Is Pirelli OE-obsessed? You be the judge.
Last August, Pirelli & Cie SpA introduced 110 original equipment fittings, a company record for one month.
The list keeps growing. The latest fitments include the new Lamborghini Urus and the BMW M5.
* Lamborghini Urus. Pirelli will provide six different tires for the Urus, Automobili Lamborghini SpA’s first “Super SUV.” The P Zero caters to performance lovers, the P Zero Corsa to on-track adrenaline junkies, and the Scorpion to off-road driving enthusiasts. The Scorpion tire family, designed for extreme use, is available in the standard tire version, as well as winter, all-season and all-terrain variants, accounting for the six tires.
The tire sizes will range from 21 to 23 inches “to best highlight the Urus’s different functionalities and driving experiences,” says Pirelli.
The Lamborghini Urus is designed to go from 0-62 mph in 3.6 seconds and 0-124 mph in 12.8 seconds. It has a maximum speed of 190 mph.
Pirelli says the most important technical challenge its engineers had to overcome “was creating a tire that could cope with such contrasting demands, such as grip, snow traction, durability and laceration resistance in off-road driving.” The result is a tire that is both “extremely quick on track and versatile driving in snow or gravel without compromising on comfort, which is an important attribute for a SUV.”
* BMW M5. Pirelli engineered a version of the P Zero ultra-high performance tire it unveiled last spring specifically for the new BMW M5. The OE tires are available in the following dimensions: 275/35ZR20 XL 102Y on the front axle; 285/35ZR20 XL 105Y on the rear axle.
Pirelli engineers modified the tire’s tread pattern to optimize the noise level and adapt the P Zero’s performance to the BMW M5’s driving characteristics. The tire compound contains special polymers developed by Pirelli for Formula 1. In addition, the P Zero tire contours have been matched to the wheel rim and ultimately are designed to give the best tire performance possible for the M5.
According to Modern Tire Dealer’s new 2018 Facts Issue, Pirelli accounted for 4% of the OE shipments in the U.S. in 2017, up from 3.6% in 2016. The brand is also the largest supplier of tires to BMW in the U.S.
