Quote:
Originally Posted by spetsnazos
Typically an OEM such as BMW will source tires from two suppliers to ensure that demand can be met if there are production/shipment issues. That said, for a small car line such as the M2C, I wouldn't be surprised that they sole-source Michelin(which they did).
The OEM tire is specifically designed for the car. It's gone through numerous iterations on the M2C for optimal performance in dry limit handling, dry handling, wet limit handling, wet handling, snow handling, snow stopping, braking, acceleration, noise and treadwear. It was built and tested in the exact size that is on our car.
The replacement tire is designed to whatever car the manufacturer decided to test with, could have been an S4 for all you know...or maybe it was extrapolated from a different tire size(225 instead of a 245 or 255) altogether.
Thats not how it works at all. When a new car is being built, tire manufacturers will submit tires to an OEM through a fairly robust RFI/RFP/etc process. After the development starts, there are multiple iterations from both tire manufacturers and oem manufacturers to ensure that the performance targets are met.
OEM's don't just grab "pre-approved" tires off the shelf.
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Not entirely true. The Z4M got the exact tires from E46 M3 parts bin. The 1M got the E92 M3s exact same tires as well. I think you may be overstating the level of care and customization that goes into many OEM tires. I bet BMW did very little to the F8x PSS when downsizing them 10mm for the M2.
Further, the performance targets are not always about performance. BMW may actually have a lower performance tire than the off-the-shelf PSS if the OTS part doesn’t meet temperature and treadwear requirements. I run max performance summer tires on my Mazda, because I can. They are better in every way than the OEM tire except price and treadwear.
Unless you know BMW’s specs you are speculating just as much as anyone else. It is likely the M2 is very similar to the generic benchmark vehicle used by Michelin for this category, so I would not be surprised at all if OTS PS4S are better than OEM PSS.