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[stressdoc]

I got the new, just released Pirelli P Zeros in the stock ZSP staggered sizes [18" 225/40 & 255/35]. This is the tire recently adopted by Lamborghini and a bunch of other elite car manufacturers, not to be confused with the Pirelli P Zero Neros or other Pirelli P Zero Rossos etc. tires. Yeah, the "mission zero" Uma Thurman flik ones. They were installed today and so I took them on a break-in ride. After 100 miles or so I tested them over a course that I have previously tried with my OEM rfts, and then Continental performance winter tires.

Wow, what a difference good rubber makes. The winter Contis seemed so comfortable after the OEM rfts, but with similar performance, especially in the wet. But in comparison to both the Contis and Bridgestones, the Pirellis are amazing -- when I drove out of the dealership where I had them installed I was initially concerned that the ride was back to the OEM rfts: stiff! But once you push them a bit, the differences emerge. These tires have more road 'feel' than any tire I have tried. They are extremely confidence inspiring, tons of grip, very predictable. A corner that I regularly take at 8/10ths going about 60 mph with the Contis, 65 mph with the stock rfts, was 70 mph with the Pirellis. There is like zippo, nada, zilch sidewall flex in transitions. Phenomenal. Like the treads were painted on the rims.

When I first drove around with the Pirellis I was thinking, oh my, the ride on these is so tight that I am going to have to rethink getting Bilstein PSS9 coilovers installed -- I have rethought that mod, but mostly because I want to wait and see what the new BMW performance branch serves up for us later this summer. The ride on the Pirellis is clearly much more, ummm, engaging than the Conti winter tires. You feel everything. But not in the jarring way that the OEM rfts transmit road irregularities. Regardless, the ride was sufficiently tight that I was thinking that stiffer springs and shocks would be a bad idea. Then I got out of our little city and into the Missouri equivalent of Alpine twisties/California canyons, and the extraordinary level of grip got the car leaning at angles that I had not been comfortable with in the other tires. So now I am back to thinking about how to best set up the suspension to reduce roll and damp things down a bit, realizing that the ride is not going to be plush, but with huge gains in handling, enabled by the much higher performance levels of these tires. Accelerating is much improved as well -- I am loathe to smoke these expensive new shoes up, but I could not resist a few strong starts. They grab like there's no tomorrow. The Contis would spin much too easily, with wheel hop to boot. The rfts felt too hard, and did not grip well or predictably when you dump the clutch. The Pirellis will spin, but you are getting shot out of a canon -- they just start grabbing, and you feel like you are in a slingshot.

I would love to test these new Pirellis against the Michelin PS2 gold standard.

Putting numbers on subjective impressions [1 - 10 scale, 10 being, well, Dudley's fantasy]:
OEM ZSP Bridgestone summer performance rfts: ride 4 - cornering 7 - slalom 7 - acceleration - 6
ContiWinterContact TS810 S non-rft 235 & 265: ride 8 - cornering 5 - slalom 6 - acceleration - 5 [great winter tire!]
Pirelli P Zero non-rft 225 & 255: ride 6 - cornering 9 - slalom 10 - acceleration - 9 [best extreme performance tire I have driven!]

I would seriously consider a set of these Pirellis if you are in the market for top line tires.

Thanks to TireRack for (1) stocking these tires in our size, and (2) sending them instantaneously.

[Park2670]

Wow, makes me wonder about my PS2 purchase. Great writeup Doc!

[stressdoc]

Originally Posted by Park2670

Wow, makes me wonder about my PS2 purchase. Great writeup Doc!

If I get out your way we'll have to compare 'em. My guess is that there is not likely to be much significant difference -- and the Pirellis are $100 more

We need to start twisting Gary's arm to get TireRack to do a real test.