Michelin has not supported the Geneva Motor Show for the past few years but returned for this year’s event and when SA Treads spoke with Pierre Chaput – Tire Designer and Development Engineer along with Cyrille Roget – Group Technical and Scientific Communications Director on their stand they stated that Michelin had stayed away from the event in previous years in order to reorganise its brand structure and overhaul its tire designs. Now in 2019 this recognised leading brand is back with impressive new additions to their Pilot Sport range including the Pilot Sport 4 SUV and Pilot SportCup2 with Pierre pointing out, “These new tires have been specifically designed for drivers who enjoy using their car’s full driving potential and both the Pilot Sport 4 SUV and Sportcup2 patterns are implemented with technologies developed for motorsport.”
The Pilot Sport 4 SUV is a genuine sports tire that has been adapted for use on an SUV with particular emphasis on control and stability at high speed and extended tire life with Cyrille adding, “This tire guarantees exceptional grip compared to its market competitors through its special asymmetrical design of the tread with the outer part for dry conditions and the internal section for wet conditions. It also features a new compound mix of unique operational and innovating elastomers plus fine silica whilst the tread is ultra-reactive and adapts to road conditions through dynamic interaction between the tread pattern and the advanced tread compounds that ensures perfect management of the tire contact patch.”
The Pilot Sport Cup2 also incorporates a mix of tread compounds from Michelin’s motorsport department and the tire has been specially manufactured for dry track conditions. Pierre says, “We have reduced the number of tread blocks on the outer shoulder of the tire plus the central grooves have been placed closer together which makes the tread blocks even more rigid and able to withstand the higher grip forces and therefore improve driving precision. Finally the tire’s contact patch has been increased by almost ten per cent.” Once again these new tire ranges from Michelin are expected to become available throughout the world in due course.
