Canadian BMW driver Kuno Wittmer poses with the latest Michelin Pilot series high-performance tires
Michelin launched the latest extension of its Pilot family of performance tires, the MICHELIN® Pilot Sport A/S 3+ at an intimate media event last night in downtownt Toronto. On hand during the event was Canadian driver Kuno Wittmer who currently races with the official factory BMW – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Team in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. Wittmer discussed how high performance driving in the track helps Michelin improve their designs and create products like the Pilot performance tires which are standard equiptment on luxury and exotic supercars from BMW, Chevrolet and Mercedes-Benz.
The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+, which is the latest in the line, delivers true all-season performance and incredible wet and dry braking. This latest addition to the Michelin Pilot Family is an evolution of the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3, transferring the best of high-performance racing technology into a street tire that’s suitable for extended seasonal driving in colder geographies.
The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ combines a unique tread design with enhanced compound technology to provide incredible performance:
- More dry grip than the leading competitive max-performance summer tire
- The shortest wet and dry braking of leading competitive tires in the ultra-high-performance all-season category
- 28% better snow traction than the MICHELIN Pilot Sport A/S 3
“For those considering all-season tires, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ is our best ultra-high-performance choice,” said Sabrina Garofalo, country operations marketing manager – performance category, Michelin North America (Canada) Inc. “With features originally developed for endurance racing, it combines breakthrough levels of wet and dry grip while providing excellent mobility for all-season performance.”
As a member of the Pilot Family, the MichelinPilot Sport A/S 3+ benefits from Michelin’s heritage in endurance racing and track record of technological innovations. Specifically, the new tire features:
- Variable Contact Patch 3.0, originally developed for Formula 1 endurance racing, which distributes the forces and temperatures more evenly over the contact patch. It is combined with an aggressive asymmetric tread pattern inspired by the MICHELIN Pilot Super Sport, simultaneously maximizing dry grip, wet grip and even wear.
- Extreme amounts of silica in the tread compound (derived from wet endurance race tire technology used to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans) combined with variable thickness sipes and large circumferential grooves, resulting in incredible wet grip and resistance to hydroplaning in deep water.
- Michelin’s Helio+ Compound, combined with unique biting edges in the tread grooves, helps acceleration and braking resulting in confident mobility in cold conditions.
The Michelin® Pilot® family of tires also currently includes the Michelin® Pilot Super Sport, Michelin PilotSport Cup 2 and Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4.
“The Pilot family of tires is a direct outcome of more than 120 years of tire innovation and validation. As we are continuously evolving the performance, we always maintain the Michelin standard for quality and safety,” Garofalo said. “A simple way to improve your performance vehicle’s responsiveness is to install a set of tires from the MICHELIN Pilot family.”