Pirelli Trofeo R v Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 On Track

[jackwood]

I've been running Trofeo R's on my 996 GT3 for a couple of years now, though have also tried Yokohama AD08R's last year.

Chris Harris has done a bit of an infomercial on the Pirelli on a 991 GT3 round Portamao. Certainly seems quicker than the Cup 2..

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rrLQpAt5Mes

[rosino]

To me unless you only use the car on track the cup 2 feels already a compromised tire. I am just terrified of standing water.

If I lived in California.. Maybe. But in the UK? Think it might be too much for an all round tire. I also ran ad08 on my Elise S2 190 and they were fabulous but only when warm, I.e. Only on track as impossible to get them to temperature on the open road without ending up in jail. And this with a 190hp car.. With another 300 horses on top...? Maybe not.

[IMIA]

Cup 2 is a very good allrounder and much cheaper than the PTR. Better in the wet than the PTR and MPS Cup and Cup + but ultimately slower than all of those in the dry. It also wears 50% better. I have no issues in the wet on Cup 2s as long as you're sensible.

[isaldiri]

That is a very large laptime difference and far more than I was expecting between what purports to be the most track biased road tyre available for both Pirelli and Michelin.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Michelin-Pilo...

suggests the cup2 is quite a bit quicker than the older Cup+.... which wasn't a whole lot slower than the Trofeo I think in another test

Has anyone else used both tyres (Trofeo/Cup2) and also found such a big differential between the 2?

Edited by isaldiri on Wednesday 28th January 18:24

[Cunno]

What tyres are they comparing in the vid PTRs against what? Wasn't the 991 GT3 launched with 2 different tyres Cup 2s and a P option? Vid just says standard tyres.
Anyway I've tried the PTRs, Cup 2s, Cup +, and Cups. I liked the PTRs a lot and believed they had the advantage over the cup + both in the dry and wet. What put me off the PTRs was price and availability very few places stock them. As for the Cup 2 v Cups I personally couldn't tell the difference on a dry track in performance the 2 might be a bit quicker, but did find the cup 2 seems to go off quicker on hot day. In the wet Cup 2 all day long plus they have a wear advantage, last twice as long as Cups. There cheap too and easy to get hold of.

[isaldiri]

Cunno said:

What tyres are they comparing in the vid PTRs against what? Wasn't the 991 GT3 launched with 2 different tyres Cup 2s and a P option? Vid just says standard tyres.

Standard tyre of the gt3 is the cup2 so presumably that was the tyre the trofeo was compared against.

[sidicks]

isaldiri said:

Standard tyre of the gt3 is the cup2 so presumably that was the tyre the trofeo was compared against.

Dunlop Sport Maxx Race is the other 'standard' tyre on the GT3 although, in the UK at least, the majority were delivered on the Michelin Cup 2s. Harris mentions the Michelin in his commentary, so presume that is the tyre he is referring to!

Presumably the Pirelli is even more track oriented than the Michelin, and thus would be noticeably worse in the wet. Until the SuperSports are n-rated, I think the Dunlops or the Michelins are still the best choice for mainly road / occasional track use.

[Cunno]

Just watch vid again, and your correct he does mention Mich Cup 2s. 2sec over a 2 minute lap is impressive. Just wonder how hard Pirelli tried to ensure the Mich tyres were in same condition as their PTRs and had correct pressures in them🙈🙉🙊

[isaldiri]

Cunno said:

Just watch vid again, and your correct he does mention Mich Cup 2s. 2sec over a 2 minute lap is impressive. Just wonder how hard Pirelli tried to ensure the Mich tyres were in same condition as their PTRs and had correct pressures in them??????

That one seems little more than a glorified Pirelli advert as well I suppose so the Trofeos were always going to look much better vs the 'standard' tyres. Not that I am trying to besmirch the journalistic integrity of CH but 2s a lap over Cup2s seems slightly hard to believe, that was approximately the same difference as the 918 over the speciale which are both the same tyre (cup2s!)...

[arcamalpha]

Cunno said:

Just watch vid again, and your correct he does mention Mich Cup 2s. 2sec over a 2 minute lap is impressive. Just wonder how hard Pirelli tried to ensure the Mich tyres were in same condition as their PTRs and had correct pressures in them??????

I'm guessing the Cup2s were worn out for the lap timing whilst the Pirellis were fresh. I doubt there's as much as 2s in it.

[Pingman]

Just watched and wondered now genuine the results were, would love to see an independent test of athe leading performance/track day tyres in both dry and wet

[DiscoColin]

I would also like to know what the longevity of the Pirellis is like. The Cup2s last for ages as well as working very acceptably in the wet (which can be a big deal if you are on the continent and have to drive through a Belgian deluge on your way to the track).

[NJH]

If the car is several months old or more and had been driven around on the road a lot, parked outside in the cold etc then those Michelins would already have been harder and not as sticky as fresh scrubbed tyres. Impossible to take seriously as an objective test given the vids infomercial status.

[Cunno]

DiscoColin said:

I would also like to know what the longevity of the Pirellis is like. The Cup2s last for ages as well as working very acceptably in the wet (which can be a big deal if you are on the continent and have to drive through a Belgian deluge on your way to the track).

I got 6 TDs out of the PTRs and get 10+ from Cup 2s

[PorscheGT4]

Cunno said:

I got 6 TDs out of the PTRs and get 10+ from Cup 2s

cups 2's are quite new you must do loads of track days to get that data already.

[jackwood]

He does.

Nxi (Nick) also does a lot. He has already posted data on durability of Cup2's

They were available pretty much the whole of last track season in 996 and 997 GT3 sizes.

General consensus is that they are far superior in the wet to pretty much any other track-based tyre, very quiet (which is very strange), very durable (last at the very minimum twice as long as original Cups), readily available, and cheap. But, do not manage heat as well, go off quicker, and are slightly slower.

[IMIA]

jackwood said:

He does.

Nxi (Nick) also does a lot. He has already posted data on durability of Cup2's

They were available pretty much the whole of last track season in 996 and 997 GT3 sizes.

General consensus is that they are far superior in the wet to pretty much any other track-based tyre, very quiet (which is very strange), very durable (last at the very minimum twice as long as original Cups), readily available, and cheap. But, do not manage heat as well, go off quicker, and are slightly slower.

I would not say £1200 for a set of Cup2s is cheap but I take your point relative to PTR there circa £300-400 cheaper per set. MP Supersports are about £900 to put it into perspective and regular road tyres like MSP2s even cheaper

[Cunno]

IMIA said:

I would not say £1200 for a set of Cup2s is cheap but I take your point relative to PTR there circa £300-400 cheaper per set. MP Supersports are about £900 to put it into perspective and regular road tyres like MSP2s even cheaper

Yes tyres for 911s aren't cheap, hunt around and you can get them cheaper my last set of cup 2s cost £1040. Compared to to PTRs at £1300.

Theses are trackday tyres, road tyres are cheaper but even the MPSS struggles on track.

http://www.oponeo.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAl7KmBRDW6s-...

http://www.tyreleader.co.uk

2 of the better suppliers I use.

[jackwood]

£560 delivered for a set of Cups for a 996 GT3 is quite compelling! On Tyreleader.

[PorscheGT4]

I run race Maxx which are crazy expensive now over £350 for a 265 :-( I am switching to cup2 this year.