Michelin Pilot Super Sports for track?

[Qwimby1]

I've never used street tires on the track before, but for convenience sake I may give them a try. The Michelin's were on the car when I got it. I haven't had a chance to push them to where they unhook, but from what testing I have been able to do, they stick a lot better than I anticipated. Does anyone have any experience with them on the track?

[churchx]

Of course many do. After all, MPSS been one of most popular dual use tires. You can consider also MPS4S (not MPS4), which is supposedly successor of MPSS, but with much improved wet traction and a bit improved wear. Of course, some more track oriented tires will do/grip better then MPSS, but as tire fore both daily driving & occasional track it's very good compromise.

[re-animator]

they are a daily tire that can do light track duty, not a track tire that is dailyable.

basically the harder/longer you drive them the more they will overheat and potentially start chunking. mostly fine for autox but on a proper track you'd most likely want a 200tw tire at least.

[Qwimby1]

Originally Posted by re-animator

they are a daily tire that can do light track duty, not a track tire that is dailyable.

basically the harder/longer you drive them the more they will overheat and potentially start chunking. mostly fine for autox but on a proper track you'd most likely want a 200tw tire at least.

That makes sense. You carry a lot of speed on those long straights at Sebring.

[Brayden_23]

I've been on track 3 times with my MPSS and about to go for my 4th. I'm a pretty entry-level driver, so take that for what it is. I still push hard, and I have found that running about 34psi hot gives the best grip. They have been wonderful tires to beat on DD and then still hold their own on track. That being said, I will definitely be buying a 200TW tire next since the grip level seems to be my limiting factor now during braking.

Surprised at how long they have lasted, with only minor chunking when pushed for a full 20min session. Would recommend if you are looking for a good tire for DD and occasional light track duty.

[ZDan]

Originally Posted by Qwimby1

I've never used street tires on the track before, but for convenience sake I may give them a try. The Michelin's were on the car when I got it. I haven't had a chance to push them to where they unhook, but from what testing I have been able to do, they stick a lot better than I anticipated. Does anyone have any experience with them on the track?

If they seem to stick fine now, they're fine to track. But they might "go off" at some point and lose any semblance of grip on the street or track. The set I had for my FD did. Initially they were fine, and did OK at the one (half) track day I did on them. But after ~18 months they apparently "aged out" and didn't have any grip at all even for semi-normal street driving. This was with half tread depth remaining. So if you start to notice lack of grip, get rid of them.

[86league]

I ran into outer shoulder wear with the MPSS for track use.

Even with -3.1 deg of camber in the front and high pressures, the outer shoulder got killed with lots of tread left on the rest of the tire. Switched to SX2s, same camber settings, and the wear is much more even for track use. Sidewall is a little soft on the MPSS for hard track it seems.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2990277

[Tristor]

I'm running MPS4S right now on double-duty. My on-track pressure is at 32psi in the front and 31psi in the rear on stock suspension and factory alignment. I find that they have solid grip but tend to scrub out in the corners more than I would expect, I think adding negative camber in the front would help correct for some of this but I haven't modified my suspension yet.


On the street I run 35psi (factory pressure listed in the door card), and it works fine. I will say that with 4 track days on these tires that they are already giving up some grip on the street. My braking zones have extended, but there's still some tread life left. They still operate fine in the rain though.


For my next set of tires I'm going to some 200tw (probably Yokohama AD08Rs), but I have to say I've been VERY impressed with the performance and longevity of the Michelin PS4S.

[CoolHandMoss]

I've done a track day on PSS's. I was pretty impressed with their dry grip once I got the pressures right (pretty low). I was not impressed with the wet grip. They were pretty predictable and best of all they held up great on a track known to chew tires. Considering how decently they gripped I was very impressed with how little wear they showed. They're obviously not going to keep up with 200 tw tires but they're not far behind.