Anyone with stock Pirelli's that are Cracking?

[Race Red Boss]

Noticed cracks developing in the outer sidewall sipes and micro cracks in the sidewalls. Wondering if anyone else has seen this happen??

Car only has 10K kms./6K miles on it. Stored winters and has only seen light track use (1 day - 3 X 20 min. sessions).

Spoke to Pirelli warranty dept. and they said they cover cracking up to 4 yrs. (Feb.2015 for my tires). Said to take it into one of their authorized dealers, which I did. Here's what I was told:

Have to install a new set of their P-Zero's (and pay for them), return tires to Pirelli (shipping cost is on me). They will inspect and determine if there is a valid issue/claim and they will credit the dealer back some amount, and thus myself with whatever the difference is. No doubt it's prorated based on tire wear. I still have 8 or 9 tenths on the fronts and about 7 tenths on the rear. I've heard these tires are quite expensive........hence why I thought this might be worth pursuing.

Disappointed to say the least with this problem developing on the tires with so little wear on them.

 

[mystickb1996]

Unless your dead set on staying oe, I would suggest a set of nitto nt05's which are great or Michelin super sports you don't care about cost. There's Way better performing tires then the p zeros for the price or cheaper.

 

[dmichaels]

Agree with switching tires, as OEM is quite expensive. I've been collecting 18" wheels for cheaper tire solutions too... Nitto is highly regarded as noted above, and can't ever go wrong with Michelins.

 

[dmichaels]

To your question on cracking - I have had my OEM Pirelli's for about 1.5 years now, 500 track miles ~7000 street miles and have zero cracking

 

[svt1111]

Sorry to hear about this, but I may be able to help:

I have a set of factory Boss 302 Pirelli's front and rear, taken off one of the Boss Track Attack cars before it was converted to track duty. The tires appear to have a been used lightly prior to being removed, and I'd consider them 98% brand new. I purchased these a while back when i had my Boss as replacements and no longer have the car. I never mounted them. I can't remember what I paid for them but I'll let you take them for a song. PM me if you want. -Brian

 

[Race Red Boss]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Just read this info. on Tire Rack about the P-Zero Corsa's.....looks like these tires need to be stored when temps are below zero degrees Celsius/32 degrees Fahrenheit, otherwise cracking can occur. Surprised the dealer didn't tell me this.....

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=221

 

[svt1111]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Just read this info. on Tire Rack about the P-Zero Corsa's.....looks like these tires need to be stored when temps are below zero degrees Celsius/32 degrees Fahrenheit, otherwise cracking can occur. Surprised the dealer didn't tell me this.....

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=221

FYI, the P Zero Corsa System in the link are not the same tires as what comes on the regular Boss. These are R comp tires like the Laguna Seca has or the Z28. The regular P Zero's, while a summer tire, will not experience the same degregation in performance as these would.

^^^^^ edit ^^^^^

I just clicked on the link and it was different from that of what was in my email box! lol.

The important thing to remember about summer tires is the heat cycling. You really don't want to use them below 32 degrees, and you really don't want to heat cycle them quickly if temps are hovering around 40 ish. Storing the car in an unheated garage won't affect them at all though. The MPSS tires on my Viper are hard as plastic anything below 45 degrees, but they don't crack.

 

[Race Red Boss]

ah, good to know Brian. Didn't realize those were the Laguna Seca tires. Thx.

 

[svt1111]

No problem, I'm glad I can contribute to the discussion.

I always thought the P Zero's that came on the Boss cars were a great overall tire, not the best at everything, but hardly lacking for most drivers.

 

[TheVikingRL]

I think any of the high performance summer tires can crack if driven in below freezing temps. I've seen plenty of picture of cracked Goodyear Supercar ties and some Michelin's as well. For what they cost I wouldn't chance it with any brand.

 

[Voltwings]

My Fiance had the sidewall completely sheer off her pirelli P-zero. She has a '14 V6 and we were on a relatively fast road course (Texas World Speedway if you're familiar with it), and i was doing my best to keep her tire pressures around 36-37 psi. Her instructor felt that was a little low and pumped 1-2 more psi in there. On the way home she was driving behind me and i saw it happen, the entire tire literally walked off the rim with the bead and sidewall still attached ... this was in 70-80* weather too, so its not like those tires had really been abused. I was not happy at all, but thankfully it didn't happen on track. I may still have a picture somewhere.


Edit: This was the front, passenger side tire.