Pirelli Lands US High Performance OE Contract

Pirelli has introduced its P6 Four Seasons tyre to the North American market. As the name suggests, this is an all-season tyre, which has already won OE approval in Europe with such prestigious marques as Audi, Volvo, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. In North America, the P6 Four Seasons is fitted as OE on the Lincoln Town Car and Ford Crown Victoria, plus homologation studies are under way for new vehicles from Jaguar, BMW and DaimlerChrysler.

All-season tyres are very popular in the USA and the P6 Four Seasons represents Pirelli’s first OE success in this sector.The tyre benefits from a new design, formulated in response to modern motoring demands and known as STEP (Safety from Technical Engineering Profile). This entails a special profile to control deformation in such critical areas as sidewalls and bead, which can affect performance.

Consistent wear and reduced profile changes were important considerations in the tyre’s design and, in tests exceeding 40,000 miles, there was little change in profile.Other benefits of STEP include a smooth ride and a low-energy-consumption cap and base compound. The tread compound is 100 per cent silica for better grip and wet/cold performance while the base compound is more rigid for improved rolling resistance.

Pirelli carried out a number of benchmarking tests against competitive brands, which showed up to a 5 per cent improvement in steering, straight line stability, dry braking and handling and a 3-5 per cent advantage in aquaplaning resistance, wet handling and braking.When it comes to Winter properties, the P6 Four Seasons has snow trapping blocks which have self-cleaning properties, plus the tread design has more than 1,000 lateral and radial sipes to aid grip. Added to the special compound, these features mean that the tyre exhibits 2-4 per cent better performance than its nearest competitor in snow traction, snow braking and ice braking.

As it was designed to meet strict OE requirements, the P6 Four Seasons has excellent performance in the areas of comfort, low noise, mileage and rolling resistance, the latter courtesy of Pirelli’s patented Ultra-Low Rolling Resistance System, designed for greater fuel efficiency. Light-weight, high-tensile strength steel belts make the tyre lighter, which helps improve footprint contact and more even wear. When it comes to noise generation, the staggered arrangement of the tread blocks means that the P6 Four Seasons is 1-3 decibels quieter than its best competitor.

Initially, the new tyre will be available in 23 different sizes, with five new sizes being introduced in January, and will be marketed as a premium tyre. The P6 Four Seasons is designed for wheels from 15″ to 17″ and comes in aspect ratios of 65 series down to 45 series and H, V and W speed ratings..