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Corvette replaces Goodyears with Michelins
Company won contract to supply tires for new, high-end cars after it did better in competitions.
Larry Edsall / Special to The Detroit News
The Chevrolet Corvette racing team knew its cars were good enough to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, yet "we basically got spanked by Ferrari F550s on Michelin tires," driver Ron Fellows recalls of the outcome of the famed French race in 2003.
Like all Corvettes, the race cars rode around the clock on Goodyear tires. But when the team returned home, they did a test, running one car on Goodyear tires, then on a set of Michelins. The car turned out to be several seconds per lap faster on the Michelins.
So the team -- Michigan-based Pratt & Miller -- switched tires for the 2004 season and since then has won three times at Le Mans as well as sweeping championships in the American Le Mans racing series.
Thanks to its racing prowess, Michelin won the contract to supply the original equipment tires for the new and highest-performance 638-horsepower 2009 ZR-1. Beginning in August, Michelin also will offer owners of all late-model Corvettes two replacement tire options for their cars.
Michelin's new tire for the C5 and C6 Corvette is the Pilot Sport PS2 ZP. The ZP stands of "Zero Pressure." Cars such as the Corvette are not equipped with a spare tire but ride on tires with run-flat capability, which allows them to continue to be driven safely for a defined period even when tires lose air pressure.
The new tires are available in sizes for the C5, C6 and C6 Z06 Corvettes. Z06 owners have the option of using the ZR-1 tires as a "plus-one" fitment.
Last week Michelin showed the new tires at its proving grounds in Laurens County, S.C.
The tire features what Michelin calls "Variable Contact Patch" technology. Basically, design engineers were able to tune the much stiffer run-flat sidewall construction to enhance the contact patch when the car is in hard cornering. The design allows the tire to be more responsive to steering input when first turning into a corner.
The tire's tread design and compounding also provide better wet-surface performance. In South Carolina, we drove Corvettes identical except for their tires. In a panic stop from 40 mph on a soaked surface, the Michelins stopped the car in 74.1 feet, compared to 82.8 feet for the Goodyears.
Even more impressive were laps around a dry autocross course. On the Michelins, the Corvette was so much faster it felt like a different car. Turn-in was more precise, power could be applied sooner and more surely and the braking was better. We were able to drive much more confidently even at the higher speeds.
But this tire is not only better in terms of aggressive performance. On a comfort track with a variety of road imperfections, the Michelin reduced both the shock and duration of the various events, providing a smoother ride. Michelin says its durability testing showed the new PS2 ZP to provide wear life as much as 30 percent longer than a Corvette's original-equipment Goodyear tires.
For more information, visit www.michelin.us.com.
Larry Edsall is a Phoenix-based freelance writer. You can reach him at ledsall@cox.net.
Company won contract to supply tires for new, high-end cars after it did better in competitions.
Larry Edsall / Special to The Detroit News
The Chevrolet Corvette racing team knew its cars were good enough to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, yet "we basically got spanked by Ferrari F550s on Michelin tires," driver Ron Fellows recalls of the outcome of the famed French race in 2003.
Like all Corvettes, the race cars rode around the clock on Goodyear tires. But when the team returned home, they did a test, running one car on Goodyear tires, then on a set of Michelins. The car turned out to be several seconds per lap faster on the Michelins.
So the team -- Michigan-based Pratt & Miller -- switched tires for the 2004 season and since then has won three times at Le Mans as well as sweeping championships in the American Le Mans racing series.
Thanks to its racing prowess, Michelin won the contract to supply the original equipment tires for the new and highest-performance 638-horsepower 2009 ZR-1. Beginning in August, Michelin also will offer owners of all late-model Corvettes two replacement tire options for their cars.
Michelin's new tire for the C5 and C6 Corvette is the Pilot Sport PS2 ZP. The ZP stands of "Zero Pressure." Cars such as the Corvette are not equipped with a spare tire but ride on tires with run-flat capability, which allows them to continue to be driven safely for a defined period even when tires lose air pressure.
The new tires are available in sizes for the C5, C6 and C6 Z06 Corvettes. Z06 owners have the option of using the ZR-1 tires as a "plus-one" fitment.
Last week Michelin showed the new tires at its proving grounds in Laurens County, S.C.
The tire features what Michelin calls "Variable Contact Patch" technology. Basically, design engineers were able to tune the much stiffer run-flat sidewall construction to enhance the contact patch when the car is in hard cornering. The design allows the tire to be more responsive to steering input when first turning into a corner.
The tire's tread design and compounding also provide better wet-surface performance. In South Carolina, we drove Corvettes identical except for their tires. In a panic stop from 40 mph on a soaked surface, the Michelins stopped the car in 74.1 feet, compared to 82.8 feet for the Goodyears.
Even more impressive were laps around a dry autocross course. On the Michelins, the Corvette was so much faster it felt like a different car. Turn-in was more precise, power could be applied sooner and more surely and the braking was better. We were able to drive much more confidently even at the higher speeds.
But this tire is not only better in terms of aggressive performance. On a comfort track with a variety of road imperfections, the Michelin reduced both the shock and duration of the various events, providing a smoother ride. Michelin says its durability testing showed the new PS2 ZP to provide wear life as much as 30 percent longer than a Corvette's original-equipment Goodyear tires.
For more information, visit www.michelin.us.com.
Larry Edsall is a Phoenix-based freelance writer. You can reach him at ledsall@cox.net.
! Michelin must know that C5 owners needed another option . Thanks 
Michelin!
