Ford
We all know that power-to-weight ratio is one of the most crucial stats when it comes to straight-line acceleration, and the two cars obviously have the same power output and gearing, so exactly what is going on here? The publication reached out to Ford to find out what s behind the counter-intuitive GT500 pecking order. It s not atypical to see a PS4S equal the Cup tire or go a bit faster, Lead Shelby GT500 Development Engineer Steve Thompson revealed.
To put it simply, the Pilot Sport 4S was developed with street use and the occasional drag race in mind, where the Pilot Sport Cup 2 was built for optimal road course performance. To those ends, the standard Pilot Sport 4S has thicker center tread blocks that can better retain heat, which helps with launch traction, and the internal construction of each tire is markedly different.