Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2

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NJH

3,021 posts

208 months

Thursday 12th November 2015
quotequote all
jon- said:
ttdan said:
Was running cup 2 last week at DN13 on the e46M3, quite a bit of camber (3.5 front, 2.5 rear) and i thought they were great. They did start to go off a tiny bit about half way into the second lap which is about 12 to 13 mins of fairly hard driving but for £159 a corner in BM sizes im not complaining in the slightest. Very progressive too.

Whos tried the Dunlop Direzza? Have heard some great things about these but the range is a little confusing so not sure what their "road legal" track tyre actually is.
The Cup 2 was benchmarked against the SportMaxx Race during development: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Dunlop/SportMaxx...
I think he meant the DZ03g, very popular here with club racers. Its a tyre with a race tyre type construction and motorbike style tread pattern that is barely road legal. Completely different car for me but its on my list of 235/40-18 or 225/40-18 track tyres to consider as I have had them on my 944 race car and really liked them a lot.

DiscoColin

3,328 posts

213 months

Thursday 12th November 2015
quotequote all
braddo said:
How are people finding the Cup 2 on the road in autumn, with greasy/leafy roads?
Fine at road legal speeds, but it does depend on your geo. If you are set up for track friendliness you will get understeer anywhere that you can't get enough heat into them (cold, wet circuits and all roads). The general consensus is that you need to reduce front camber to something more like stock or soften off the bars if you don't want to drive around that. In my experience it is cold rather than wet that will make you want to slap your winter wheels on though - when it gets down to single digit temperatures they really don't bite into the tarmac too well.


Edited by DiscoColin on Thursday 12th November 21:28

nigelonich

1,017 posts

219 months

Thursday 19th November 2015
quotequote all
I was looking online for 996 gt3 mk2 sizes for cup 2. I could only find National Tyres had them?

Any suggestions for them in 295 30 18?

Cheers
N.

LaSource

2,622 posts

207 months

Thursday 19th November 2015
quotequote all
nigelonich said:
I was looking online for 996 gt3 mk2 sizes for cup 2. I could only find National Tyres had them?

Any suggestions for them in 295 30 18?

Cheers
N.
Look at online retialiers such as event tyres...even if website says no, call them directly. Managed to source me a set fairly quickly earlier this year.

jon-

16,496 posts

215 months

Thursday 19th November 2015
quotequote all
nigelonich said:
I was looking online for 996 gt3 mk2 sizes for cup 2. I could only find National Tyres had them?

Any suggestions for them in 295 30 18?

Cheers
N.
http://lovetyres.com/tyre/Michelin-Pilot-Sport-Cup...

Edited by jon- on Thursday 19th November 11:49

nigelonich

1,017 posts

219 months

Thursday 19th November 2015
quotequote all
Thanks. I cant believe the price difference between Cups and Cup 2's. Its an extra £100 per corner. Even more alarming is that National Tyres are competitive as they include fitting.

jon-

16,496 posts

215 months

Thursday 19th November 2015
quotequote all
nigelonich said:
Thanks. I cant believe the price difference between Cups and Cup 2's. Its an extra £100 per corner. Even more alarming is that National Tyres are competitive as they include fitting.
Michelin own both ATS and Blackcircles, so it might be worth checking them out.

nigelonich

1,017 posts

219 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
Thanks again. Im still stunned at the cheapness of Cup's v Cup 2's

Best I can get Cup 2's 295 30 18 is £250 each but the same tyre in Cup is £143 from Openeo.

So Cup rears are cheaper than cup 2 fronts!

DiscoColin

3,328 posts

213 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
nigelonich said:
Thanks again. Im still stunned at the cheapness of Cup's v Cup 2's

Best I can get Cup 2's 295 30 18 is £250 each but the same tyre in Cup is £143 from Openeo.

So Cup rears are cheaper than cup 2 fronts!
The difference in wear performance means that on a tyre life basis the Cup 2 is still cheaper to run on though - even with the price difference.

jackwood

2,608 posts

207 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
DiscoColin said:
nigelonich said:
Thanks again. Im still stunned at the cheapness of Cup's v Cup 2's

Best I can get Cup 2's 295 30 18 is £250 each but the same tyre in Cup is £143 from Openeo.

So Cup rears are cheaper than cup 2 fronts!
The difference in wear performance means that on a tyre life basis the Cup 2 is still cheaper to run on though - even with the price difference.
Also the Cup's will be old stock and several years old. They do go off, particularly if they haven't been stored correctly.

ttdan

1,091 posts

192 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
DiscoColin said:
nigelonich said:
Thanks again. Im still stunned at the cheapness of Cup's v Cup 2's

Best I can get Cup 2's 295 30 18 is £250 each but the same tyre in Cup is £143 from Openeo.

