Michelin Pilot Sport 4S Tires Make the C8 Z51 Package a Must-Have (and Are a Fantastic Mod for All Corvette Owners)
Unless you often drive in the cold, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S might just be the best street tire ever made. Perfect for any Corvette generation.
As Corvette enthusiasts, you’re probably well aware of all the goodies that come with ordering a Z51 package C8. Between the performance exhaust bumping power, bigger brakes, added cooling and aero, and an E-LSD with a shorter final drive ratio, the Z51 package is compelling for anyone who wants to tackle tracks or carve canyon corners. In fact, without the Z51 option, the new C8 Owner’s Manual warns owners to avoid track time. But, despite all that cool tech, I’m most excited about the Z51’s tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S ZR max performance summer tires. 245/35ZR-19 up front and 305/30ZR-20 out back, to be specific.
Released three years ago as a Super Sport successor, Pilot Sport 4S tires combine relatively long tread life with multi-compound construction to create a tire that handles as well in wet conditions as on a warm dry road. What does multi-compound mean, you might be asking? Effectively, Michelin uses different compound formulas on different regions of the tire tread. In the PS4S’s case, the outer edges are super sticky for dry cornering while the inner edges handle wet conditions.
Michelin engineers also utilized a hybrid belt construction and composite sidewalls to help the PS4S maintain its shape at ultra high-speeds (rated to above 186mph). It also has a 9% longer tread-life than the Super Sports; up to 30,000 miles if you’re running a square setup, or 15,000 if you’re running staggered, which you will on a mid-engine Corvette. And, of course, because GM loves to outfit ‘Vettes with run-flat tires, C8 Z51s boast the familiar ZP (Zero Pressure) rating that you don’t see on standard PS4S tires.
The Perfect Mod
Why am I so excited about PS4S tires being on the C8, you ask? Let me tell you a little story about my Boss 302 Mustang. (Don’t worry, we’ll get back to Corvettes in a moment, I swear.) Ford originally outfitted Boss 302s with Pirelli P-Zero max summer tires, but in my experience, Pirelli’s compound (circa 2012-13) was too hard, which made the P-Zero’s performance far too slick in the rain or without extensive warming. In the rain or below 70 degrees, my 444hp Boss wouldn’t hook. And once, a peppy U-turn — no hooning, I promise — almost turned me into one of those Mustang owners you see on YouTube exiting cars n coffee. I was very thankful for traction control and was more careful, but still. I needed new tires.
Swapping in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires was a revelation.
They’re more comfortable. Quieter on the road. They hook in the rain and on (clean) dry surfaces. My Boss genuinely feels like it’s on rail now. It’s also brakes harder. To be honest, the car felt like it got a tune and coilovers. Now, some of this could have been the placebo effect; I’m sure a part of my brain needs to feel like spending p $1,600 (including tax & install) on new rubber was worth it, right?
Then I drove the 760 horsepower 2020 Shelby GT500 for our sister site, Mustang Forums.
Standard GT500s come with PS4S tires too (305/30 ZR20 front; 315/30 ZR20 rear), although they aren’t ZP versions. And, unlike the ZR1 C7 or any of the Hellcat Dodges, the GT500 controllably puts the power to the ground. To be fair, it’s very hard to launch any 700+ horsepower car, you can definitely roast the tires in a GT500, and Pilot Sport 4S tires aren’t drag radials. But from 10, 20, or 30 miles-an-hour, you can mash the GT500’s pedal to the ground and hold it there while you fly up to dangerous and illegal speeds. And, much like my Boss 302 upgrade, the GT500’s cornering and braking performance are world-class.
Putting aside the fact that Ford Mustangs needs 265 extra horses to keep up with the mid-engine C8 Corvette, it’s still worth noting that early comparisons put the base GT500 right in league with the Z51 C8 in terms of how they feel on a track.
