Michelin Launches New Pilot Super Sport Tyre

French tyre giant Michelin has launched the company’s latest tyre for the ultra high-performance segment, the Pilot Super Sport, at an event in Dubai. Attending the launch alongside Michelin representatives were spokespeople from Porsche and Tüv Süd; Michelin said it had “worked closely” alongside the auto manufacturer – as well as with BMW M and Ferrari – in developing the Pilot Super Sport, meeting its “challenging original equipment specifications”, while the testing organisation has recently produced a comparative study of the tyre and its competitors, determining it as “the fastest tyre on the market”.

Group vice president Marketing, Passenger Car and Light Truck Product Line Gary Guthrie presented the launch of the tyre as a “leap forward” for the company, showing performance improvements “that might seem contradictory” in many areas at once, partially a result of the co-development with Porsche. Michael Haupt, manager of tyre development with the auto-maker said the number of tests required for homologation at Porsche included “dry handling and braking (which were stressed, though not at the expense of other characteristics), wet handling, hydroplaning, rolling circumference, high-speed running, wear, rolling resistance, noise and comfort”, all of which is designed for the “optimisation of car-tyre synthesis”.

Guthrie continued that the tyre had yielded both the top speed and the best dry handling in Tüv Süd testing versus five leading performance tyres in sizes 245/40ZR18 Y and 235/35ZR19 Y, while in terms of safety the Super Sport braked from 80-10 km/h in a distance three metres shorter than Michelin’s Pilot Sport tyre. Guthrie continued that the tyre displayed “unbelievable longevity”, allowing drivers to do “50 per cent more laps on a race track”, a feature that dovetails with Michelin’s focus on greener tyre development as – in Guthrie’s words – there would be “fewer used tyres of which to dispose” and a “decrease in manufacturing energy” measured in terms of the life of the tyre.

The tyre’s “unparalleled combination of performances”, Guthrie continued, was a result of track to road technologies, particularly in Michelin’s recent 24 hours of Le Mans successes; in 2010, Michelin was able to reduce the number of sets of tyres required to complete the endurance race to 11 from 14, representing one of three new records set by the tyre manufacturer. The VP said the Super Sport had “received an infusion of racing genes” from its endurance racing tyres, aiming the new product squarely at “enthusiastic drivers who may throw in a few laps on the track in addition to everyday driving.” Guthrie said Michelin saw worldwide growth coming in the UHP segment, including 30 per cent in Europe, 40 per cent in North America and a “five-fold increase in China”. Guthrie also suggested that the technologies used in the Super Sport would “filter down” through other Michelin product lines, where they were applicable to the particular applications in the coming years.

Full coverage of the launch will appear in Tyres & Accessories’ December issue.