2020 Pirelli Cinturato P7 Is A New Summer Tire Developed Using An Intelligent Compound
Italian tiremaker Pirelli has unveiled the next-generation Cinturato P7, a high-tech summer tire infused with the all-weather capabilities of an all-season tire. It may not sound like much, but the newest Cinturato P7 is a different type of summer tire. How? Pirelli created it using a high-tech polymer compound that literally adapts to changing weather conditions.
The previous-gen Cinturato P7 was also a summer tire, but it was mainly oriented to the touring spectrum. It's a great tire for year-round highway driving, but it prioritizes comfort, safety, and longer treadwear over performance and sporty handling. However, the new Pirelli Cinturato P7 ditches the touring DNA to deliver enhanced athleticism. Plus, it's a summer tire that offers better performance in the wet, which is a revolution in terms of tire design.
Summer tires are different than your average all-season tire. The former needs heat to deliver maximum amounts of grip, hence the 'summer' designation. This makes summer tires the perfect choice for sports sedans and coupes in hot weather – but there's a downfall. When it rains, summer tires lose its ability to grip the surface due to lower temperatures, and this is where Pirelli's newest Cinturato P7 is changing the game.
Pirelli engineers spent three years in developing the new Cinturato P7. It retains the asymmetric tread design of the previous version, but the new Cinturato P7 is constructed from a highly-innovative tread compound. Utilizing a full silica compound infused with special grip enhancers and synthetic polymers, the tire adapts to changing weather conditions by self-altering the chemical composition of the polymers based on existing road temperatures.
It's quite a mouthful to digest, but it simply means the ability to deliver relentless grip, sharp handling, and stronger braking over dry, wet, and slippery roads – which is unheard of in a summer tire. According to Pirelli, the new Cinturato P7 allows your vehicle to stop four meters sooner in the wet from 60 mph. And since the rolling resistance is further improved by 12 percent, fuel economy also rises by around 4 percent. It's also designed for longer wear compared to other summer tires.
The 2020 Cinturato P7 is also available in run-flat configuration or with Pirelli's self-sealing puncture control technology. With all-new features and the ability to alter the grip levels in changing weather, the Cinturato P7 heralds the next-generation of hybrid summer tires.