Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R: the tyres for setting fast lap times

Road-legal, the new ultra high-performance Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres are designed to set fast lap times on track.

If you own a supercar and enjoy running laps on a circuit, these are your tyres. They carry the “R” designation and are an evolution of the well-known Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 . As you have probably guessed, the “R” stands for “Racing”.

Michelin says that after carrying out various internal tests at the Nardo circuit (Italy), these tyres allow a Porsche 911 GT2 RS to cut its lap time by 2.9 seconds compared with the Pilot Sport Cup 2. To put that into perspective, look at this figure: also according to Michelin, achieving a similar reduction without changing tyres would require an additional 30 percent of power. And in a GT2 RS, which produces 700 CV, if the maths is right, that means… more than 200 extra CV!

What innovations do the “R” versions have over the rest of the Pilot Sport Cup 2 range? Michelin is not going to reveal its secrets. It only mentions new compounds that, for the first time in a road tyre, are derived from those used in competition, and a new tread pattern that provides greater stiffness and up to 10 percent more rubber in contact with the asphalt.

For the time being, the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R are offered as optional equipment on the Porsche 911 GT2 RS and Porsche 911 GT2 RS, in sizes 265/35-20 and 325/30-20, with speed rating Z. Later they will also be available from workshops and tyre dealers.

Let us recall that the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R were the tyres used by the Porsche 911 GT3 RS which set a new record at the Nürburgring with a time of under 7 minutes.