Testing The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S At The Pilot Experience

    Written By David Rose and Nick Parente

     

    The start of a new year marks an important moment for the enthusiast, signaling the ever-present need to refresh our cars for the coming driving season. It’s an important period for the creators of enthusiast parts, too, and this year, few had celebrations as momentous as Michelin and the launch of the all-new Pilot Sport 4S tire.

    You’ve already heard about the Michelin Pilot Experience—and the physics-bending improvements of the new PS4S—from our friends Satch Carlson and Nate Risch. But during the four weeks that Michelin ran an automotive playground in the Southern California desert, they invited hundreds of teams of enthusiasts and media in to experience not only the latest class-leading enthusiast high performance tire, but the entire Michelin experience. It was the perfect analogy to position of the new PS4S in the marketplace and the enthusiast mind. Besides being the factory-equipped tire on performance vehicles ranging from the Ferrari GTC4Lusso to various Mustang models (not to mention the coming array of BMW M fitments), Michelin Pilot tires have long been the enthusiast go-to for sporting use on and off the track.

    From California’s January downpours to the blazing late-afternoon sun at the Thermal Club, the Pilot Sport 4 S was tested in the infamously strenuous hands of auto journalists. The rigorous usage even included a bold autocross comparison in BMW 340i sedans between the PS4S and a range of competitor tires, where the difference in performance and confidence was clear (if understeering towards a course barrier in a brand new 3 series doesn’t fill your mind with bargain tire regret, nothing will). But beyond the technical showcase, the aura of Michelin’s creation itself left a lasting impression as it wavered in the desert heat.

    The Pilot Experience was no mere tire launch; it was an international celebration of why Michelin as a brand connects so well to enthusiasts.

    The choice of demonstration cars alone was sufficient to that end, ranging from trios of BMW M3s and M4s as an on-track warm up, to a modified Porsche GT3 RS driven by Formula One’s Mark Webber in evening hot laps, to McLaren P1 and Le Mans racer display cars, to a series of Singer Porsches running hard around Thermal’s two-circuit loop. The experience expertly selected the thrills that make car enthusiasts tick, whether running through the desert in supercars with a police escort, or ogling over classic racers while chatting with the legends who drove them.

    There’s a reason that Michelin comes to mind when we think of a quality tire, and that reason is more than a tire scientist’s perfect formula. As the event wound to a close on its final wave, and the 100-plus Vice Media crew (installed to capture the experience of every Michelin guest) grabbed their final sunset shots on the track, a relaxed calm filled the Thermal Club. The ease was shared between the media members, the Michelin representatives, and the owners of the private vehicles so graciously lent to the Michelin team.

    Whether you drive an E36 track car, a restored 3.0CS, or have a new BMW M6 on order, you could have felt at home that night. Casual autocrossers shared stories with the owners of Pagani and Ferrari hypercars, and builders of 1000-horsepower GT-Rs chatted with guests who might be contemplating their first coilover setup—or their first real tire upgrade. As the Michelin Pilot Experience came to a close, we were all car enthusiasts.

    Co-conspirators David Rose and Nick Parente thrashed the new Pilot Sport 4 S and the cars for your benefit, and you can see their reactions in the videos above! Be sure to follow BMW CCA on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates from the guys on similar events.