- Porsche Carrera GT owners have a new tire option
- A new variant of the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 is being developed for the Carrera GT
- This is the second time Porsche commissioned new tires for the Carrera GT
Porsche Carrera GT production may have stopped almost two decades ago, but Porsche is still working on ways to make its millennial supercar better.
The automaker on Thursday announced that it teamed up with Michelin to develop a new tire for the Carrera GT. A variant of the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, it incorporates recent technological developments to help improve performance on both dry and wet pavement, according to Porsche.
To make the new tire more of an all-rounder than previous Carrera GT rubber, Michelin employed two different rubber compounds. The inner shoulder and tread blocks use a compound that's high in silica, which is bet for grip in wet conditions, according to Michelin. The outer shoulder and outer tread blocks use a compound made with industrial soot that provides better performance in dry conditions.
Porsche Carrera GT gets new Michelin tires
The tire was tested at the Nürburgring Nordschleife by former Porsche factory racing driver Joerg Bergmeister, who claims better feedback than previous tires, including clear communication of when the tires are about to break traction.
"The new tires do not just make the Carrera GT faster, they also make it easier for the driver to pilot the car in a spirited manner," Bergmeister said in a statement.
Porsche also claims stopping distance from 62 mph has improved by up to 8 feet, while the stopping distance from 124 mph is 39 feet shorter than before. That's important in a car that, when new, boasted a 0-62 mph time of 3.9 seconds and a 205-mph top speed. That was achieved with a 5.7-liter V-10 producing 605 hp and 435 lb-ft of torque, propelling 3,043 pounds of car.
Porsche Carrera GT gets new Michelin tires
Porsche made just 1,270 examples from 2003 to 2006. While it's been a long time since production ended, this isn't the first time Porsche has commissioned a new tire for the Carrera GT. In 2013, the automaker offered a newly-developed Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire as a replacement for the original Pilot Sport PS2 rubber.
More recently, Porsche had to provide Carrera GT owners with new tires for a different reason. As part of a fix for a suspension-related recall issued in April 2023, the automaker said earlier this month that it would provide owners with a free set of tires.
