Sam3
Senior Member
- First Name
- Sam
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2020
- Threads
- 13
- Messages
- 230
- Reaction score
- 320
- Location
- California
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 CW CTR

- Thread starter
- #1
A while back, I had a spirited canyon drive on the Michelin Cup 2 with OEM cold tire pressure (35/F and 32/R), and on that hot day the car felt squirrely after about 20 minutes. So I thought the hot tire pressure is getting very high, resulting in the tire becoming rigid and losing its flex and grip. So for a subsequent trip, I decreased the cold tire pressure to 32/F and 30.5/R, especially that Michelin recommends running cold pressure of 25/F and 28/R (on a rear wheel drive car). See page 14 in this brochure:
https://www.tirerack.com/images/pdf/Michelin_Care_and_Feeding.pdf
That did not go well. The grip was definitely much better and no more squirreling. But the front left tire got shredded and big chunks peeled out of it down to the metal wires (you can see them in the pic). The tire also rolled (you can see some of the writing on the sidewall got chafed off). The tire has may be 4 thousand miles on it. The only thing of note is that I was taking an ascending right hairpin and on tracking out I gave it some throttle in 2nd gear. That caused a slight oversteer and the left front end hopped a bit.
Is that normal for the tire to roll and get shredded for a slight decrease in tire pressure? In performance driving schools, they set the tire pressure so low that the TPMS warning light is always on. I used a high quality pressure gauge (Longacre) right before heading out, so I didn't under-inflate by mistake. I also measured the tire pressure cold two days later and it's still at 32 psi, so the tire losing pressure to a puncture before that happened is ruled out.
Aside from the LE wheels and tires, the car is 100% stock (no tunes, no bolt-ons, no mechanical mods of any kind).
Has anyone had issues like this with the Cup 2 (or other tires) on the Type R?
https://www.tirerack.com/images/pdf/Michelin_Care_and_Feeding.pdf
That did not go well. The grip was definitely much better and no more squirreling. But the front left tire got shredded and big chunks peeled out of it down to the metal wires (you can see them in the pic). The tire also rolled (you can see some of the writing on the sidewall got chafed off). The tire has may be 4 thousand miles on it. The only thing of note is that I was taking an ascending right hairpin and on tracking out I gave it some throttle in 2nd gear. That caused a slight oversteer and the left front end hopped a bit.
Is that normal for the tire to roll and get shredded for a slight decrease in tire pressure? In performance driving schools, they set the tire pressure so low that the TPMS warning light is always on. I used a high quality pressure gauge (Longacre) right before heading out, so I didn't under-inflate by mistake. I also measured the tire pressure cold two days later and it's still at 32 psi, so the tire losing pressure to a puncture before that happened is ruled out.
Aside from the LE wheels and tires, the car is 100% stock (no tunes, no bolt-ons, no mechanical mods of any kind).
Has anyone had issues like this with the Cup 2 (or other tires) on the Type R?