That’s despite manufacturers carrying out vast amounts of expensive research on its latest products. Testing procedures are incredibly rigorous, with the best performance tyres even spending a gruelling 1,000 hours at more than 186mph.
That’s why we went tyre testing to see for ourselves the importance of fitting the best tyres you can afford. First we drove a series of BMW M3 Coupe sports cars onto a soaked skidpan at 60mph and braked as hard as we could. Each car was fitted with a different set of tyres, including two types of Michelin rubber and its competitors.
Although this was a Michelin tyre launch for its latest performance tyre, the Pilot Super Sport, but we were open minded when comparing its tyres to those of other manufacturers.
All of the tyres performed well, stopping the car in less than 27 metres in a controlled and confidence-inspiring manner. If this test had included tyres from the cheapest brands, we’re positive the car would have taken well over 30 metres to come to a halt, and have been harder to keep under control.
While 3 or 4 metres might not sound like much, it’s more than the width of a Zebra Crossing or the length of a family car.
In independent tests by the German organisation TUV featuring the Bridgestone Potenza S001,Continental Sportcontact 5P, Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT, Goodyear Eagle F1 and Pirelli P Zero, only one brand of tyre out-performed the Michelin Pilot Super Sport in the wet.
For our dry tests we headed out onto the track at Estoril in Portugal in identical Porsche 911 and Audi R8 sports cars fitted with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres and its predecessor, theMichelin Pilot Sport PS2, which has been fitted as standard equipment to more than 200 models of car.
This test clearly demonstrated the incredible pace of tyre research and development, an areaMichelin spends around £440m on per year. Much of the technology featured in the Pilot Super Sport was developed for the 24 hour Le Mans endurance race, and it felt considerably more stable and gripped harder than the Pilot Sport PS2, no matter which car it was fitted to.
In independent TUV tests in the dry, the Pilot Super Sport was just ahead of all its rivals for road holding and also proved itself as the longest lasting.
One of the key features of the tyres we tested was their ability to perform consistently, even in extreme conditions. When we drove beyond the limits of grip, the resulting skid would be gradual and could be easily recovered by gentle deceleration and by steering into the direction of the skid.
We’ll be looking to undertake more tyre testing in the future, to ensure your car is on the best tyres possible. During just one day we learnt there’s more time invested in the design, chemistry and physics of big brand tyres than you’d ever imagine. The resulting difference in grip and braking can seem small on paper, but can be the difference between life and death in the most extreme situations.
Found and used from Autotrader
