Even though the company has been forced out of the MotoGP and World Superbike championships, as well as the British Superbike and AMA Superbike national championships, Michelin hasn't exactly been sitting around sulking. The French company has been hard at work developing its latest generation of supersport tires, which they decided to introduce at the beautiful new Algarve circuit in Poritmao, Portugal.
Michelin's massive R&D department (which is backed by a budget of nearly $800 million a year) has spent three years developing its replacement for the Pilot Power series of tires, now designated the Michelin Power One. This new family of tires not only includes racing DOT-legal 17-inch rubber, but also full 16.5-inch racing slicks and rain tires.
This profile comparison shows...
This profile comparison shows the new Power One’s pointier profile (red) that allows quicker handling and more side grip via a larger contact patch.
Michelin's new Power One 2CT (Two Compound Technology) 17-inch tire offers several advantages over its predecessor: A pointier profile encourages deeper trail-braking, easier changes of direction, and an increase in side grip with a contact patch that's up to 15 percent larger than any previous model. There is also a new “Road/Track” version that is intended for the rider who also frequently attends track days. All versions still utilize the multi-compound system that features a softer rubber on the sides for more grip with a harder rubber in the middle.
A redesigned tread pattern covers a mere five percent of the tire with actual tread—the minimum legal limit allowed by law. It's pretty obvious from their appearance these tires are intended by Michelin to be used exclusively for track days, dry canyon carving, and racing—not for the daily street commuter who might get caught out in the rain. Their all-new 100 percent synthetic compounds offer quicker warm-up than any other tire Michelin has produced, however.
So how do they perform? Michelin had a whole fleet of sportbikes shod with the new rubber, including Yamaha's new R1. This gave us an opportunity to really put the tire through its paces.
The new Michelin Power One...
The new Michelin Power One tires feature the absolute minimum tread siping required by law in their quest for maximum dry grip performance. A host of other changes developed from the company's long history in MotoGP have also been infused into the new performance tires.
The first batch of tires were the Power One "Road/Track" version. These were made to be more compliant and stable than the full race versions, but with less ultimate side grip. When up to speed, the Road/Track Power Ones provided superb traction, were predictable and neutral in their handling manners, and good under braking. Yes, they were a bit less than optimum when pushed to race-pace maximum lean angles and ultra-high corner speeds, with a bit of squirming that robbed confidence. Nonetheless, they let you know when you were approaching that point.
Next up came the more aggressive compounds/construction specifically designed for the abuse of a racetrack, though identical in appearance. Same bikes, different tires.
Unfortunately, with an entire fleet of motorcycles to keep track of, it was difficult to keep all of the suspension adjustments the same, and the R1 I initially rode was much too soft, allowing a lot of wallowing and pitching that made me think I might toss it down the road. But when I traded that bike for the previous R1 I had ridden that worked well on the Road/Track version, this time everything responded beautifully. The “Version A” and “Version B” race tires (there is also a “Version C” available) were just terrific, and a huge improvement above all other tires on the day; superb grip and agile, sure-footed handling was available in spades.
Later, a technician confessed that Michelin has another Power One front tire that most of his racers preferred called “Version V”. Its even-pointier profile than the Version A and B tires offers even higher side grip, but its handling can be overly nervous for less experienced riders. Unfortunately, these were not available for testing that day, much to my chagrin.
The new Power One racing tires...
The new Power One racing tires now feature five plies in the front and four plies in the rear tire (versus three plies in the old Power Race) for increased stability to handle the higher corner speeds and serious horsepower of today's current sportbikes.
On the development-through-racing side of things, Michelin has now actually started its own "Power Research" World Endurance Team, a first it says for a tire manufacturer. The company is also participating in the Spanish and Italian National Series, as well as American Pro-Am series CCS and WERA.
Michelin has created an interactive website for the Power One (www.michelinpowerone.com) that gives the user specific tire recommendations (and even air pressure suggestions) based on a large number of parameters, including what bike, what type of riding (including the length of race, if required), weather conditions, and even the specific type of racing circuit.
Sportbike tire sales worldwide have gone up 90 percent over the past 10 years, most of which Michelin attributes to an increase in available track days. And while many consider it disappointing that Michelin has been excluded from world championship racing, the French tire company has instead decided to regroup and refocus its full resources to capitalize on what, in the end, is the most important thing to all of us: having access to the best possible sportbike tires, period. It seems Michelin is keen on providing just that. – Mark Miller