Ferrari has selected Michelin as an official tyre supplier for its new 296 GTB. Michelin will supply two different tyres for the car – the predominantly road-oriented Pilot Sport 4S K1 and the road legal Pilot Sport Cup 2R K2. The tyre maker says this latter product is for “drivers wishing to push the limits of their car on track.”
Michelin has developed a new slick iteration of its Pilot Sport Cup UUHP tyre for the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992). The model is the latest tyre from a technical partnership between the tyre-maker and German car brand of more than 20 years. The new 911 is reserved for the manufacturer’s single-make championships – series that are described as “a valuable proving ground” for Michelin too.
Michelin will supply custom developed versions of its Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyre as the sole track-focused original equipment fitment on the new Mercedes-AMG GT R. The road-legal asymmetric tyres have a single rubber compound developed in motorsport series such as the World Endurance Championship. It is designed to provide balanced handling, grip and endurance on track, the performance characteristics specified by AMG’s engineers. Different versions of the Pilot Sport Cup 2 have featured as OE on the BMW M4 GTS and the Ford Focus RS in 2016.
Porsche AG has decided to equip its new 911 GT3 RS with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 ultra-high performance tyres. Michelin said the new 911 would run 265/35 ZR20 (front) and 325/30 ZR21 (rear) tyres. The manufacturer says of the latest generation of road-legal track tyres that they “blur the line between motorsport and road tyres.” Porsche also fits the Pilot Sport Cup 2 as original equipment on its recent 918 Spyder, Cayman GT4 and 911 GT3 models.
Michelin has specially developed a new variant of its Pilot Sport Cup 2 ultra-high performance tyre for the original equipment fitment on the new Audi R8. The tyre is an optional fitment to be specified by customers, which can be identified by the RO1 marking on its sidewall. Michelin describes meeting the requirements of Audi as a technological challenge; engineers sought to combine high levels of dry grip to improve lap times on the track, without any compromise in safety on wet roads. The tyre sizes are 245/30ZR20 (front) and 305/30ZR20 (rear).
As the technical partner of Porsche’s endurance racing programme, Michelin played its part in the development of the new Porsche 919 Hybrid by designing specially-adapted tyres for the LMP1 class prototype. In compliance with the 2014 sporting regulations for the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) and Le Mans, tyres are size 31/71-18 on both the front and the rear. Developed on a simulator for all of the firm’s LMP1 partners, the Michelin tyres on the Porsche 919 Hybrid were refined during testing sessions conducted jointly between the two firms’ technical teams.
Michelin has announced it will globally, and exclusively, supply tyres for the new Ferrari 458 Speciale. In developing its new Pilot Sport Cup 2 for the Ferrari, Michelin says it and the Italian car maker “pooled their cutting-edge engineering resources, wheel assembly expertise, passion for performance, measuring technology and the skills and analytical capabilities of their developers and test drivers.”
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