Got a chance to test out Michelin's new Pilot Super Sport

[onelove]

Monday I had the pleasure of heading to Palm Beach International Raceway for a very special event put on by Michelin called The 25th Hour. Over the years I've had the pleasure of sampling a vast array of tires on different vehicles and have always regarded the Michelin PS2 as the "benchmark" performance tire. The PS2 provides great handling in both the dry and wet, exceptional braking, all while keeping road noise to a minimum. When I first heard that Michelin was working on an even better tire featuring compounds tested in endurance racing to replace the PS2, I was anxious to see if they could deliver an experience better without sacrifices. My desire to test this new tire our grew exponentially as I watched Leh Keen click off a 1:55 lap at Daytona in his GTR last week, a time very close to Rolex GT race pace in a full weight car on a street tire. A few days after returning from Daytona my invite to the 25th hour arrived and I sent off my RSVP immediately. The 25th Hour was setup to give educated drivers a chance to experience the tire in various scenarios versus the competition in order to make their own conclusions on whether Michelin had achieved their goal to re benchmark the PS2. Michelin had their engineering staff on hand to gather feedback from participants and answer any questions we might have. In addition they also gathered rear world data using Performance Boxes to further evaluate and test the tire with end consumers who could provide inside outside their normal proving grounds testing.



Michelin implemented some great technology with the Pilot Super Sport with a goal in mind to improve on all aspects of the tire without sacrifice. They wanted to create a tire that cornered better, had great braking in the wet and dry, all while providing great wear and limited road noise. Those are some stiff goals when you break them down individually, when you make a softer compound wear normally suffers and noise goes up, a harder compound normally sacrifices grip. Michelin Compounded these issues with various solutions to achieve great overall results without sacrifice. The first and likely most important is a dual compound, the outer edge of the tire normally reserved for heavy cornering uses a compound found in their endurance racing tires, while the inner portion of the tire remains a wet compound very similar to that of the PS2. This allows for great wear and rain channeling, while providing the requires grip in cornering. They combined this with a variable contact patch that allows the tire to use the maximum surface area required for each application. Combining these 2 technologies the tire is able to better handle water channeling as well as heat, helping maintain a consistent feel. Twaron belting on the insides of the tire combined with the dual compound allows for a better performing tire, that handles 12% better than it's leading competitor all while twice as long (a 30k mile wear warranty further backs up these claims).



The first exercise we got to do was an autocross using BMW 3 series on an course setup inside the facilities kart track. I've spent many days on full circuit road courses, but must admit I've never autocross in my life, making this exercise even more interesting. We tested the PSS against a comparable Continental Extreme Contact DW. Within the first lap the difference was quite apparent, the PSS took everything I threw at it no problems, including some mistakes as a result of my lack of autocross experience. The DW performed quite well, however compared to the Super Sport it felt very floaty and inconsistent. After 3-4 laps on each tire we pulled the cars in to review our opinions and perform a visual inspection on the tires. The Continentals looked as if the outer portions had been hit with a grinder and showed chunking across the outer tread blocks and some light initial blistering. The PSS showed some scuffing, but nothing beyond what you would expect from a tire that was just broken in fresh with 15-20 hot laps on an autocross course.



After the autocross we headed to the drag strip return road for a wet and dry braking test. For this test the comparison tire was the Goodyear Eagle F1, what I consider to be one of the better rain tires out there. We accelerated to 55mph and then panic braked in the dry, followed by a duplicate scenario starting from 45mph in the wet. During these tests a VBOX Performance Box would record the stopping distance, which was entered into an excel spreadsheet on a nearby iPad. After making a few runs on both tires it was difficult to visual tell the difference between tires in terms of visual distance, as a few inches or feet is tough to see format he passenger seat, however in terms of overall feel the PSS shined through once again. The biggest difference was the continued consistency towards the end of the brake, as the F1 fell off the PSS continued to provide valuable feedback until the point the vehicle was stationary. Once the group had finished their runs the Excel sheets where tabulated, the end result was an average of 3.5 feet shorter stops in the dry, and almost 3 feet in the wet, an incredible margin for a brake test. On the street these few extra feet could provide very valuable in a panic situation, on the track it would surely allow for quicker lap times with consistent braking at the limit.



Next on the agenda was testing the PSS in the most demanding environment yet, the full road course at PBIR, with 11 turns and a tad over 2 miles of track to navigate. In this test we would be piloting Lexus's ISF, with the comparison tire being the Pirelli PZero Nero. I have never driven PBIR at speed so it took a few recognizance laps to get the line down, once I had things figured out I did my best to throw everything I could at both of the tires so I could get an honest assessment. This was also my first time driving the ISF as well and I must say while it's obviously quite heavy, the power and refined transmission made it feel very comfortable quickly on track, all while providing seating for 4-5 plus groceries. After pushing the cars around the track and navigating the late apex of some of the more complex corners the one word that comes to mind to describe the difference between the tires was consistency. The Pirelli's kept the car on the track and gave plenty of notice when they were at their limits. The PSS on the other hand was a dream and stayed glue to the track and provided a noticeable amount of additional grip. There were quite a few corners I stuffed the car into at significantly higher speeds than she wanted to go and the PSS tracked right towards the apex, lap after lap. The Pirellis pushed quite a bit driving the exact same line, at similar speeds. The Pilot Super Sports performed lap after lap with amazing consistency where the Pirellis began to get greasy as they got hot making you question if the car was going to go where pointed. This overall test provided the most significant overall testament to how great a tire the Michelin Pilot Super Sport was over the competition.




