Street-legal slick lives great but short life

JOHN MAHLER FOR THE TORONTO STAR

The Pirelli P-Zeo Corsa loves dry but not wet.

John Mahler

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

What can you say about a tire that peels the paint off the garage floor? Sticky, eh?

And as we all know, sticky tread equals big fun – but not for a long time. With a treadwear rating of just 60 (poor), traction AA (very best) and temperature A (best), the Pirelli P-Zero Corsa is Pirelli's street-legal (DOT-approved) track compound tire.

It is designed to be driven to the track or autocross, run some laps and drive home again. This is a very mild version of a true race tire.

Tires in this class (Yokohama A-048, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup, Toyo Y-888, and BFGoodrich R1) can last a whole season of six to eight track days or they can be destroyed in just a few sessions, so the cost per kilometre is high or off the scale, depending on how you drive.

Smooth drivers who take the time to warm up these tires will make them last. Folks who muscle their cars around will see the steel belt cords pretty quickly.

Driving a tire like this even just on the street is a delight. No matter what the vehicle, its feedback to the driver will be raised to a very high order. You will feel every road contour; changes in direction will seem as if the car anticipated the movement of the steering wheel. To someone who loves driving, this is bliss. Even driving well below this tire's prodigious grip, the feeling of confidence is hugely satisfying.

Since this tire is basically a slick with a few asymmetrical and directional S-shaped grooves, it does not work well in heavy rain and standing water. There are other tires for rainy days. Damp roads and sprinkles are never a problem as the rubber compound is grippy on wet roads. Just steer clear of puddles.

On the outside shoulder area, the Corsa has a high hysteresis tread compound. That means it can get the power to the ground when powering out of a corner. This outer shoulder is very broad and rounded to give lateral cornering grip. The tire centre has the S-shaped grooves to give wet traction. The tire has only 6 mm of tread, so squirm is deadly to tread life.

These Pirellis have an incredibly stiff sidewall, so they can be run at more moderate air pressures It also means they reach their sweet spot of grip sooner than some rivals.

On the street, they provide a stiff ride and their noise level is moderate. Because they are sticky and wide, they do like to follow road contours and ruts. And because they are sticky even when just warmed up, they will pick up every bit of debris on the road and fire it into the fender wells of the car.

When hard-cornering on the track, the Pirelli Corsas are quite predictable. Feedback is audible; the pitch of the tire's squeal goes up as traction loss nears. And when it finally lets go, it goes into a nice slide that can be adjusted by steering and throttle input. On the track, predictability is a very, very good thing.

Bottom line: every motoring enthusiast deserves to spend at least one summer driving on a state of the art tire like the Pirelli P-Zero Corsa. Or spend a couple of days at the track. You'll love them.

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