Attention Porsche 911 GT3 RS owners: your new (Michelin) shoes have arrived
Porsche has spent the past few years collaborating with tire maker Michelin to bring more wet-weather usability to its top machine, the 911 GT3 RS.
The world might be showing signs of heating up, but the engineers and Porsche and Michelin are laser focused on places where things are cooling down. And that’s great news for anyone with a ferocious Porsche 911 GT3 RS parked in their garage.
Whether we’re talking typically chillier countries in the northern hemisphere or simply locales that are seeing more rain, owners of Porsche’s top track beast in both locations will benefit from a new tire that has been developed jointly by the fabled German automaker and French tire manufacturer.
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The new Michelins should give the GT3 even better performance on track
Dubbed the Michelin Pilot Sport S 5, the new tire is specifically aimed at giving GT3 drivers even more confidence in colder, wetter track conditions, surpassing the already prodigious capabilities of Michelin’s perennially popular warm-weather/hot track tire, the Pilot Sport Cup 2 R.
Put another way, if you were ticked off because bad weather caused your GT3 to spend far too much time parked, your new rubber shoes have arrived.
“We are responding to demand from our particularly performance-focused customers who have expressed a desire to spend more time on track during spring and fall,” Andreas Preuninger, Porsche’s director of GT vehicles, said in a statement. “The new tires significantly increase the annual operating window of the 911 GT3 RS.” Porsche
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This has been going on for a while
Development of the Pilot Sport S 5 started back in 2022 at Michelin’s proving ground in Ladoux, France. Porsche brand ambassador and retired racer Jörg Bergmeister was charged with helping create a tire that stretched the GT3’s impressive envelope in particularly wet conditions.
That partnership led to a tread pattern featuring four large central grooves with a 7.4-millimeter depth. This pattern helps evacuate heat more efficiently and reduces the instances of hydroplaning that are typical when summer tires are forced to battle the rain. Porsche
According to Porsche, “a high proportion of silica in the rubber compound further improves the grip on wet surfaces and supports the tire getting to temperature faster,” adding that the ideal exterior temperature for the new tire is between roughly 40 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to Michelin’s Pilot Sport Cup 2 R which is best utilized in the 60 to 86-degree range.
Bergmeister notes in a statement that “in wet conditions and low ambient temperature, the (Pilot Sport S 5) offers outstanding levels of control and predictability when changing direction,” which are comforting words for anyone who has spent time at speed on a wet track. Porsche
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The Michelin S 5 tires put up some serious numbers
Specifically, tests conducted by Porsche at the 1.7-mile Michelin track revealed that in wet conditions, the 911 GT3 RS equipped with the new S 5 tire logged a lap time that was 10 seconds faster than the same car shod with Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.
Porsche and Michelin also tested the new product on dry weather tracks at the Nürburgring in Germany and Portimão in Portugal, where temperatures were around 68 degrees. The companies found that the S 5 tires provided comforting levels of control and grip, which is critical given that many GT3 RS owners use their cars both on and off the track. Porsche
Final thoughts
The new Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 N0 (the “N” being the long-standing designation of a Porsche-approved tire) will initially be available in one size: 275/35 ZR 20 for the front and 335/30 ZR 21 for the rear. While pricing is not yet available, you can find information and availability details at your nearest Porsche dealership.
Now take that GT3 RS out of the garage and go play.
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