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Michelin Sport Cup 2 Tires

ayau

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The OEM tires are not Cup 2. They're Pilot Sport 4s. I thought I read somewhere the Cup 2 was an option? The Cup 2 isn't on the Type R build page either.

Also it's interesting Honda brought full sets of Cup 2 to the press events. Maybe @savagegeese can provide some insight into this. I'm guessing the press cars came with 4s and the Cup 2 was mounted for the Sonoma track event. Why not run the 4s on track? That's more of a true showroom stock car.

11th Gen Honda Civic Michelin Sport Cup 2 Tires 1669265957265
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Tickle

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$ and use is likely the reason. This is still a 45k Civic. Pricing matters for marketing too.

I don't care if a review car has the cup 2 or not. I just want to know what tire is being used during any sort of testing.

So for example Suzuka record lap. I don't know what tire it ran so I'll assume cup 2. I wish it were more transparent.
 
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ayau

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It’s just a bit deceiving to put on non-factory tires for your reviewers to test on.

Just more evidence that tires are 90% of the car’s performance.
 

Tickle

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It’s just a bit deceiving to put on non-factory tires for your reviewers to test on.

Just more evidence that tires are 90% of the car’s performance.
Are we just too hyper focused on this car to not notice other manufacturers doing the same? I truly don't know if they do.
 

KidIcarus

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It’s just a bit deceiving to put on non-factory tires for your reviewers to test on.

Just more evidence that tires are 90% of the car’s performance.
From the impressions I've watched/read, media had 2 separate driving experiences, edit "some" were provided cars to drive on the street with PS4S' and then swapped vehicles to drive laps around Sonoma which were equipped with Cup 2s.

Sounded like it was a bit of a mess so I dont know if they all had the same experience.

These arent an option in Canada as far as I can tell, but heard they were supposed to be a dealer option in the states.

You can watch the Smoking Tire review, they're on PS4S, for comparison and then watch Matt Farahs Road and Track PCOTY impressions he was on Cup 2s.

Unless you're driving 10/10th's all day everyday it isnt going to make a discernible difference to the everyday user, except for in inclement weather.
 
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ayau

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Dealer option is BS. Any dealer can get any tire you ask. You could ask for Hoosier as long as they have a local tire distributor that carries them.

Majority of the videos/impressions were on track, which was on Cup 2. Majority of the time the FL5s will be driven on public roads on 4s.
 

AspecR

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The Cup2s are a dealer installed option, but it depends on dealer participation. That’s why you don’t see them in the builder online, because they won’t be available at every dealer.
 

Y82OneTwoSix

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The OEM tires are not Cup 2. They're Pilot Sport 4s. I thought I read somewhere the Cup 2 was an option? The Cup 2 isn't on the Type R build page either.

Also it's interesting Honda brought full sets of Cup 2 to the press events. Maybe @savagegeese can provide some insight into this. I'm guessing the press cars came with 4s and the Cup 2 was mounted for the Sonoma track event. Why not run the 4s on track? That's more of a true showroom stock car.

1669265957265.png
The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires came standard as OEM on the 2021 LE FK8's that were built in Swindon during late 2020 and early to mid 2021.

As far as Honda dealer participation for Cup 2 tires, any Honda dealership has access to Michelin Cup 2 tires therefore I see no reason to list them as a dealership option.

Have owned numerous vehicles that came standard with Cup 2 tires and had no problem getting that same dealership to install Cup 2 tires on a 2015 Shelby GT350 that originally came with Michelin Pilot Super Sports therefore suggest that any Honda dealership would do the same.
 

Gansan

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The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires came standard as OEM on the 2021 LE FK8's that were built in Swindon during late 2020 and early to mid 2021.

As far as Honda dealer participation for Cup 2 tires, any Honda dealership has access to Michelin Cup 2 tires therefore I see no reason to list them as a dealership option.

