These are real world results of Pirelli P-Zero ROSSO vs Pirelli P-Zero NERO in the stock tire size of 215/45/R18.

When I replaced the tires on my car I wasn't willing to veer from the OE tire size so my options were limited. I am not a Bridgestone fan and Michelins are a joke so my choice was between the OE ROSSO's and the P-Zero NERO's. Most online retailers sell the ROSSO for around $180 per tire and the NERO for around $125 per tire. At first glance the price of the NERO's and a 400 treadwear rating look very attractive to a budget minded buyer.

I decided to opt for the NERO's to see if they could come close to the ROSSO's. After saving almost $250 I was eagerly waiting for my tires to arrive. Two days later the tires showed up and were mounted two hours later.

I knew that tires needed a little break in so I drove around 500 miles on them before I took them through some aggressive turns. This is where I realized the $250 I saved was money I should have spent on the ROSSO's. At speeds where my car used to feel stable through there turns it now felt like I was driving on super swampers. I am no talking simple deep tread distortion I am talking rolling the tire onto it's shoulder. The straigt line traction was worse yet although spinning through first, second and third was fun! I went home called TIRERACK and ordered 4 new ROSSO's.




Here is another shot of the obvious actual treadwidth difference.




Despite what some people here think the OE ROSSO's are an excellent tire with great grip and awesome cornering power. The suspension tuning of the SS/SC is almost perfectly matched to the ROSSO's.

So if you are thinking about or need to replace the tires on your SS/SC and plan to stick with the 215/45/R18 size stick with the ROSSO's and spend the extra money.

If you are simply buying winter tires the NERO's would be perfect!

 

I bought the Nero M+Ss for last winter and LOVED LOVED LOVED them in both wet and dry. I cannot wait to put the back on my car as my Rossos are pretty much dead.

I personally thought the Nero MS handled better then the Rossos... Along with everyone else on Tirerack.

Check out the compare...

The Neros EXCEED The Rossos in EVER WAY. There even 2lbs lighter.

-Rich

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...=0&sortValue=1

 

For that kind of money there are a lot better tires out. I personally think the stock Rosso is ok for what it was intended, but I'm definately not buying them again. They absolutely suck in the rain for hydroplaning resistance.

 

yea i agree there not the best in the rain... but other then that i thinkt here a pretty good tire

 

Check out the Nero M+S (Mud and Snow) for like $75 less a tire they are great on dry and TOTALLY OWN in SNOW!

-Rich

 

Im a Micheline guy. Im going for the pilot 225s!

 

Gonna have to go with Rich on this one. I have the Neros and they are head and shoulders above the Rossos. I thought the handling was amazing with the Neros and they handled much, much better than the Rossos.

If you are experiencing the tire "rolling over" onto the sidewall, that is NOT NOT NOT the tread, that is underinflation.

I dunno, personal preference I guess but I definitely like the Neros better. I have them as summer-only tires as I already bought winter-only tires last year (which, ironically, even the winter tires handle better than the Rossos ).

For the shitty treadlife, the Rossos are not what they should be. Tires that wear out in 15k or less for most people should have MUCH better grip than the Rossos which I think is why so many people are so unhappy with them. Money would be better spent on KDW's or Azenis rather than Rossos.

 

Ok everyone not sure if this was missed but no one really talked about it. The Pirelli PZero Rosso are a (Max Performance Summer) tire with a treadwear of 200 (that's why you only get 15K miles on them) I only got about 12K out of mine and i drive the **** out of my car.

Now on the other hand the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S are a (Ultra High Performance All-Season) with a treadwear of 400 (its a harder tire with less traction) good in the snow from what i hear thats why i pick up a set. If any of you have driven in the snow on the Rosso you know they suck. Now why anyone would compare these two tires to one another and hope that they perform the same way ill never know.

These tires are made to do two different things. Now I don't know how or why some of you are getting better performance from the Nero's but you may have had something wrong with your Rosso's... If anyone has done a Autocross or a track day you know the Rosso's are better. I have done two Fun days at a local track and wow the Nero's scare the **** out of me the tire does crazy stuff on braking and mid corner. The sidewall in the Nero is not as strong as the Rosso giving it that spongy feel in hard corners... now i know on the street your not going to hit the corners as hard as on a track so i would suggest you do that then make a comparison of the two tires... once you do the Rosso will win every time...

my .02

Later
ME

 

Exactly the Nero is great for everyday driving and surprisingly good on snow but not trackable compared to the Rosso's.
I like the Rosso's alot they are awsome tires but it's all personal preferance and the way I look at it is if they are good enough for a Ferrari (our tire is the exact same as the front tires on a 360 Mondea) they are good enough for the Cobalt.

 

I think the guys who rated the Nero's better than the Rosso's had some issues.

On my Camaros I tried over $3000 worth the different tires before I maid a choice.

My Neros were not under-inflated I tried from 32psi up to 40psi and they still sucked. The only change was less traction with more air.


The Rosso's are the best tire for the money is the stock size.

 

I dunno what you guys are doing to your tires... mine have over 13000 miles on them and they still look brand new... even the dealer accused me of putting new tires on my car when I brought in to them for service.
I'll probably be going with the good year eagle f1's in a 225 size... I drove on those at the rev-it-up event.. and they handled amazingly... and got a lot less wheel hop

 

Not sure if you seen what I said about my tires but I drive the **** out of my car. If im not driving hard im not driving.... plus two track days dont help the tire life all that much and a few drag days. Not sure how hard you can drive the cobalt in NYC....

 

I too have to disagree. I had the stock tires on, and come last winter I had the Nero M+S's put on. OMG, those tires owned. Not only int he snow and water (cause like the Rosso's suck 500 times worse here) but also in dry traction! I cut my best 60 foots w/ the Nero's and now that this some hit I had put the Rosso's back on and it kinda pissed me off cause I lost traction...

I will be putting the Nero M+S's back on very soon and I cant wait. I remember them being awesome, and I will update once they are back on and confirm whether my memory was correct.

I mean I didnt go offroading w/ my balt or wip turns @ 90 MPH, but for regular street driving, while driving VERY spirited, I thought they where better, even better at the track.

 

My KDWs totaly OWN the stock Rosso's and where only 157 each. Iv had them on for almost 8K now and they still look new. The fronts show only miner where at this point adn I expect that the set will last something like 20K. I do drive hard on them to.

The only thing the stockers beat me on is ride. The stockers to ride beter. Ill give them that.

Later

 

So KDWs own eh? I have been pondering an 18x8.5 set up with some KDWs...

 

Hmmmm, Either there was a bad batch of Rosso's or some peoples opinions of tire performace is different.

My car had 11,000 miles on the stock Rosso tires the front ones being worn was my fault but the rears still had 8.5 - 9/32" of tread left. And to those who may site lack of rotation, I made my front tires dissapear.

As for the Nero's how are people pulling better 60' on them? I could spin them shifting into third, I am lucky if I can even spin my Rosso's into second. And this is comparing Rosso's with 0 miles to Nero's with 500+ miles on them.

And the only reason the KDW is better is because of the size difference.

 

Ive been trying to get a good price on those forever. It seems like I can't find anywhere around my area.

 

I'm going with the Toyo Proxes T1R's next spring...

http://www.toyocanada.com/products/ProxesT1R.asp

 

Kdw's For The Win!!!