Are the OEM 18 inch Pirellis that bad?

[geep81]

I winter drove on mine twice now. They aren't horrible. They are worse than other A/S tires though especially Michelins. For summer/fun driving they suck - lack of grip in turns, lots of skip on decent acceleration, general squirrely feeling under semi-aggressive street driving. I got Pilot 4s for summer and am heavily debating just taking off the Pirellis from my winter set and replacing them for an easier time in the snow.

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[Bikeman315]

As of now, I’m thinking the plan is to run the Pirellis for the 20k miles they’ll last and then swap them out. I just wanted to verify whether all of the people calling them a safety hazard were being dramatic.

LOL!!

 

[WildHorse]

I just wanted to verify whether all of the people calling them a safety hazard were being dramatic.

There's drama queens. You'll be fine. I told you my personal experience, & pics. You'll. Be. Fine.

 

[shogun32]

How much can you push the Pirellis in warm weather? I’m not planning on tracking / racing or anything but I would like to have some spirited driving.

The Neros are just pure crap. Getting groceries anything that looks round and black will suffice. I briefly had the Neros on my '19 GTI. I could spin them without trying and lateral grip was pathetic. Indy 500 changed all that. IMO buy some PS4S, drive them as long as you can, weather wise, and then just switch to snows or buy PROPER all-season tires and use them year round.

 

[Rinzler]

Pirelli P-Zeros are pure trash. I've never actually hated a tire until I had those on my S197. Ditched them for Michelin Pilot Super Sports (at the time) and I saw the light. The PS4S are supposed to be even better.

 

[WildHorse]

WTF are you guys expecting from a all season tire? Holy lol. 'I ditched the NEROs and put on a set MPSS.. night and day difference."

Yah think?

 

[Rinzler]

WTF are you guys expecting from a all season tire? Holy lol. 'I ditched the NEROs and put on a set MPSS.. night and day difference."

Yah think?

I was talking about the P-Zeros not the P-Zero Neros. Even the P-Zero summer tire is trash.

 

[shogun32]

WTF are you guys expecting from a all season tire?

The conti, BFG, and Michelin All-seaons work great. The Nero is appalling.

 

[catchthecarp]

How much can you push the Pirellis in warm weather? I’m not planning on tracking / racing or anything but I would like to have some spirited driving.

I don't drive my car hard often but will push it on on-ramps or taking banked,turning off ramps at speed when traffic and conditions allow. Nothing crazy. I never had any traction or handling issues running the P-zeros in warm weather, wet or dry conditions. Cold temperatures is when these tires got sketchy, they loose their ability to grip and maintain traction. I flat out didn't trust driving on them during the winter months.

 

[Zathras]

Ford should really put something bigger/better than 235/50 as the standard tire on the 460 HP GT. There are minivans that come with wider tires. I know Ford wants to upsell other wheel/tire packages, but at least give us an 8.5" wide base wheel, and 245/45/18 or 255/45/18 tires. Also, they need to dump the Zero Nero (a 10+ year-old design) and go with a more current generation tire, like the A/S 3+ or the P-Zero All Season Plus.

 

[oneheadlite]

What don’t you like about them?

They don't grip under throttle.
Hard to corner with any speed.
Slide/spin at the first earnest acceleration.

I certainly never had this trouble with T/A Radials....................

 

[Cobra Jet]

I don't drive my car hard often but will push it on on-ramps or taking banked,turning off ramps at speed when traffic and conditions allow. Nothing crazy. I never had any traction or handling issues running the P-zeros in warm weather, wet or dry conditions. Cold temperatures is when these tires got sketchy, they loose their ability to grip and maintain traction. I flat out didn't trust driving on them during the winter months.

Agree with all the above.

However it’s been stated on this site (since 2015) and is in every owners manual that an S550 equipped with Summer Only tires should not be driven if exterior temps are 40* or below...

My prior 2016 and my current 2018 - both equipped with 19” P-Zeros and driven daily on the East Coast through all weather conditions, including when temps were at or below 40* - the tires performed as designed and as noted in @catchthecarp above reply.

Do they loose traction if pushing the car and tires to their limitations - sure, just as any XYZ tire would. The one minor thing being left out is:

Driver Common Sense and Driver Experience (years of driving, knowledge of sports car handling, vehicle limitations to year/make/model XYZ and knowing when to LET UP).

Do I know that driving with Summer Only tires in 30* weather with possibility of ice or snow can be treacherous and possibly dangerous? Hell yea. Am I still driving the car in those conditions as if it were Summer, 85*, dry and traveling 65mph+? F- No!

My 2018 is still on the original P-Zeros and approaching 40k accrued miles. The tires have been rotated at every oil change interval (5k). Tire pressure has been maintained at a constant 32-33psi. No, the tires are not bald, no there is not any uneven wear, BUT yes the overall tread is worn (almost to the tread wear bars) and performance is diminished for dry and wet use. Do I expect them to handle as new? LMAO, F-No! My use has probably exceeded tread wear expectations per the Manufacturer’s recommendations. Granted this may be an anomaly from many others experiences with the same tires - or just the fact that I’m following maintenance protocols and not drag racing or auto crossing with them on the street (or at a track).

Do the tires suck? Eh, that’s subjective as everyone has a different opinion and definition of the word “suck”. IMO, they’re no better than the next comparable Tire Brand, where a supposedly “good” or “great” tire costs in excess of $180-$200+ each....

Oh yea - tire tread wear vs tire tread life is definitely going to vary if you’re leaving a stop light like John Force at every chance you get, don’t maintain proper PSI and don’t rotate 4-squares or can’t rotate if rim sizes are staggered.

And back to common sense -

• Any Summer Only tire is going to perform poorly if used when temps fall below 40*.
• Any Summer tire is going to perform poorly when you’re trying to WOT it from a stop in wet conditions...
• Any Summer tire is going to fail or loose grip IF the vehicle and tire is being pushed beyond limitations during ABC conditions AND is outside of the Tire manufacturer’s recommendations.

Oh, and for those with All Seasons - they’re not the grand fix all - because there is no All Season Performance Tire that can grip in wet/snow as if it were dry IF the Driver is still going to be driving like a fool... it’s not an invincible tire type.

Don’t rely on a freaking tire to save your life over common sense just because:

• you think rubber should stick to pavement in any conditions like Velcro
• spending in excess of $2k just for tires was the smartest thing to do based on posts or recommendations from ANY Internet forum or FB Group...
  
• The Forum’s Grand Pooba with the most thread counts says “brand XYZ is the best because I know so” and the Forum’s Tire/Wheel Sponsors back up the comments to pad their profit margins
• other forum sheeple follow the Forum Grand Pooba’s lead (LMAO)

A tire or tire brand is only as good as the driver’s common sense, experience, maintenance of tires and how they are using the vehicle sitting on those tires.


Cheers!

 

[Bikeman315]

 

[Phoneman1223]

It’s not really the tire that sucks, it is the fact that the sidewalls are 50 tall. Nitto 555G2 in a 35 tall sidewall is light years better in all aspects, especially if you really push the car and know how to drive.

 

[Millarduck]

So for those of us with 4 season conditions looking at all-season tires, has anybody tried the top ranked (Tire Rack as of now) Goodyear Exhilarate? They actually have an Eco-Boost in their video. https://www.goodyear.com/en-US/tires/eagle-exhilarate

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