[oceanview]

Just received my Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 winter tire set.

As I see, the tires are asymmetrical but not rotation oriented? Is that right?
So there is only one profile type that looks like that.



Can anyone confirm?

[floydarogers]

Originally Posted by oceanview

Just received my Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 winter tire set.

As I see, the tires are asymmetrical but not rotation oriented? Is that right?
So there is only one profile type that looks like that.

Can anyone confirm?

Pretty sure that they are asymmetrical, and directional - note that the right shoulder is different than the left (asymmetrical), and the grooves across the left side of the tread all slant one way (directional). You should have two lefts and two rights (can rotate front to rear, but not side to side.)

Note that on this pic: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic...wall=Blackwall , there is the word "Outside" just before Pilot.

[oceanview]

Thanks floydarogers . Yes, it is an asymmetrical tire and I saw the mark "outside" on it too. But there is no "rotation" arrow as I saw on many other asymmetric tires I've had.
It seems the profile is always the same, which looks strange. If you look at the car from behind, the tire profile curves on the right wheel will go upwards, but on the left wheel they will go down.

[floydarogers]

Originally Posted by oceanview

Thanks floydarogers . Yes, it is an asymmetrical tire and I saw the mark "outside" on it too. But there is no "rotation" arrow as I saw on many other asymmetric tires I've had.
It seems the profile is always the same, which looks strange. If you look at the car from behind, the tire profile curves on the right wheel will go upwards, but on the left wheel they will go down.

They won't go down, because then the side that is marked "outside" would be on the inside, which would happen only due to incorrectly mounting them.

[oceanview]

In the meantime I've found some Videos confirming, that I got the right set of tires. They are not rotation oriented. Just "outside" marked.

[Matteo88]

Hey if you are still here i am wondering if you still have access to those videos?

I have run into the same problem as i have just installed my PA4s and cannot see any sort of direction indicated on the tire but indeed the curve of the tread is not hitting the road in the same way on all 4 wheels as a result.

I couldn't find anything concrete on the Michelin site or others like Tire Rack. Incidentally if a tire is NOT directional it's unlikely to advertise this fact. It makes sense to advertise if it is directional only if it's directional.

Drove the car today and it seemed ok but felt different... from my summers... which makes sense. Can't remember what they felt like last year :P

[visionaut]

PA4s have an outside marking for mounting only. No rotation marking. Yes, they’re asymmetrical, so left-side tread is oriented different.

[oceanview]

Originally Posted by Matteo88

Hey if you are still here i am wondering if you still have access to those videos?

I have run into the same problem as i have just installed my PA4s and cannot see any sort of direction indicated on the tire but indeed the curve of the tread is not hitting the road in the same way on all 4 wheels as a result.

I couldn't find anything concrete on the Michelin site or others like Tire Rack. Incidentally if a tire is NOT directional it's unlikely to advertise this fact. It makes sense to advertise if it is directional only if it's directional.

Drove the car today and it seemed ok but felt different... from my summers... which makes sense. Can't remember what they felt like last year :P

Originally Posted by visionaut

PA4s have an outside marking for mounting only. No rotation marking. Yes, they’re asymmetrical, so left-side tread is oriented different.

^^^
This!

Just one tire. The tire has an "Outside" mark.
So when you look at the left / right wheel it will look like this.
And as you see the tire profile inside look the opposite on left and right. That confused me. However, that's how it goes.

I just replaced my rear tires and will go into winter number 4 with staggered setup 225/255 on my RWD. Can just recommend the PA4s!