MICHELIN couldn’t have picked a better day to introduce their latest innovation from its Pilot Family of performance tires. The MICHELIN^® Pilot^® Sport All-Season 3+^™ tire is a perfect solution to the snow that blanketed Michigan and made for a blustery day at the North American International Auto Show.

Confidence for driving in winter conditions

Designed for true all-season performance, The MICHELIN^® Pilot^® Sport A/S3+™ is especially good for wet and dry braking. The tread groove has unique biting edges to grab loose snow. This aids acceleration and helps braking in wintery conditions.

MICHELIN tire — MICHELIN® Pilot® Sport A/S3+™ Credit: Michelin

The new tire provides 28% better snow traction than it’s predecessor, the MICHELIN^® Pilot^® Sport A/S 3. It also outclasses the competition in dry grip for maximum performance summer tires and has the shortest wet and dry braking in the ultra-high-performance all-season category.

Track to street innovation

Scott Clark, chief operating officer of Michelin North America, says open competition racing guides street tire development.

“We see the track, truly, as a laboratory,” Clark says.

“Conditions are exacting and sometimes excruciating. Feedback is immediate.”

Michelin is heavily involved in racing events like North American GT racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They assign a technician to every team that competes using Michelin tires. They work closely with every member of the race team to develop and tune tire performance. This insight is used to improve safety and performance of street tires.

This discipline of constant testing during racing allows Michelin to reduce the length of time in research and development. Innovation occurs faster.

“We take technology from the track and apply it to tires for the highest performance vehicles on the road,” says Clark.

“We also make our tires safer by pushing them to the limit in extreme conditions.

Scott Clark speaking at the North American International Auto Show

Racing guides development for street tires

Tommy Milner, part of the Corvette Racing team and a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, has firsthand experience with Michelin’s track to street philosophy.

“Michelin embeds an engineer with our team for every test, every race and practice. All that information is then fed directly back to Michelin technical centers,” says Milner.

You can’t have a tighter feedback loop than that.

“Our senior Michelin engineer is the same guy who designs the tires for production Corvettes,” Milner says.

“Every driver in the paddock knows no one makes tires as fast or that last as long as Michelin, hands down.”

Tommy Milner speaking at the North American International Auto Show

Better grip, reduction of hydroplaning

In addition to advances in braking in snowy conditions, the MICHELIN^® Pilot^® Sport A/S 3+™ uses Formula 1 technology to distribute the forces and temperatures more evenly over the contact patch. It’s combined with an aggressive asymmetric tread pattern to maximize dry and wet grip and to provide even wear.

The new tire also contains an extreme amount of silica in the tread compound which, combined with large grooves, provides resistance to hydroplaning in deep water. This technology was derived from wet endurance racing at Le Mans.

“With the MICHELIN Pilot Family of ultra-high-performance tires, we continuously merge the lessons derived from our global motorsports victories with our uncompromising standards for quality and safety,” added Clark.

“Installing a set of tires from the MICHELIN Pilot Family is a simple way for driving enthusiasts to improve their vehicle’s performance."

Tagged: sport

Michelin introduces new tire influenced by racing