Just a year after its initial introduction, Pirelli has brought out a new version of the P Zero Nero, aimed at the specific demands of the North American market. Dubbed the P Zero Nero M+S, it is built at Pirelli's new, completely automated MIRS plant in Rome, Ga.
European Car introduced the P Zero Nero in the July 2002 "Maximum Performance Tire Buyer's Guide," and a more detailed review can be found online at www.europeancarweb.com. The P Zero Nero aims at the tuning and plus-sizing markets, focusing on maximum performance for aftermarket upgraded vehicles and eliminating some of the compromises necessary to achieve the refinement required for original equipment applications.
In the United States, 75% of tires sold are all-season and 25% are seasonally focused, the exact opposite of demand in the rest of the world. To better address this widespread customer requirement, Pirelli changed the P Zero Nero to significantly improve its low-temperature performance. The P Zero Nero M+S has an asymmetric tread pattern identical to the summer-version P Zero Nero, with few grooves in the outer shoulder blocks and stiff ribs in the center divided by wide channels for water evacuation.
The silica/carbon tread compound is different, however, giving the P Zero Nero M+S much higher levels of winter performance. The rubber retains its flexibility at low temperatures while giving up only a small amount of wet and dry grip versus the summer tire. It continues to offer excellent performance under any public-road driving conditions, but if one were to take it to a track day, the P Zero Nero M+S' performance would fall off a little as operating temperatures climbed well beyond the ordinary realm.
Legal requirements to achieve an M+S designation are fairly vague, and in fact obsolete in today's market, but an engineer interviewed by european car related that Pirelli has an internal standard. If a tire achieves a certain level of performance in a standard winter traction test, then it will meet customer expectations for an M+S tire under winter conditions.
The P Zero Nero M+S' internal construction is basically the same as that of the summer tire, which was designed to accommodate the trend toward increasing weight and power in performance vehicles without sacrificing ride comfort. It is reinforced with aramid and other thermally stable materials to achieve safety margins on load ratings with the low profiles favored by the aftermarket. Any differences arise due to the fact that all P Zero Nero M+S tires are built with the MIRS manufacturing system, while many sizes of the summer tire are not. While differences could be seen by cutting apart the tires, they are minor in effect and unlikely to be discerned in performance.
At its introduction at Road Atlanta, european car briefly sampled the P Zero Nero M+S on a variety of cars on a very short, wet, autocross-type course. There were no direct comparisons to any other tire. While the course design tended to discourage risk-taking, we found the tire to offer good grip and predictable responses.
The P Zero Nero M+S was available in 11 sizes at the time of its introduction, ranging from 245/50-16 to 215/35-19, with three more planned by the end of the year.