A MICHELIN Tyre is The World’s Fastest Street Legal Tyre

A Bugatti Chiron shod with MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres has become the first near production car in the world to break the 300mph barrier, after reaching an independently verified speed of 304.773mph (490.484km/h).

The record-breaking car was driven by Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace and it was achieved in August at Bugatti’s Ehra-Lessien test track in Northern Germany.

The MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres used for the record were very similar to the regular OE tyres. They are marked ‘BG’, meaning they can only be fitted to the Bugatti, and they are completely street legal – the only difference is that the casing belts of the tyres used on the record-breaking Chiron were reinforced, specifically to handle the 5,300g which the tyres must withstand at these very high speeds.

During the development of the Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres which were designed specifically for the Bugatti Chiron, Michelin used its Technology Center in Ladoux, France, and its site in Charlotte SC, USA where specialist machinery was employed to carry out the most extreme tests on the tyres. In order to test the tyres at the extreme speeds that the Bugatti Chiron is capable of, Michelin used a test machine which was designed to test tyres fitted to the Space Shuttle, and can test at up to 510km/h. 

Front size: 285/30 R20 (99Y) MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup 2

Rear size: 355/25 R21 (107Y) MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup 2