Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 OE for New Ferrari 488 Pista

Michelin’s Pilot Sport Cup 2 K2, the latest generation of Michelin’s road-legal track tires were specially designed for the Ferrari 488 Pista and have been chosen as its OE tires. When compared to its predecessor, the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 K1-marked tire which was used for the Ferrari 458 Speciale, the K2 variant offers better lap times thanks to better grip and more sporty handling. It also provides motorists with the right combination of safety and driving enjoyment. This makes the tire equally suitable for use on a daily basis as well as for the challenging conditions on the racetrack.

Michelin worked with Ferrari on the development of these tires for 14 months, and during the course of this collaboration, the tires fine-tuned in dynamic simulation sessions with Ferrari so that they could meet the high standards of the Ferrari team for the 488 Pista. The outcome is a tire that offers excellent balance between the front and the rear, very high grip levels and consistent performance.
As part of the development process, over 1100 prototype tires were made and tested. The tires went through an extensive testing process with 1800 km driven as part of the testing process at Michelin’s Ladoux test centre in France and Fiorano and Nardo tracks in Italy.

The new tire incorporates a wide range of innovative technologies derived from motorsport including multi-compound technology involving the use of different rubber compounds on the inner and outer sections of the tread. Of these, there is one “special grip” compound which significantly increases the level and consistency of the tire’s grip in a different weather conditions. The two main innovations that are noticed in the MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup 2 tire are its adapted tread design and a bespoke aramid belt.The tread design features higher sidewall stiffness to absorb transverse forces and allow faster cornering. The bespoke aramid belt optimizes the ease of control.

The main challenge for the Michelin team when developing the tire was to improve the lap times while retaining the ease with which the tire could be controlled so that the motorist enjoys maximum driving pleasure, irrespective of his skill level. With the help of simulation tools, Michelin was able to develop a tyre whose contact patch is maximized under all conditions, while the safety performance remains high.