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| Michelin |
An interesting battle of rally cars was witnessed recently in the hills of New Hampshire, in which a competition took place between the leading rally tyre brands. Team O'Neil Rally School tested tyres from Michelin, Hoosier and Pirelli, and the results showed which brand performed the best.
Two professional drivers took part in the test with their respective cars. Canadian rally champion Antoine L'Estage and rising American rally driver Chris Cyr used their respective Ford Fiesta cars. The drivers tested each tyre in soft and medium compounds, but they were not told the brand of tyres. The purpose was to ensure that the driver's opinion was without any bias.
Team O'Neil gathered extensive data during this test, including information such as tyre pressure and temperature. According to lap times, Michelin tyres achieved the fastest times in all the tests. However, Hoosier also performed well and came close to Michelin on several occasions. The Pirelli tyres proved to be the slowest, but their performance will also be monitored in terms of long-term durability.
Chief instructor Wyatt Knox explained that lap times are only half the story and future testing of tyre longevity is open to the public. If you are considering buying rally tyres, detailed data is available on Team O'Neil's website.
This test made it clear that Michelin has the edge in terms of short-term performance, but the real picture of long-term tyre life is yet to emerge.
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