September 22, 2004
Many say racing can improve the breed. And with the world-wide popularity of all forms of motorsports, it’s no wonder why many tire manufacturers choose to do battle in the public eye, showcasing their latest technologies in front of the world’s racing audiences. The intense pressure to perform - and win - makes motorsports competition the ideal place to drive development of new products.
Michelin has a long and successful record competing in the World Rally Championship (WRC), one of today’s most demanding forms of motorsports competition. WRC competitors race against the clock over paved, gravel, sand or snow-covered public roads (closed to regular traffic, of course) in sixteen countries around the world. The terrain, road and weather conditions can vary wildly, from event to event and minute to minute as each driver takes their pass at the course. This constant variety puts a premium on driver skill, vehicle preparation, and the tire’s ability to provide traction under varying conditions.
Michelin has applied lessons learned in WRC competition to the Pilot Exalto PE2, which benefits from tread pattern and internal construction architecture found to provide a competitive advantage for WRC teams running on Michelin tires. To find out how well this racing-inspired design translates to driving on paved roads in the real world, Tire Rack team conducted a Real World Road Ride and Performance Track Drive to compare the Pilot Exalto PE2 Ultra High Performance Summer tire with the Bridgestone Potenza RE750 and the Yokohama AVS ES100, popular choices in the category. Our comparison used 2003 BMW 330Ci coupes, and installed 225/45R17 tires mounted on 17x8 wheels, which is a common Plus Zero size upgrade from BMW’s Original Equipment tire size (205/50R17). Also, our evaluation used new, full tread depth tires.
We also included a fourth 2003 BMW 330Ci fitted with the Original Equipment 205/50R17 Goodyear Eagle RS-A High Performance All-Season tires mounted on factory 17x7.0" wheels. We have included this vehicle/tire combination in other tire evaluations, and have found it helpful to have an OE-equipped vehicle in the test, to evaluate how installing the other products impacts the vehicle’s ride and handling characteristics.
The Goodyear Eagle RS-A is a High Performance All-Season tire produced with several speed ratings and in a wide variety of sizes. Its design is heavily influenced by its use as an Original Equipment tire by BMW, Volkswagen, General Motors, Chrysler and others. The Eagle RS-A features a subtle asymmetric tread design with larger tread elements in the outside shoulder intended to deliver more responsive handling, cornering, and steering. Smaller tread blocks on the inside shoulder combined with wide tread and lateral grooves are intended to enhance wet and snow traction.
Out on the road, the Eagle RS-A exhibited good road manners. Overall handling felt sporty but not nimble, while ride comfort and road noise both scored well with our team. This combination delivered a good blend of performance and comfort, and helped illustrate why so many vehicle manufacturers select the Eagle RS-A for Original Equipment fitment.
On the test track in the dry, the Eagle RS-A delivered handling that was appropriate for a tire in the High Performance All-Season tire category. But its all-season tread pattern and compound, combined with the narrower size just could not match the handling of the other three more performance-oriented tires in this test.
Under wet conditions, the Eagle RS-A performed appropriately for its category, but was again at a disadvantage to the Ultra High Performance Summer tires. The high-grip summer tread compounds and performance-oriented construction aided the other three tires, relegating the all-season Eagle RS-A to the fourth place spot.
The Bridgestone Potenza RE750 is an Ultra High Performance summer tire that was developed for the drivers of sports cars and sporty coupes to provide traction on wet and dry roads. It uses Bridgestone’s UNI-T network of technologies to improve three primary factors of the tire’s performance: the bead, casing and tread compound.
The Potenza RE750, inspired by the Bridgestone Potenza racing tire, uses an ultra high performance tread compound to enhance dry traction while its directional tread pattern enhances wet traction. Together, the tread compound and tread design help sweep water away from between the tire’s contact patch and the road to improve wet grip and reduce the possibility of hydroplaning. The Potenza RE750 has been engineered to reduce road noise, especially when worn, by combining interconnected shoulder blocks with continuous circumferential ribs in the center of the tread design to help reduce the possibility of heel/toe and alternate block wear. Internally, the Potenza RE750’s casing and twin steel belts deliver responsive handling and cornering stability. The steel belts are reinforced with spirally wound nylon to provide high-speed durability while minimizing weight and maximizing ride qualities.
During the Road Ride portion of our evaluation, the Potenza RE750 offered nimble, responsive handling, along with a modestly firm ride, especially over the sharper bumps along the route. Tread and impact noise were found to be at appropriate levels for an Ultra High Performance Summer tire, but the noisiest of tires in this test. In addition, some of our team members noticed a subtle, but distinctive low-pitch growl as the test vehicle slowed to a stop.
