Pirelli P Zero V the rest

[billhook]

I am currently running a full set of Pirelli P Zero Rosso 225/50 zr 17's at the moment on my 2.0 TDI Yeti.

I have noticed that at 12000 miles the fronts will be ready for changing quite soon.

Has anyone got a Yeti with different make tyres on that are lasting longer that 12k miles ?

These are the original tyres. If i am going to replace them i would like to get a few more miles out of the new ones.

I have run P Zero's on an Audi a few years ago, and wasnt impressed with how quick they wear out then.

Thanks.

[BossFox]

I found the Dunlops lasted better.

But I prefer the grip of the P Zero.

[Bobdog]

I've never had Pirellis on a Yeti, but had some once on an Audi A4 and was unimpressed by their longevity as you are. They are a budget tyre. My Yeti came originally with 225/50x17 Dunlops (someone on here will know which ones, I can't remember). I replaced them at 22k miles with Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons. The Dunlops probably had another 3/4k miles in them, but winter was approaching fast and I wanted the security of the Vector for the snow. Cautiously I replaced the front Vectors after another 22k miles ... they were nearly down to the 4mm bars recommended for snow use and I was about to head for the Alps to ski. Someone in another thread recently said that he had the Vectors and had driven in snow in Scotland with the tyres way below the 4mm marks with no problems, so perhaps I needn't have been so careful. One of the rears I replaced a while back after a puncture that couldn't be repaired, but the other is still on the car, and legal, at 30k miles.

[Llanigraham]

Dunlops lasted longer, and my Kumho KU39's seem to be good for around 18k on the front

[Frenchtone]

Dunlops on mine up to about 25000 now,but will need changing in about 5-6000 - not particularly carefully driven, however, I've been impressed with there dry grip! use cheapos for winters after a good deal with my tyres for rims and goodrich on 16". These also proved themselves earlier this winter(feb snows)

[James I]

I managed an admirable 36,000 miles from the Dunlops, I then went onto Bridgestone potenzas and hate them! once 20 odd thousand miles have passed, the outer ring of the tyre has a shallower cut than the rest of the tyre, this makes for a smooth outer inch and a half, it makes the tyre look illegal and it also makes the car wander on the white lines or on the indents in the road.

I have asked leaseplan for different tyres but they insist on bridgestone, so I now get lots of punctures, usually in the outer edge so none repairable. If you get what I mean?

I am happy with them for grip and road noise etc but when you get to the wear as described above the are woeful, I would be happy to have the dunlops back as they wore dead flat across the tyre and all had 2mm on when they were changed.

[r999]

The April issue of Which?, as I've said on another thread, has some very helpful tests of tyres in a size almost identical to the Yeti summer tyre.

If longevity matters to you so much that you're willing to settle for a mediocre tyre in all other respects, the current winner is probably the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 2 K117, which had a projected life on the Which? test car of 52,900 miles.

If you want to balance very good longevity with good performance (not the best) in the other attributes, i.e. wet and dry braking, wet and dry handling, noise, and fuel economy, then the current best compromise appears to be the Pirelli Cinturato P7, with a projected life on the same car of 49,500 miles. The street price is high, though.

If you want the best tyre of the day in all respects except wear, it is the Continental ContiSportContact 5, with a projected life on the same car of 31,000 miles (which is average in this test).

The Dunlop SP Sport 01, a factory fitment, is a dated tyre, as is the Pirelli P Zero Rosso, and I'd suggest you can easily do better. The Kumho Ecsta Le Sport KU39 has mediocre performance all round including mediocre longevity.

Please note:

(1) projected tyre lives in miles quoted above are not for the Yeti, where they will almost certainly be a good deal lower, but I give them so that you can compare tyres on a rational basis instead of an anecdotal one.

(2) I have not checked which of the above are currently available in 225/50 R 17 except for the Conti.

(3) the suggestions above are based primarily on the most recent test by Which? but also on other properly-conducted tests over recent years and some experience of my own.

Edited 2 April, 2013 by r999

[Llanigraham]

It is a great shame that the Which tests are only available if you are a member.

