A tire worn to perfection

[slo town]

The off ramp and on ramps I mentioned above. Both are well banked and smooth.

Scott

Off

On

 

[thastinger]

I've run Super Sports on our E90. A great tire! IMO the newer Pilot Sport 4S is not as good as the Super Sports. Steering response is less crisp and they lack the raw grip of the Super Sports. FWIW.

Scott

Yeah, I drove a 500 that had the PS4S tires on it and I did NOT like the turn in feel, although I felt like they had decent grip at the limit it felt like it was a little less grip than my SS have. I don't need an all season tire as I don't drive it in the rain and it gets put away for winter.

I'm thinking about putting sport cup 2s on it. I don't care about the ride comfort of the tire, I'm used to that with the SS because if I have the suspension set to sport mode and I run over a quarter on the highway...I can tell you whether it was heads or tales up.

 

[wjs7]

Excellent wear pattern. Toe and camber set perfectly for this driver’s use

 

[shortyb]

Scott, ya got another couple 32nds to go .

Beautiful wear, a testament to keeping settings right and taking care of the tires. I agree with your opinion of the PSSs, best sport street tire by far. Wore out a few sets and made my face hurt smiling the whole time.

 

[slo town]

Yeah, I drove a 500 that had the PS4S tires on it and I did NOT like the turn in feel, although I felt like they had decent grip at the limit it felt like it was a little less grip than my SS have. I don't need an all season tire as I don't drive it in the rain and it gets put away for winter.

I'm thinking about putting sport cup 2s on it. I don't care about the ride comfort of the tire, I'm used to that with the SS because if I have the suspension set to sport mode and I run over a quarter on the highway...I can tell you whether it was heads or tales up.

You will be surprised how soft and supple the Cup 2s are.

Scott

 

[TiGeo]

Looks good - nice and even indicating good alignment and rotations. I get about 20K street miles out of my Continental Extreme Contact 02s and they can double as track rain tires. Last set I had looked like this - even wear down to the bars. My 200tw track tires on the other hand are pretty bad haha need MOAR CAMBER! Only at -2.7 currently. Getting a new set for 2026...these are done after 4 track days/9 autoX.

 

[fantastic]

That does look good wear pattern. Do you go by OEM PSI or more?

 

[edyvw]

I've run Super Sports on our E90. A great tire! IMO the newer Pilot Sport 4S is not as good as the Super Sports. Steering response is less crisp and they lack the raw grip of the Super Sports. FWIW.

Scott

Super Sports are diamond among tires. Nothing matches that performance for daily driving where they can be utilized.
I had them to 3/32 and they were cutting through rain like a razor. They truly pushed laws of physics.

 

[slo town]

That does look good wear pattern. Do you go by OEM PSI or more?

I run LESS air pressure in the Cups 2s. I ran 34-35 psi cold in the PS4s and Super Sports.

Michelin says to set Cup 2 pressures hot. I run 32-34 hot. Overnight cold will be 27-28. Not being at total ease with these low pressures and possibly folding over sidewalls, I've experimented. Without question the Cup 2s excel at lower pressures. Grip is noticeably better yet steering response remains crisp, even at lower pressures. Even at low pressures the Cup 2s have less sidewall scrub than the PS4s (which were run at higher pressures). There's as much magic in the Cup 2's carcass as there is in the tread compound. The Cups 2s are unlike any other ultra-high performance tire I've ever owned.

Looks good - nice and even indicating good alignment and rotations.

I never rotate the Cups 2s on either one of my BMWs. Each tire will remain corner specific for its entire life so they remain perfectly scrubbed in. I keep all the before/after results for all my alignments and tweak some settings. For example, I always run my fronts (on both the E46 and E90) at BMW OEM specs, but I'll set camber at max negative, but still within the factory spec range. I also run maximum toe out on both front and rear, yet still in the range of factory spec. In my experience, running those toe setting makes the car's turn in more immediate. The downside is that both cars, especially the E90, like to tramline on certain rain grooves.

Both my BMWs have reached the point that they are 100% dialed in, which yields the wear patterns you saw in my original post.

The track tires in your picture - wow. More camber should help, but regardless those tires don't have a chance!

Scott

 

[slo town]

Nothing like a nice sticky, treadless tire.

I really miss those days.....

View attachment 317571

And wheels covered in brake dust!

Scott

 

[fantastic]

I run LESS air pressure in the Cups 2s. I ran 34-35 psi cold in the PS4s and Super Sports.

