REVIEW | Testing the new Pirelli P Zero range
We spend so much time talking about cars - their looks, their motors, the toys that lurk within, the price… all of it. But so little energy is spent on the tyres they ride on. We get as far as the wheels, but then, seemingly, stop caring. For many, so long as there’s air in them and they’ll get you through an MOT, that’s enough. The thing is, they’re quite important. A day testing various iterations of the new Pirelli P Zero range was an eye opener.
The P Zero story so far
The P Zero tyre has been around for 40 years, first on the Lancia Integrale, but made famous for sitting at each corner of the Ferrari F40. Since then, when someone says ‘P Zero’, you know they’re talking about something a cut above the usual ditchfinder. Over four decades, Pirelli’s released numerous iterations, each improved over the last. Today’s tyre is a far cry from its great, great, great grandfather, says Pirelli.
It needs less rubber on the tread to go further, the company’s doing its damndest to make sure it’s as ‘green’ as possible by making them sustainable (Pirelli is a top 1% sustainable company according to Dow Jones) and is reducing the amount of nasty things they produce. On top of all of that, they’re stickier, shinier, and all around better. Apparently.
The new P Zero line
The new line up comes in a few flavours. The basic P Zero for day to day (albeit aimed at high end cars - sorry, Renault Clio); P Zero R for sports cars and quick stuff; P Zero Trofeo RS is aimed at track cars, hypercars, supercars, and even comes with special ‘Elect’ tech for fast EVs - it’s road legal, but it’s probs best to leave it in the garage when it’s snowing. There’s even a P Zero E, which is made of 55% sustainable materials and is tuned specifically for EVs.
Pirelli, rather than simply tell us what the new rubber’s all about, put its money where its mouth is and showed us. Admittedly, in isolation, far away from any French competitors, it was still a good opportunity to see what’s what.
What are they like on the road and track?
On the road, in a group of Alpine A110s, the regular tyre proved to be a great addition to the car. The reason being, the A110 is a brilliant little car, but it can suffer from road noise. It’s fine on a quick razz, but incredibly droning on the highway. The road route wasn’t quick, and with little opportunity to explore the limits of grip, the really appreciable thing was the noise… or lack thereof.
The track is where the P Zero family showed what it could really do. The Italian firm laid on three demonstrations - an M3 Touring on homologated P Zero Trofeo RS, an M5 on the P Zero R, and a hot lap from legendary driver Paul Swift in a Ford Mustang Dark Horse shod with Trofeo RS.
Giving the silly, powerful (and silly heavy) M5 a shoeing around the Goodwood Motor Circuit would be a giggle in itself, but with a ‘tyre reviewer’ hat on, I paid attention to how quickly I could get away with some gentle hooliganism. The car hides its (far too often talked about) weight well, thanks to clever springs and sheer power. The tyres seemed to keep it in check, too, though with a little too much right foot, you could feel it moving a touch - that’s to be expected from a rank amateur enjoying a quick circuit. A baseline was set for the M3 Touring.
Gripping to the circuit like velcro
RS, in anything automotive, means ‘Really chuffing quick,’ and Pirelli knows it. The M3 Touring is lighter and less powerful than the M5, but still alarmingly fast. As a car, it’s a joy for the day-to-day, but with that rubber fitted, it felt like it had set driving to easy mode. You can power into corners with more than sensible speed, and it just… grips. Now, I’m 99% sure Pirelli hadn’t covered the tyres and the circuit in velcro, but that’s sort of what it felt like. I could push, and the thing wouldn’t budge. It’s a track-biased tyre, designed for quick stuff to do quick stuff with, but… yeah. It was humbling. Had I been so daring with the rubber on my own car, I’d probably be in a hedge. Upside down.
The Trofeo RS is road legal, but presumably that’s the same sort of legal as it’s OK to walk down the street in a Mankini. You can, but it’ll be frowned upon. It’s for tracks, not the King’s Road. In the hands of Paul Swift, the Mustang Dark Horse flew. Combining the stickiest tyre with a properly quick driver was eye opening. Again, if I’d tried to do what he did, I’d have been humbled by a lack of talent alarmingly quickly. It’s capable and then some, and, quipped Swift, was still fine and unbothered after two days of constant lapping.
To get the full skinny on how capable the new P Zero is, we’d need spare sets of wheels and plenty of supplies from the competition, but in isolation… colour me impressed. And in dire need of more track time. And a BMW M3 Touring.
words: Alex Goy
pictures: Pirelli
