I bought a Peugeot 308 GT last year and the original tires are already pretty worn. I haven't been driving like crazy, just normal commutes to work and a few weekend trips. Is this premature wear or are these factory tires just not that great?
Pilot Sport 4S tires are performance tires designed for handling and responsiveness, not really for longevity. It's a classic tradeoff - you gain grip and cornering but lose tire life. After 15,000 km it's definitely quick wear, but not totally abnormal for this type of tire. You also have to consider your driving style - even without driving "like a madman," hard braking, tight cornering, and regular acceleration wear them down way more than really smooth driving.
On the 308 GT they put stock tires that try to find a balance, and clearly Michelin went for performance over durability with these Sport 4S. It's not a fault with the tire itself, it's just their nature. A lot of people with this version would tell you the same thing actually. If it really bothers you, you can switch to other brands when you replace them - stuff that's a bit less aggressive and will last you way longer, even if they'll be a little less sharp in corners.
15,000 km is indeed very short for wear that visible, even with performance tires. I've got some semi-sporty tires at home and they last way longer on city driving. Two things to check: first, your tire pressure - low pressure ramps up wear like crazy - and then wheel alignment. If it's off, you'll wear down the sidewalls in a few months. On a brand new 308 it shouldn't come misaligned from the factory, but bad roads can mess with it. If your pressure is correct and the alignment's good, it's probably just that Peugeot's standard tires on this model are really cheap ones with poor grip - so yeah, not great for longevity.
Haven't you noticed if you're braking a lot harder than before or taking corners differently since you got this car? Because 15,000 km is indeed very short, but Pilot Sport 4S are really performance-oriented tires - they clearly sacrifice durability for grip and precision. That said, *visible* wear at this mileage is still suspect even for this type of tire, so either you've got a misaligned suspension geometry (worth checking with an alignment shop), or you've unconsciously changed your driving style, or frankly the factory-fitted tires are 'budget' variants that are less robust than the standard commercial version of the same model.
Don't jump to blaming the tires right away - 15,000 km with visible wear is clearly abnormal even for a performance tire. Pilot Sport 4S are aggressive on grip, yeah, but they still last way longer on normal driving. You should check your wheel alignment and tire pressure, because chronic underinflation or bad alignment eats through tires like nothing, regardless of the model. That's usually the real culprit, way more than the tire's quality.
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