Michelin says to set Cup 2 pressures hot. I run 32-34 hot. Overnight cold will be 27-28. Not being at total ease with these low pressures and possibly folding over sidewalls, I've experimented. Without question the Cup 2s excel at lower pressures. Grip is noticeably better yet steering response remains crisp, even at lower pressures. Even at low pressures the Cup 2s have less sidewall scrub than the PS4s (which were run at higher pressures). There's as much magic in the Cup 2's carcass as there is in the tread compound. The Cups 2s are unlike any other ultra-high performance tire I've ever owned.

Interesting, are they a hard tire? Certainly seems like you're happy but just a few 1,000 miles out of them? That's nuts!

 

[slo town]

Interesting, are they a hard tire? Certainly seems like you're happy but just a few 1,000 miles out of them? That's nuts!

No, it is not a "hard tire". They are surprisingly supple. I think there's a lot of magic in the Cup 2's sidewall given the lack of sidewall scuffing during hard cornering, even when run at relatively low tire pressures.

Scott

 

[fantastic]

No, it is not a "hard tire". They are surprisingly supple. I think there's a lot of magic in the Cup 2's sidewall given the lack of sidewall scuffing during hard cornering, even when run at relatively low tire pressures.

Scott

Interesting, Thank you for the details. Is there no performance tire that would last longer at a better value or no way you're staying with these?

 

[slo town]

Interesting, Thank you for the details. Is there no performance tire that would last longer at a better value or no way you're staying with these?

There are many other high performance tire choices that have longer lifespans, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S being one of them. I have a set of those on a spare set of wheels that I rotate into circulation every so often. The PS4S is an outstanding tire that would offer much greater tread life, but it has slightly less grip than the Cup 2s. I think Michelin Super Sports were the next best thing to Cups 2s, but unfortunately Michelin no longer makes them.

As I said, the Cup 2s are different than any other tire I've run. For one thing they are eerily silent during hard cornering, which provides a bit of "stealth" during your driving sorties. Also too, they are predictable. They never break loose quickly or unexpectedly. Instead they simply give up (at a very, very high level) and start sliding in a progressive and predicable manner.

Although Michelin is my brand of choice, Bridgestone makes some great tires. I've had two sets of Bridgestone RE-11s. A great tire grip-wise but they were heavy, harsh, and noisy. IMO Cup 2s have all the benefits, but none of the compromises.

Scott

 

[fantastic]

There are many other high performance tire choices that have longer lifespans, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S being one of them. I have a set of those on a spare set of wheels and rotate them into circulation every so often. The PS4S is an outstanding tire that would offer much greater tread life, but it has slightly less grip than the Cup 2s. I think Michelin Super Sports were the next best thing to Cups 2s, but unfortunately Michelin no longer makes them.

As I said, the Cup 2s are different than any other tire I've run. For one thing they are eerily silent during hard cornering, which provides a bit of "stealth" during your driving sorties. Also too, they are predictable. They never break loose quickly or unexpectedly. Instead they simply give up (at a very, very high level) and start sliding in a progressive and predicable manner.

Although Michelin is my brand of choice, Bridgestone makes some great tires. I've had two sets of Bridgestone RE-11s. A great tire grip-wise but they were heavy, harsh, and noisy. IMO Cup 2s have all the benefits, but none of the compromises.

Scott

Hard to pass up on a tire that you like the driving characteristics for sure. fairly recent example for me was that I bought brand new Cooper tires for my F-250 & was very happy with them, went to Ironman tires & they were really squishy (too soft).

 

[slo town]

Hard to pass up on a tire that you like the driving characteristics for sure. fairly recent example for me was that I bought brand new Cooper tires for my F-250 & was very happy with them, went to Ironman tires & they were really squishy (too soft).

Once I find a brand that meets my expectations I tend to stick with them. Same applies to restaurants, stores, etc. If I get unsatisfactory service or poor product the chance of them getting my repeat business is unlikely.

Scott

 

[fantastic]

Once I find a brand that meets my expectations I tend to stick with them. Same applies to restaurants, stores, etc. If I get unsatisfactory service or poor product the chance of them getting my future business is unlikely.

Scott

That's right vote with your dollar.

 

[The_Jeff]

Audiophiles claim that vacuum tubes sound the sweetest right before they blow. I see you found a tire that matches this level of performance.