Are Michelin Pilot Primacy directional?

Are Michelin Pilot Primacy directional?

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Discussion

Fastra

Original Poster:

4,277 posts

208 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
Just picked a couple of part worn Pilots and its just struck me that they are an asymmetric design.
Looking at the tyres there appears to be no indication to direction (apart from, maybe, a barcode on one side of each tyre) but the pattern logically goes one way?
Should you spec a left and a right when buying these???


blackburn

2,336 posts

197 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
Dunno, but they were shockingly short of grip on the front of my runaround Focus Estate. Swapped 'em for a pair of cheapy tyres which are much better... go figure!

focusboy

274 posts

189 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
No they are not directional, they can only be fitted one way on the rim, inner and outer may be visable, think in says inner on what would be the inner sidewall.

Hth Garry

Fastra

Original Poster:

4,277 posts

208 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
Thanks, only had a quick look at them really. I'll have a proper look in the morning.
So you would, in effect, end up with 2 wheels both with the outside 'angular' bit both on the right hand side - as on the picture.

sleep envy

62,260 posts

248 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
just have to re-edit that, there's only 1 way to fit the tyres so when you look at the car from the rear the tread is different either side as they're not handed

have them on my A3 - pretty good grip wet or dry, got 28k miles out of my last set so bought 4 more

Edited by sleep envy on Wednesday 31st March 21:30

Superhoop

4,676 posts

192 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
Fastra said:
Thanks, only had a quick look at them really. I'll have a proper look in the morning.
So you would, in effect, end up with 2 wheels both with the outside 'angular' bit both on the right hand side - as on the picture.
No, Inside and outside will be marked on the sidewall. So the the left hand tyre will be fitted as a mirror image of the right hand side.

Fastra

Original Poster:

4,277 posts

208 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
Superhoop said:
Fastra said:
Thanks, only had a quick look at them really. I'll have a proper look in the morning.
So you would, in effect, end up with 2 wheels both with the outside 'angular' bit both on the right hand side - as on the picture.
No, Inside and outside will be marked on the sidewall. So the the left hand tyre will be fitted as a mirror image of the right hand side.
So that would mean that they ARE sold as a left and right then?

sleep envy

62,260 posts

248 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
Fastra said:
So that would mean that they ARE sold as a left and right then?
nope

they aren't handed

j44esd

1,233 posts

222 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
sleep envy said:
Fastra said:
So that would mean that they ARE sold as a left and right then?
nope

they aren't handed
They are asymmetric, not directional and not 'handed' smile So as someone else stated they should be marked Inner/Outer or Inside/Outside

Hope that helps!


Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

245 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
No they aren't handed.

Good tyres though for larger cars.

Fastra

Original Poster:

4,277 posts

208 months

Wednesday 31st March 2010
quotequote all
Thanks all.

Not that I don't trust you lot biggrin, but I've just picked up this from a Mondeo forum - a Michelin engineer replied:


'When fitted correctly, any curved or sloping feature of the pattern design will face in different directions on each side of the vehicle. This does not, however, affect the water clearance to any significant degree since the 'volume' of the tread grooves decides the quantity of fluid that can be 'contained' by the pattern.

Once fitted, the tyre/wheel assembly can be fitted to any corner of the vehicle and does not, therefore, present any problems concerning the 'direction' of the spare tyre.'

smile

Fastra

Original Poster:

4,277 posts

208 months

Thursday 1st April 2010
quotequote all
Right.

I've just had a proper look, and they do indeed have 'outside' marked on them.
So when fitted they will look like this:



...which looks odd given the design of them, but referring back to the what the engineers says (and, of course, fellow PH'ers) it doesn't matter!

smile


Anyway £55 for the pair, which have only done a few thousand miles too - can't be bad!

smile

neil_bolton

17,113 posts

263 months

Thursday 1st April 2010
quotequote all
blackburn said:
Dunno, but they were shockingly short of grip on the front of my runaround Focus Estate. Swapped 'em for a pair of cheapy tyres which are much better... go figure!
They were fine on my 328 - I ran Pilot Sport 2's for ages, and then got fed up with the price of them, so tried the cheaper Primacy.

Worked well for me...

HellDiver

5,708 posts

181 months

Thursday 1st April 2010
quotequote all
Fastra said:
Anyway £55 for the pair, which have only done a few thousand miles too - can't be bad!

smile
They look more like they've done 10k - there's nearly half the tread missing. Should be 8mm tread on a new tyre, and they look more like 4-5mm.

jon-

16,496 posts

215 months

Thursday 1st April 2010
quotequote all
Fastra said:
Right.

I've just had a proper look, and they do indeed have 'outside' marked on them.
So when fitted they will look like this:



...which looks odd given the design of them, but referring back to the what the engineers says (and, of course, fellow PH'ers) it doesn't matter!

smile


Anyway £55 for the pair, which have only done a few thousand miles too - can't be bad!

smile
You think they look odd, you should see the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta fitted. Subtle? No!

Fastra

Original Poster:

4,277 posts

208 months

Thursday 1st April 2010
quotequote all
HellDiver said:
Fastra said:
Anyway £55 for the pair, which have only done a few thousand miles too - can't be bad!

smile
They look more like they've done 10k - there's nearly half the tread missing. Should be 8mm tread on a new tyre, and they look more like 4-5mm.
They may look like that perhaps, but in FACT they have 6-7mm! FACT!!!

smile

Fastra

Original Poster:

4,277 posts

208 months

Thursday 1st April 2010
quotequote all
jon- said:
Fastra said:
Right.

I've just had a proper look, and they do indeed have 'outside' marked on them.
So when fitted they will look like this:



...which looks odd given the design of them, but referring back to the what the engineers says (and, of course, fellow PH'ers) it doesn't matter!

smile


Anyway £55 for the pair, which have only done a few thousand miles too - can't be bad!

smile
You think they look odd, you should see the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta fitted. Subtle? No!
They just look backwards!!!

HellDiver

5,708 posts

181 months

Thursday 1st April 2010
quotequote all
FACT?!?!?

Fair enough. biggrin

Bit of a Billy-Bargain anyway. I paid £70 each for Bridgestones last week. frown

blackburn

2,336 posts

197 months

Monday 5th April 2010
quotequote all
neil_bolton said:
blackburn said:
Dunno, but they were shockingly short of grip on the front of my runaround Focus Estate. Swapped 'em for a pair of cheapy tyres which are much better... go figure!
They were fine on my 328 - I ran Pilot Sport 2's for ages, and then got fed up with the price of them, so tried the cheaper Primacy.

Worked well for me...
Fair play fella. I wonder if mine had gone "off" or a bit "hard"... The Pilot Sports on my other car work a treat so I'm not knocking Michelin per se.

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

245 months

Monday 5th April 2010
quotequote all
Michelin - good tyres. But you have to pay.

Pilot Sport - excellent, at a price.

Primacy - darned good everyday tyre.