Tire Review: Pirelle Scorpion Verde All Season Plus

[hollis]

Tire Review: Pirelle Scorpion Verde All Season Plus

After driving on the OEM tires for 36K, they got to 4/32 and all of them had dry rotting inside the treads.

I had Pirelle Scorpion Verde™ All Season Plus 225/65/17 installed on 5/15/15. Alignment was checked and was all good so no new alignment was needed.

So this is only my initial review:

+ much quieter, virtually no road noise 65mph
+ more stable, not being thrown around as much by poor roads or wind, their a tad wider tread
+ stellar handling on dry and wet surfaces along with braking
+ 740 A A rating, hope they do last at least 50K

- this is a SUV tire, where the side walls are firmer which makes the ride not as soft as my van's General Tire RT43 tires we just put on. They do absorb bumps much better then stock tires ( maybe 33% better). I am okay with the trade off in the attributes, as there is less wobbling which gives more confident ride and handling.

Looking forward to seeing if my MPG goes up, down, or remains the same, snow traction, etc.

Overall, very good tires to date and will update post later on

 

[paris1]

Firmer sidewalls, harsher ride, but they absorb bumps better than OE tires. Hmm, I'll have to think about that!

 

[doughboy52]

I've got 37K on the stock Yokos and they're all less than 4/32", so I just ordered the same Pirellis from Tire Rack. Looking forward to seeing what kind of upgrade they might be over the Yokos. The reviews on Tire Rack for the Pirellis are what ultimately sold me, including their supposed excellent wet and light snow performance according to both Tire Rack tests and user reviews. We shall see! I'm interested in seeing if I notice an difference in gas mileage, as well, since they're supposed to be low rolling resistance.

 

[hollis]

Review Update:

Since picking up the car (1.5weeks), the tires have had vibration that is shaking the whole car at highway speeds (60+ mph).
5/29 4:3pm, took it back to the dealer. I thought it was a simple thing, like they forgot to balance the tires or the weights on the tires fell off/moved. They worked on it for 2 hours! till 6:30PM The rep said they fixed the issue using multiple techniques like inverting the tires direction, deflating tire and moving to different part of the rim, changing tire/rim location, and some other crap that I am sure was made up on the spot. He agreed 2 of the front tires were out of spec completely..... But the problem was fixed... fine.. off I go. I get on the highway at 60MPH the problem is still there and just as bad. Its not me, my kids in the back are all complaining about the vibrations as well. I feel it in the door panels, gas pedal, and of course the steering. Back to the dealer I go at 6:45PM. The rep said that he figured I would be back and they will need to diagnose the issue more but will need to order 1-2 new tires to really fix it. They gave me a loaner, which felt perfect on the same highway stretch on the way home.

I understand tires can have defects like anything else, but this dealer could have done a much better job in handling the issue. I live some 50 minutes from them so its not so convenient to hop in and out.

Will update thread later this week.

 

[bamirault]

Review Update:

Since picking up the car (1.5weeks), the tires have had vibration that is shaking the whole car at highway speeds (60+ mph).
5

Different truck - different tire. Neighbour had the same problem with new tires. On the 5th visit to shop senior employee happens to be walking by after a brief discussion with the assigned tec remarks that hub spacers are required. THey were installed and the problem solved. Just writin'.

Brian

 

[MikeM.]

Different truck - different tire. Neighbour had the same problem with new tires. On the 5th visit to shop senior employee happens to be walking by after a brief discussion with the assigned tec remarks that hub spacers are required. THey were installed and the problem solved. Just writin'.

Brian

That would only occur with aftermarket wheels. OEM wheels never require spacers.

 

[doughboy52]

About 250 miles on my Scorpion Verde All Season Pluses since install a couple of weeks ago. They feel great to me and I haven't had the vibration issues that OP had. The steering response seems increased, and it's definitely better grip than the old Yokos. Ride quality seems a little better, but I think that's at least somewhat because I'm comparing them to the worn Yokos. Mostly still rides like a CX-5, and I'm glad I didn't soften the ride too much since I'm used to the way the car feels.

 

[jrod9707]

About 250 miles on my Scorpion Verde All Season Pluses since install a couple of weeks ago. They feel great to me and I haven't had the vibration issues that OP had. The steering response seems increased, and it's definitely better grip than the old Yokos. Ride quality seems a little better, but I think that's at least somewhat because I'm comparing them to the worn Yokos. Mostly still rides like a CX-5, and I'm glad I didn't soften the ride too much since I'm used to the way the car feels.

Thanks for your initial review Doughboy. I just ordered these tires from Discount since they have 2 mail in rebates going for $160 total. The wife doesnt want to lose steering response and doesnt mind if she can feel the road just not get beatup. I think this is the exact tire we are looking for to keep her cx5 a nice sporty ride.

Since its been over a month are you still satisfied with the tires?

Thank you,
Jared

 

[doughboy52]

Thanks for your initial review Doughboy. I just ordered these tires from Discount since they have 2 mail in rebates going for $160 total. The wife doesnt want to lose steering response and doesnt mind if she can feel the road just not get beatup. I think this is the exact tire we are looking for to keep her cx5 a nice sporty ride.

Since its been over a month are you still satisfied with the tires?

