Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season

[Jeff7181]

So I bought these tires a couple weeks ago for my 2013 Fusion. At first I was happy with them. They're much more quiet than the OEM tires they replaced. They seem to have decent grip, aside from slipping a little on wet pavement. They shed water nicely though.

The other problem I noticed is that they're absolutely horrible on concrete roads with longitudinal grooves cut in them. I drive about 20 miles a day on a highway like that and never had any issue with the OEM tires, but these Pirellis just can't track straight on them. The car constantly moves side to side and even gets somewhat violent at times. All of it goes away when the road transitions from concrete to asphalt, so it's definitely not a problem with a wheel not being installed properly or something like that. I'm nervous about how they're going to be in the snow - maybe the reduced traction will prevent the shimmy... or maybe it'll cause the car to fishtail. Who knows?

Am I an idiot for not expecting this considering the tread pattern with the four large channels? I had a set of Continental DWS tires on an old car that had very large channel in the tire tread and didn't have this kind of problem.

 

[SearchMaster]

Looking at Tire Rack, the Pirellis are pretty bad in snow. The Conti's are rated much, much better. As for the tramlining, all I can say is it will definitely be more noticeable on newer tires due to the increased grip. And it could get worse...

 

[NutBucket]

You might go back to the store you bought them from and see if they can do anything for you. If you dislike them enough maybe swap for something else for a (nominal) cost?

 

[Jeff7181]

You might go back to the store you bought them from and see if they can do anything for you. If you dislike them enough maybe swap for something else for a (nominal) cost?

I was thinking of doing this. I'm very happy with them on most roads... but it's really annoying being jostled side to side in the seat on the 10-mile stretch of road I travel to and from work every day.

 

[SearchMaster]

One off the wall thought...

Have you seen any complaints about this on Fusion forums, if you use them?

I have a 2013 Focus ST with electronic steering, and there have been many complaints similar to yours. Apparently there are some faulty steering modules that are OK most of the time but every once in a while get freaked out by certain roads and start tracking really funny. I've never experienced it but some people were able to demonstrate it to the dealership and get them to replace the module.

I wonder if there is a shared steering module with the Fusion? And the change in tires triggered the inherent (assumably software) issue?

Edit: here's a thread describing the problem in the ST: http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st-discussions/6134-unstable-highway-behavior.html

 

[Jeff7181]

One off the wall thought...

Have you seen any complaints about this on Fusion forums, if you use them?

I have a 2013 Focus ST with electronic steering, and there have been many complaints similar to yours. Apparently there are some faulty steering modules that are OK most of the time but every once in a while get freaked out by certain roads and start tracking really funny. I've never experienced it but some people were able to demonstrate it to the dealership and get them to replace the module.

I wonder if there is a shared steering module with the Fusion? And the change in tires triggered the inherent (assumably software) issue?

Edit: here's a thread describing the problem in the ST: http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st-discussions/6134-unstable-highway-behavior.html

I doubt it's software as a result of changing the tires. It doesn't do it on asphalt and there's no feedback felt in the wheel when it's happening. The car doesn't feel like it rotates at all as if the front wheels are turning. The car just lurches what feels like 2-3 inches back and forth until I give it some steering input and get going at enough of an angle to the grooves in the road and then it's completely smooth. Unfortunately, that angle means if I don't keep steering back and forth, I'll be in the next lane within a couple seconds.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

I have Perelli P7s on my 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue for about a year now and I've really enjoyed them on my car. Great in the wet. I don't really have any tracking issues. They're loud, but that's expected given their wear rating.

I switch to Snows in the winter so I don't know how they do when it gets cold.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

I have C7 AS+ and I have similar complains as you. The tire has a tendency to tramline when there are grooves in the concrete. It's not a deal breaker as the C7 does extremely well in other areas. I've abused my tires via canyon roads and several top speed runs(240 kph in my 2013 i4 Honda Accord) and they haven't skipped a beat.

They are extremely quiet and a very consistent tire that is very predictable during extreme loads. 32k miles on them and I still have 30% threadlife left.