I've known Ben for some time, and have driven with him a few times both with him and along-side him in my own cars. He was an excellent driver with extraordinary senses and response time.

After his tragic accident, I can't help wonder if the Michelin tires on the CGT are safe. Apparently, the tires use a softer compound along the outer section of the tread for better grip, with a harder compound on the inner third for better wear characteristics.

From riding with Ben and watching the "Stig" drive the car in the UK video, it seems these tires may break traction much more abruptly then if they were all soft or all hard (i.e., the coefficient of static friction is much different than the coefficient of kinetic friction). Then, when traction is abruptly lost, the tires slip as if they were hard, rather than soft.

In other words, the combination of abrupt traction lost and hard-like tire traction after loss may occur too quickly to correct, especially at the elevated speeds in the CGT. This appears to be the case in the Stig video.

 

Ben reported to me that the CGT tires were very progressive at the limit and posed no particularly difficult dilemmas, even with lowered tire pressures.

The abrupt over-steer displayed by Stig in the video was, IMHO, caused by the enormous engine power combined with the very low drive-line inertia (instant revs) and the low polar moment of the car (spins more easily when out of control). It's basically a race car and doesn't drive like a sluggish street car, covering over the driver's minor indiscretions with control inputs.

I think the tires are just fine and I have no complaints about them on my Carrera GT.

 

I dont think there are any issues with the tires on the CGT. The concept of different compounds in the same tire is also applied throughout the Michelin/BF goodrich tire family. In fact the BFG KDW2's share the same technology tread blocks being hard,soft,hard,soft and hard across the tire.
The tires on the CGT are very good for a street tire and offer very good feedback when pushed, but they still arent a R compund tire..With thats comes the good and the bad.
Personally , I havent had any complaints about the tires on the CGT...

Just my 02. of my personal experiance.

 

Bill, Ben took me for a pretty wild ride in the CGT a few months after he got it. He got the car to the limit of adhesion on a decreasing radius off-ramp and with subtle throttle input it was controlled, even over a couple of rough patches right in the middle of the corner. As a matter of fact, he was talking to me at that very moment about how the Stradale could not do this as easily as the C-GT, I just responded with a "hmm" and nod.

 

I rode with Ben in his CGT when he was just about ready to purchase his first set of replacements. At the time he was shocked to find out that the cost was going to be a lot lower than he expected. He mentioned to me that the front tires in the CGT are the same as the Boxster rears?

Although I was on sensory overload when driving with him, it seemed at the time that hist CGT was sticking to the ground really well even with his bald tires.

 

Thanks guys. After talking to a few people who were at the track, it seems the tires are safe. In fact, the car is extremely safe, given how it held up in such a serious collision. Apparently the accident was a result of an unusual combination of events, including hard-to-see car colors, wet grass, and other factors unrelated to the car.