Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 vs Michelin Pilot Sport 5: We saw previously how well the latest Michelin Pilot Sport 5 performed against Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 in our previous head to head coverage. This time around we would like to pair the Pilot Sport 5 with another rising star which is Hankook’s Ventus S1 evo 3 to see whether Michelin’s latest donut can withstand the competition. Ventus S1 evo 3 is a relatively old tire as it was launched in 2019 and has participated in a huge number of press tests over the years while the Pilot Sport 5 was just launched recently in 2022.
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the 2022 Tyre Reviews 17 Inch Summer Tyre Test. A total of 9 tires were tested on the Goodyear’s track in France. The graph below shows the comparison between Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 vs Michelin Pilot Sport 5 based on the relevant performance category. The Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
Note that for subjective comfort evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if tire A is graded 7 while tire B is graded 6, A is better than B by 5%. The tire size of interest is 225/45 R17 which is a common tire size for Audi A3 and Hyundai Elantra. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information. The testing vehicle of choice is the highly sporty Volkswagen Golf GTI.
Dry
One of the most important performances when it comes to the ultra ultra high performance segment is to have a very strong dry showing. In dry braking, Ventus S1 evo 3 managed to out brake Pilots Sport 5 by the finest margin of 0.2m. The tables were turned in the dry handling criteria as Pilot Sport 5 took back the initiative. In dry handling lap times, the Pilot Sport 5 was quicker by 0.53 seconds compared to the Ventus S1 evo 3. From a subjective point of view, the Pilot Sport 5 was rated +0.8 points better than Ventus S1 evo 3.
According to the test driver, the Pilot Sport 5 was “easy to drive, safe understeer balance, GREAT levels of grip… but just not that sporty” while Ventus S1 evo was “tyres immediately felt soft coming out of the garage, the steering was lighter, you needed more steering angle to get the car turned, and you could feel the car moving around on the sidewalls of the tyres just coming off the ramps”. Overall the Pilot Sport 5 has great subjective handling but was slightly edged out by Ventus S1 evo in braking.
Pilot Sport 5:
- -0.6% in dry braking
- +0.6% in dry handling (lap time)
- +4% in subj dry handling
Wet
Safety has always been the main theme when it comes to the need for wet performances. In objective wet braking, the Ventus S1 evo 3 managed to out brake the Pilot Sport 5 by 2.8m while also claiming the best wet braking tire of the test. The Pilot Sport 5 took back the honors when it comes to straight aquaplaning with the highest slipping speed of 87.4 km/h compared to the 85.6 km/h of Ventus S1 evo 3.
Even though the Ventus S1 evo 3 had a strong wet braking performance, Pilot Sport 5 totally dominated in wet handling. The Pilot Sport 5 was 0.73 seconds faster while having a +1 point advantage in subjective wet handling. Pilot Sport 5 is the best subjectively rated wet handling tire in the test. It is astonishing to see how having the better wet braking tire does not necessarily contribute to a good wet handling tire. There are other key contributing factors other than the rubber compound which makes wet handling performance a very tricky one to master.
Pilot Sport 5:
- -9% in wet braking
- +1.1% in wet handling (lap time)
- +5% in subj wet handling
- +2.2% in straight aquaplaning
Noise & Comfort
In the noise vibration & hardness criteria, Pilot Sport 5 was more comfortable with a subjective rating of 9.8/10 while the Ventus S1 evo 3 only managed a 8.5/10 score. In exterior noise, the advantage belongs to Ventus S1 evo 3 as it is 1.5 dB quieter than Pilot Sport 5.
Pilot Sport 5:
- +6.5% in comfort
- -2.1% in exterior noise (+1.5 dB)
Rolling Resistance
When it comes to extreme sporty tires, rolling resistance is definitely not something the user has in mind when purchasing the tire. However with the sustainability topic being more prevalent, it is good to know where they stand. Pilot Sport 5 was better with a rolling resistance coefficient of 8.84 N/kN against 9.07 N/kN of Ventus S1 evo 3. This makes Pilot Sport 5 a much more fuel saving tire & also emits less CO2 over lifetime.
Pilot Sport 5:
- +2.56% in rolling resistance
UTQG rating
We have previously shown that UTQG tread wear rating can be a good indication of your expected mileage. Below are the UTQG values of both of the tirelines.
| Brand | Tireline | Size | Tread Wear | Traction | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hankook | Ventus S1 evo 3 | All | 220 | A | A |
| Michelin | Pilot Sport 5 | All | – | – | – |
Unfortunately we are unable to track down the Pilot Sport 5’s UTQG value as it was not officially available yet in North America but it does come with a 30,000 miles mileage warranty. However Ventus S1 evo 3 does not come with a mileage warranty which we would suspect as UTQG tread wear of 220 is very close to a semi-slick track day tire. Overall from an expectation point of view, we would expect Pilot Sport 5 to have a higher expected mileage compared to Ventus S1 evo 3.
For more in depth information about UTQG, please check out this article here. We even have a free download on the latest UTQG values from the leading tire manufacturers.
Price
Being the undisputed technology leader, we would expect Michelin to command the highest priced tire in the market. This was in alignment as Pilot Sport 5 was found to be more expensive than Ventus S1 evo 3.
Tire size: 225/45 R17
Ventus S1 evo 3: €77.49
Pilot Sport 5: €100
Difference: +23% more expensive for Pilot Sport 5.
Summary
Overall, Ventus S1 evo 3 showed great strengths in wet & dry barking. However Pilot Sport 5 showed why its a top notch tire by being the best in dry/wet handling, aquaplaning & comfort. Considering the expectation of an ultra ultra high performance segment, the winner in this battle is Pilot Sport 5 !