The Vette Barn - My 00' vert on the road… Real World Testing of the Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires

As some of you may remember, I have been testing these tires for Michelin since late 2010 first starting in Dubai on many cars EXCEPT a Corvette.

They have been all track miles until a few months ago.

Michelin agreed they would provide me a set of 245/40ZR17 & 285/35ZR18 for my 2000 vert to do some real world testing off the track.
My research and previous experience with C5 tire sizing all pointed to the above sizing, these are as close to the OEM sizes/rake Michelin currently makes in the PSS and have worked perfectly to date!

I have changed nothing on this C5 since I bought it over a year ago, except changing the tires!

I finally have 1000+ all purpose miles on the PSS tires in dry, wet and flood conditions!

Many Corvette drivers dread seeing the rain………….not me, it is another perfect test condition to go flog a car and some tires!

With a near stock powered 2000 auto trans C5 (3.15 gear/Z51 suspension), I really had to try hard to get the tires to break free from a dead stop on a well traveled wet road even with the TC off.

Once I did loose traction, the recovery was quick to happen.

These tires give a driver a very high sense of confidence in any evasive maneuver in wet or dry conditions on the road.

These tires on the street impress me as I expected based on the track miles I already have on them. The gripability of these fully treaded street tires are near a R compound race slick!

As Michelin recommends, I have run the OEM tire pressure due to the fact these tires are near the same as the OEM sizing.

I find that these tires ride no rougher than any other summer performance tire even though this is contrary to some other reviews on different vehicles.

One sign of a well made tire is it takes little to no weight to balance; of course the wild card can be the wheel itself as well!

Two of the OEM thin spokes had a little curb rash from a prior owner, so I thought for sure they would need some balance weight………none of them took ANY, not even a ¼ ounce!

Stopping/cornering is very firm, stable, repeatable and predictable wet or dry with these tires no matter the many road surfaces from newly paved roads to tar & gravel ones.

One new tech tidbit, according to Michelin Engineers, theses tires need to be at 160 degrees for the compounds to start working correctly in a performance application.

As for the PSS tire ride on a bumpy/pot holed road, it was no worse than any other fully treaded performance or regular tire….. and I have been on many.
These are much quieter than the BFG KDW2s due to smaller tread blocks, but in my vert I can hear a very slight tire whine. Nothing derogatory or annoying on a short or long trip but it is there, full disclosure!

I had heard/ read some folks thought they were a little rougher taking potholes and larger elevation transitions, but I found them no worse than Toyo RA1s, Bridgestone's, BFGs, etc. and actually better in the larger holes!

I am sure the use of Twaron stiffens the ride a little, but I will take a firm consistent contact patch in all conditions vs. a softer ride any day.

In conclusion, the Pilot Super Sport is still the #1 fully treaded Summer Performance Tire……..for now :D

Next stop, most likely the drag strip and 60-0 braking times.....stay tuned!