Pirelli PZero Corsa vs Michelin Pilot Sport Cup

[Nine Ball]

I run the 345/30-19 Michelin on the rear of my '06 Viper, and my '13 SRT w/ Track Pack came with the Pirelli PZero Corsa 355/30-19 tire. Since there were some discussions related to both of these tires, and how some believe the Michelin would do better on the track, I figured I'd snap a photo side by side to compare them for you. I've not had either tire on a road course, so I can't give you any track feedback on them. I have put some road miles on both, however.

Straight line acceleration, I'd say the tires are very similar in grip. The Michelin need to heat up a little more to achieve that grip. The Pirelli seems to be consistent without a lot of heat input.

Wet traction is no contest. The Pirelli Corsa works very well in rain, even during downpours. I've driven them both in the rain, and the Michelin is kinda scary.

Ride quality is similar, but the Michelin feels a tiny bit more stiff.

Road handling, they feel about the same. I've taken some pretty high speed corners in both.

One thing I'm pretty surprised about with the Pirelli tires, the tire you see in this pic has 4,800 miles on it. No track visits or burnouts, mostly highway miles. It still measures out at 7/32" tread depth. The tread depth is only 8/32" to start with. It seems these "track" tires could last a good while just driving around.

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup on left, Pirelli PZero Corsa on right. Outer shoulder of tire (wheel face) is on the left for both.

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[ViperSmith]

Are the michelins about 1/2 inch taller? Looks it from here or just how the tires are sitting

 

[Smog Dog]

Not to hijack, but I still have a take off set of Corsa's in the classifieds at a big savings if anyone needs them. I put the standard tires on because of rain traction concerns---but after reading NineBall's actual experience, it sounds like it was not really necessary. I also like the excellent wear results for 5,000 miles of street use. Thanks for the good info!

Bill

 

[Nine Ball]

Are the michelins about 1/2 inch taller? Looks it from here or just how the tires are sitting

Pirelli are about 10mm wider, but the Michelins are a tiny bit taller.

 

[Voice of Reason]

Thanks for the thread, I'm glad to hear how well the Corsas are holding up for you. I've had mine for 2 months now and am averaging 800 miles a month, so by seasons end I will probably have 4000-5000 miles on it. With the great wear you're seeing that means I should be able to use these all next year too.

That being said, I have a question for those who have had tires like this in the past. My garage is not heated so how can I store these rims/tires for my Illinois winter? There's a note I read somewhere that you shouldn't store these tires in temps below 40-45* but for me I won't have a choice unless I put the car on jack stands all winter and move the rims/tires to my basement. Is that what I need to do? Or could I use something like 'Flatstoppers' to park on to prevent flat spots?

 

[Nine Ball]

Thanks for the thread, I'm glad to hear how well the Corsas are holding up for you. I've had mine for 2 months now and am averaging 800 miles a month, so by seasons end I will probably have 4000-5000 miles on it. With the great wear you're seeing that means I should be able to use these all next year too.

That being said, I have a question for those who have had tires like this in the past. My garage is not heated so how can I store these rims/tires for my Illinois winter? There's a note I read somewhere that you shouldn't store these tires in temps below 40-45* but for me I won't have a choice unless I put the car on jack stands all winter and move the rims/tires to my basement. Is that what I need to do? Or could I use something like 'Flatstoppers' to park on to prevent flat spots?

The flatstoppers work well. http://www.raceramps.com/flatstoppers.aspx

More important than temps, storing tires out of direct UV sunlight is most important.

 

[Voice of Reason]

The flatstoppers work well. http://www.raceramps.com/flatstoppers.aspx

More important than temps, storing tires out of direct UV sunlight is most important.

Thanks, glad to hear the flatstoppers aren't just a gimmick. And I tinted all the windows in my garage so I should be good on the UV front too.

 

[Jack B]

I drove 800 miles in the rain with the P-Zero's, they are excellent rain tires. I ran an autocross course last week with the P-Zero's. We ran the course 13 times. The tire on the outside shows definite track usage. If anything the tire performed too good for a street/race tire. I started to push them harder and harder and they show it, my point is, they almost have the full capacity of a race tire, but, at the same time you will ruin your street tires. On a road course with a lot of turns they are not going to last more than a couple of weekends, if that.

 

[Allan]

The other issue, is the price difference.

it's more than just a little bit.

I guess it's nice to see Pirelli re-enter the market with a decent tire though.

 

[Voice of Reason]

The other issue, is the price difference.

it's more than just a little bit.

AGREED. When you can buy two 345 sized Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires for the price of one 355 Corsa tire you have to question Pirelli's pricing strategy. Aside from retaining bragging rights to 'The Widest Tire in the World!!!' I cannot see myself going with the OEM replacement when the time comes unless the price differential comes more in line.