These are the Autoexpress tests I can find, which doesn't help a lot:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/60111/tyre-test-2012

Winter tyres:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/60709/best-winter-tyres

Summer tyres:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2012-Auto-Express-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm

[Sardom]

Here's a quick cut n paste job of some of Which?'s tests.

Tyre test results

225/45 R17 W/Y summer tyres Price Availability Test score

Continental ContiSportContact 5 £95 Good 69%

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 £85 Good 67%

Pirelli Cinturato P7 £100 Good 67%

Dunlop Sport Maxx RT £90 Good 66%

Michelin Pilot Sport 3 £100 Good 66%

Semperit Speed-Life £90 Poor 65%

Vredestein Ultrac Vorti £96 Poor 65%

Yokohama C.drive 2 £100 Fair 65%

Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 2 K117 £95. Poor 64%

Bridgestone Potenza S001 £95. Fair 62%

Nexen N8000 £60 Poor 62%

Uniroyal RainSport 2 £80 Good 62%

Falken Azenis FK453 £80 Poor 61%

Kumho Ecsta Le Sport KU39 £85 Fair 60%

Toyo Proxes T1 Sport £80 Fair 58%

High Performer Sport HS-2 £60 Poor 47%

Syron Race 1 Plus £90 Poor 47%

Tyre test results

205/55 R16V summer tyres Price Availability Test score

Continental PremiumContact 5 £125 Poor 70%

Dunlop SP Sport FastResponse £77 Good 69%

Goodyear OptiGrip £92 Good 69%

Bridgestone Turanza T001 £75 Fair 66%

Semperit Speed-Life £68 Poor 65%

Maloya Lugano £67 Poor 59%

Pirelli Cinturato P7 £68 Good 57%

Hankook Kinergy Eco K425 £74 Poor 56%

Kumho Ecsta HM KH31 £73 Fair 50%

Yokohama C.Drive 2 £69 Poor. 50%

Uniroyal RainExpert £88 Good 50%

Nokian V £92 Poor 46%

Fulda EcoControl HP £68 Poor 46%

Nexen N8000 £79 Poor 40%

[Sardom]

Well it came out wonky, but I think you can figure it out.

[r999]

This may not be very relevant unless anyone is considering buying tyres with 'Eco' in the name, in which case it is a bit of a shocker:

Watch it through to 5 min 40 sec and see how a premium-brand 'Eco' tyre did a lot worse in wet braking than a no-name brand, and how an ill-assorted collection of part-worn tyres beat them both, since two of them were winters.

There's a price to pay for buying 'Eco', i.e. for maximising a tyre's fuel economy, and I had no idea how big a price it was till I watched this.

The clip begins in mid-sentence, but it becomes clear later which set of tyres is which.

[r999]

May I suggest caution in posting detailed results as in post #9. Even though that is not the full results table with scores for each tyre attribute, it is a complete table and so it is in breach of the provisions of the Copyright Act, which I for my part always try to observe. The 'fair dealing' provisions of the Act allow one to go a bit further than I did in #7, but not much.

[Llanigraham]

Well it came out wonky, but I think you can figure it out.

Thank you for that.

Seems to make sense.

I've had the same problem a few times, and found the only way to straighten it up is to post as you have done then when it is up "Edit" and realign everything. That seems to work most of the time.

r999,

Agree about the "Eco" tyres and their wet weather performance !! (or lack of)

[Frenchtone]

Error correction winters Goodride not as stated Goodrich!!

[AlleyCat`]

I'm not sure if something has changed with the pirelli p zero (neros i think)? I had them on a Passat and the fronts did 34K before they needed changing! (this was back in 2004 / 2005)

How can a Yeti eat them in just 12K miles?

Not sure if it is my driving style but, punctures aside, I've never replaced a set of tyres before 20K miles on wear alone.

I usually flip them out at 3.5 to 4mm remaining so it isn't like i'm running them down to borderline either.

As to "eco" tyres. Having them on the greeline i have to say that i loathe them in the wet, and they aren't that great in the dry either.

