The Pirelli P Zero is a high-performance tire designed for sports cars and high-end vehicles, whereas the Scorpion Verde is an all-season tire designed for SUVs and crossovers. Let’s delve in to a detailed comparison review on these two.
Table of Contents
Tire Sizes
Pirelli P Zero comes with following sizes’ features.
- Wheel sizes available: 17 to 22 inches.
- Load rating: SL and XL.
- Speed rating: Y and W.
- Tread depth: 10/32″ on all.
- Weight range: 19 to 42 lbs.
- UTQG: 220 AA.
The Pirelli Scorpion Verde on the other side has following.
- Wheel sizes available: 16 to 22 inches.
- Load rating: SL and XL.
- Speed rating: H, V, W and Y.
- Tread depth: 10 and 11/32″.
- Weight range: 24 to 40 lbs.
- UTQG: 440 AA.
Ride Quality
Ride quality encompasses several aspects, including sound levels, comfort, and the ability to absorb impacts. I’ve discussed them all under the following two sub-headings.
Tread Noise
When it comes to noise, air is the main culprit, as air particles enter in (mostly through voids on shoulders), and hit the walls (of the tread), creating unwanted sound waves.
That’s why its pretty clear why why the Pirelli Scorpion Verde excels slightly in this regard.
The tire features a continuous running shoulder rib, whereas the Pirelli P Zero has relatively larger gaps, allowing more air particles to enter and collide with the walls, generating more noise.
But still, the overall difference in noise levels is only marginal. This is because with harder tread compound, the P Zero does not produce as much in-groove resonance, whereas the Scorpion does.
On-Road Vibrations
The comfort properties of a tire is directly proportional to its ability to handle road irregularities. And this is a factor which is heavily influenced by tire’s internal and external composition.
That’s why the Pirelli Scorpion Verde is the superior choice, as this tire is made with a softer tread rubber, which is effective at absorbing road imperfections compared to others.
Wet Traction
In terms of performance on wet surfaces, the Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season outperforms its competitors. as it offers a balanced combination of siping, notches, and chamfered edges, as well as tread flexibility.
Basically sipes are tiny slits which suck up water particles coming underneath. And they crate suction by “flexing”. That’s why flexibility is just as significant as the siping.
That’s the reason why the Pirelli P Zero falls short here.
Not only its missing with ample siping, its rubber compound is also harder comparatively.
Dry Performance
The dry performance of a tire is primarily determined by two key elements: grip and handling.
Grip, also known as directional grip, relates to the tire’s braking ability, mainly involving the central tread area since it receives the most pressure during straight-rolling motion.
Whereas the handling, refers to the tire’s behavior during cornering, with the shoulder lugs playing a vital role as they form a tighter bond with the road during turns due to the highest weight concentration.
Let’s delve into how both tires fare in these performance metrics.
Directional Grip
In terms of directional grip, the Pirelli P Zero emerges as the superior choice, which is understandable given its design.
The tire features more asymmetrical longitudinally aligned ribs that are biting, more compact, and offer biters (in the form of in-groove notches) in all directions.
These design elements enable the tire to achieve approximately 5 feet shorter braking distances on average, as observed in multiple tests.
On the other hand, the Pirelli Scorpion Verde, with its more voided ribs, does not match this performance. Essentially, the tire provides a smaller contact patch with the ground, which negatively impacts overall grip.
Dry Handling
Dry handling depends significantly on the extent of road contact made by the shoulder lugs and the flexibility of the tread. And in this regard, the Pirelli P Zero secures another win.
The tire has more compacted shoulder lugs, enhancing road connection during cornering.
Moreover, you also get a more direct steering response here, as the tire lugs are able to form a firmer contact with the road, resulting in minimal over and under-steering.
This translates to higher lateral traction values, measured as g-forces during cornering.
On the flip side, the Pirelli Scorpion Verde falls short here, primarily due to its more voided up shoulder blocks and a relatively softer tread compound which causes greater lug bending relatively.
Tread Life
Assessing tread life involves considering several factors, including tread depth, rolling resistance, and, crucially, the tread composition itself.
So it often gets challenging finding out which tire would provide greater tread life here.
Luckily things get easier when one considers the Uniform Tire Quality Grading (UTQG) of both tires.
This rating although isn’t reliable for tires form different manufacturers, it actually gives pretty accurate info if the tires are coming form the same company.
Now, here, the Scorpion Verde has a UTQG rating of 440, while the P Zero is rated at only 220. So its pretty clear why the P Zero is a better pick in terms of treadwear.
This rating basically tells us that the Scorpion Verde could offer nearly four times the tread life compared to the test tire, whereas the P Zero would provide only about twice the treadwear resistance in comparison to the test tire.
Fuel Consumption
Rolling resistance and fuel efficiency are directly related.
This means that the higher rolling resistance is typically caused by increased weight and softer tread composition, and that of course leads to higher fuel consumption.
And understanding this relationship sheds light on why the Pirelli P Zero demonstrates marginally better fuel efficiency, as it offers a more streamlined design, characterized by an average shallower tread depth.
This design restricts the movement of the tire’s lugs as it brakes, accelerates or turns.
Basically lug distortion consumes energy that could otherwise contribute to tire rolling. So with a softer tread compound,the blocks are more susceptible to bending.
The P Zero, with its stiffer overall composition, therefore bends less compared to its counterpart, and gets to show superior fuel economy.
So what did we learn?
Well let me put things plain and simple here.
The Scorpion Verde All Season excels in:
- Tread noise: The continuous running shoulder rib of the tire results in lesser noise generated by air particles colliding with the walls.
- Absorbing on-road vibrations: The softer tread rubber with higher silica composition and a softer inner cap ply effectively absorb road imperfections, resulting in a more comfortable driving experience.
- Providing wet traction: Balanced combination of siping, notches, and chamfered edges, as well as tread flexibility, maintain a strong grip on wet roads.
- Having a longer tread life: The harder tread compound resists rapid wear, and an additional layer of polyamide enhances durability, resulting in a higher UTQG rating and deeper tread depth.
The Pirelli P Zero excels in:
- Dry performance: Asymmetrical longitudinally aligned ribs, compact design, and in-groove notches in all directions lead to shorter braking distances and higher lateral traction values during cornering.
- Fuel efficiency: Streamlined design with average shallower tread depth and stiffer overall composition results in lesser lug distortion and energy consumption, thereby improving overall fuel economy.