 

[Policy Limits]

Isit true the Corsa's will see 16k before the wear bars?

I like that I can drive in the rain if it happens to rain because I'm going to use the car much more as a cruiser than a track toy personally. My P zero Rosso's on the Lambo were only rated for 5500 miles; at 7k I had them down to the wear bars and had to replace; cost about $2k installed. Anyone know how much the 355 corsa's are?

 

[Voice of Reason]

Anyone know how much the 355 corsa's are?

$970 per tire plus installation. The fronts are a more reasonable $490 per tire plus install. So you're $3k in before installation for a full set.

 

[Nine Ball]

Isit true the Corsa's will see 16k before the wear bars?

It depends on your driving habits, and what they are used for. As stated, I only wore down 1/32 of an inch after 4800 miles. The tires started with 8/32 total.

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[Nine Ball]

Also, just to note, you can use any 345/30-19 tire on these factory wheels. That is what came on previous Gen 3/4 Vipers, and the Gen 5 uses the exact same 19x13.0 wheel size on the rear.

 

[FOViper]

AGREED. When you can buy two 345 sized Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires for the price of one 355 Corsa tire you have to question Pirelli's pricing strategy. Aside from retaining bragging rights to 'The Widest Tire in the World!!!' I cannot see myself going with the OEM replacement when the time comes unless the price differential comes more in line.

They really don't wanna sell any to customers yet as they need all of the 355's they have to go to CAAP for the new car, hence the pricing.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

I drove 800 miles in the rain with the P-Zero's, they are excellent rain tires. I ran an autocross course last week with the P-Zero's. We ran the course 13 times. The tire on the outside shows definite track usage. If anything the tire performed too good for a street/race tire. I started to push them harder and harder and they show it, my point is, they almost have the full capacity of a race tire, but, at the same time you will ruin your street tires. On a road course with a lot of turns they are not going to last more than a couple of weekends, if that.

True statement confirmed by the Pirelli rep, the front tires are VERY soft and need to be watched more then some other tires out there and rotated left to right more often based on what you are doing with them.

 

[Jack B]

What are you going to use for the fronts, the oem is a 25" tire - smalllll

Also, just to note, you can use any 345/30-19 tire on these factory wheels. That is what came on previous Gen 3/4 Vipers, and the Gen 5 uses the exact same 19x13.0 wheel size on the rear.

 

[Nine Ball]

What are you going to use for the fronts, the oem is a 25" tire - smalllll

Good point. I'm not sure anyone knows how sensitive the Viper active handling and ABS are to tire height differences. On the previous Vipers, it didn't seem to matter. On most other cars I've set up, the front and rear tires have to be within 0.5" or less, relative to how the factory tires are.

295/30-18 = 25"
355/30-19 = 27.4"

Net difference 2.4" tire height. Given some tolerances in the system, shoot for no more than 0.5" net difference. 2.4 +/- 0.5 inches, so a range of 1.9-2.9" relative height changes might work okay.

Just an example:

If you run a taller 28" rear tire, you should be able to get away with a 28 - 2.4 = 25.6" front tire.

Tony

 

[Jack B]

The 355 is really 27", for some reason the advertised diameter is off. When I put the 26" drag radials on my car it did not seem to care.

Good point. I'm not sure anyone knows how sensitive the Viper active handling and ABS are to tire height differences. On the previous Vipers, it didn't seem to matter. On most other cars I've set up, the front and rear tires have to be within 0.5" or less, relative to how the factory tires are.

295/30-18 = 25"
355/30-19 = 27.4"

Net difference 2.4" tire height. Given some tolerances in the system, shoot for no more than 0.5" net difference. 2.4 +/- 0.5 inches, so a range of 1.9-2.9" relative height changes might work okay.

Just an example:

If you run a taller 28" rear tire, you should be able to get away with a 28 - 2.4 = 25.6" front tire.

Tony

 

[Jack B]

Were the G3/G4 fronts the same wheel as the G5.

Also, just to note, you can use any 345/30-19 tire on these factory wheels. That is what came on previous Gen 3/4 Vipers, and the Gen 5 uses the exact same 19x13.0 wheel size on the rear.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Were the G3/G4 fronts the same wheel as the G5.

The GenV front wheels are .5" wider then a Gen3/4 at 10.5". I have not checked the off set, but believe they said it had also changed. Tony probably has that info by now though.

 

[Nine Ball]

Correct, Gen 3/4 have 18x10.0 front wheel. Gen 5 has 18x10.5 front wheel. Backspacing is the same on both, the extra width is on the lip side for the Gen 5, since the front end is wider than the previous gens.