Tires are easily the single most critical component to a vehicle?s performance. For example, simply swapping tires can improve the cornering grip of a Nissan Leaf from ho-hum to near Porsche 911 levels?we tried it. And, as we’ve witnessed at our annual Lightning Lap track test, grip at the performance end of the spectrum has radically increased over the past decade. From our inaugural event in 2006, the peak grip we’ve measured in Virginia International Raceway’s Turn 1 (Horse Shoe) has swelled roughly 20 percent, from 1.01 g (a Dodge Viper SRT10 wearing Michelin Pilot Sport tires) to the 1.21 g pulled by this year’s Mercedes-AMG GT R. That’s why we’re always vigilantly scanning the rubber worn by the Lightning Lap contenders to ensure there’s no cheating or non-factory fitments. Which brings us back to this year’s Mercedes-AMG GT R. That it rode on what appeared to be Corvette tires?including the TPC Spec number molded into their sidewalls, which indicates compliance with General Motors? internal Test Performance Criteria requirements?was a head scratcher. It turns out that these are both Corvette tires and a factory fitment for AMG’s sharpest GT scalpel. Allow us to explain.
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