Is Bespoke Always Best? OE vs. Aftermarket Tyres

OE, or original equipment (OEM) tyres are tyres which are developed with the tyre and vehicle manufacturer working together, to make a tyre that suits the new vehicle as perfectly as possible at time of launch.

But what happens when the tyres that came with your car has been replaced, but the new tyre isn't OE approved? Does fitting the new version of the tyre mean you lose out on performance somewhere, or does new always mean better?

To find out I use a BMW M2 Competition, whos OE tyre was the Michelin Pilot Super Sport which is BMW approved with a * marking, and put it up against the newer aftermarket version of the tyre, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S.

Which tire will come out on top? Watch the video to find out.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
2:01 Road Driving
5:18 Dry Handling
10:13 Dry Braking
10:21 Wet Handling and Braking
10:52 Conclusion

[evansisgreat]

Proper interesting, another video with piles of info that's well condensed and easy to take in. Other channels would have taken 45mins to explain all of this.

[Catroqui]

Measuring the weight of each tyre should be interesting for future comparison videos.

[Paratyphi]

I start watching this channel a few years ago, vids are always very informative and nicely packed. But it also became kind of a routine to me. It's hard to explain. As seasons passes, vids switches from summer tyres to winter tyres on tracks with snow every where. And these shifts are following me along the way when i enter the differents seasons. I watch the winter test with a hot tea, a warm hoodie and it's kind of soothing. Then springs and summer comes and my habit changes, fresh drinks, fan running to cool me down. It's like a clock who give you from time to time a reminder of the season you're in.

[stuartelliott]

I own an F10 M5 and have gone from Pzero to MPS4S having read the overwhelming support for the new tyre. It is excellent.

[jamesFong]

One thing to add is longevity. I got 20k miles out of the PSS and 30k miles on the PS4S over similar driving conditions with a F80 M3. I replaced the PS4S with the same tire not because the tread was gone but the compound had gotten hard after 3 years and grip levels had diminished. (I estimate I was within 6 months of the tread wearing out). Highly recommend the PS4S.

[deramon]

Just wanted to thank you for your excellent work with these videos! I recently bought a new-to me car and when the time for a new set of tires came, your videos were a game changer. I went with 4 Goodyear eagle F1 asymmetric 5's based on one of your recent ones and the difference from the P7's is night and day! Thanks for the effort mate, keep it up! 🤙🏼🤙🏼

[NoahBB]

Best tire reviews on youtube, by far.

[-DC-]

Anyone else doing Tyre Reviews should simply stop, The King has Spoken !

[andyohara]

Great video as always and very informative. I have put a set of Michelin PS4Ss on my 981 GT4, I've kept the Cup 2's that were previously on the car for track work. I can confirm the PS4Ss are great on the GT4 and I can now drive it in all our glorious UK weather conditions without worrying about anything that wet conditions can throw at you when using Cup 2s.

[saqs]

This is the video I’ve been waiting years for!!

[jamlarna]

I fined it incredible how much detail you go through in these videos!! You truly do love tyres and understand every aspect of how they work. Exceptional 👍

[econ]

PSS: Road dry, wet / Track all rounder avg. (in this context/comparison)
PS4S: Road dry/wet-comfort/performance, respectively/Track wet performance
GTR3: Track dry performance

Always brilliant reviews!!

[curtr.]

It is like you make these videos for me as a M2 owner, thank you so much for the video!

[hultii]

As a Gt86 owner I can certainly say that aftermarket is better than the oe tyre :))

[mlhj]

You legend! I say that if one has manually adjustable suspension, don’t be afraid to deviate from OE tyres for newer off-the-shelf tyres. You can compensate handling differences by adjusting dampers and geo.

[JoeAchilles]

Excellent and interesting video mate :-)

[pasihaaraoja]

Thank your informative test! I replaced my Pirelli P-Zero tires to Michelin PS4S Wow what a difference! They are fantastic!

[kurvenkrieger]

Thanks for another brilliant review video! I'm really looking forward to the track tire comparison. I'd really appreciate a tire shoot out under these current european winter conditions (wet 5-10°C, no snow and ice). That would be absolute awesome!

[jurajhrivnak]

And PLEASE, when you finally do do the trackday tyre test, don't forget to include the budget trackday tyres like Zestino Gredge, Federal 595 RS-R, Nankang NS-2R or Ar1, Yokohama AD08 RS etc... That would be massively interesting.
Anyway thanks for this awesome video, keep up the good work!

[h.l.]

Thank you for this interesting review.
On my BMW M3 E92 I just changed from Michelin PSS aftermarket to PSS OE and noticed a big improvement. It's still a great tyre, for the next change I will go for the PS4S.