Is It A Terrible Idea To Run Semi-Slick Day Tyres All Year Round?

The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 is a mighty tyre. There’s a reason they’re the tyre of choice for cars like the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Mercedes-AMG GT R and the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 ZTK: not only are these semi-slick, track-friendly boots spectacularly grippy, they also help feedback and sharpen up the turn-in to each corner, mostly thanks to stiffer sidewalls.

However, these attributes are offset by a lot of downsides. A stiffer sidewall means a harsher ride, while the way the compound is tuned - combined with a reduction in tread - results in a big drop in wet grip. So, should you or should you not run a tyre like the Cup 2 all year round?

That’s what Tyre Reviews set out to do, using an E92 BMW M3 as a test subject with a set of Michelin PS4 S hoops used as a comparison point. And even with a modest amount of torque on offer from the car’s 4.0-litre, naturally-aspirated V8, driving in damp conditions on the Cup 2 takes a lot of concentration.

So it is a bad idea to run them all year round, then? Not necessarily - as Jonathan Benson explains here, a lot of it is going to be down to how you’re going to use your car, and what kind of driver you are. Plus, it also helps if you understand why a tyre like the Cup 2 behaves the way it does in cold and wet conditions - make sure you stick around for the ‘yeah, science!‘ portion of the video, and you’ll almost certainly learn something new about tyre design.