Pirelli Tire North America Inc. has a new winter for high performance SUVs and crossover vehicles: the Scorpion Winter.
According to Pirelli, the tire features "improved safety under braking and cornering -- even on the most treacherous surfaces typical of the inclement weather of autumn and winter." It was developed by Pirelli engineers "to give drivers of the largest and most powerful SUVs and crossover vehicles total control in every driving situation while enjoying the same standards of comfort, reliability and handling that was previously only available on sports cars."
Scorpion Winter is at its best during the colder months of the year during a cold rain or even a driving snow, adds the company.
The Scorpion Winter draws on Pirelli’s experience in Formula One, with an innovative design and use of materials and a fully integrated design process. As is the case with all of Pirelli’s premium products, the Scorpion Winter tire has been developed in close collaboration with well-known manufacturers, in particular Porsche AG and Volkswagen AG.
The Scorpion Winter tire also was designed with the most recent traction control and ABS systems in mind.
Scorpion Winter, also available in a run-flat version, will be introduced to the North American market in autumn 2012. It will be sold in a variety of sizes from 16- to 21- inches and will be available in 21 different sizes.
It follows the natural evolution of SUVs, which over the years have transformed themselves from functional workhorses into safe and sustainable multi-purpose vehicles. In particular, the precise grip and turn-in offered by the Scorpion Winter tire answers the principal requirement that drivers demand: maximum control through downhill bends on every surface and in all weather conditions – from snow to rain and sleet, in city or country driving.
The new Pirelli Scorpion Winter tire was introduced at the Igora Park snowdome, near St. Petersburg, Russia. There, the tire was put through its paces in a series of dynamic tests designed to highlight its performance, road holding and safety. Scorpion Winter expands on the technology used to develop Pirelli’s entire cold weather tire range.
(A second product was launched in St. Petersburg with the Scorpion Winter: the latest Carving Edge tire, a studdable winter tire with new sizes making their way to Canadian drivers soon.)
The development of the Scorpion Winter took place over three years and was the result of 186,400 miles of testing, on circuits and normal roads in Oceania and Europe, with temperatures that ranged from minus 25.6 degrees Fahrenheit at Arctic Falls in Sweden to 46.4 degrees F at Idiada in Spain. The new tire also was refined through several hundred hours of virtual simulation with some of the most sophisticated modeling in the world, as used in Formula One.
The all-around performance offered by the Scorpion Winter has been achieved thanks to the use of innovative technology and the ground-breaking MIRS (Modular Integrated Robotized System) process: a unique robotized production platform that was designed and developed by Pirelli.
There are three areas in which Pirelli’s engineers have worked in order to optimize the performance of the new winter tire.
1. First, the improved tread design, which improves grip thanks to its V-shaped grooves, maximizing traction as well as the dispersal of snow and water.
2. Second, the compound has been made with new polymers.
3. Third, a modified internal structure that ensures a more precise response and improved handling, as well as lowering rolling resistance.
Located in Rome, Georgia, Pirelli Tire North America's MIRS plant employs state-of-the-art technology to manufacture tires for both export and domestic markets.
