Porsche Panamera to Ride on Michelin

Porsche owners who have gazed at their pride and joy and thought ‘gee, I wish it had an extra pair of doors’ have had their unspoken prayers answered – the release of Porsche’s new Panamera four-door (or five if you count the hatch – Porsche doesn’t) saloon represents the German manufacturer’s entry into a market segment where it will compete head to head with the likes of Jaguar’s new XFR and the Aston Martin Rapide. And Michelin proudly reports its selection as OE tyre supplier for the new sports saloon.

Two Michelin products have been selected for the Panamera, the Pilot Sport and Pilot Alpin. The tyremaker reports that the adoption of its products as OE on the new Porsche follows a three-year collaborative project between Michelin and Porsche development teams in which the tyres were tested in a range of conditions. The Pilot Sport, as an example, was subject to 90-minute tests at speeds of more than 300 km/h, with a 20-minute burst at 350 km/h. Michelin’s technical teams also produced more than 2,000 prototypes for the summer tyre and 1,000 for the winter variant. Testing was conducted at different locations around the world notably at temperatures as low as -25°C to test winter tyre rubber compounds. The result, comments Michelin, are tyres that provide Porsche’s four-door GT car with optimal grip in all situations – on wet or dry roads and in hot or cold weather.

In announcing the OE supply deal, the French tyre major states that the new Porsche Panamera, equipped with Michelin summer and winter tyres, “clearly demonstrates the shared commitment to exceptional performance that underpins the partnership between Michelin and Porsche.”