[Truthseeker]

I've never had Pirellis on a Yeti, but had some once on an Audi A4 and was unimpressed by their longevity as you are. They are a budget tyre. My Yeti came originally with 225/50x17 Dunlops (someone on here will know which ones, I can't remember). I replaced them at 22k miles with Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons. The Dunlops probably had another 3/4k miles in them, but winter was approaching fast and I wanted the security of the Vector for the snow. Cautiously I replaced the front Vectors after another 22k miles ... they were nearly down to the 4mm bars recommended for snow use and I was about to head for the Alps to ski. Someone in another thread recently said that he had the Vectors and had driven in snow in Scotland with the tyres way below the 4mm marks with no problems, so perhaps I needn't have been so careful. One of the rears I replaced a while back after a puncture that couldn't be repaired, but the other is still on the car, and legal, at 30k miles.

Pirelli P Zero Rosso a budget tyre......really?

Quote from tyre comparison website:

"The Pirelli P Zero Rosso is not only about performance and delivers an excellent standard of comfort due to the special construction of the tyre carcass. This tyre has been used as original equipment over 200 times by vehicle manufacturers like Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Porsche.

However, I do agree they wear much quicker than some other brands, mainly due to their softer compound, which is suited to high performance cars for better traction/cornering. Why they put them as standard equipment on some Yetis though is beyond me (I have them as OE on my Urban). I only have driven 4500 miles and have noticed the fronts are wearing very quick which is usual on a front wheel drive car, but not this quick. So, I intend to flip them with the rears at around the 7500 mark. Like Bossfox though, I do like their grip.

[r999]

It is a great shame that the Which tests are only available if you are a member.

The full results of that particular test, with each tyre scored for dry grip, wet grip, noise/comfort, fuel economy, and wear, are available here without a subscription and without any infringement of copyright:

http://www.adac.de/infotestrat/tests/reifen/sommerreifen/2013_Sommerreifen_Test_225_45_R17.aspx?ComponentId=160352&SourcePageId=31821

This is because the Which? tests are done in association with ADAC (which I think is their way of saying they rely almost entirely on the German facilities and expertise).

However, the ADAC final rankings differ from those in the Which? table posted above because the two organisations weight the criteria differently. The Which? rankings give more weight to wet grip, less to dry grip and less to longevity.

[Llanigraham]

Thanks for that.

Unfortunately I don't speak German, but think I get the idea of their results.

[r999]

This ought to translate : http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.adac.de/infotestrat/tests/reifen/sommerreifen/2013_Sommerreifen_Test_225_45_R17.aspx%3FComponentId%3D160352%26SourcePageId%3D31821

except for the following words embedded in the image:

Urteil = verdict, judgment

Trocken = dry

Nass = wet

Geräusch = noise

Kraftstoffverbrauch = fuel usage

Verschleiß =wear

[Llanigraham]

Thanks.

[Liobian]

Hello folks, I've a black Urban 1.2TSI new in August '12. with Pirelli PZero Rosso tyres. Only done 3500 mls in 6months and just noticed how much the've worn. Not measured them yet, but I doubt if the fronts will last 10k. Why they fit tyres like this to a car like this I don't get it, although the car drives & corners brilliantly. Honest John has a theory that tyre suppliers give them to Skoda & Co as loss leaders in the hope that the end users will pay thro' the nose to replace with the same tyre at great expense. Ironically, Pirelli SPA pays my pension! (though NOT the tyre division)

I also saw a thread about roof rail end covers coming off, so I tried mine and the rear ones just clicked off easily. Lightcliffe in Warrington agreed it was a problem and replaced them with two off a brand new Elegance in the showroom to save me waitng for a back order.The new ones are rock solid, its obviously a problem with the mould tools or material.

Keep the info coming

[The Plumber]

My original Yeti on 17" rims came with Goodyear Excellence, which I haven't seen on a new Yeti for a while. Tests and rating suggest it to be a mediocre tyre, although I had no complaints other than it had no grip in snow and felt twitchy on a frosty morning. Oh wear appeared acceptable too but as others have said, their Vector 4Season tyre does seem to suit the Yeti installation and it's a shame Skoda hasn't thought to factory fit them, rather than high performance tyres from the VAG TT parts bin.

TP