ECS

Posted on the racing forum also. One data point.

997 Carrera S. It is set up with GT3 control arms, front GT3 brake cooling ducts and GT2 rear ducts. Other than that I run it stock on the track including OEM pads. I have a GT3 seat and use harnesses. Experience is about 75 track days over the last 7-8 years. Previous cars 996 GT3, 996 carrera.

I just took off my worn PS2s and put on the super sports. I had heard some good things and read some initial reviews. When I got to the shop and looked at the tires I checked the treadwear number. It was 300 vs 220 for the PS2s. I was a bit disappointed when I saw that as I had heard that the super sports were a better "track" tire. But, I decided to reserve judgement.

Qualitatively - The tread was definitely deeper than the PS2s new. The ride was quieter and they were more compliant. They did feel a bit bulkier and visually they appeared to have a higher sidewall. I prefer them as a DD tire over the PS2s.

I took them to Thunderhill. In my Carrera S I was running in the low 2:10s with my best number 2:10 with PS2s. However, with the Super sports the best I could do was mid to upper 2:11s. Granted, I was a bit rusty as I haven't tracked as much recently but I don't think I was that far off my technique. And, the temps were similar to PS2 track days. In speaking to a few track colleagues the general thought was I was paying the price for the higher treadwear rating. Seems to make sense to me. Regarding pressures, I followed the same routine of dropping the tire pressure significantly so I was running about 38psi hot rear and 33 or so in the front. My lap times were better the first 4 or so laps and I could feel the tires get greasy the latter parts of the run session. This was a similar trend for the PS2s.

My conclusion? I like the Super Sports better for DD which is what I do mostly now, but from a pure performance point of view I would pick the PS2s They felt lighter, and more agile. And the grip seemed better.

Just one data point. Of course, maybe I am just losing it!

simsgw

Can you review how you prepped the new tires? Do you have a break-in procedure? Or just the DD miles between installing and getting to the track? It sounds like you planned them as track tires, but not primarily, so I don't suppose you shaved them. Would you give us an update when you've got a few thousand on them and the tread is down to 60% or so?

Gary

sjfehr

You can just look at the PSS and tell from the tread pattern alone it's not designed to be a no-compromises high-performance summer tire. But I don't think that's the market segment Michelin is trying to sell to. People who buy the PSS are people who won't buy a tire without an N-rating and complain about road noise on faster tires. This tire is designed for them, not us.

With tire tech advancing so rapidly and PS2 already obsolete, I really expected Michelin could pull off the other improvements without decreasing performance. I didn't expect the PSS to be slower than the PS2, though; that's a shocker. I'm looking forward to seeing the data pour in as reviewers start doing more quantitative performance testing.

E55AMG

The problem with most of the tire reviews is someone will replace their current tires - that are worn down to the cords - and then proclaim how wonderful the new tire is compared to what they had. ****, anything round is gonna be better.

I was interested in the PSS and was hoping they would be much better than the PS2. Was even prepared to take off my RE-11's (that have LOTS of tread left) just to get a more fair comparison. I could be wrong but I don't think the PSS will be anywhere close to the RE-11 in perf.

I wish bridgestone could figure out a way to take some damn weight off the RE-11. It is a great street tire.

Alan C.

I agree on the RE-11. A set of 245x19's off the front of my Cayman S still have useable tread after 16000 mi. and a couple of DEs. I'm still holding off on the PSS, might stick with the RE-11.

alexb76

Jeez, you are concluding SO MUCH based on one review?!?! Other reviews all state PSS is faster and better than PS2.

ADias

Indeed. I guess it's the exception, as this goes against all other reviews out there...

mdrums

Ahh correction here...Michelin Super Sport (PSS) is not a Porsche N rated tire.

I don't care that a tire is N rated or not...all my track tires are not N rated and the Toyo Proxes1's I use for the street are not N rated.

E55AMG

not at all

drdrank

Yeah, isn't 38 pretty high to be running on the track?

buckwheat987

That was my thought also.

I run the super sports at 34/36 front/ back hot.

With my limited experience I like them better than the ps2's I previously had.

drdrank

I had the P-Zeros which I liked. After about 36psi they started to get a little slippery, so I was dropping those to 34-36 hot. Ran those on a 997.1 Turbo.

Now on Cup tires, 30-32 / 32-34.

utkinpol

ps2 were pretty decent tires until that moment when they cannot absorb more heat anymore and start melting and splashing rubber all around. as i understood whole point to develop super sports was to maintain same level of grip in dry and wet but not melt so easily.

still i would not probably expect them to grip as good as, say, shaved RA1 tires.

10 GT3

Try dropping your pressures down. With 2 compounds in the tread, I would expect them to be more sensitive to pressure. Try to get 34 hot all the way around and see how they feel, 38 sounds very high even for a street tire.

Larry Cable

To the OP, comparing a set of tyres that have had multiple heat cycles (your PS2s) vs a set that have nowhere near the same number of cycles (MPSS) is not a fair comparison whatsoever. The SS will not be as fast as the PS2.

Also the SS is not an R rated tyre, its fully intended to be a UHP summer street tyre with a street focus but a performance profile that approaches that of the cups.

the Super Sport uses technologies that are in advance of those found in the PS2 having driven the Super Sport on track against it's competition I have no doubt that they are better.

bottom line, take em back and get PS2s if you think they are better, I think you will find a new set of PS2s will be slower than a new set of SS