Michelin PS-2 ride quality, noise and response advice

Having had them OEM on my wife's last two cars, even the POS MBZ 320 CLK she wanted, I agree, they are fantastic tires!

By the way, I love your car! Mods are great but a black coupe is exactly what I'd like to have as a second Ferrari. I'm keeping a look out for the right one, preferrably a 3.2.

Jeff

 

Russ, I run the pilot sports up front and the PS2's in the rear. i'm not a fan of the look of the tread pattern on the pilot sports up front but they do work for very responsive steering. I went with 245/40 on all 4 corners. the PO had 225's up front and for me the steering was way to twitchy and light, the 245's are perfect, then again i'm a big guy and find the lack of power steering to be a non issue. the resistance provides great feedback for me. 205's would for me way way to narrow and dangerous.

ride quality is the best if not one of the best. noise? you're really asking about noise? how quiet is your mondi???? honestly I couldn't say, I don't hear them, and that brings us to a few points....

in wet weather they will spin when you get on the go pedal and be absolutely dead quiet about it. same for 'burn outs' remember I'm pushing well over 400hp so for me it was an issue. I'm going to be stepping up to 275's for more traction. in normal driving in the wet they are fine and have decent traction and predictability, but if temps get below 40 they can get hard and a bit twitchy, hit some freezing rain on a trip down the 5 and had to slow down to the posted speed.

wear as been std. with a performance tire but ALOT better then any Perrili I've ever owned, the worst is the P-zero uuggh 10k or less!

I think the steering ?'s the hardest as it come down to preference and arm strength, I'll be honest and say don't use me as average reference as I spend 1.5hrs every day in the gym as a weightlifter. I find the heavier effort to give me better control, the light wheel to me is too easy and I don't like it. although 205's seem wrong considering the stock was 255 TRX's right, at least on the 8 they are.

so there you go, good tire no complaints and will be going with them again when the time comes.

 

smg2,

As you probably know, have 17-inch rims (8 front, 9 rear, should have gone 7.5 front and 8.5 rear) and use 225/45-17 and 255/40-17. Frankly, they may be a bit too wide and am probably getting too much rolling resistance. Still, these are for daily beater and track wet days. As my car is a bit on the loud(ish) side, can say much about tire sound though it seems quiet. Ride quality is excellent and steering response is excellent. Of course this may also be dependant on the alignment geometry of your car. All in all am very pleased with the PS2 and once these are worn out will get another set.

During Lime Rock Ferrari days it was a HUGE DOWNPOUR and was pretty much the only guy willing to tackle this very slippery wet course. The car handled well even through puddles and grip was very impressive. As for dry track days the PS2 are very good, though of course not up to Hoosier standards. The PS2 in dry give very good steering feedback and are very predictable. They let go gradually and give some sound feedback as well.

As always, everything is partially dependant on your car's setup, so some track time and development will help as will playing with springs/sway/weight balance... and of course pressures. For me, the PS2 seems to like hot temps pressure around 33 all around BUT this was before i redid corner weight and lowered the rear end plus rear wing as was getting too much darn understeer (as seen in this video http://www.ferraritweaks.com/videos/glen090306.wmv ). In the video i was using the PS2 and they are really fun tires all in all, in some ways i like them better than the Pilot Cups BTW though again PS2 nor Cups are Hoosier R06...

 

steve, I can't get away with 33psi due to the extra 800lbs or so more the mondi weighs I have to run it a bit higher at 36psi. Understeer is the name of the game on the mondi's, as you know I've redone the suspension as well but still need to address the swaybars to help with that, yet another project. adjustable dog links and multi position bars would be nice.

 

Adjustable sways are awesome and am sure if you send your stocks there are guys who can bend up some for you. i'd rather have neutral to a touch understeer as have seen too many snap oversteer Fcars eat walls. During part of my tuning i had a snap oversteer situation and while i only went into the grass (no harm, no foul) it was really an eye opener.

 

I had my old M3 setup with oversteer, it was easier to control that then push in to a turn. I haven't spun yet, just a matter of time I'm sure. i'm not much of a brake in the turns driver, always before and never throttle lift. however that's just basic driving sense, although it's amazing to see how many forget it.

the great thing about the oversteer setup is the drifting thru a turn, yeah I know not efficient but it is fun. My early car days are from driving big block American iron that had a tendency to 'steer with the rear' nothing like 450ft/lbs off idle!

 

Having 16 years old OEM Michelins on my Mondial T, I was pondering about my options: stick with 16” OEM wheels and get newer tires, or got to 17”?

Any sensible advice please?

Thanks.