Have owned numerous vehicles that came standard with Cup 2 tires and had no problem getting that same dealership to install Cup 2 tires on a 2015 Shelby GT350 that originally came with Michelin Pilot Super Sports therefore suggest that any Honda dealership would do the same.
It's not quite the same as the dealer just going to the local Discount Tire and getting a set of Cup 2 tires to install for you. Honda made a point of working with Michelin to make an H0 version of the Cup 2 for the CTR and that is what they are making officially available. Of course we hope they'll be available at the local Discount Tire, but they will probably be in much smaller supply since they're a niche product.
 
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ayau

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It's not quite the same as the dealer just going to the local Discount Tire and getting a set of Cup 2 tires to install for you. Honda made a point of working with Michelin to make an H0 version of the Cup 2 for the CTR and that is what they are making officially available. Of course we hope they'll be available at the local Discount Tire, but they will probably be in much smaller supply since they're a niche product.
You can buy Porsche certified tires on TireRack. Making these Cup 2 tires is very costly for Michelin since they’ll be relatively low volume. I guess we’ll see if they show up on TireRack.
 


mbaapk

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From the impressions I've watched/read, media had 2 separate driving experiences, edit "some" were provided cars to drive on the street with PS4S' and then swapped vehicles to drive laps around Sonoma which were equipped with Cup 2s.

Sounded like it was a bit of a mess so I dont know if they all had the same experience.

These arent an option in Canada as far as I can tell, but heard they were supposed to be a dealer option in the states.

You can watch the Smoking Tire review, they're on PS4S, for comparison and then watch Matt Farahs Road and Track PCOTY impressions he was on Cup 2s.

Unless you're driving 10/10th's all day everyday it isnt going to make a discernible difference to the everyday user, except for in inclement weather.

This x1000
 

Y82OneTwoSix

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It's not quite the same as the dealer just going to the local Discount Tire and getting a set of Cup 2 tires to install for you. Honda made a point of working with Michelin to make an H0 version of the Cup 2 for the CTR and that is what they are making officially available. Of course we hope they'll be available at the local Discount Tire, but they will probably be in much smaller supply since they're a niche product.
Certainly agree with all your comments but again I had no issues with respect to getting a Ford service department order a set of Cup 2 tires for my 2015 GT350 and was very happy that the removal of the old tires, mounting of new tires, balancing and wheel alignment all went very well.

After installation at the dealership I immediately headed out for a 300 mile raod trip and aside from all of the usual tramlining that comes with most Cup 2 tires the road feel at 85+ MPH was terrific.

11th Gen Honda Civic Michelin Sport Cup 2 Tires DSC04882 (3)
 

michaeljf

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The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires came standard as OEM on the 2021 LE FK8's that were built in Swindon during late 2020 and early to mid 2021.
FYI these are the ones fitted to my LE. They're the R01 variant with a treadwear rating of 180.

I suspect the H0 Honda version of the Cup 2 Connect will have different compound to the normal Cup 2 Connect but probably the same 240 treadwear rating.

11th Gen Honda Civic Michelin Sport Cup 2 Tires 20210704_081215


11th Gen Honda Civic Michelin Sport Cup 2 Tires 20210704_081452
 

Y82OneTwoSix

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Cup2 is waste of money for a daily with a short life.
Agreed regarding a daily driver but keep in mind that there are numerous different versions of Cup 2 tires (~8) offered by Michelin with some models coming with a harder compound than some others thus a much longer mileage life and may appeal to some daily driver enthusiasts.

Take for instance when Ford decided to provide Cup 2's as an OEM tire for the 2019 GT350 model year, those Cup 2 tires had a completely different barrel, compound and treadwear rating than the 2019 GT350R therefore lasted much longer than the tires that came on the 2-seat cars.

No question that whatever variant of Michelin Cup 2 tire, they are terrific performing tires but my all time favorite OEM tire is still the Pirelli P Zero Corsa that came standard on my 2012 Boss 302 LS cars and if I recall correctly the TW rating was just 60 but just an incredible performance tire.
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