On the dry handling course, our team found the Potenza RE750 provided responsive steering, along with balanced overall handling, which made the Potenza easy to drive at the limit. This balance rewarded smooth driving with fast lap times, while overly-aggressive steering inputs did tend to produce some understeer.
In wet conditions, the Potenza RE750 performed well, feeling comfortable and very predictable. There were no surprises, with responsiveness and overall grip levels feeling well matched, which produced the second-fastest average overall lap time of this test.
The Pilot Exalto PE2 is Michelin’s Ultra High Performance Summer tire designed to raise both the status and performance of small sporty cars that use low profile-sized tires. The Pilot Exalto PE2 was inspired by Michelin’s World Rally Championship (WRC) tire design and architecture, and was developed to provide crisp and responsive handling in both wet and dry conditions.
On the outside, the Pilot Exalto PE2 molds Michelin’s WRC competition-inspired LMA (Life Maximized Adherence) tread compound optimized for street use to provide predictable handling and sustained levels of grip throughout the tire’s life. The LMA tread compound is molded into Michelin’s Variable Contact Patch (VCP) asymmetrical tread design with large independent outer shoulder tread blocks and a 70% rubber-to-road contact on the outer half of the tire’s footprint to put more rubber on the road during extreme cornering to enhance responsiveness and sporty handling. The asymmetrical tread design also features 62% rubber-to-road contact on the inner half of the tire to enhance hydroplaning resistance and wet traction. Continuous center ribs help reduce noise while providing constant road contact to increase straight-line stability.
Internally, the Pilot Exalto PE2 features twin, high tensile steel belts that are fortified with Michelin’s Banded At Zero (BAZ) technology (spiral-wrapped reinforcement) to stabilize the tread area to enhance handling and high-speed capability. A rayon cord body and dual sidewall reinforcements help resist lateral deflection to generate cornering force and stability.
Out on the road, the Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 was a pleasant surprise. While providing handling that was nearly as crisp as the other two Ultra High Performance Summer tires in the test, the ride and noise comfort parameters were much more like the Goodyear Eagle RS-A. Impact harshness and tread noise felt and sounded less intrusive than the AVS ES100 and the Potenza RE750. This provided a blend of comfort and handling that is not typical of most other Ultra High Performance Summer tires.
Michelin’s WRC-inspired design translated well to our dry handling track, where the Pilot Exalto PE2 was able to post the fastest average overall lap time of the test. While not quite as responsive as the Yokohama AVS ES100, the Pilot Exalto PE2 seemed to "carve" through the sharper turns on the course, inspiring confidence.
In the wet, the Pilot Exalto PE2 performed in a class by itself, posting fastest average overall lap time a full 1.5 seconds ahead of the next quickest tire in this test. The overall level of grip was above what we usually find with most other Ultra High Performance Summer tires, combined with very balanced handling made the "PE2" easy and fun to drive in the wet.
The AVS ES100 radial is Yokohama’s Ultra High Performance Summer tire designed to deliver ultra high performance looks and handling to the drivers of sports cars, coupes and sedans. The AVS in the AVS ES100 radial’s name identifies that this tire is a member of Yokohama’s Advanced Vehicle System flagship family of performance tires.
On the outside, the AVS ES100 features a high-tech silica tread compound molded into a directional tread design with long tread blocks and a continuous center rib to provide traction, responsive handling, and high-speed stability. Its two, wide circumferential center channels and "high angle" lateral tread grooves effectively pump water to the sides of the tire’s footprint to enhance wet traction and minimize hydroplaning. Internally, the AVS ES100 features twin steel belts reinforced by jointless, wrapped nylon stabilizing the tread area to elevate handling and high-speed capability while minimizing weight. The AVS ES100 radial’s polyester cord body and steel wire-reinforced sidewalls help blend ride quality with lateral stability.
Out on the road, the AVS ES100 felt very responsive, reacting quickly to any steering input from the driver. While our team liked this tire’s responsiveness, they felt there may be somewhat of a tradeoff in ride quality to get it, where the AVS ES100 felt a bit stiff over the harsher sections of our road ride. Some tread noise was always present, but was still appropriate for tires in the category.
The Yokohama AVS ES100 seemed to be at home on the dry handling track, feeling very nimble with its crisp steering response. The overall grip level was somewhat behind the other two Ultra High Performance Summer tires in the test, however, which didn’t allow the AVS ES100 to take full advantage of its crisp handling.
With the handling track wetted down, the AVS ES100 did not feel quite as comfortable as it had under dry conditions. The AVS ES100 felt a little nervous or skittish during the rapid side-to-side transitions of the slalom area, and tended to understeer somewhat around the constant radius skid pad portion. Steering response was still crisp, but would quickly give way as the front tires began to slip.
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