The day was capped of with hot laps in the passenger seat of various hero cars with experienced drivers behind the wheel. There was an array of exotics with fresh Pilot Super Sports on hand not limited to a Ferrari F430, Ferrari 599GTB, Lamborghini LP560, and a Jaguar XKR . Oddly enough,I've been fortunate to drive each of these cars on the street, and with the addition of forced induction, but still looked forward to getting a feel for them on track. I was amazed at the consistency of the tires and the amount of grip they provided even after hot lap after hot lap with seasoned pros behind the wheel. Most max and extreme performance tires will get hot after 6-8 laps and get greasy, loosing their consistency. The PSS held up like a champ, even in the heavier cars like the 599GTB, a gentleman's Ferrari designed for Grand Touring. They obviously did not have the grip levels of a slick, however for a tire that could be driven to the track over 500 miles and then flogged all weekend, the performance was better than expected even in these extreme examples.

After a solid day of testing, I am completely amazed at how great a street tire Michelin has produced. I'm anxious to get a set on my Z4M daily driver very soon so that I can explore their limits even further in a dual purpose track/street environment. I've always used Extreme Performance tires on my daily driver, however it will be nice to get similar performance out of a Max Performance Summer tire without sacrificing wet traction and wear as I do with my current tire. The best part of all, Michelin currently has the Pilot Super Sport priced below the PS2 in an effort to prevent consumers from having to decide between Summer and All Season tires based solely on price. The PS2 will eventually be phased out when the PSS is available in all current offerings and OEM replacement sizes. I want to thank Kim Kegler and the entire Michelin team for having me out at the 25th hour, and I look forward to seeing how they're able to top this next generation tire in the future!

[Finnegan]

Great write up! Sounds like a winner!

[StigJ]

[mikeinsf]

The overriding question in my mind is... how does one get an invitation to this event??

[onelove]

Originally Posted by mikeinsf

The overriding question in my mind is... how does one get an invitation to this event??

A bit of luck, and working in the industry, and membership/driving events in PCA / BMWCCA / SCCA probably didn't hurt either. Each day had 15-20 people X4 sessions, an amazing amount of planning went into it on Michelins part and in reality it was the best and only way to do such comparisons.

[r4gs]

excellent write-up and sounds awfully convincing. might've mistaken ur prose for something straight out of a magazine!

[Samjam927]

just tossed these on my Z, great tire!

[onelove]

Originally Posted by r4gs

excellent write-up and sounds awfully convincing. might've mistaken ur prose for something straight out of a magazine!

Thanks, I always read great reviews and figure I ought to try my hand at one after this event. I know it sounds like i'm putting Michelin Kool-Aid out there but i was truely impressed. I currently drive Nitto NT05s daily, NT01s on the track, etc but both are loud, don't handle the wet well, and wear rather quickly. With the PSS I expect to get similar dry grip while having better wet traction and wear so I figured I'd spread the word!

Best of all they made the pricing better as well, for the Z4M Size they're something like $30-40 cheaper per tire than the PS2 it replaces.

[Z4Murder]

nice write up! thanks

[tarheel91]

So let me get this straight. They only compare the PSS to one tire at a time in a single event, and they didn't even compare it to the market leaders? It looks like a fun time, but not in any way a fair or objective comparison.

I'm sure you can see the issue in only using one other tire in each comparison. You could easily select an event where the PSS does better than the comparison tire. For example, you could put it up against the Kumho Extas which is notoriously terrible in the wet in some sort of wet skid pad. This gives the impression that the PSS destroys it, but only because the Extas is weak in the wet. A dry skidpad would lead to very different results. Basically, all they have to do to make the PSS look awesome in every category is find one tire worse than it in that category.

Where's the Dunlop Star Spec or the Hankook Ventus V12? Check out any review of performance summer tires and you'll find them at the top. In fact, they frequently outperform the PS2 for 2/3 and 1/2 of the price, respectively. And yet, they're curiously absent from this test.

Either I'm missing something big, or this is a bunch of BS.

[mikeinsf]

^^ What he said.

Does look like a great time though, autocrossing in someone else's car on someone else's tires.

[onelove]

Originally Posted by tarheel91

Where's the Dunlop Star Spec or the Hankook Ventus V12? Check out any review of performance summer tires and you'll find them at the top. In fact, they frequently outperform the PS2 for 2/3 and 1/2 of the price, respectively. And yet, they're curiously absent from this test.

