15 88H SL BSW
• 195/60R15 88H SL BSW
• 195/55R15 85V SL BSW
• 205/65R15 94H SL BSW
• 205/60R15 91H SL BSW

16 Inch                                        

• 185/55R16 83H SL BSW
• 205/55R16 91H SL BSW
• 195/55R16 87V SL BSW
• 205/50R16 87V SL BSW
• 205/55R16 91V SL BSW
• 205/60R16 92V SL BSW
• 215/55R16 93H SL BSW
• 205/60R16 92H SL BSW
• 215/60R16 95V SL BSW
• 225/55R16 95H SL BSW
• 225/60R16 98H SL BSW
• 235/65R16 103H SL BSW

17 Inch

• 205/45R17 84V SL BSW
• 205/50R17 93V XL BSW
• 215/45R17 87H SL BSW
• 215/50R17 95V XL BSW
• 215/55R17 94H SL BSW
• 215/45R17 87V SL BSW
• 215/50R17 91H SL BSW
• 225/45R17 91V SL BSW
• 225/50R17 94H SL BSW
• 225/55R17 97V SL BSW
• 235/45R17 94V SL BSW
• 235/50R17 96H SL BSW
• 245/45R17 95H SL BSW

18 Inch

• 215/55R18 95H SL BSW
• 225/50R18 95H SL BSW
• 225/60R18 100H SL BSW
• 235/45R18 94H SL BSW
• 245/45R18 100V XL BSW

19 Inch

•  245/45R19 98V SL BSW

The above list doesn’t include all the vehicles that the Michelin Premier A/S will fit. If it’s compatible with your vehicle, then your local installer or tire seller can help you to choose a size that fits your vehicle.

How Much does the Michelin Premier A/S Cost?

If you decide to install this tire on your vehicle, then you are going to spend approximately $115 to $250.

So, if you were to install a set of four Michelin Premier A/S tires, then you will spend approximately $500 to $1000.

The actual cost will depend on the size of your vehicle’s tires as well as the outlet you are purchasing the Premier A/S from.

Does the Michelin Premier A/S Come with a Warranty?

The Premier A/S comes with several warranties and guarantees. First, Michelin offers a 60,000-mile or 6-year tread warranty on this tire.

Second, Michelin also guarantees tire uniformity for the first 2/32-inch of wear or the tire’s first year, whichever comes first.

Third, the Premier A/S comes with a materials and workmanship warranty of 6 years, including a free replacement for its first 2/32-inch of wear or its first year, whichever comes first.

Fourth, Michelin also offers a 60-day satisfaction guarantee. So, if you purchase a set of these tires but you are not satisfied with them, then you are at liberty of returning them within 60 days for a refund or exchange.

Michelin Premier A/S Pros

• Excellent traction on wet and slippery surfaces
• Outstanding stability at high speeds
•  Smooth, quiet and comfortable ride
• Sturdy and long-lasting
• Great handling, responsiveness and braking on dry pavement

Michelin Premier A/S Cons

• Shorter treadwear warranty than its competitors
• A bit pricey

Our Take

Overall, the Premier A/S is a reliable option if you are in the market for all-season, grand touring tire for minivans and cars. It provides great feedback to the road, handles corners effectively and brakes confidently. Simply put, the Premier A/S is a dependable and solid all-season tire that will not disappoint you.