[rostrata]

TLDR///

All excellent points stated above. And yes, perhaps it is has a lot to do with driving style. Short answer, I'm not asking the car to d anything my previous daily driver couldn't do. For reference, that was a 2017 Audi A4 and also a 2021 A6 with factory sport suspensions on both riding on Michelin Pilot AS3+ tires. Both cars, while far different in ride quality, I could push to their limits (while still being safe, of course and never crossing double yellow lines in the canyons, because I'm not a douche that can't handle my car), and those damn cars were able to keep up with an older, built 911 race car with 325s in the rear. Guy could not get away from me and the R8s and other drivers could not keep up. They arrived at the stop 18 minutes after me and the other driver stopped. Reason why I point this out is that I don't trust the car well enough to go through the same motions without sliding out of the lane. That route is for skilled drivers and practically no traffic, ever. So it is appropriate for spirited and hard driving. I want to ensure the car is setup appropriately to handle it but I have zero confidence in its ability to do so at this time. Very disappointing as I bought the car specifically for the reason that I thought it would be able to hit that route with ease.

Here's another reference point... in the A4 and A6, I could stomp on the gas and make a left turn (somewhat wide turn) from a stop sign and be moving at almost 50mph upon straightening out. No loss of traction. Just the AWD system doing its thing and providing a little rear right wheel spin to push the car through (but not sliding!). The M340 C Drive with the staggered wheel setup oscillates in the same exact turn and while tuned, still cannot exceed 40mph in that same turn. The oscillations are only controlled by letting off the gas when I feel sliding, but barely.

So, in that context, my lowly A4 and heavy-ass A6 performed better in all metrics with semi-all-season tires vs. a vehicle that's setup for aggressive driving from the factory with far stickier tires. That, is fucking wild shit.

One last point.. A 911 I used to have had a staggered setup with MPSS all around (with 305s in the rear). I could fly in all weather at any time. Yes, even drove them in slushy snow a couple of times because it was my daily driver at the time. Grip was always to the max. Drove the tail of the dragon with that car many times and it never let me down regardless of weather. That was a manual gearbox with RWD only.

So. There it is. From one extreme to another. MPSS and AS3+ at the forefront. What's failing me and my driving style (which again isn't really that aggressive... just smooth which equates to fast), and in the middle is the PS4S which I just can't jive with.

I am happy that they are serving others very well. By no means am I trying to trash the tire. Perhaps it is a great tire and maybe there's something else that needs to be identified as the issue. And I believe that lies with the differential and the staggered setup on the M340. Which brings me to the idea that maybe a square setup would fix most, if not all the issues I'm experiencing since it is AWD, vice RWD.

That said, I am looking into a custom wheel set by LiteSpeed Wheels to maximize the amount of contact area I can get with the ground and move to a square setup. I'm going to start there and hopefully I can chime back in and agree with the rest of you that the PS4S really is the tire it is claimed to be.