Thank you,
Jared

I've got about 900 miles on them now since install and they still feel great to me. Just drove a 150 mile trip this holiday weekend, including some freeway at 70 mph and some driving through towns. No complaints and I'm totally happy with my choice.

I track my gas mileage religiously in the Gas Cubby app, but I haven't gotten a good read on any gas mileage +/- on them. We had a baby within a week of putting the tires on, so we have tons of more short trips and idling with AC on than our typical driving.

I think you and your wife will be plenty happy with them, and that sounds like some nice rebates! I originally ordered from Discount Tire but they were backordered. Ended up paying a little more at Tire Rack because I really was sold on the tire based on the reviews. The installer made a point to tell me that they're the OEM tire for Porsche Cayenne, so he thought they were good, too!

 

[katmar]

Any updates from old or new users of these tires? Still happy with your purchase?

After reading the reviews on Tire Rack and here, I just had them installed too. There was still some tread left on the OEM tires, but I didn't much like the dry rot cracks I saw in the tread grooves.

Only 25 miles on them so far, so nothing to report other than they're quiet and comfortable. I'm mostly hoping they also compliment the sporty feel of the CX-5

 

[jrod9707]

I had them installed on July 4th. The wife likes them as they kept the sporty feel of the Mazda. She felt that the car did pul a little after install and when the alignment was done the "steer ahead" on the aliggnment was the only thing off(done for free at dealership). Once that was done she said the steering felt a little tighter and seemed to go a little straighter. Good that the new tires didnt have a pull to them. Maybe it just wasnt noticeable on the old tires or they just wore down enough we couldn't tell.

Other notes are that they are quieter than the Yokos. I never had that much of a problem with the Yoko's other than wet traction was not the best and they wore fairly quick especially at the end. These tires have the best characteristics of driving with a vehicle like a Mazda. Only drawback I have is that the wife says is she averages 2MPG's less. Now thats going off the dashboard but she always used that on previous tires so seems accurate if the new tires the average went down. Her driving style and routes haven't changed.

Thats my 2cents for now I would be interested to hear what other peoples experiences are thus far. Here's my take on some of you reading this going I dont want to lose 1-2 MPG but how pissed will you be if you get a all season tire softer tire and now your Mazda floats or worse case you get a floaty car and then get worse MPG's.

Thats what happened 3 years ago when I put Michelin Defenders on a 2009 Civic and the MPG's went down 3-4. Thats pissed me off especially since they were advertised to get better MPG's.

Discount tire is great since they offer a 30 satisfaction so If you dont like something you can always swap them out for the Verde for those that might want to try something different.

 

[katmar]

Other notes are that they are quieter than the Yokos.

I agree. Almost eerily quiet.

And after a few hundred miles now, I really like them: grip on dry roads feels higher, steering is still quick and responsive and the ride is more comfortable. My CX-5 still drives like a CX-5.

So no "gotchas," no regrets, would buy again

 

[starburst]

How is the handling on wet roads and heavy rain - if you have had any. We're looking at a (hopefully) wet winter in NorCal and at 37k miles, I may need to look at replacing the tires.

 

[jrod9707]

How is the handling on wet roads and heavy rain - if you have had any. We're looking at a (hopefully) wet winter in NorCal and at 37k miles, I may need to look at replacing the tires.

I wish I could help you there but I probably wont know the answer to that for awhile. My gut feeling tells me that these tires will hold up well on wet traction. It was hard to find any reviews of tires for this car so I'm glad that other than losing a little MPG theres a good replacement tire for this car. Benefit definitely outweighs the bad.
HAS ANYBODY ELSE WHO INSTALLED THESE TIRES NOTICED A LOSS OF MPG'S?
ITS DEFINITELY NOT A DEAL BREAKER JUST LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK.
Starburst I think this tire should do you justice but maybe a few people can pipe in their opinions on that wet traction as Im curious how iut will handle when it gets a little wet here as well.

 

[katmar]

HAS ANYBODY ELSE WHO INSTALLED THESE TIRES NOTICED A LOSS OF MPG'S?

After hundreds of miles now, the MPG readout has been consistently about 2 MPG *higher* than with the OEM Yokohamas.

I realize the readout value itself probably isn't accurate (about 35.5 now versus 33.5 before), but I assume it's a valid relative comparison. Same commute, same conditions, same pressures.

The more I drive on them, the more I love them. Definately no handling complaints, super quiet, ride is comfy and yet they respond quickly to turning the wheel. All relative of course, but to me it's a huge improvement over the tires that came with it.

Can't speak to behavior in the rain yet, as we're apparently slipping towards a drought here in eastern PA.

 

[starburst]

Thanks for the reports. This looks like the best option out there. The only concern I might have is tread life. I had a set of Pirelle P4s on my old Honda CR-V. They were great for around 15,000 miles then started getting slippery. I park on an uphill gravel slope, so that might have something to do with it. But I love how the CX-5 drives and want to keep that experience and the Scorpion Verde's sound like a good bet for that.

 

[spacecoast]

Just put on a set on my 2014 Touring FWD yesterday. Quiet. We shall see!!

 

[katmar]

Just put on a set on my 2014 Touring FWD yesterday. Quiet. We shall see!!

Congrats!!!

For what it's worth, 15,000ish miles later I still love mine. Still quiet, still handle well, grippy in rain and reasonable in snow.