I haven’t driven the C8 yet — my colleague Derin Richardson had that privilege — but if the C8 equals or betters the GT500 around a track, future C8 owners are in for a very amazing time. And, from my experience, tires play a critical roll in this experience. Not to mention the fact that, if PS4S tires can make my six-year-old live-axel Mustang feel like a track weapon, tucked under the magic C8 chassis, it can only be better.
Which is why, in addition to all the other important goodies listed above, the Z51 and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires are must-have options for those specing out a new C8. Plus, I’d also argue that they’re a great upgrade for any Corvette owner who doesn’t already have Pilot Super Sports. In the hot-rodding world, car guys often reach for cold-air intakes, tunes, suspension, wheels, and exhaust mods to boost performance. But I would argue tires are the best investment you can make for any high-performance vehicle.
Pick up an ultra-high-performance summer tire and not only will you grab the road better and be able to corner at higher speeds, but you’ll be safer too. That’s right, you’ll be stopping quicker and less likely to spin out in the rain.
Standard C8 vs Z51
Since my Pilot Sport 4S experience is mostly Ford-based, I wanted to make sure you heard directly from my colleague, Derin Richardson, about what it’s like to drive the 2020 Corvette back-to-back with all-season vs PS4S Michelin tires. Here’s what he has to say:
Let’s start off by saying Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires are ‘street’ rubber. Apropos, these tires really should be the industry standard for production sports vehicles, not an option. On the C8 Corvette at the Spring Mountain track in Nevada, the lateral grip on the pavement coming out of hairpin turns into back-straights was hands-down phenomenal. The all-season tires we used on the public roads were capable too, but they had slippage and traction issues around corners and from digs. Personally speaking, I’ve driven 4S tires on plenty of other vehicles, in both dry and wet conditions. Not once did I experience these issues.
All grip, no slip.
PS4S Downsides
Palmer here again. With all of my praise, you might be wondering if there are any negatives associated with buying and owning Pilot Sport 4S tires. Of course!
In my experience, there are a few negatives. First, the price. PS4S tires aren’t cheap, especially the larger sizes, which may be cost-prohibitive to someone looking to drift or have a burnout monster. The second would be for anyone that lives in a colder climate. Living in Los Angeles, there are very few days of the year where it’s dangerous for me to drive Pilot Sport 4S tires.
However, if you live up north, it’s a bad idea to drive these below 40 or 50 degrees. You can, of course, and there’s lots of footage of people running around in 2020 Shelby GT500s in mid-December. But it’s less safe and, below 20 degrees, you can physically damage the tire. If you’re in a colder region, Pilot Sport A/S 3+ all-season performance tires might be a better fit for you.
Also, I’ve read some complaints from Corvette Forum members who said the summer tires would drag when doing sharp, slow speed turns in their C7 Corvettes. I’ve never experienced this issue with my Boss 302, but switching to all-seasons seems to help those folks.
Lastly, because of Michelin’s beefy sidewall design, PS4S tires appear slightly wider or chunkier than rival brands, even when ordered in the same size. This could cause some clearance issues, depending on your setup. For example, there doesn’t seem to be much room up front on a C8 for wider wheels if you want a wider tire.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S Bottom Line
If you’re ordering a C8 this year, the Corvette Forum editorial team highly recommends ticking off the Z51 package for a variety of reasons. At the top of my list is Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. There’s a reason why these tires are standard equipment on various Porches, Ferraris, Mercedes, BMWs, the 760hp 2020 Shelby GT500, and the Z51-equipped C8.
Yes, there are more affordable tires. You can find better drag radials for high-horsepower builds where hooking is your primary goal. You can’t beat dedicated track tires for high-speed road courses. And there are longer-lasting tires…
But no other street tire in 2020 does everything quite as well as the Pilot Sport 4S, making it almost as good as a dedicated track tire. If you live in a warm climate, or only drive your Corvette in warmer weather, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S are a must-have option for C8 owners, or a must-have mod for previous-generation ‘Vette owners. Cheers & thanks for reading.
Photos for Corvette Forums by Derin Richardson & Michael S. Palmer
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