How Pirelli develops high performance tyres

Pirelli’s family of high performance tyres carry the same names as those seen on the sidewalls of the Italian’s firm’s Formula One rubber: P Zero (for the four dry-weather F1 tyres) and Cinturato (for the two wet-weather F1 tyres).

P Zero is Pirelli’s ultimate Ultra High Performance road car tyre, as seen on supercars, while P Zero Nero GT is designed specfically for tuners and the most demanding sports performance drivers. Also in the family is the P Zero Corsa System, which is designed for road and track use. As for the tyres in the Cinturato range, they all combine the highest standards of environmental respect with the premium performance that is a hallmark of Pirelli.

As these names are synonymous with Formula One, it’s no surprise that there’s a direct link to the pinnacle of motorsport: not just through the processes and production methods involved, but also some of the people.

Pirelli’s racing manager, Mario Isola, started his career at Pirelli as a tyre tester who specialised in testing high performance tyres. And the experience he gained back then is entirely complementary to his current role.

“The testing and development process for road car tyres is actually more complex than that for competition,” he points out. “Essentially, in competition, you are just looking for performance, but on road cars there are many other factors. Not only are you governed by the needs of your consumers, but also the requirements of legislation. For example, on a road car tyre we work very hard to make the size and shape of the tread blocks distinct, so that they do not vibrate at the same frequency and cause excessive noise.

That’s not a problem on a treaded rally tyre, for instance, which is why you always hear much more tyre noise from a rally car. So with all these extra factors at work, development for road tyres can take place over the course of years whereas for competition tyres it’s generally a question of months.”

The methodology with which high performance road car tyres are developed and tested works in exactly the same way though. Starting with a base tyre as a reference, test drivers try out a series of prototypes and compare their characteristics with those of the reference tyre.

“The most important thing as a test driver is to drive as consistently as possible, but also to have a very sensitive feeling for what a car is doing,” adds Isola – who now puts his driving talents to a good cause by volunteering as an ambulance driver in Italy when he is not busy with Pirelli’s grand prix activities.

“At Pirelli, we also have some state-of-the-art facilities that help us to develop the best high-performance road car tyres,” he concludes. “Our test track in Vizzola has a sprinkler system that allows us to keep a consistent level of water on the surface to optimise wet-weather performance, and we also have a simulated mountain road that allows us to test high-speed handling in a completely safe environment.”