You know that chant you hear at college basketball games sometimes, when the visiting team’s star player is having a bad game and the home crowd is chanting in unison, “OVER-RATED…” Unfortunately that’s how I feel about the Michelin Pilot Power 2CTs.When I first ditched the stock tires on my 2005 R6, I got a set of the original Pilot Powers. I liked them a lot and did my first 2 track days with them. Although I was just getting started at the track, those tires gave me enough confidence to get some decent lean angles and push myself. After that I bought 3 straight sets of Dunlop Qualifiers, which I liked even more (although after 2000 miles and a couple of track days they would get rock hard). I got to the point where I wanted to try something a little stickier at the track, so the 2CTs seemed like a decent compromise without having to make the jump to DOT race tires. The whole dual-compound, softer-rubber-at-the-shoulders marketing thing got to me.
Fortunately I got a good price and threw them on the R6 for a couple of track days. For whatever reason, but most likely the more triangular profile of the front tire, I never got comfortable on them. I never achieved the same lean angles I did with the Dunlop Qualifiers. On top of that, they actually felt less predictable than the original Pilot Powers and the Qualifiers. They were really sticky, but I just couldn’t get a good feel for what they were doing.
Interestingly enough, Sport Rider did a tire comparo back in 2006 (I think) and actually lapped faster on the Dunlop Qualifiers (single compound) than they did on the 2CTs (dual compound). That’s not to say they’re not good tires, because they are. I just think they’re overrated and Michelin should get a lot of credit for developing a tire that their marketing team could really sink its teeth into. For my money though, I won’t buy them again. Fool me once…