Michelin Pilot Sport 5 – Temperature Test
September 3, 2026The Michelin Pilot Sport 5 is an excellent summer tyre. The grip when they’re cold is great but their grip when they’re hot is on another level. In this video I want to find out 1. What temperature makes these tyres need come alive and 2. How hot do the tyres get.
To get the data I’m going to drive up and down this mountain road while measuring the front tyre temps with the MoviChip TTM (Tyre Temperature Monitoring System). I’ll give commentary along the drive so we can see how the tyres feel as the temperature increases.
What Did We Learn?
Up to 38C
Up to around 38 Celsius the grip is good but nothing like what is on offer at higher temps. There is a question mark if the speed is too high for the corner when pushing on. Power on exit noticeably shifts the car into understeer. In normal driving no problem when pushing on not ideal.
38-42C
Between 38 & 42 Celsius the PS5s noticeably start to switch on with cornering grip being the most obvious change. More power can be given on corner exit.
Time to get up to 38C will obviously vary wildly depending on road, car and driver. But if we say 2 minutes of spirited driving I think that will be in the ballpark.
>42C
Above 42 celcius the tyres start to feel like they are keying into the road surface rather than just gripping it. Doubts about will they/won’t they turn-in have gone.
In this car, on these roads, in these circumstances, with this driver, above 42 Celsius, to use a cliche, the car turns like it is on rails. Turn the steering wheel and the car turns. Without hesitation and with no hint they aren’t going to stick.
How long to go from 38 to 42C+?
Let’s say another 2 minutes, if you know the road. Approximately.
In my case, if I’m on an unfamiliar road, the tyres seem to hover in the 38-42C window.
Maximum Temp
In this video we were up to 57C but this was due to wheel spin under acceleration. 45-47 seems to sustained highest and there was no drop off in grip. In fact I’d say grip was still increasing with temperature.
In testing, I’ve seen sustained temperatures as high as 65C is hot weather, 35C+, and they seem fine with no drop off that I could notice.
Conclusion
I think targeting a 45-60C tyre temp for the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 will give the best balance between grip and tyre life.
Wheel Alignment
As well as telling us the optimum temperature window, the TTM can also tell us how good our wheel alignment is.
This video is not the best example to use to demonstrate this because of the lack of decent straights but the screenshot below gives an idea.
Road in this photo is turning slightly left. The width of each tyre in this setup looks to be covered by 4 segments.
Left tyre is showing slightly higher temps on the inside vs the outside. And likewise the right tyre is showing slightly higher temps in the inside versus the outside.
This is hinting that we are running negative camber. The car is running new suspension parts and seems to have much grip than previously. And previously temps across the tyre were basically the same ie no camber as far as tyre temp was concerned. Given that the grip is better with the new setup and the new setup is giving more camber I think we can say the car likes the extra camber.
Wrapping Up – Pilot Sport 5 Temperature Testing
In this video we found the temperature the tyres need to switch on.
And we found a good temperature window to target if we start experimenting with tyres pressures or wheel alignment to suit different seasons, race tracks etc.
About the car & the tyres
These tyres are two years old without around 12,000km covered, size is 225-40-18.
In this case they are fitted to a front wheel drive car with around 300 bhp and no limited slip diff.
The biggest difference I’ve noticed is the grip of the tyres from cold not being as good as when they were new.
Hot temperature performance seems as good as ever.
