doveboat

I received an invite from a fellow Corvette Forum member (thanks Steve) to attend a Michelin event @ California Speedway this past Weds. to test the new Pilot Super Sports in a variety of settings and vs other leading tires.

We tested:

- Auto Cross

- Wet & Dry Braking

- Road Course (infield course)

The event was extremely well done by Michelin and provided a great environment to drive different cars in controlled environments to do a side by side comparison.

Net/Net - The Pilot Super Sports were superior in every way to the other Ultra Summer Tire competitors (Goodyear, Pirelli, Continental).

I have these on my 08 Vert (100 street miles) and am very happy so far. For reference I have used Stock Run Flats (non Super Cars), Nitto NT05's, Toyo R888's. I am looking for a tire that will hold up on track and still allow me to drive to and from. These SS's look like they may be the ticket.

I have a track weekend coming up @ Chuck Walla, if anyone interested in how the Pilot SS's perform send me a PM and I will report back.

There is a lot of technology in these tires that I will let folks google and review as interested.

I run the following sizes with no issues:

2008 Vert - Stock Split Spokes

255/35/18 Fronts

295/30/19 Fronts

Ed

Allthrottleandsomebottle

Sorry I missed you Ed, I had a 10am flight!

Just to update (I will write my own thread )
Klaus Graf & I put a hurting on the Michelin Super Sport vs. Continental Extreme Contact DW (voted best tire by Tire Rack consumers)
on the 24th morning AutoX as shown below:

Charley Hoyt

Ed, Do you know when they plan to make them in C6 Z06 sizes? Also, how well do they stick on the track compared to the NT-05s?

doveboat

Hi Charley,

Not sure on C6 Z06 sizes, here is their specific website where you can request sizes:

http://michelinpss.ning.com/

After driving them in a Lexus IF on the infield road course and then being driven in an R8 & GTR I would have to say that they felt grippier. They recover very well and if you start pushing you can modulate throttle and add in some steering and get through the turn.

I will run these at Chuck Walla next weekend and look to be able to provide some comparisons vs NT05's and Toyo R888's which I have used on my same car.

My early sense is that they will be grippier and last longer. I only got 5 track days from my NT05's and then 7 from the 888's. Granted I may have gotten smoother with experience and may be getting easier on my tires (fronts mainly).

Will we see you at CW ?

Ed

Allthrottleandsomebottle

Ed,
How did the PSSs do at Chuck Walla?
Steve

doveboat

Steve,

For a " ultra performance " street tire they did very well, I would spec them as grippier than the NT05's and Star Specs I have used in the past. They were very predictable at the limits and gave a lot of feedback by "howling" as they were pushed.

I ran them for two days and at conclusion experienced reasonable wear with my drivers side being more worn on edge. Turn 16 @ CVR is an off camber med speed right that resulted in quite a bit of understeer for me. I will be curious to see how they continue to wear as I look to get 8 events from this set.

Having now used these on both street & track my usage plan / reco would be:

- If 75% street / 25% track without the last second of lower lap times being a priority, stay with the MPSS

- If 25% street / 75% track, with an interest in lap times I would move back to the Toyo R888's in stock C6 sizes - 255/35/18 Fronts & 295/30/19 Rears.

The MPSS handle a track environment very well when compared to other street tires. I was very competitive with faster cars running other brand / model street tires.

Ed