Pirelli is pretty good at making all-season tires with various characteristics for all tastes. Cinturato P7 is one of the newest additions to the family. This time, the tire-maker concerned itself with providing a well-balanced and stable driving experience, as well as a lengthy tread life. They did an alright job.
There aren’t many innovative solutions, but the tire is optimized for most sorts of seasonal terrain, and there are some basic additions. They are effective, but not really different from many of the tires that came before them. So, let’s see if this approach paid off.
How is it made?
The casing composition is pretty standard. The rubber is mostly polymers that improve the smoothness of the tires greatly and also can withstand a hit or two from the rocks and debris on the road. It also decreases road resistance, thus making sure you save more fuel.
The only other addition is really just silica implemented all over the tread. It must be a familiar material if you dealt with modern tires before. Silica basically improves the flexibility of the tire without compromising the strength and integrity. The grip, consequently, is improved on wet and snowy surfaces.
The composition is strong enough when it comes to elements resistance. At the same time, the promised 110,000 km of tread life don’t always materialize. The tread can thin out on 70,000 or even before – faster than expected. But there’s also a problem of flawed structure on some of them – bumps and air leakage happen too often.
Statistically, these tires still hold great for a pretty good period of time, if not always 110,000 they promised. For the average price of $100 per tire, it’s an alright deal.
Tread features
This part is not too exciting also. Pirelli made an effort to promote as much stability and steering response as possible, but they also didn’t forget about traction, especially wet traction.
The tread pattern is aggressive enough to provide initial tread, although it’s still more about control. You’ll notice that they made the tires larger on average, which in turn creates more contact patch. It’s a legitimate way to promote control and handling for the 3 already wide ribs and the 2 shoulders these treads have.
The wide central part improves stability and control, and the steering is enhanced even more by the broad richly grooved shoulders. Cinturato 7 tires are supposed to handle rather well in most situations, as a result. The slightly aggressive and broad contact patch also takes care of the day traction for you. And what about wet and snow?
In wet, the traction is improved by the four circular grooves. They are big enough to reduce hydroplaning to nothing, which gives you yet more control in rainy weather. The silica naturally gives you more traction, but the sipes are even more of the game-changer. There are many of them across the tread, and they provide even more biting edge.
In snow, the silica components and siping are even more crucial. Silica makes sure the tire adapts well to the looseness of the snow, and the sipes help you claw through snow. It doesn’t work as good on the ice, but nothing works well enough on ice.
So, while the tire’s shtick is mostly stability and responsiveness, the traction isn’t too bad, either. You get decent grip all round the year. It might be better to use specifically winter tires if you expect harsh weather, but it works this way with all all-season tires.
Comfort
Although the grip can give up in some situations, at least it’s comfy to drive in these tires. The stability and responsiveness are usually signs of smooth and comfortable riding. At the same time, the tire is flexible and soft enough to negate the harsher road problems, like rubble, rocks or potholes.
The noise isn’t too bad, either. Remember – the tread is well-balanced and optimized. They did it precisely to provide a versatile and quiet experience. That was their main goal. And they achieved it.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a fan of quiet and comfortable driving, Cinturato 7 is your choice. It won’t do at all for aggressive or speedy riding – not just because they excel at other departments, but also because they can fall apart if you’re too brutal with them. They also don’t cost too much, in comparison to other tires of this caliber (~$100 per tire).
Nevertheless, there might be better options if you’d like a more reliable tread. These will give you extreme stability but fall short on other aspects. If that’s what you like, go ahead and give them a try.
Tire Sizes
16″
195/55R16
205/50R16
205/55R16
205/60R16
215/55R16
215/60R16
225/55R16
225/60R16
17″
205/50R17
215/45R17
215/50R17
215/55R17
225/45R17
225/50R17
225/55R17
225/60R17
235/45R17
235/50R17
235/55R17
245/45R17
245/50R17
18″
215/50R18
215/55R18
225/45R18
225/55R18
225/60R18
235/45R18
235/50R18
245/45R18
245/50R18
19″
225/55R19
235/40R19
245/40R19
245/45R19
255/40R19
255/45R19
20″
245/40R20
245/45R20