Writing about the
Pirelli P6000 given
0% (225-45-17-)
Driving on
a combination of roads for 20000
spirited miles
The Pirelli P6000 is getting rather dated now, but is still a good tire in my view.
To put my comments into perspective, I currently drive an S-Type Jaguar 2.7 Twin Turbo Diesel, fitted with Pirelli P-Zero 245 40 x 18 tires, and previously drove a Vx Omega 2.5 V6 fitted with P6000's for about 80,000 miles. (It came from the factory fitted with Michelins).
I also used to race motorcycles, taking part in the IOM TT twice in the 1980s', and particularly liked racing in the wet (when others didn't), so I don't mind pushing boundaries a little!
So, the Pirelli P6000 is a good tire, but don't expect it to work in the snow. It sticks well in the wet and the dry, and can be pushed much harder in the wet without getting out of shape than most people would ever dare.
The P6000 is also a reasonably quiet and comfortable tire, and sticks almost as well as the newer P7 Cinturato, but is much noisier.
Steering feedback depends on the car. Feedback on our old Astra (a family run-around) is not good with any tire, but feedback on the Omega was excellent. However, the P6000's on the Omega (a very heavy car) tended to get flat spots if not used for a week, which made it feel as if the car had square wheels for the first few miles!
By choice I would fit the P7 Cinturato to the old Astra, (my wife has them on her new Mk 5 Astra), but it isn't available in 14" sizes so I will happily stay with the P6000's whilst I can get them.
Finally, having read some of the [very negative] reviews here, I do wonder whether Pirelli manufactures this tire with a choice of hard and soft compounds for different markets, or whether some may even be fakes, as I simply don't recognise the characteristics that some of the reviewers here have described.