Either I'm missing something big, or this is a bunch of BS.

I think the point of their tests was to give a market contender

I've driven the Star Spec, but not the Ventus V12 (although I've driven plenty of miles on the street in the RS-3). This tire is designed more as a direct competitor to those tires and others in the "Extreme Performance" category, while providing exceptional mileage and low noise, while also lowering the price point.

Again this was simply my review of the event and my general impression. That being said I've driven and tested a ton of different cars,tires, etc on my own enough on both the street and at the track to know when a tire is decent. As an overall tire the PSS has me thoroughly impressed, TireRack is due to do their testing on them very soon as will many of the magazines, I'm sure their tests will be more objective for the doubters.

I also brought a good friend of mine who drives in Grand-Am with me, he was equally as impressed with them as a true street tire. Leh Keen also spoke very highly of them after running the One Lap on them, and after personally watching him click off a 1.55 at Daytona, the results speak for themselves.

[ZStig]

Yeah I'll wait to see some independant testing results. They put it against the Pirelli PZero Nero? What a joke

Nothing against you onelove. I loved my PS2s

[onelove]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

Yeah I'll wait to see some independant testing results. They put it against the Pirelli PZero Nero? What a joke

Nothing against you onelove. I loved my PS2s

No offense taken, again I have no affiliation to any tire manufacture.

Sadly the PZero Nero is the tire found on many of the exotics that make their way into my shop, I agree they're not the best tire out there but for comparisons it's actually relevant.

The PS2 is a great tire, I've run them on many cars in the past and while they don't have the grip I like at the track, this new generation seems to have been a major improvement. It's obviously not Hoosier level grip, but it can hold it's own for a tire that can be driven to the track and home.

[ZStig]

If the PS2 can perform on the level of the current leaders, remain in the price bracket, BUT last twice as long as similar tires, that would be the selling point for me

[tarheel91]

Originally Posted by onelove

I think the point of their tests was to give a market contender

I've driven the Star Spec, but not the Ventus V12 (although I've driven plenty of miles on the street in the RS-3). This tire is designed more as a direct competitor to those tires and others in the "Extreme Performance" category, while providing exceptional mileage and low noise, while also lowering the price point.

Again this was simply my review of the event and my general impression. That being said I've driven and tested a ton of different cars,tires, etc on my own enough on both the street and at the track to know when a tire is decent. As an overall tire the PSS has me thoroughly impressed, TireRack is due to do their testing on them very soon as will many of the magazines, I'm sure their tests will be more objective for the doubters.

I also brought a good friend of mine who drives in Grand-Am with me, he was equally as impressed with them as a true street tire. Leh Keen also spoke very highly of them after running the One Lap on them, and after personally watching him click off a 1.55 at Daytona, the results speak for themselves.

I'm not saying it's a bad tire by any means. I just hate deceptive marketing BS like Michelin is pulling with this. GM did the same thing with the CTS-V. And why? There was no reason. The CTS-V is a great car that doesn't need a handicap to perform well. Likewise, the PS2 is a great tire (albeit very expensive), and doing something like this with its successor only hurts its image in my eyes. Honestly, if it can improve on the Star Spec/V12s, and get more mileage (most reviews have the Star Specs around 20k, the V12s aroung 25-30k), I'll be impressed. Price wise, it's still ridiculous. I just got my 265/35/18 V12s for $172 each. The PSS's are $288! The Dunlops are $263, and are known for being kinda pricey!

Edit: The other thing I'd like to point out is that pretty much all of these tires are "great." However, just being great doesn't cut it in this market, and neither does it prove the tire is better than the competition.

[lo-tek]

Having a set put on my roady tomorrow based on some of the other reviews. Time will tell, eh?

[mikeinsf]

This is gonna seem totally noob, but...

Found the following on an Audi enthusiast forum at this URL...
http://www.rs6.com/showthread.php/22...our-in-Fontana

In particular, one user said "the new pilot supersports in 255/40/18 are only 201 direct from jacksonmg".

What do people know about this distributor that seems to be aimed at the racing crowd?
http://www.jacksonmg.com/motorsports/Tires.aspx

I've never gotten tires from a distributor like this. Would this purported price of $201 apply only to "industry" people?

[onelove]

Jackson provides the tire support for race teams and Michelin's PR events, not sure if you'd be able to get approved at that price without being in the industry or media.

[mikeinsf]

Yeah I wonder. Think I'm going to go with star specs regardless. Dunlop is running an 80 rebate, making it probably around 500 for 4 tires. Not thinking the Michelins would be worth the 200-300 premium even if I could get them on discount.

[r4gs]

^whereabouts are u finding $500 for a set of 4 star specs?

[mikeinsf]

Originally Posted by r4gs

^whereabouts are u finding $500 for a set of 4 star specs?

Sorry. I plead temporary retardation. My math was a bit off. I honestly don't know where I got that number. The real number is more like $830 plus shipping. That would make the PSS's the better deal if we can snag that price.