Pirelli P6000

...the details.

Pirelli are one of the top brand names when it comes to tyres, they can be slightly more expensive than some other top brands and are reasons other than garages trying to make a buck or two on them. Pirelli tyres are a well balanced tyre for all occasions and most driving styles. Pirelli are preferred tyres for manufacturers such as BMW, Ford and Vauxhall and some others. Infact when I bought my Vauxhall Vectra it had ...
...and infact is on my Pirelli P6000 and I'll break it down....

195 - This is the width of the tread that sits on the road, the higher the number the more grip you should have. This will vary from tyre to tyre.

/65 - This is the depth of the tyre from the tread to the rim whether it be steel or alloy. This will vary from tyre to tyre but the most common are 65 or 60. Sports tyres tend to be lower because the lower this ... more

There are a few reviews already on this tyre but I will give my view and add some information for those who don't really know much about tyres, I'm not an expert so please correct me if I am wrong with any of the details.

Pirelli are one of the top brand names when it comes to tyres, they can be slightly more expensive than some other top brands and are reasons other than garages trying to make a buck or two on them. Pirelli tyres are a well balanced tyre for all occasions and most driving styles. Pirelli are preferred tyres for manufacturers such as BMW, Ford and Vauxhall and some others. Infact when I bought my Vauxhall Vectra it had 4 Pirelli P6000 and still has. Previous to buying this car I had always used budget tyres and even when to car dismantlers and bought good tyres for £6 - £8 depending on quality of tread. I've used many tyres and this review will be unbiased and based on the tyre.

For those who don't know already let's have a little run down of tyres. Every tyre if different from each manufacturer because they used different rubber compounds and methods of creating tyres. Without going into depth about this basically a soft compound provides fantastic grip but wears faster, a hard compound offers less grip but last longer. Together with this fact in mind you have tyre tread and size that have to be balanced too. On most tyres you won't know the compound but you will writing like this ... 195/65 R15 91H, this is a tyre rating and infact is on my Pirelli P6000 and I'll break it down....

195 - This is the width of the tread that sits on the road, the higher the number the more grip you should have. This will vary from tyre to tyre.

/65 - This is the depth of the tyre from the tread to the rim whether it be steel or alloy. This will vary from tyre to tyre but the most common are 65 or 60. Sports tyres tend to be lower because the lower this number the less flexibility in the side walls, meaning you can go around corners faster.

R15 - In my case it means they are designed to fit 15" rims/wheels. This number will obviously vary depending on your vehicle.

91H - This is basically a load and speed rating of the tyre, the 91 means it can handle weight of 615kgs and the H means that the tyre can handle speeds up to 130mph. My back ones are labelled as 91V which means they can handle speeds up to 149mph.

E4 - If you see this on your tyre wall it means the tyre has been tested and passed by the European Regulatory Authorities.

Please note that all of the above settings will vary from car to car due to the cars size weight and performance. If you search the internet you will find plenty of sites breaking down exactly what tyres sizes are and what they mean but mine are as above.

As I said I had 4 Pirelli P6000 on my car when I bought it as they are recommended for my car, for some reason I have 2 p6000 91h on the front and 2 P6000 powergy 91v on the back. Had the car 8 months now and still have these tyres on it but will need to replace front soon. The car has driven 7,000 miles in 8 months and tyres were new when I bought the car. 7000 - a bit low I bet you're thinking !. The rear tyres have really good tread on them and can see at my current rate of driving will probably last another 20,000 or maybe even 30,000 miles.

The P6000 comes in two types, the standard P6000 and the P6000 powergy. Looking at the statistics on Pirelli's website I cannot see any difference between the two, they both have same sizes and speed ratings, I'm guessing the P6000 Powergy is just a later version. Each claim to have better performance and fuel saving as well as safety improvements.

The reason I believe my front tyres have worn really fast is that I had two problems, 1 - the tracking was out and 2 - the tyre pressure was too low. As my tracking was out it was causing tyre wear on the outside. Too much toe-in causes accelerated wear at the outer edges of the tires, while too much toe-out causes wear at the inside edges. Having your car tracked should fix this unless your suspension is damage or wishbone bushes at end of life. As for tyre pressure, under-inflation has caused this tyre to wear on the outer edges of the tread, leaving the central tread area far less worn. The inner-liner can also degrade. But in my case both tracking and under-inflation wore them down pretty fast. This is the reason why the Highway Code suggests you check your vehicle on a weekly basis. This is the only reason why my Pirelli P6000 only lasted 7000 and will have to be replaced soon, if it wasn't for the above problems I would expect to get 15 - 20k or maybe even more with my driving style.

The reason why I say that is that my driving style is mixed, some days I am a fast aggressive driver other days I'm like I am driving miss daisy(slow for those who never heard of that). When ever I have my kids in the car I also drive safely. However, in all cases I calculate what I'm and never put anyone in danger before you think I'm a boy racer.

The tyre itself is very good in both dry and wet weather and was pretty good when we had snow. In dry weather you probably won't notice any difference in performance as there's plenty of grip but you will notice it in wet compared to other tyres. This tyre offers plenty of grip in the wet at speed and at driving around corners. I have pushed my car quite far to see exactly how far I can safely handle it and I've not slide out of control once with these tyres both in dry or wet. With previous cars I used budget tyres and they would all lose grip around corners. Please note, at high speed in the wet there is still a chance of aquaplaning but handles it better than other makes. If you drive at the roads speed limits you will be fine with these tyres. The tyre seems to handle very well in extreme breaking conditions even though I have ABS, with my previous cars the budget tyres always seemed to skid but, not that I've had plenty of practice, I seem to run into drivers who like to pull out in front of me, maybe they are testing my reaction skills - lol

The cost, if you shop around you should be able to get a good deal, they seem to range from £40 each to £68 in my local area but could be more near you. As I said shop around or mail order for cheapest deals, going to the well known garages could well be costly and your getting no benefit as a Pirelli P6000 is a Pirelli P6000 no matter where it comes from. Pirelli cover a range of tyre sizes and each size will be priced differently, to give you an idea on how many there are to choose from here's a list....

Depth 45

225/45 R17TL 91 W

Depth 50

185/50 R16TL 81 V
205/50 R17TL 93 W
225/50 R16TL 92 V
225/50 R16TL 92 W
225/50 ZR16TL 92 W
235/50 ZR17TL 96 Y
235/50 ZR18TL 97 W

Depth 55

195/55 R15TL 85 H
195/55 R15TL 89 H
205/55 R15TL 88 V
205/55 R16TL 91 V
205/55 R16TL 91 V (J)
205/55 R16TL 91 W
225/55 R16TL 95 V
225/55 R16TL 95 W
235/55 ZR17TL 99 W

Depth 60

185/60 R14TL 82 H
195/60 R15TL 88 V
205/60 R15TL 91 V
225/60 R16TL 98 W

Depth 65

195/65 R15TL 91 H
195/65 R15TL 91 H
195/65 R15TL 91 H
195/65 R15TL 91 V
195/65 R15TL 91 V
195/65 R15TL 95 T
205/65 R15TL 94 V

Summary of all this, the Pirelli P6000 is a fantastic tyre and if you have always used budget makes you should really think about safety and try this tyre or at least a branded make. They cost more because they are designed to be better.

For now, driver safe no matter what tyre you have on !!
 

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