BMW has certified the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyre, the world's fastest street tyre on the racetrack, to equip its new high-performance M6 sedan. The tyre delivers all the motorsports experience acquired by Michelin, notably in the Le Mans 24 Hours race.

From its market launch in summer 2012, the BMW M6 will be equipped exclusively with the advanced Pilot Super Sport tyres, which feature a unique combination of three technologies: the Twaron-reinforced belt, the Bi-Compound tread band and the Variable Contact Patch 2.0.

The Twaron belt is a high-density fibre primarily used in aeronautics and protective military gear, whose key feature is its high traction resistance. Strong and light at the same time, Twaron is five times more resistant than steel at equivalent weight. Thanks to its variable tension, the belt tightens the tread more than the shoulders, so that centrifugal force is more effectively overcome and pressure is more evenly distributed.

Originally developed for racing tyres, Bi-Compound technology uses different rubber compounds on the left and right sides of the tread. On the outside, an elastomer ensures exceptional endurance in tight cornering, while on the inside, a different elastomer combines with a special tread design to enable the tyre, on wet pavement, to break through the water's surface and adhere to even the slightest irregularities in the road.

The innovative feature of the Variable Contact Patch 2.0 is that it changes shape depending on actual driving conditions, thereby guaranteeing total vehicle control. In this way, even as the patch's shape changes when cornering, the amount of rubber in contact with the road remains the same.

The combination of these three technologies delivers an exciting drive that meets BMW M's standards, particularly in terms of precision steering, sportiness and safety, on both street and track.

http://www.michelin.com/corporate/EN/news/products/article?articleID=NMICHELIN-Pilot-Super-Sport-High-Technology-Tires-for-the-New-BMW-M6