So Cup rears are cheaper than cup 2 fronts!
The difference in wear performance means that on a tyre life basis the Cup 2 is still cheaper to run on though - even with the price difference.
Assuming the cup 2 doesn't delaminate itself...smile. Cup1 is a great tyre too. Ask openeo for the date codes?

nigelonich

1,017 posts

219 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
quotequote all
I have ran Cup 2's on my R26R at the ring this year. All good hence why I am buying more. The PS3's lasted two laps!

NJH

3,021 posts

208 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
nigelonich said:
I have ran Cup 2's on my R26R at the ring this year. All good hence why I am buying more. The PS3's lasted two laps!
Did you do any days on them sub 10 degrees C and damp? This is what I am trying to get to the bottom of because if they work OK in such conditions they will be going on my R26 as general use and occasional track days when the PS2s wear out.

DiscoColin

3,328 posts

213 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
NJH said:
nigelonich said:
I have ran Cup 2's on my R26R at the ring this year. All good hence why I am buying more. The PS3's lasted two laps!
Did you do any days on them sub 10 degrees C and damp? This is what I am trying to get to the bottom of because if they work OK in such conditions they will be going on my R26 as general use and occasional track days when the PS2s wear out.
Not on a Megane, but on a 911 I wouldn't recommend them for single figure or negative temperatures on track. They aren't that much worse than any other summer performance tyre in such conditions, but I found that it wasn't especially enjoyable. The issue is that when it is cold they don't really bite well enough to help you to get any temperature into them and the moment that you stop, what little temperature you do have dissipates almost immediately. The day consequently turns into more of a battle with temperatures and pressures than driving enjoyment.

Obviously though - if you end up on snow everything gets much worse and it all gets a bit hovercraft. That really focusses your attention, calling for plenty of caution.

ttdan

1,091 posts

192 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
Oulton Park at last years RS day was about 7 degrees, mostly dry, under 2 mins without being a hero, I thought they were great. Colder than that not sure but we had a zero degree day at the ring in '14, very cold but very dry on cup 1's and grip was astounding. Think moisture makes more difference than ambient temp personally as if it's dry you can still work the tyre to get some heat in there.

jackwood

2,608 posts

207 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
Have to say, though, that even in biblical rain on the road the Cup2's are very very good. Surprisingly so. I haven't actually come across a situation they don't work exceptionally well in, for what they are.

Richie200

2,011 posts

208 months

Saturday 28th November 2015
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Anyone know how they compare in terms of weight?

Edited by Richie200 on Saturday 28th November 08:35

ttdan

1,091 posts

192 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
Oulton Park at last years RS day was about 7 degrees, mostly dry, under 2 mins without being a hero, I thought they were great. Colder than that not sure but we had a zero degree day at the ring in '14, very cold but very dry on cup 1's and grip was astounding. Think moisture makes more difference than ambient temp personally as if it's dry you can still work the tyre to get some heat in there.

LaSource

2,622 posts

207 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
ttdan said:
Oulton Park at last years RS day was about 7 degrees, mostly dry, under 2 mins without being a hero, I thought they were great. Colder than that not sure but we had a zero degree day at the ring in '14, very cold but very dry on cup 1's and grip was astounding. Think moisture makes more difference than ambient temp personally as if it's dry you can still work the tyre to get some heat in there.
Wow...time machine double post smile


I'm at Silverstone Sunday - let's hope it stays above 7 deg and somewhat dry(!)

NJH

3,021 posts

208 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
DiscoColin said:
NJH said:
nigelonich said:
I have ran Cup 2's on my R26R at the ring this year. All good hence why I am buying more. The PS3's lasted two laps!
Did you do any days on them sub 10 degrees C and damp? This is what I am trying to get to the bottom of because if they work OK in such conditions they will be going on my R26 as general use and occasional track days when the PS2s wear out.
Not on a Megane, but on a 911 I wouldn't recommend them for single figure or negative temperatures on track. They aren't that much worse than any other summer performance tyre in such conditions, but I found that it wasn't especially enjoyable. The issue is that when it is cold they don't really bite well enough to help you to get any temperature into them and the moment that you stop, what little temperature you do have dissipates almost immediately. The day consequently turns into more of a battle with temperatures and pressures than driving enjoyment.

Obviously though - if you end up on snow everything gets much worse and it all gets a bit hovercraft. That really focusses your attention, calling for plenty of caution.
Thanks mate the reason for my car specific sounding query is in a roundabout way down to camber. I don't know about Nigel's R26.R but my R26 basically has only a tiny amount of front camber much like many road cars, my Porsche race car (944 S2) has 4 degrees -ve up front and in all honesty is a bit of a joke in the cold and wet, and not much fun when its just one of those. Having said that a guy in a more mildly setup 944 S2 almost won the wet race at Thruxton a few years back in torrential weather, and that was on the original Cups as well, he seemed to find grip that many others couldn't.

It does seem from the various responses that the Cup 2s are OK in these conditions on cars not running aggressive camber for maximum dry weather performance.