Just thought I'd say how impressed I am with the Michelin Pilot Sport 3s, and give a heads up to anyone about a special offer they are running at Costco.

I've just had all 4 done on my vRS. Costco have a deal on any 4 Michelins with 20% off.

In standard vRS wheel size (205/45/16) they work out at £100 inc VAT a corner fitted and balanced, which I didn't think was too shabby.

First impressions from the drive home - they are SUBLIME. Definitely money well spent.

It's probably not fair to make comparisons with my old tyres, because they were 2 different sorts and they were fairly worn (2mm front, 2.5mm back). But I'm going to anyway. I had Toyo Proxes T1Rs on the front before, and Pirelli P Zero Neros on the back. Not my choice, they came on the car when I bought it 12 months ago. A lot of people rave about Toyo Proxes, but I've had them on a couple of cars before and I think they are crap. When I've had Proxes before, I find the grip tails off badly once they get below 3-4mm tread, and with them being so soft, it only takes them 5 minutes to reach that level!

Anyway, I'm not over-exaggerating when I say the Michelin's are a MASSIVE improvement. I'm no Nigel Mansel, but when it's safe to do so I like to have a bit of fun flinging the car round a country lane. The journey home was in the wet, but I went the long way round to try out the new rubber. I could instantly feel the increased grip. Maybe it's just a placebo, but the most surprising thing was that the new tyres have a much better 'feel'. The car felt A LOT more confident when sticking it in to bends and the front wheels were a lot more composed when putting the power down coming out the other side. I think 'planted' is the word I'm looking for.

The only down side is they don't have a very nice tread pattern, but when they grip this well I don't think it matters.

The offer is on until 3rd July I think, and you need to be a Costco member.

I'm running them on the front of my vRS too, with Conti SportContact 3s on the back. I think they are actually not as good in the wet as the Contis I previously had on the front - spin up in 1st and 2nd more easily in my experience. As far as dry goes, both seem good - I don't drive hard enough on the roads to really push the limits, but I occasionally do do a blast between Bristol and Herefordshire and on that back-road route the Pilot Sports seem comparable the the old Contis.