I got around to installing my Pirrelli P Zero Assimetrico's the other day and after putting a some miles on them in the dry and wet I thought I would share my opinions vs my current favorite street tire Potenza SO-3's.

Dry weather handling: The tires are pretty responsive through the steering wheel but my general impression is that the SO-3's give me better feed back. The sidewalls are nice and stiff so turn in is nice and crisp if maybe not a precise as the Potenza's. Overall grip is high but again the SO-3's seem to have a slight edge. This margin could become closer however as the P Zero's get some more miles on them. One of the up sides to the P Zero's is that they are louder than the super quiet SO-3's at the limit. The SO-3's barely ever made a peep so it was all on feel to figure out how close they were to the limit. I had the P Zero's squealing a tad which might be nice for some drivers. Overall I am very pleased with the performance.

Braking (dry weather): A primative test but a test non the less. Before I swapped out my SO-3's I did several stops from a speedometer indicated 60mph. The time averaged around 2.5 seconds. With the P Zero's (same road/spot and similar conditions) the times were around 2.8 seconds. The SO-3's dig into the road a good bit better and the ABS doesn't have to work as hard. With the P Zero's there was a good bit of tire screeching as the ABS did its job.

Wet braking: I didn't get a chance to test the SO-3's braking under the exact same conditions. The P Zero's netted a time of 3.4 seconds on a fairly damp road. I believe I posted sub 3 sec times with the SO-3's in a heavy downpour.

Wet handling: The SO-3's are just better plain and simple. The P Zero's however do well in the wet and better than 90% of the tires out there I'm sure. This was with full tread however and the remarkable thing about the SO-3's is how long their wet weather traction held up even as the tread decreased. If the P Zero's can hold on to there current grip for a majority of their tread life I will be pleased.

Please note that I live around Mobile AL which is the rainest city in the Continental US (or was at one time I'm sure it changes) so wet weather performance is very important to me.

The major plus for the P Zero's is the price. In 195/50R15 they were only $238 shipped to my door . This compares to $350 shipped for a set of SO-3's in the same size. If you have the money get the SO-3's because they are better. If you are on a buget and still want an awesome tire that will out perform most of the tires out there get the P Zero's. They would be an excellent choice for those R owners that can't justify spending alot of cash on a street that will only last 10-15k (such as me), but don't want to sacrifice performance for a longer lasting tire.

I would also like to say that my review could change in favor of the P Zero's a little more as they accumulate miles. It is possible that they are still not fully "broken in". Hopefully I will be able to give an auto-x review sometime in the future as well.

Bottom line: The Potenza SO-3's are the better tire in just about every way, but the P Zero's aren't very far behind.

 

nice review!

edit- btw, i love my SO-3's


[Modified by disordeR, 1:06 AM 3/30/2003]

 

P-zero assymetrico was designed ~10 years ago. It's not surprising that S-03 is slightly better in ever aspect.

195/50/15? Dude, you're undertired. P-zero 195 is not that wide.

 

Kew review.

Can't wait to get those Bridgestones.

 

S03 is a superior tire hands down.

 

cool

btw, doesn't your dad own a tire store?

 

No.. wrong person.

 

Very true, tire was designed for dry traction on larger 'supercars' back in the early 90s, but for $50 per...

I cannot see the 195/50 PZero being THAT much narrower than 195/55 RE010. I realize when the series # is reduced, width is reduced as well, but is it that significant grip wise on a PZero (140 treadwear, designed for killer dry traction)? Cosworth, do you have any measurements, pics, proof? I'm sick of seeing my 195 PZero sit on my porch waiting for install. They go on the week after Expo. Also, I've been told that the 195/50 S-03 is wide for a 195.

 

I think what Sean is saying is that the the 195/50 S-03 is pretty wide for a 195, similar to the Azenis being a wide 205.

The 195/50 S-03's I have 'protected' the rim better than the RE-010's did. What I mean by this is that the sidewall was farther out than the rim, if only slightly.

 

Good Review, Active Alero.

 

That was a very nice review ActiveAero.

 

Actually he does but we don't carry Perilli so I got them from tirerack. IMO the P Zero's are not undertiring my car at all. In fact I'll go do some measurements some time today just to see. I have a RE010, S0-3, and P Zero all in 195 to measure.

 

That was a good review Brock. Why arent you running a 205? J/w because i am with Sean(cosworth) in the idea that you are kinda undertired.

Anyways

 

I've run 205/50's before. They are too large for the rim IMO and feel sloppy compared to the 195/50's. The 195/50's give my a better response and crisper turn in along with a higher final drive ratio which aids in acceleration. They have also led me to 1st and 2nd place finishes in auto-x in STX against most guys who run 205/50 Azenis so if they are hurting me at all I really can't tell at this point.

 

how do the they compare in weight?

 

I'm not exactly sure. I believe there is some site that has alot of tire weights for our cars and I think the P Zero's are on the lighter side if I'm not mistaken.

 

I'll be trying the same P Zeros, albeit on a much heavier car.

I have a feeling this is one of those tires that works better on heavier cars, than light cars.

 

Get review!!!......I love my S-03's

 

good review, nice to see a decent, unbiased tire comparison

 

Excellent review. I cant wait for my tires to go bad so I can order a set of the s03's. Thanks.

 

Great review as I am looking for tires.

 

How do the 195 S-03's compare to the 205 Azenis? Turn in? Absolute grip? Thanks!

 

Actually since I use a different tire for autox what do you guys think of the Dunlop SP Sport A2?

 

how well do the S03's handle on street bumps?????thks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by savannakhet &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how well do the S03's handle on street bumps?????thks</TD></TR></TABLE>
What are you talking about?!?!?!