When Michelin first unveiled their new Power RS, our resident skeptic Bryn Phillips immediately raised questions over the tyre’s ability to shift water in the wet with that tread pattern, and to be honest he wasn’t alone in his thinking.
The other big question raised about the new RS was where it was intended to slot into Michelin’s range.
The ‘RS’ moniker, we thought, stood for Racing Street – which would pitch this tyre in the same arena as the current Power Supersport Evo. However, when they gave a handpicked line-up of six journalists a chance to try them on track, they were clearly doing back-to-back testing with the firm’s Pilot Power 3 from their hypersport line-up.
Well last night we got the chance to question 2-Wheel Marketing Manager James Dimmock on both of these points, which he duly explained for us.
Firstly, given the market trend towards providing riders more versatile tyres, Michelin have assured us that the Power RS most definitely can shift water from around the contact patch, with wet grip on par with some of the other leading hypersport tyres on the market, despite that tread pattern.
The Power RS uses a new compound technology which has been developed by Michelin’s Motorsport Division, who in 2013 developed a new intermediate tyre for supported Le Mans endurance teams – and oddly enough that’s a slick!
The French firm’s chemists had been working hard to create a compound that grips hard in the wet, which means they then reduce their reliance on the tread pattern to actually shift water. This has allowed designers to then focus on other attributes linked to the tread pattern, such as uniformity of wear and outright grip in the dry, and has now been transferred to motorcycle.
When the tyre is under load, the tread pattern is actually compressed to act like sipes, to shift additional water on wet roads.
One big focus for Michelin was boosting the dry grip of the Power RS, and by reducing the amount of tread to increase the amount of rubber on the road they have been able to do this – yet they haven’t compromised the wet grip in doing so. That means it’s still a versatile tyre, rather than being too focused on one type of riding in order to increase it’s appeal.
Put simply, this is some very clever stuff!
So is this a Hypersport tyre or a Racing Street tyre?
Well, it’s both….
Michelin are so confident in the abilities of their new tyre that it it will sit at the top of their hypersport range, making the Pilot Power 3 a 2nd tier product – whilst also taking over from the Power Supersport Evo as the firm’s sole Racing Street tyre marketed fast road and track use.
So that’s one step down from their supersport & superstock race rubber, competing with Pirelli’s Supercorsa SP or Metzeler’s Racetec RR K3 for example – but packing in the wet grip of a sporty road tyre like the Rosso III or M7RR.
The hope is that it simplifies their road tyre range aimed at supersport and sportsbikes for both riders and dealers offering a tyre which ticks more boxes and covers more bases.
To put that confidence to the test, Michelin have very kindly agreed to supply a test pair for fitment to one of our staff bikes – and we can’t wait to put them through their paces if these claims are true.
We will of course keep you updated as we put some miles on them and we’ve certainly got plenty of rain here in Wales to check how they perform in the wet.
The first Power RS sizes are due to land in January, so follow us on Facebook to be one of the first to hear when they arrive!
