"nearly identical stopping distances and yielded similar driving impressions"

 

Overall unlike the Michelins, cheaper, quieter, and last longer. But I also think the Pirellis are better if you are track oriented. With the Pirellis not lasting as long as the Michelins you can infer that they are softer and therefore better suited to sometime track use. Given the choice, I went with the Michelins. My 2cents.

 

Wow, interesting thread. I just read it end to end. I just assumed going to the PS4S when its time for new tires on my 14 C4S would be a no brainer. Not so much. My current P0 w SPASM look on the car is perfect. I hate to upset that look with the smaller sidewall of the PSS/PS4S. Those pics from the OP gave me pause. I know that is cosmetic but it seems split 50\50 on driving performance. So if all else is equal I would stick with the P0 to minimize risk.

I have run PSS on my previous M5 and M3's and was super happy so they are very good tires indeed.

I have made bad tire choices in the past on my M6 - went away from the PS2 to save a few bucks, and it cost me road feel. What's the point of driving cars like these if you dont have the best performance? Lesson learned. The road feel is super important to me. And I'm very pleased with the driving road feel of the current P0 setup, offers very nice feedback. Maybe I'll try to find another local guy through the PCA to take a 911 w PSS\PS4S for a drive to see if I can feel the difference.

 

During a track event I was whinnying about Pirelli versus Michelin issue and one of the senior Porsche cars North America development engineers told me that Michelin did not want to work with Porsche ($$$$) developing the new N spec tires. Turns out that the spec tires need to be within certain parameters because the tire itself is a parameter of the Porsche stability management.

So in order to keep some variables at bay, there is the need of the N spec tires. Now, if you are driving on the street I doubt that this really matters, but on the track, with the PSM in sport mode particularly, it may make a difference if you abuse it. It probably allows the car to know better when to intervene based on the direction predicted in that particular moment by the tire. Think as an added factor to the yawn, lateral g, throttle and brake inputs.

Apparently the P0 has a Kevlar band on the lateral that adds to the grip. I personally despise them, particularly in the rain but when warm on a track, they are quite sticky.

The cup tires are still N spec as well the Alpins. Seems nothing else then Pirelli will be coming in 20" size - N spec, for the foreseeable future.

 

After going through multiple sets of PS2s and PSSs, I was ready to leave Michelin forever. Then I bought a DD Ford RS which came with Pilot Sport Cup 2s. Awesome tire. It has the grip that I wanted and never got from PS2s and PSS. Unfortunately Michelin doesn't make the Cup for my Spyder, so I'm stuck with either the Pirelli PZ4 or Mich PS4S. Between those two the Mich is probably the pick (without experiencing either). If you don't DD your car, my recommendation is the Pilot Cup. Forget the second class selections.